Weighted PCB Vise

This PCB vise is designed in the style of Hakko's Omnivise, although definitely different in many ways.

It is designed to be weighted with washers (or whatever heavy material you may have) to provide a very stable hold for your board.

Printing Suggestions

Print everything with the flat side toward the bed, no support is needed for any of the parts. You'll need one of each part and two of the sacrificial jaw parts of your choice (either with teeth or smooth).

You can use any material you have on hand, but I strongly recommend using TPU of some kind for the sacrificial jaws.

The only special consideration is the “upper screw” part. I printed mine with six shells, six top layers, and six bottom layers. That may be excessive, but it is the part that will experience the strongest force (and the force will be oriented normal to the layer lines) so ensuring extra strength here is worth it.

Assembly Instructions

All the components for the bottom half of the vise.

The vise is designed to fit 5/8" or 3/4" washers in the base for US makers, or M18-M24 for the rest of the world. Depending on which size you go with you will need between 10 and 15 washers, if you don't already have a pile of these washers on hand I recommend bringing the base with to the hardware store both to make sure the washers you pick fit nicely and to make sure you get the correct amount.

Filling the bottom with washers of any size (or other weighted material) will leave the entire vise stable enough to handle even large boards and the pressure of soldering without tipping.

To assemble, insert the washers in the “lower inner” printed piece then screw the “lower screw” into place to retain the washers. Insert the “screw joining peg” into the small hole in the lower screw. This will be a very tight fit, and you want to insert it roughly half way. Once the pin is inserted in the lower side, line up the “upper screw” and press fit it into place as well. 

The upper and lower screw halves united.

Between the friction of this pin and the force of the lower housing being screwed into place the upper screw will be held more than firmly enough. If you want to belts-and-suspenders double cover yourself you can add glue as well, but this is likely unnecessary unless your printer's accuracy is off enough that the pin can be inserted easily.

When everything is assembled to your liking screw on the “lower outer” piece to complete the bottom half of the assembly.

Sacrificial Jaws

I recommend printing the sacrificial jaws of your choice in TPU - the flex of the TPU makes it easier to get a good compression grip without scratching or damaging boards or components.

If you don't have TPU it's still worth printing sacrificial jaws (most likely the smooth variety) in whatever material you have. Depending on how you use it, it's not difficult to see how the board could become hot enough to begin melting or deforming the plastic holding it in place. Having sacrificial jaws means that you only need to reprint a small object to replace the damaged plastic rather than having to reprint the entire housing.

On the smooth vs toothed options - that's really preference. I feel that the toothed option gives a better hold, but it can grab and pull what you are trying to put into the vice. The smooth option avoids this issue but generally gives you a more solid surface making it harder to get a good compression hold.

If you aren't using TPU however, the smooth jaws are a better choice.

Assembly (continued)

Next we need to attach the sacrificial jaws. I recommend adding a few dots of superglue around the periphery of the jaws to keep them held in place during use.

A sparing application of superglue means replacement is straightforward, and is enough to keep the jaws from rotating while tightening.

I added four dots of superglue around the edges of the “lower outer” to hold the jaws in place.

Next, set the upper sacrificial jaws in place on top of the lower jaws. I like to arrange mine so the teeth are staggered, I feel like this gives a better grip, but I may be entirely making it up and it's just an aesthetic choice. It's entirely up to you.

Again, a sparing application of superglue is enough to hold the sacrificial jaws in place while still making later removal possible.

The best solution that I've found for this is to get the jaws lined up as you like, then add the dots of superglue around the edge of the sacrificial jaws. Once the superglue has been applied thread the “upper” onto the screw and tighten it down against the sacrificial jaws. After a few moments the glue will begin to set and you can freely tighten or loosen the jaws without worrying that the sacrificial jaw piece will fall away from the upper.

Screw the top down to the glue-applied jaws, it works well to hold the jaws in place with a fingertip while you do so so as not to ruin your carefully chosen alignment.

And with that, you're finished! You now have a completed PCB vise ready to use.

The weight in the base is sufficient for even pretty good sized boards, but if you find that your board is too heavy or the force of your soldering iron is too much and your vise tips, you can always print another to add to the other side of the board too.

Pictured holding a 4U eurorack synthesizer module, roughly 110 mm long by 30 mm wide.