Overlooked, underappreciated, and hard to justify until you already own them, the right tools can turn a formerly-arduous task into a trivial one. Save some time and just buy the good stuff right at the outset!

===== Work-holding =====

| {{http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7093/7289482806_679193d2ab_o.jpg}} | handy for holding PCBs during soldering | [[http://www.panavise.com/index.html?pageID=1&page=full&--eqskudatarq=1|Panavise, Jr.]] |  [[http://www.adafruit.com/products/151|Adafruit]]  |

===== Soldering =====

| {{http://media.digikey.com/photos/Kester%20Photos/83-1097-2331_sml.jpg}} | Cleans and deoxidizes solder pads; improves solder flow. | [[http://www.kester.com/products/product/2331-ZX-Flux-Pen/|Kester 2331-ZX Flux Pen]] |  [[http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/83-1097-2331/KE1808-ND/365532|Digi-Key]] [[http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Kester/83-1097-2331/?qs=%2fha2pyFadujjH0IhtZRDx6TN%2fmiqYP2wUabc24auZ3U%3d|Mouser]]   |
===== Crimping =====

^  Image  ^  Description  ^  Part # & Datasheet  ^  Distributor  ^  
| {{http://www.engineer.jp/_products/pa09/p/pa09_new.jpg}} | Four-nest crimper for tiny terminals, D-sub, JST, etc | [[http://www.engineer.jp/en/products/pa09e.html|Engineer/Futaba PA-09]] | [[http://adafruit.com/products/350|Adafruit]] or [[https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10219|Sparkfun]] |

| {{http://a.pololu-files.com/picture/0J2617.600.jpg}} | Two-nest ratcheting crimper for smallish terminals | [[http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/1929/resources|Pololu product page]] (anyone got better?) | [[http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/1929/resources|Pololu]] |

| {{http://www.bmotorsports.com/shop/images/thumb-100/product-tool-01002.jpg.thumb_300x240_mat.jpg}} | Five-nest crimper for small automotive and other terminals | [[http://www.bmotorsports.com/shop/product_info.php/cPath/111_112_170/products_id/364|product page]] | [[http://www.bmotorsports.com/shop/product_info.php/cPath/111_112_170/products_id/364|Ballenger Motorsports]] |



===== Documenting =====

| {{http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8004/7659175072_fd7e867e19_q.jpg}} | The best technical notebook ever! | [[http://nationalbrandproducts.com/vw/fs/p014.htm|National #43648]] |  [[http://www.amazon.com/National-Computation-Notebook-Inches-43648/dp/B00007LV4B/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343433519&sr=8-1&keywords=computation+notebook|Amazon]]  |