Helping Hands Third Hand Pana Hand Soldering Tool

I eye balled this for a while before biting the bullet.. and I should have bought it sooner.I'm glad to see they used quality components, not the inexpensive cheap alligator clips/arms you're used to from eBay sellers. The arms stay where you put them, and the alligator clips are high quality. They even include some handy heat resistant covers for the clips, really helps keep your cables safe when soldering. (eliminates punching through the soft insulation with naked alligator clips)The only complaint I have, you can't really use the vise in a 360-degree motion any longer and still have the arms be useful, to swing around the other 180-degrees you basically need to lay the arms flat (away from the base). I thought this was going to be a much bigger issue when I noticed, but really hasn't bothered me.If you prefer to keep your vise able to swing the full 360-degrees it might make more sense to get their plated/magnetic arms, if they're anything like this kit, well worth the investment!

I purchased this unit along with a PanaVise 350 and an extra arm. All of the hardware was included to mount the PanaVise 350 onto the Helping Hands round base which then mounted to the PanaVise base. I now have an amazing tool (see pictures). At first I tried the cheap alligator clip holders that you see all over the internet which I actually saw highly recommended on some websites. What a joke. My electronics hobby consisted of fighting with that tool more than actually soldering and working on projects. This frustration caused me to research everything that was out there which is when I came across Hobby Creek. Their products are unlike anything else available. There is obviously a price difference between the cheap devices out there and the quality ones from Hobby Creek. However, I am now actually having a blast with my electronics work as opposed to it being an exercise in anger management. One of my concerns was how well those arms can position the electronic components. Well, in a few seconds I can get very thin gauged wire exactly where I want it which is typically on a one millimeter spot. This for me was well worth the investment. Everything feels very solid and very well made. I totally recommend this product if you are into quality tools that make your life easier.

The standard, name-brand positionable modular hose system, as used in the Stanley Snake Light and other products, is called Loc-Line. This is not that. This is made of something called "snap-line," and the plastic modules are toleranced wrong or made of an inferior grade of nylon, so they eventually split and lose their grip. I got mine in 2020 and it's virtually useless now because so many pieces have spontaneously cracked.

This is definitely a solid product and I've gotten great use out of it, but I still regret buying it because the price is extremely high for what you get. The cables are regular plastic hoses used for air and liquid in machines and a full set can be had for less than 5 dollars. The base is heavy enough if you're just holding light electronics stuff, and it's nicely made with a non-slip bottom, but again you could affix a set of 5 dollar hoses to a block of wood and it would serve the same purpose. The alligator clips are just the right size and have silicon tubing over the teeth so you don't damage your components, but again that's like maybe a dollar of materials.Solid construction and good customer service are absolutely worth something, and by all accounts this is a great company to buy from, but it still seems like it should be $30 or less to make any sense.

Really well built and easy to install. Arms are stiff, but that's good for holding things in place. That said, they aren't good for fine movements so if you need to pieces to perfectly line up, these sort of arms probably aren't the best choice.

Quite useful. Sometimes it's a bit hard to get the arms positioned precisely where you want them, and you have to move the workpiece to the clip, rather than the arm to the workpiece. But the arms are stiff and remain in position, so I suppose that's more important for most uses.

Love these things, way underrated. The clips are detachable, and underneath a banana plug, which makes them usable with banana plug stacking leads.One note: very little oil at first, if you oil it too much the arms won't hold weight, too little and they are way too stiff. So, just a little at first until you get used to it. I put it on a piece of cloth and just rubbed it in.

I must admit that I have not really made up my mind about this set yet. I purchased this along with a base and vise. Since I have never really used something like this in the past, I have nothing to compare with. It looks to be well made, and really does not look as "cheesy" as it looks in the photographs. Much better than some of those others I have seen, with the clips and cheap magnifying glass. Time will tell with this one.