Hakko Omnivise PCB Holder (C1390C)

These things are wonderful for working on electronics. It hurts to spend $250 for 4 of them though, considering they are made in china and not very expensive to manufacture. They do work remarkably well. Even at the price, I highly recommend these. Depending on size PCBs you are working on, you will probably need between two to 4 of them. They hold the board stable enough above my convection preheater to do QFN and BGA rework just as well as a board holder that costs $1k. Height is adjustable too which is nice. This is one of those items you never realized how much you needed it until you own one (just like a video magnifier for working on small electronics). My ONLY complaint about these are the price. The product is top notch.

I liked the first one i got over a year ago....I bought a second one ....Great product!!!!....re You should get this one !!!... re

I have used this vise at work for over 12 years. I decided to get one for home recently. Unfortunately, they cheapened the design such that it is no longer a vise, but pliers. For me the critical thing was that both clamping plates are parallel to each other no matter the the thickness of the material being clamped. The old design had a nut on the main bolt which held the top plate with the rubbery material in place. Even though it was loose, but not too much. The new design removed the nut and replaced it with just a small E-clip retaining washer. There is about 5 mm play in between the washer and the top plate. The top plate is so loose, that you get a wide swinging of the top plate. If you want to clamp material even as 10 mm think this really become pliers, one edge of the top round plate sitting on the edge of the bottom cylinder while the other edge of the top plate is clamping your material at an angle, like pliers. Since I liked the style, I decided to modify it to actually create a vise. Here are the steps: 1. I replaced the top washer in between the top plate and knob with one with much bigger diameter. I used SAE washers and enlarged the center holes to make them snug 8 mm in diameter. 2. Placed two washers at the bottom of the top plate. Second one is not visible in the picture since it fills the hole in the rubberized material. The other one is there to fill the space to reach the M8 x 1.25 thread since the thread ends early to accommodate the E-clip. The second washer must be made less than 15 mm in outer diameter to drop into the hole in the bottom cylinder. 3. That was not enough to reach the bottom nut, but instead of adding another washer I backed drilled the M8 nylon locking M8 nut for about 0.8 mm to make it all work. The M8 x 1.25 nylon locking nut replaced the E-clip and I was able to fine tune the play of the top plate. After lubricating the whole thing with PTFE there is no side wobble play in the upper plate while it still freely rotates and I have an actual vise. It took about 1.5 hours to modify two of them. Not worth the price without modification.

If you do not repair small PCBs for a living than you do not need this. If like me you need to hold at least one motherboard per day for soldering work than you should stop debating and just spend the $80. I dont know anyone who owns a Hakko Omnivise who regrets the purchase. More likely after several months you will be debating buying a second because your coworkers keep stealing it.

Best products think you very Match

A little pricey,But made like a tank.Holds boards very sturdy and no movement.You get what you pay for!

Best board holder money can buy. I havent found a board that this wont work with. Order two for larger boards.

expensive but works great

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.

awsome tool