Hakko Omnivise PCB Holder (C1390C)

It was the other users reviews on this product that finally made me swallow my financial pride and pull the trigger on this thing. But I swore to myself that if this thing wasn't absolutely, jaw-droppingly amazing, it was going straight back into the box for return and I was getting my $80 back. Amazon has free returns and I'm not afraid to use it!The package arrived this AM and the box is already in the trash. The vice is on my bench and I spent the morning reworking boards... and kids... let me say this: You'll pry this out of my cold, dead hands.All of the hype in the reviews is true. This product has honestly turned my frustration at holding PCB's still for rework into an absolute joy. It's a fist-sized, heavy, stable chunk of metal that is so simple in design you'll smack yourself in the head and go "why didnt *I* think of this???". It's just a heavy metal base, a couple of glorified washers with neoprene disks attached, and a big knurled metal screw that holds it all together and makes it clamp-down on the edge of a PCB. That's it. Nothing more. Dirt simple. A grade-schooler could have engineered this. AND IT JUST WORKS.You want one of these. Yes you do. If you do board (re)work, just get your wallet out, close your eyes, swallow your pride, and click "buy it now". There. All better. Yes, it is durned-Skippy expensive for what it IS, but it's dirt cheap for what it DOES.I gave it 5 stars for its performance (should really get 6 stars), and 4 stars for value (because honestly, this thing is massively overpriced as there isn't maybe $10 in parts, labor and engineering and overhead in this whole thing). But I guarantee you'll love it once it hits your bench. Its something that you can pass-down to (or perhaps throw at? lol) your grandkids. There is nothing to wear-out or maintain. It just sits there, solid as a rock, being a dirt-simple and amazingly effective PCB vise.

This is a hefty little tool that was very well designed. The product picture made me think I was going to get a pretty big unwieldy tool to hold PCBs to solder. But, I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't at all as big as I thought it was going to be. Although this is small, it packs just the right amount of weight to it to hold most anything needed.Upon receiving and just looking at it, I was trying to figure out how it actually worked. Once I unscrewed the top and saw how it held the boards, the only word that came to mind was "genius". I have used all sorts of holding tools, from those that are spring loaded and clamp the ends of a PCB, to simple "helping hands" type tools. This picks up all of the short comings and packs it into a simple, but powerful tool. Now it is much easier to hold those odd shaped boards that were just impractical in most other holders. You can even pair this up with another Omnivise if you need to get that extra support for the much larger boards.So far, this holds up well to a reflow heat gun and a decently high wattage soldering iron. It has settings to elevate the board, but I rarely have a need for that. It also holds the board low enough that I can still get it under a microscope for inspection.Overall, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one of these shall the need arise. Would highly recommend!

Unit is heavy - no wiggle / jiggle. Used it as soon as it arrived to repair pcb.

Worth the money to know youre getting a solid product. dont settle for one of those cheap $20 plastic holders that will break. save yourself the trouble. Nice to finally have a board holder instead of just laying the PCB on my desk. and yes you will need at Minimum TWO of these if you plan on doing bigger sized boards.

Pricey? Sure. But imho totally worth it. Pop a little damping grease on the threads and give it the “pricey audio receiver” premium twisty experience the price tag deserves. Or don’t, and it’ll still make you wish you got three. Just don’t drop it on your toe.