Do you like soldering PCBs? Personally, I’d choose a terminal connector any time over having to deal with soldering (check out Wednesday’s post about ESP8266 screw terminals). This may be due in part to my equipment though, including a cheap helping hand device which doesn’t hold PCBs too well.
If you have to deal with soldering PCBs quite a bit, or if you even enjoy it, then this PCB Rax circuit board holder by Bench Werx looks like it would make the job much, much easier. It can hold rectangular boards up to 9-1/4″ x 8″, and if you need to build/repair something even bigger, the connecting rods can be replaced.
Where it really shines though is that it has extension brackets that are designed to hold oddly shaped boards, like the Christmas tree seen above. Once you have things roughly fastened together with the extension brackets, the threaded rods that connect the two halves of this device can be tightened further without hand tools. Additionally, the device can be set in a vertical or horizontal position, allowing you to work on projects in ergonomic comfort to your heart’s content!
Check it out in the video below. It looks much better than the tools I normally use; perhaps it could even convert solder-haters into solder-tolerants!
