Magnetic Helping Hands Third Hand Soldering Work Station | EXtra Large & Heavy Duty Base Plate | Flexible Arms | 360 Hot Air Gun Holder (Helping Hand with Magic Hand)

The base is very solid and the magnets in the arms are very strong. The only downside I have experienced with this product is with the clamps/clips. The shaft of the clamps are cylindrical with no flat spots. The set screw, therefore, does not have enough surface contact area to effectively keep the clamps in place. If you move the object that the clamps are holding, the clamps tend to fall out of the arms. I noticed that the base of clamps have a hole in them but it is too small to allow the set screw to penetrate. I drilled out these holes slightly allowing the set screw to travel into the clamp base and no more issues with them falling out during use (unless I want them too)!

I spend time soldiering wires to microcontrollers, and it can be quite the challenge to get everything held in place to solder them together with the correct placement and angles. After endless vice and clamp gymnastics that half the time had me burning my fingers, I bought this great product. It has enough holders to keep everything secure and in place, and makes getting correct, clean solders so much easier.

TL/DR: Buy this set. Great value. Works great. I bought my set of helping hands from the Amazon warehouse, and there were two minor scratches. I expected them, they dont affect anything, and someone was nice enough to color them in with a matching black pen. In operation, the base is stable, the arms move where you want, and stay there. The clips are better than the average ones Ive seen, and do the job. More precise tips, and plasti-dipped alligator clips vice the sleeved ones would be nice...but thats nit-picking. This set has already worked great for replacing the lipo batteries on some Anki Overdrive cars. The small pillars are the icing on this cake. Extremely stable (magnets dont move), six of them, and once I cleaned them up (3 of the brass tops needed wrench removal and lubrication to move freely) they are the best part of the set. They hold the board rock steady. When Ive messed up electrical repair work, it has been due to trying perform tasks that require more hands than I possess. That isnt an issue anymore with this set. Random helpful hint for larger projects that requires more space and/or ridiculous stability. Buy a cheap set of iron brake rotors. I bought some cheap ones for $12, and those provide two satellite platforms for either side of the plate that comes with this set. The magnetic pillars and flex arms will stick to the rotors, too (if you buy the iron ones...aluminum rotors and some ceramic ones...not so much). At 14lbs each, the ones I bought arent moving.

Right from opening the box, I was expecting dings and scratches in the plate from shipping but it was clean, especially the top working surface. The feet are a good height and grip well. The magnets stick where they are put and the posts are perfectly sized for holding even some of the smaller boards I have. The bendable arms actually stay where you move them and hold the items in place very well. I did have to screw one or two of magnets all the way onto the posts when I first received it as they were a bit loose and one of them was a bit difficult to get it to snug down but after that, everything is working perfectly.

Spent a little more on this but probably should have bought one of the cheaper options. The clamp included with this works pretty well but hard to get tight enough. The small clips are thin and seem low quality.

I’m giving this four stars because the description claims there are removable silicone tips on the jaws. The jaws are covered with non-removable heat shrink, definitely not silicone. The arms stay where you put them UNLESS they’re bent at a severe angle. Unfortunately the severe angle begins right about the height of the pc board holders.

I had a cheap third hand from radio shack for twenty years and finally upgraded to this one after it broke. I should have bought this a long time ago - its so much nicer and more functional. It makes positioning pcb boards to solder so easy!

I feel all fancy now soldering my little projects. The clips stay where I put them. It even came with an extra alligator clip and set screw. I might even be able to use it for TIG welding small items.

Very high quality strong magnets and tight grip o. Whatever your working on

For the price, this is an excellent platform for soldering and working on PCBs. Pros: * The magnetic bases on the arms provides maximum versatility when working on your soldering projects. * The base is thick and heavy - its not going anywhere when manipulating the arms or PCB standoffs. * The PCB standoffs do a good job of keeping a board from rocking around when soldering components to it. * Unlike plastic flexible arms, these arms articulate smoothly and accurately - no clicking in to place or past where you need them. * Removable/replaceable clips are awesome. * The 7x11 footprint provides plenty of room for smaller projects. Cons: * The large base takes up a lot of room to store. * The bases surface scratches a little easier than I would like - dont drag the arms and standoffs too much. If you have seen the Adam Savage YouTube video where he made the portable soldering station, you can replace the plastic arms with the ones from this kit by attaching a steel plate to the base. I did that on my version and it works out well. The base and PCB standoffs can go in a cabinet until I need them.