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)

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.

Nothing to dislike about this product it was exactly what I needed since I build a lot of self designed circuits for various projects and mocking up a pro type for testing my old clamp system was frustrating and often led to poor solder joints and instead of going through the frustration of re-securing the workpiece and correcting the poor connection I’d just tell myself “that’s good enough for now” then I finally broke down and decided to replace my old system with this one and it has been a stress lowering tool more than anything . My solder quality improved immediately and looked professional again

Very easy to adjust alligator clips to hold items. Magnets sometimes disconnect from base if the arms are Stretched too far but otherwise a great product

I love the magnetic setup and the flexible arms are easy to manipulate and rigid enough to hold stuff well. I use this for soldering as well as some other craft projects so I was hoping the hot air gun holder would be a good arm for holding some heavier art projects. It holds things fine, but the ball joints are not made well; parts on them twist as if you should be able to tighten and loosen the ball joint, but it doesnt actually do anything... Another note is that the protective bits over the alligator clamp teeth is not super heat or abrasive resistant and began showing wear after one night of soldering stuff (it looks like its just small pieces heat shrink tubing or something)

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.

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.

I looked for all the helping hands on amazon and this was the one that offered the most value for money at the time of my purchase. It includes 5 alligator clips, 2 long and 3 short and 6 magnetic pillar holders. It is very well built, all the components are of great quality and sturdiness. The metal plate is very heavy and it will last forever. The alligator clips come with a plastic tube surrounding the tips so they wont damage your electronics. All the magnets are very strong and the rubber feet come with 3M adhesive. I recommend this product.

Nice strong magnets and the flexible arms have just the right amount of rigidity.

I had been using a traditional third hand tool for years (2 alligator clips on a short pole with a magnifying glass in the middle) and it was never really great. I got back into soldering again recently and saw that new third hand tools were out now, and so first tried one with a similar design but plastic arms. it was awful. Tried this one next and the difference was AMAZING. My only complaint is I wish it came with a light like some others do

This review is for the version of the product that comes with the third arm. Its actually five arms (two short, two long and one big clamp) but I get it. Its just a name lost in translation. This is a great workstation. Its strong and sturdy. Magnetic hands and pointy columns strongly attach to the base which also has some weight to it. From the moment you begin assembling it you realize theres no chance for whatever you secure to tip or fall over. When I did my first project I used the third arm to grab the board and one of with the alligator clips to keep it steady while I removed some capacitors off the electronics board. Usually I would be struggling with the board lying flat on my desk but with this contraption I was comfortably able to do the job. The third arm allows some rotation so I was able to quickly flip the board over easily. It might seem mundane but it makes a lot of difference! The only downside are cosmetic scratches from normal use. As I kept using it and moving the arms about I noticed I was inadvertently leaving light scratches on the base plate. Its unavoidable and not a big deal (you could re-paint it). The only thing that would make this tool perfect is an extra arm with a magnifier lamp. If you can I strongly recommend you go for the version with the third arm as that piece alone costs more if bought separately and it makes rotating whatever board you clamp on it very convenient.