Looking for a good helping hands

[Youkai]

I was working on a project today where I was trying to solder some wires to one of these: https://www.jameco.com/z/H21A3-Major-Brands-Photointerrupter-Transmissive-3-3mm-Phototransistor-4-Pin-Rail_320901.html and also trying to solder male pins to the end of wires to make them easier to configure on a breadboard.

In both cases it was a nightmare getting my helping hands to position two straight thin objects so they were touching. I have a cheap helping hands where the hands are thick wires. Positioning them with any sort of accuracy is pretty much a lottery.

Does anybody know of a good helping hands that can position accurately? I found this link from a previous thread in the forum: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GIKVP5K/ but it looks like it's just wire ones too and probably suffers from the same problems.

Is there a better version of the helping hands or is this just an unfortunate issue we have to suffer though?

[Sredni]

I once saw Julian Ilett using a blue putty to keep the parts to be soldered in place.
<pause>
Ok, I've found a video from somebody else, it's called 'blue tack'.

Quick Tip - Blutack! (For Electronics Soldering):

I thought that was a brilliant idea, since I too have develop an uncontrollable hate for those pliers. They seem to have a mind of their own, worse than Dr. Octopus's arms.

The putty is plastic, not elastic and will remain... put as you cast it.

Oh, and you can try make it yourself: https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Sticky-Tack

[WallyGator]

I thought that was a brilliant idea,

How does it react to high temperatures - does it leave sticky residue on the board or try to melt?

[Ian.M]

Bluetack will leave a horrible mess if it gets hot.

The traditional style of helping hands with the croc clips on ball-joints on clamps sliding on a bar with thumb-screws to tighten the various joints can actually be set up and aligned a lot more easily, because it doesn't spring back.   

[beanflying]

There is ones similar to my custom one around. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/6-Arm-Third-Hand-Holder-Tool-Helping-Soldering-Iron-Electronics-Station-RC602/263065281175?epid=16016028231&hash=item3d3fe9a297:rk:4:pf:0

The legs are based on flexible air or fluid pipes. Mine has a couple of lights, fan with the microscope in the middle with 3 hands and a silicon mat under it all mounted to a chopping board. Bench is to full of crud to get it down 

Plenty of resistance to moving even with heavy cables in the jaws. 

[timgiles]

I would also the suggest the type that beanflying has linked to. I have a similar large rectangular version with a fan, 2 light holders and a bunch of arms.

[Mechatrommer]

Is there a better version of the helping hands or is this just an unfortunate issue we have to suffer though?

i think you have issue with your technique. if i have to, i'll need 2 or more of the pictured helping hand below, but so far i only need one. one component held by helping hand, one by my left hand, get them together and solder with pre tinned iron. both leg fluxed. but well, ymmv.

Ok, I've found a video from somebody else, it's called 'blue tack'.

no need Plasticine mess soldering just a TH resistor, just bend both leg wide open and solder away, thats how in the industries not so long ago and can be done with many resistors at a time, not just one.

[Ian.M]

Is there a better version of the helping hands or is this just an unfortunate issue we have to suffer though?

i think you have issue with your technique. if i have to, i'll need 2 or more of the pictured helping hand below, but so far i only need one. one component held by helping hand, one by my left hand, get them together and solder with pre tinned iron. both leg fluxed. but well, ymmv.

As I commented earlier, this style doesn't suffer from significant spring-back, so, if the ball joints are well formed, can be positioned very accurately.  Cheaper ones would probably benefit from thin Bellville or crinkle washers under the wingnuts to make it easier to set them to permit easy positioning without being floppy, so they can be tightened without loosing position.  They are cheap enough to get a few which gives you spare parts to set a couple up with three croc clips for ease of holding connector shells etc., and the third just as a magnifier stand.

[Mechatrommer]

yes just positioning by moving the base can give you sub mm accuracy, just depends on how jittery your hand is, no spring back effect even on my china one hung low. btw i dont need the magnification lens on there its been re purposed long time ago so its not there anymore.

[Sredni]

I thought that was a brilliant idea,

How does it react to high temperatures - does it leave sticky residue on the board or try to melt?

Possibly. I guess the trick is to put it a safe distance from where you are soldering. I have helping hands made of those flexible tubes and while they are good to hold pcb and components in place, they do not allow for easy precise positioning of two components at the same time. They try to spring back, so if you want to position for example the terminals of a resistor and a capacitor together to make a neat boardless circuit you have to go back and forth many times until you have all aligned. This elasticy is a problem. And can be remedied by using something that allows for continuous plastic deformation.
If you can keep it out of harms way, as should be the case in Youka's problem, you should be fine.
Use the putty to hold the plastic sensor base (that won't get too hot) and the cable. If you are fast enough, the cable won't melt anything, and even if it did, scratch the residues from its sheat.

Not a substitute for every soldering job, just the precision stuff.

[Wimberleytech]

...so if you want to position for example the terminals of a resistor and a capacitor together to make a neat boardless circuit...

Here is my solution which I printed with a 3D printer.

[cdev]

Do you have any kind of vise to keep your work in one place?

They are what I use the most.

For example, a panavise Jr., and "stick vise" (holds small boards flat - and down, all metal, found on ebay for around $5) both hold fairly small PCBs and get a lot of use. I also have a full size Panavise for larger projects - when I am working on one.. (not as often)

[RoGeorge]

Personal preferences for what I used so far:
https://hackaday.io/project/7574-the-devil-is-in-the-details/log/24735-find-a-3rd-hand-device-that-suit-you

[voltsandjolts]

OK, this is not same as helping hands but I find it useful.
Simple small vice with pins that are relocatable. It holds small PCBs really well.
All metal construction, it's solid, heavy enough to stay put.

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/bench-hand-vices/8496238/

[MarkL]

By far, these are the best third-hand holders I've ever used, originally for jewelry makers:

  https://www.grs.com/browse/benchmate-jewelry-tools/third-hands-soldering-stations/

The clips are are precision-made (no floppy alligator clips), and the joints stay exactly where you position them with no back-sliding.  I have both the "short" and the "standard" model with individual bases.  Not cheap, but highly recommended.

I bought mine through Amazon.

[KL27x]

I have bought helping hands 2 or 3 times, and I always ended up scrapping the as a waste of space.

I seem to manage ok without anything fancy. Big Clive style holding two wire ends in one hand, or just meeting up the one end with the loose wire, wherever it wants to sit still.

[FriedMule]

Would it be possible to just use some loose alligator clips or hemostats and just clamp the two parts together and solder?
You can get them in many sizes and I don't think that they do take solder easy.

[beanflying]

I have a few sets of these on the bench. I use them for connectors or even mid to thin gauge wires. The crushing style of latch on hemostats would be an issue for a lot of what we do IMO.

The alligator clips I used when I made my helping hands were ok for most jobs but things like kynar or thinly shielded wire would be a nono.

[John B]

These ones are pretty good with some modification. They're cheap, but not that stable because the base is small and not that heavy. (Cost proportional to weight of raw materials after all)

I welded some plate over the hole on a 1.25kg cast iron exercise weight, then screw clamped the base of that helper onto the weight. It's now ultra sturdy and stable.

I also soldered the alligator clips to the arms, because they're only press fit, and work themselves loose over time.