lol - i too have a hot air station and have never turned it on LOL
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I got one of these:
and the difference it made in the angle of the pins was… less than obvious. But I tried re-inserting the chips and they seem more secure. Nothing’s popped out yet.
So I dunno, maybe poltergeists.
Does look to be a better way of bending IC pins than the old press it against the table method, though.
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If you heat shrink anything. Use it mine shrinks heat shrink almost instantly. No more burning my hand with a lighter 
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I’ve got a heat gun I’ve used for heat shrink, but I can retire it, I suppose, when I get around to setting up the rework station. Never been a fan of setting fire to my work.
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Rock and roll is dead.
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Having now used this thing several times, I feel I can ask the following question:
Why the hell did I not get one of these a million years ago??
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I personally never had any issue with bending ICs on the table (and definitely never seen any ICs jumping out of their sockets), but your post got me curious.
After a quick excursion to Amazon, I think I can safely answer your rhetorical question :
“Because it’s a damn ugly $15 piece of plastic!”
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You should have made a quick excursion to Jameco, where it’s a damn ugly $7 piece of plastic.
Glad to hear the table thing works for you. It’s kind of worked for me, but the pin straightener’s been a lot quicker, easier, and more reliable, and has led to much less stress on both the ICs and me.
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Or one could push the irony to the max with this “deal” from AliExpress:
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Or 3d print one.
£1237.92 and £13.61 shipping for one damn ugly piece of plastic.
Caution: may not straighten the legs of your chips.
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Good tools and sometimes special tools are important. I feel the same way with 3 tools, second place is the bending aid for electronic components:
At first I always had to fumble until the resistors fit, then I looked for things myself that had the right distance and wanted to invent such a bending aid … but had already been done by someone else … at least this little thing is a real one helper!
Place 1 is shared by 2 tools.
First the automatic wire stripping pliers:
I got mine as a gift and I have to say that there are definitely cheaper ones than those from the Link. But it’s definitely worth it! Anyone who has ever built the Weird Sound Generator from Music from outer space and had to strip around 35 cables on both sides will agree with me. 
And then there is probably the cheapest solution. A simple 3mm drill bit to separate the traces on strip boards. Before that I did that with the craft knife and it was just annoying. Then I got the tip with the drill and meanwhile I’m already looking forward to interrupting conductor paths 
. It’s so simple and clean. I still had a handle from an old iron file that fit exactly. Absolutely brilliant and really cheap!
Of course you can also buy these parts, but a 3mm drill does the same, you don’t necessarily need a handle!
Conclusion: Special tools make life easier in many situations, but I will still bend my ICs on the table
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