Convince wife, girlfriend, cousin, other, that you need both and to kick in extra funds needed.

A good iron will go a lot further if your iron is very basic. I love my panavise, but if it were that choice, soldering iron first.

The 324 wouldn't be my choice in panavises, either.

Just get the cheapest Hakko w/ adjustable temps. It will be MILES better than your RS iron, and not too expensive.

Mine has been excellent, and does everything I need. had it for 3 years now.

Sorry, I meant to post that info, but got distracted by work and children last night

305 - Base
308 - 5# base weight
315 - PCB vise. Comes with 12 inch bar, holds PCBs up to 10 inches long
318-22 - 22 inch extension bar, allows to hold up to 20 inch long PCB

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One tip - look for used parts if you can. These are pretty indestructible. Make offers on people's eBay listings and look for listings with free shipping. If you have to pay separate shipping on 3-4 items, you will probably end up spending as much as buying them new and shipping from a single supplier!

I was struggling with a board rocking all over the pace last night, I didn't know these existed. I just checked Amazon and these 4 items are right around $100 shipped with Prime. Can anyone else comment on these over doing board work on a flat surface?

I have a Panavise and it is a great addition and very nice, but a good solder/desoldering station should be your first acquisition. You can mess things up with a cheap iron, most likely you won't damage something if you don't have a Panavise.

I find that I mainly use the Panavise when trying to remove stubborn components where I have to heat both sides of the component to get all the solder to flow and get sucked out of the through hole. The vise is really nice as it frees your hands to get the work done. But for most of my rework, I have the board on the bench and don't use the vise.

Get the best soldering station that you can buy first.

Get a good soldering station, and hold out for the Panavise. If you can wait a while, the panavise 324 was around $40 from Radio Shack for Black Friday.

I work on boards daily for hours on end. No vice here, i physically hold the board vertical when desoldering and lay it flat when soldering.

That being said, spring for the good soldering iron first.

Well, here's my theory on the 324.. I'm sure there are people who use the 324 and like the 324. I don't mean to imply it's no good or it's junk, because I'm sure it's better than nothing, and quite useful on boards of a certain size. It says it holds boards up to 12 inches wide. So, get a ruler out and see how many of the boards you might work on are 12 inches or narrower. The solder holder is an OK touch, the iron holder I don't see me ever using.

The cross bar could be changed out with a 318-22 so larger boards would fit, if you like. Truthfully, you don't need to buy the 318-22 if you can find a piece of square stock at a home improvement store, welding supply, etc of the right size. You could cut it to length, file the edges smooth, drill a hole, and make your own cross bar of any length you desire.

I prefer the 5# weighted base because when you put bigger boards in the vise, it can tip over if you don't have a weighted base. It just makes a more sturdy arrangement. You could clamp or bolt the base down, but I don't have enough workbench that I can dedicate a certain spot to board repair day in and day out. Sometimes, I have a board on the bench and a logic probe out. Sometimes, I solder and desolder. Sometimes, I'm sorting parts. So, with the weighted base, it picks up and sits on a shelf above the bench when I'm not using it.

I've done plenty of work on boards without a vise. It certainly helps, but is not a requirement. As has been said over and over here, decent iron first. Board vise later, if at all, based on your tastes.

Andrew, as much work as you do on boards, I believe if you tried a vise, you'd like it, and want to have one

I've gotta go with barakandl on this one. I have a panavise in the closet that hasn't been pulled out in years.

maybe you pry terryb's out of the closet.

As my Dad would say when questioned about throwing/giving something away that he hasn't used in years and had forgotten he even owned: "But I might need that some day."