I've been doing some reorganizing and noticed I have a collection of PCB holders. I decided to do a quick post on them to spark some discussion around what constitutes a good PCB holder.
This video is a brief overview of the holders I have and how I use them.
What do you use to hold PCBs and what do you think is a good holder system?
I'm surprised this one has lasted so long without a re-design.
I first encountered it around the early 80's and it was just as bad back then as it is now. Although I think originally it was marketed as general purpose helping hands as opposed to PCB stand.
The weighted base is good but I find there is not enough articulation in its arms to hold a part and then hold and position a cable or component you want to solder to it. However if it was designed mainly for small PCBs then perhaps that is why.
I find the ball joints are either tight or too loose, no midway point and the supplied croc clips are generally awful for griping most things.
The magnifier lens is usually poor optical quality and can't easily be positioned to where you actually need it and still allow you freedom to solder.
I think something more like these style would be more useful to me but I've yet to see one that is supplied with good quality clamps, illumination and magnifier.
I've seen some with magnetic attachments allowing you to easily add or remove arms as required, potentially allowing you to have different style clips ready to go.
I'm surprised this one has lasted so long without a re-design.
I first encountered it around the early 80's and it was just as bad back then as it is now. Although I think originally it was marketed as general purpose helping hands as opposed to PCB stand.
The weighted base is good but I find there is not enough articulation in its arms to hold a part and then hold and position a cable or component you want to solder to it. However if it was designed mainly for small PCBs then perhaps that is why.
I find the ball joints are either tight or too loose, no midway point and the supplied croc clips are generally awful for griping most things.
The magnifier lens is usually poor optical quality and can't easily be positioned to where you actually need it and still allow you freedom to solder.
I think something more like these style would be more useful to me but I've yet to see one that is supplied with good quality clamps, illumination and magnifier.
I've seen some with magnetic attachments allowing you to easily add or remove arms as required, potentially allowing you to have different style clips ready to go.
I find the ball joints are either tight or too loose, no midway point and the supplied croc clips are generally awful for griping most things.
Right! And yet I still struggle through it all and keep using it 
because it's there. I should really take some time to improve my setup before my next project 
