Hobby Creek Helping Hands Third Hand Mag Hand Professional Workstation

The arms are nice and stiff and hold in place. They are very easy to position anywhere on the magnetic base.Overall just very high quality and extremely handy for holding and positioning things.I've used it for soldering and pulse arc welding small metal parts. In the case of pulse arc welding I used two of the clips to hold an autodarking lens to keep the arc from reaching my eyes.The pcb edge holders are brilliant. Most of the times I want PCB flat and steady for some smd devices, but through hole devices make the pcb rock - solution is these holders!It is fun sometimes just to play with the arms as I make robot sounds.

This is an excellent, versatile tool! After using a cheap third hand this is a major upgrade. I'm using it to make some beginner through-hole circuit boards and for some resoldering work.The package came with a few nice extras: grease for the arm joints and instructions on how to apply that made it clear that using too much might make the arms loose. I appreciated the level of thought that went into that. There were also rubber covers for the alligator clips as well as a couple of differently sized clips. The two magnetic parts trays may come in handy, although the glue holding the magnet onto one of them has already come loose. Glue may not be the best choice for those parts. I'm taking the one star off for that bit.The quality of the components is high. The magnets holding the arms onto the base are plenty strong and don't come loose when I'm working on the small parts I'm making. Two arms have been enough for my purposes so far and I'm sure they at using more arms for larger parts will keep them steady. The four small alligator clips are strong and hold parts tightly. I haven't used the larger clips yet.The little package of Nerds candy that came in the box was a fun surprise and made me smile, just what I want when I order something for myself. It made it feel like a treat! I'm impressed by the extra effort that went into the design and packaging of this tool. It feels like a premium product for a reasonable price. I'll be sure to check out other products from Hobby Creek.

I mainly purchase this for soldering projects to help with holding items and circuit boards in place.On first impressions, I have to say the arms and base plate are very well made. The base plate is heavy enough that you don't have to worry about movement. The arms are stiff and magnets are strong helping to keep things in place. If one feels that the arms are too stiff the package includes a tube of lubricant to use to make joints smoother at the cost of holding strength.Overall I'm very impress and looking forward to using it on more projects.I should also mention that I'm very impressed with the customer service. I had an issue with the product upon arrival and had to email Hobby Creek customer support. To my surprise I received a response and resolution within minutes! This puts Hobby Creek at the top of my list of companies I've been a customer of.I'm very happy and look forward to future purchases, and products from them.

Like others have said, the red steel red plate is heavier than expected, and that’s a good thing. I have used it to solder parts onto a couple of small printed circuit boards and to hold connectors being soldered. It works well. Bedsides, it’s a fun party novelty. Set it on the coffee table and see if people can guess what it is.

This item is great. Its built extremely well and simple to use. Having the pcb board holder feature built in is a nice touch as well. This is end game. No need to purchase anything more if you just invest in this. Customer support is very helpful and pleasant to work with as well

I've only spent a small amount of time with this device but I'm already impressed. The magnets that hold the movable arms in place are strong. I can lift the entire platform with one magnetically attached arm. The arms are pliant yet strong enough to hold a reasonably heavy object. The entire setup is quality. I guess a potential negative..although I don't feel this way.....is that because it's made with solid materials the whole set up is a little heavy. Maybe 3-4 lbs? I think that is a positive but I suppose others may feel differently.

I bought this to hold small PCBs during assembly. The magnetic arms are great because they can stick to any ferrous metal surface, not just the supplied baseplate. The trays are great to hold small parts during assembly, and the flexibility of the arms and placement make it a pleasure to use. Great quality and highly recommended!

Holds things in place, provides a lot of resistance when you move the arms, which is a good thing since it means they stay put even when you solder. I didn't realize this when I bought it, but the arms are just attached with magnets; you can take them off/move them around/swap them out for custom appendages.Base is nice and heavy.