helping hands with lamps

Soldering wires can be such a pain sometimes simply because you really need more than 2 hands to do it properly. 2 hands just to hold the 2 wire ends together and then another to hold the soldering iron and a 4th to feed the solder. Then you also need proper lighting and potentially a magnifying glass if you're soldering tiny surface mount components. It's just a hassle but you do what you have to do to get things fixed rather than throwing it out and replacing it. Well, I've been working with a 2 helping hands unit for several years and I found it to be lacking. The clips weren't strong enough and the arms weren't flexible. They didn't have a wide range of motion. So a lot of times I'd just have to put things "close enough" and pray that it worked. More often than not it was a frustrating experience when it didn't. The slightest touch of the soldering iron would move things out of place. The wires themselves would shift and I'd end up wasting more time setting up than actually soldering.I finally decided to splurge and buy this unit. No regrets. It works well. The arms are stiff allowing it to hold heavier gauge wire without shifting. If I needed additional support I can actually use 2 clamps/arms per wire! That's definitely a bonus. For once I actually have more clamps than necessary. The rubberized tip allows for non marking of the wiring (especially when it gets hot). Finally the light is plenty bright. With it being longer than the rest I can position it better to either use the magnifying glass or simply have the light shining on my components without glare. The multiple LEDs allow for the lighting to be more diffused and the adjustable color temperature and intensity works well for different situations. The base itself is heavy enough to prevent it from tipping over and the built-in trays is a nice touch to hold all the various components together. My only gripe is that I wish it came with it's own USB adapter. I had a spare lying around from an old disused cellphone but I think something so simple should be included. The LED wire length is plenty long though which is great. I usually use an extension cord with it anyway for the soldering iron so having an equally long if not longer cord for the light is a must. The actual arm lengths are also quite generous. I'm very satisfied.

We use for repairing xbox controllers and other electronics, even for arts and crafts for our kids! Great product for the price. Light has different settings and is very bright and will securely hold more than enough weight that what you would normally need it for. Easy to assemble and good storage in the base for the screws etc. I wasn't quite expecting the entirety of the arms to be made out of plastic, but they work great and I would definitely recommend!

Night this to replace my other two grip and magnifying glass helping hands. Ibuild drones and this is replacing three items! The extra hands great so are the magnifier and soldering fan.I only have two complaints. The arms are stiff and difficult to move into position. I'm hoping they just need to be broken in. Lastly, the base is really light weight. I've secured mine to the bench with a wood screw. Highly recommend doing the same.

If you are a professional and have need of a precision micro-manipulator tool then this is not that. It is meant to hold wires, jewelry, solder, electrical bread boards etc for use for a few hours a few dozen times per year for the hobbies. And it does a great job at that. The arms are somewhat stiff, but they absolutely have enough strength to hold the magnifying glass and the light up without any sagging. The arms are just hollow plastic pop-apart tubing, and cannot be positioned with the degree of accuracy of a micro-manipulator. But they are stiff yet flexible, and easily hold electronics and wires in place for soldering even if it takes a little patience to adjust the arms a few times until you get your work in just the right position needed. The plastic coverings on the alligator clips absolutely will melt, but they are made to slip on an off easily, so a little caution and forethought goes a long way in protecting those coverings if you are working with flames or soldering irons. Just take off the coverings when needed and then put them back on when working with something that needs padding. An alligator clip costs about 8 cents, and the clips are made to pop on and off easily from the arms of this rig, so they are simple to replace if needed. The light is plenty bright and the fan is a great addition for blowing soldering fumes away. I use a 12W 0.5A USB charger and have had no problems with overheating of the light, and it powers the fan fine too. (The USB charger does have to be purchased separately and I recommend getting one with 2 USB ports). Finally, yes, this unit is very tippy out of the box. But there is a single screw hole in the base which takes care of that problem. Just get a scrap piece of lumber (in my case a 10-inch section of 2x10 scrap wood worked great) and it solves the issue simply.

Arms articulate and hold position excellently, alligator clips Are rubber coated so they offer firm grip but not sharp damaging metal cutting into your project. magnifying glass does what it's supposed to and the flashlight is very bright my only complaint is the battery in the flashlight does not last as long as you might expect but the ability to use the flashlight bright dim and strobe and removable from the helping hands lets you use the flashlight in other situations and USB recharge is nice, can even adjust the light Beam

This is obviously a cheap made-in-China tool. It comes packed in a tiny box with no instructions nor customer service. The price should be about ten bucks lower.HOWEVER, it is simple and easy to put together, and as advertised it does precisely what it is supposed to do. There are multiple arms with movable clamps. The magnifier is small and lights up the target (although the lights get a little warm). It also works off of USB power, which actually made me very happy because it requires no batteries.I like it.

Unit is good value and works well. Does not come with wall adapter for the USB powered light but I had several extra. Unit could use a bit more weight in the base but I mounted mine on a 1x6 board so it is super stable now.