Those who know me can attest that I loathe anything electrical. HATE, Hate, HATE it. My RC buddy called me to come over and check out his new ProTek R/C Carbon Fiber Soldering Jig he just got. I’ve had a lot of ProTek stuff in the past and they are usually good quality, so I ran over as I needed to do some more QS8 connecters.
He has used my helping hands before and liked them but never bought any for himself. This jig is sold everywhere, and the reviews are not so good for $17-20. Plus, it is a single use item in my opinion. After using it for Qty 1 connector I just could not do it anymore. It is way to light weight, the posts don’t hold wires very well along with transferring a lot of heat, you need a tool (not me ) to use it aka hex wrench and the whole thing is just kinda “clunky”. IMO no way is it worth what they sell for.
Since i am a cheap bastard, I look at items for multiuse scenarios. I tend to buy things that are already made by someone far smarter than I am for such multiuse scenarios or that I can tweak and make it work for me and my scenario(s).
Here is my Version of a Soldering Jig or should I say jigs. I bought two of these mini bench vises for $27 and the rest are spare pieces/parts in the garage. I made the holding posts out of ¼” fuel line, M5 bolt and washers and bolted them down to a chunk of plastic from previous project. I reality just one vise is needed but 2 makes it much easier. Plus, the little vise(s) have probably a 100 different use scenarios vs just one for the ProTek.
He has used my helping hands before and liked them but never bought any for himself. This jig is sold everywhere, and the reviews are not so good for $17-20. Plus, it is a single use item in my opinion. After using it for Qty 1 connector I just could not do it anymore. It is way to light weight, the posts don’t hold wires very well along with transferring a lot of heat, you need a tool (not me ) to use it aka hex wrench and the whole thing is just kinda “clunky”. IMO no way is it worth what they sell for.
Since i am a cheap bastard, I look at items for multiuse scenarios. I tend to buy things that are already made by someone far smarter than I am for such multiuse scenarios or that I can tweak and make it work for me and my scenario(s).
Here is my Version of a Soldering Jig or should I say jigs. I bought two of these mini bench vises for $27 and the rest are spare pieces/parts in the garage. I made the holding posts out of ¼” fuel line, M5 bolt and washers and bolted them down to a chunk of plastic from previous project. I reality just one vise is needed but 2 makes it much easier. Plus, the little vise(s) have probably a 100 different use scenarios vs just one for the ProTek.
