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Small circuit board holders

post #1 of 4
10/7/09 at 3:58pm
Thread Starter 
Hi,

I have the Panavise board holder as well as a set of generic helping hands. The Panavise does not work well with small boards since there is an amount of the boarder that is lost/blocked by the notches in the holder arms. If your board is small (say MINT or AlienDAC), you might not be able to access points around the perimeter. Helping hands is OK but it's not very stable.

Does anyone have any recommendations for board holders designed for small circuit boards?

Thanks.
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post #2 of 4
10/7/09 at 4:12pm
I haven't had to do any larger board yet, but I use a simple very old bench vise. I just clamp the board in and away I go.

Why not use the 203 head for the Panavise? In fact they say it is good for small circuit boards.
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post #3 of 4
10/7/09 at 4:44pm
Use the magnifying glass on the helping hands as a knee brace. You can bear down pretty hard when set up that way:
BantamDAC Construction (bottom of the page)

EDIT: I wasn't showing this just because it's the Bantam. This method should also work fine for cobaltmute's excellent GrubDAC.

Beyond that, I'm embarassed to admit that I just use a flat pine board. At least with through-hole parts, you can apply all the pressure you want to get the parts as flush as can be - no stability issues, either.
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post #4 of 4
10/7/09 at 5:08pm
Thread Starter 
I never considered the 203 head because I alraedy have the standard rubber head (bigger version of the 203) and when I tried using it to lightly hold a board, I would had mishaps where the hot iron would touch the rubber ... and then you know what happens then. With metal holders, I wouldn't get a bunch of melted divots in my holder. I realize that I should just be more careful.

I forgot about the 203 so thanks for reminding me. I'll give it a shot.

tomb - Don't be embarrassed. I am building a Starving Student once kits become available and your step-by-step is the best I've seen (for any project). Clearly the pine works for you.

Any other suggestions are appreciated.

David
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