Is one brand any better than the other? I know it's kind of a minor point, they're almost always no more than a few bucks, I just don't want to get stuck with some Chinese crap that won't work.
Also looking for solid PCB-holding solutions; I'm considering one of those little cluster fucks with two clips and a magnifying glass but there has to be better stuff out there.
Applications: circuit bending, perhaps some repair work, nothing professional or digital.
>>911088
yes, avoid chinese ones because of inferior purity and oxidised surface and poorer weave pattern... they cant wick
>>911088
Those plastic things that suck up solder work pretty well and I think they're only 5 or 10 bucks more + they're reusable(?).
As for the holder I know the one you're talking about and it's decent but if you're going to be doing a lot of soldering and want one that's going to last a long time consider dropping the 50-60 dollars on one of the higher end ones.
That small fucker with the magnifying glass is a bit awkward to use, I can't really explain why.
>>911102
those solder sucker sucks, the solder splatter cools inside making tons of fragments and crap that will drop onto your pcb and everywhere near it, it is a flawed design, it very easily contaminate the working area with solder dusts and crap
>>911104
I disagree with your overall tone regarding your experiences with a solder sucker.
I use a sucker much more than I use solder wick.
I don't have trouble of "solder going everywhere" when using it. Perhaps you had a crap one that didn't suck hard enough.
>>911088
I have a mini vise to hold circuit boards, it has grooves for pcbs and holds them very well. Easy to attach to a bench too. Would be much better than '3rd hand' for holding boards.
(The 3rd hand is quite useful though too)
chemtronics and goot are both excellent wicks, beware of fakes on ebay.
panavise and GRS make wonderful luxury board holders if you're willing to pay the dosh, but one of those 5$ clippy clusterfucks will get the job done for everyday shit like small through-hole boards and headphone jack replacements.
>>911088
If you have vise, they work well for holding some things. I've never had them slip and loosen something that I was working on.
>>911088
Solder wicks are shit. Graduate to a solder sucker.
>>911209
Graduate to real electronics and you'll see how utterly useless they are.
