Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Pin vices are more of hobby items (I bought mine at Hobby Lobby, IIRC), but you can find them occasionally at hardware stores. As for the brass rod, it's technically a better material, but the difference is small enough that you won't notice. The only real advantage is that the brass rod comes in more diameters, so you can vary the size of the pin depending on what you're working with.

 Laughing Man wrote:
Pin vices are more of hobby items (I bought mine at Hobby Lobby, IIRC), but you can find them occasionally at hardware stores. As for the brass rod, it's technically a better material, but the difference is small enough that you won't notice. The only real advantage is that the brass rod comes in more diameters, so you can vary the size of the pin depending on what you're working with.

This. Honestly I've yet to find a job a standard paper clip won't work with. From wold guardians to wolves of orboros, no issues. If you throw or drop a figure from a high table, it's more likely to break somewhere it's not supposed than at a pinned location.

Also, I'd say avoid using that stuff that melts plastic into itself. For a wide variety of reasons it's worth being able to salvage the figure and break it back down into stripped pieces. You can still do that after melting, but it involves using a saw, and it's not fun by any stretch of imagination.