#892 in Tools & Home Improvement

Reddit mentions of Hobby Creek Helping Hands Third Hand Soldering Tool

Sentiment score: 5
Reddit mentions: 7

We found 7 Reddit mentions of Hobby Creek Helping Hands Third Hand Soldering Tool. Here are the top ones.

Hobby Creek Helping Hands Third Hand Soldering Tool
Buying options
View on Amazon.com
or
Heavy Aluminum base for easy positioning2 pockets in Aluminum base to hold loose components4 Flexible 12" Arms4 Large alligator clips for various sized components and boards8 threaded sockets in base for more arms or a different configuration
Specs:
Height14 Inches
Length6 Inches
Weight1.1 Pounds
Width4 Inches

idea-bulb Interested in what Redditors like? Check out our Shuffle feature

Shuffle: random products popular on Reddit

Found 7 comments on Hobby Creek Helping Hands Third Hand Soldering Tool:

u/alxzsites · 3 pointsr/modelmakers

A pair if needle tip tweezers and a hi-powered magnifying glass (mounted a cheap $5 camera +10 macro filter) onto a $10 Flexible Helping Hand)

u/Mochaboys · 1 pointr/Multicopter

This took me 5 minutes to put together.

Commercial Version:
hobby creek version

Materials List:

  1. The threaded connector on the hoses is a 1/2"-20 thread. So grab a spade bit or 1/2" bit and drill as many holes as you want into your base.

  2. Don't make the mistake I made and either use a dense hardwood for the weight, or offset the mounting holes further back so it doesn't tip forward.

  3. Insert the coolant hoses and hot glue from the bottom then around the base and let that set

  4. drill the tube openings to the diameter of the alligator clip arm (about 1/4") but make sure it's snug, smaller is better than bigger.

  5. shoot some glue into the tube opening as well as the alligator clip

  6. slide on a tiny piece of heatshrink onto the tube

  7. push the alligator clip into the tube then heat the heatshrink around the connection (I used marine heatshrink which has a built in heat activated adhesive to help this connection)

  8. grab some rubber dots or no slip feet and stick them on the bottom of your base board.

    The amazon link I linked to sells the hoses in packs of 6 so you can make one for yourself and a friend, or do what hobby creek did and fix 4 arms to the base (which in my opinion is a little overkill).

    It's not 100% rigid, but for a $9 build, it's "rigid enough".
u/Danorexic · 1 pointr/arduino

I've heard a helping hand kit like this is significantly better than the traditional ones you see everywhere. There's a DIY guide on how to make that one on Instructables.

u/N3OX · 1 pointr/AskEngineers

I haven't actually used mine for anything yet because I kind of got burned out doing technical hobbies after a technical workweek, but I decided I'd pick up one of these anyway, which hits a lot of the electronics test stuff you mentioned:

https://store.digilentinc.com/analog-discovery-2-100msps-usb-oscilloscope-logic-analyzer-and-variable-power-supply/

Ton of features for the price.

I use a 8-channel Saleae logic analyzer at work which is awesome, has really nice-looking software, and is priced reasonably for a home lab, but the AD2 does a lot more for not much more money. A decent multimeter is always useful. I used a $50 Radio Shack unit for a long time, but when it died, I picked up a really nice used Fluke 179 on eBay. Get some extra fuses for the fused current ports.

I definitely would buy a home 3D printer if I were into technical hobbies right now. I spent so much time using hand tools to lash together ugly electromechanical stuff for ham radio antennas and tuning networks before 3D printers were affordable. Agree that digital calipers are a great addition. I've found really cheap ones to be adequate at home.

For general electronics stock, even if the work's focused on microcontroller/IoT/digital, I like stocking up on small general-purpose capacitor and resistor assortments from places like Jameco, and then I order extra on the 220, 330, 1k, and 10k ohm resistors. For caps I'll get extra 0.1 and 1uF ceramic capacitors and 10uF or so tantalum electrolytics, all at 25V or higher, all to do power bypassing.

I've always found it useful to stock up on 3.3V and 5V voltage regulators at least. I usually keep some "adjustable" ones around as well. The classic LM78xx regulators are still pretty useful for general messing around. You can order what you really need later if you want something more compact or more efficient. But it's always nice to not have to wait for a DigiKey order just because you want to prototype a thing with a 3.3V microcontroller that plugs into your car's cigarette lighter auxiliary power jack.

I'm very into color coding my wiring, but find regular hookup wire to be too bulky for most board-to-board work in projects I'm working on. These days I buy long rolls of rainbow ribbon cable and tear it apart as necessary. It's nice to have a couple rolls of heavier black and red hookup wire for higher-current power leads.

I have a deep hatred of intermittent wire failures from flexing, and also get sick of perma-tangled spiderwebs that result from soldering both ends of things as I add things to a design. So I've started to favor crimped header connectors for wire-to-board connections to the point where I picked some up for the home lab. I like these Harwin M20s https://www.digikey.com/catalog/en/partgroup/m20-series/32875 ... easy to pull the contacts and re-configure or even re-use by lifting the plastic tabs with a jeweler's screwdriver. I'll still often solder at least one end of the cable directly to a board... usually solder to a sensor board and connectorize the microcontroller end or something like that.

I've had good luck crimping them with this cheap crimping tool: https://www.inventables.com/technologies/crimping-tool

Lots of small cable ties.

If you do a lot of soldering, a good third-(& fourth & fifth) hand system is great. I like the cutting-fluid-conduit style ones like this

https://www.amazon.com/Hobby-Creek-Helping-Hands-Soldering/dp/B010C504NK

I don't really have one at home right now. I built the ones I've got at work from parts from McMaster Carr.