Got rid of my "Helping Hands"!!!!!

[Peter9DO]

I went to my local Harbor Freight the other day to pick up a nice 4 foot power bar for my electronics work bench and seeing I had a little time to waste I started looking around. I found this little work bench clamp for a micrometer, I thought it would possibly work for replacing my "helping hands" prop that is intended to hold something while you work on it, which honestly causes more headaches than is useful. Today, I was able to test it out and wow! Works great!!!! So I figured I would let you good people in on the less than $7.00 USD item. If you have a Harbor Freight near you, it's worth picking up!

http://www.harborfreight.com/microme...and-95918.html

[MDOC]

Re: Got rid of my "Helping Hands"!!!!!

Umm... you still didn't get rid of your "helping hand"

[Kiriakos GR]

Re: Got rid of my "Helping Hands"!!!!!

The helping hands of the future, but not for cheap.

[Peter9DO]

Re: Got rid of my "Helping Hands"!!!!!

HAHAHA! All I'm saying is this thing is excellent! I don't have to play with 13,000 wing nuts and alligator clips, shit falling off, along with me loosing my temper just to burn my own eye out with a soldering iron!

However I would like to get my hands on one of those future helping hands... Do you think I can get him to do all my SMT work... lol!

[LDSisHere]

Re: Got rid of my "Helping Hands"!!!!!

Thanks for sharing that device, I will look for one the next time I am at HF. I too get irritated with my helping hands and a good cheap alternative is great.

I want to share large version that I hope to own in the future that can hold an entire motherboard. Jack Crow does own one and when I saw it in one of his pictures I asked him about it. I would not call it cheap but I do think it is reasonably priced considering its' size and quality.

http://www.panavise.com/index.html?p...-eqskudatarq=3

[Peter9DO]

Re: Got rid of my "Helping Hands"!!!!!

Yea, I have seen these in the past, they really are bad ass! Unfortunately, I'm ballin on a budget, and spending just under $100 is a VERY reasonable price however, I can think of a couple other things that I need for my bench that would be a better buy at this point. I would consider picking up on of these maybe after I picked up a nice and I mean NICE desoldering station and a couple of other things.
To be honest I really can't express how happy I was when this thing worked out for me. I can't even begin to tell you how much I hated my "helping hands". The alligator clips have way to much tension on them, so when I would put wires in the clench of these clips it would actually cut into the insulation and make my work look sloppy! So, quick fix for that put some heat shrink tubing on it (problem solved). Then no matter how tight I have the clamps to hold the alligator clips in, they always just happen to fall out, so I secure one of them and the other pops out and I go through this for a good 10 mins. It honestly is a good idea and it has worked in the past for me but I'm very happy to have found a replacement!!!!!

[Kiriakos GR]

Re: Got rid of my "Helping Hands"!!!!!

HAHAHA! Do you think I can get him to do all my SMT work... lol!

This one haves a brother which worth 100,000$, and he can set on PCB 2,400 components per hour.

Yes, everything is possible :-)

[Peter9DO]

Re: Got rid of my "Helping Hands"!!!!!

This one haves a brother which worth 100,000$, and he can set on PCB 2,400 components per hour.

Yes, everything is possible :-)

It would be nice to have money, but then when everything is automated where's the fun? Yea, you would be able to turn jobs out quick and make a lot of money but the love of it all slips away... Damn him and his brother! Hahaha

[tom66]

Re: Got rid of my "Helping Hands"!!!!!

Trust me, pick and place machines are not quicker for small quantities.

The company I worked for had a rule: anything less than 2000 total components would be hand placed. And this was in the UK. It simply takes so long to set up a pick and place machine.

[Peter9DO]

Re: Got rid of my "Helping Hands"!!!!!

Trust me, pick and place machines are not quicker for small quantities.

The company I worked for had a rule: anything less than 2000 total components would be hand placed. And this was in the UK. It simply takes so long to set up a pick and place machine.

I believe it!

[LDSisHere]

Re: Got rid of my "Helping Hands"!!!!!

I picked one of these up at HF on Friday, it was $10 at my store. I like it very much, I have already used it a few times. It is quite heavy so it stays in place much better than the helping hands. Also when you clamp something with this device it is not going to slip or move if you do not want it to do so. I am not going to toss my old helping hands because I can use them both at the same time to make my life way easier by holding separate items together. Thanks again for pointing this device out.

[Peter9DO]

Re: Got rid of my "Helping Hands"!!!!!

I picked one of these up at HF on Friday, it was $10 at my store. I like it very much, I have already used it a few times. It is quite heavy so it stays in place much better than the helping hands. Also when you clamp something with this device it is not going to slip or move if you do not want it to do so. I am not going to toss my old helping hands because I can use them both at the same time to make my life way easier by holding separate items together. Thanks again for pointing this device out.

GREAT! I'm happy you took my advice, that thing is awesome right! And even for $10 I think it's money well spent! You know, I never did mention the weight on it and with the larger base, it really has a lot of stability. Anyways, glad you took my advice!

[retiredcaps]

Re: Got rid of my "Helping Hands"!!!!!

I wish Harbour Freight or something equivalent was in Canada!

[Peter9DO]

Re: Got rid of my "Helping Hands"!!!!!

I wish Harbour Freight or something equivalent was in Canada!

They might ship to Canada, did you check their website?

[retiredcaps]

Re: Got rid of my "Helping Hands"!!!!!

They might ship to Canada, did you check their website?

They use FedEx.

FedEx or UPS charge insane brokerage charges for individuals. Just last week, one ebay moron couldn't follow my clearly written instructions and sent my item using UPS (instead of United States Postal Service).

When the UPS guy showed up, I was charged $35 for customs/brokerage fees on a $65 item.

United States Postal Service has an agreement with Canada Post where the customs cost is usually/normally $0 (zero).

Additionally, I actually want to go to the store, explore, touch, feel the actual goods. I would totally get one of those $4 HF multimeters (sometimes free with coupon) just to take apart and learn more about electronics.

[Peter9DO]

Re: Got rid of my "Helping Hands"!!!!!

They use FedEx.

FedEx or UPS charge insane brokerage charges for individuals. Just last week, one ebay moron couldn't follow my clearly written instructions and sent my item using UPS (instead of United States Postal Service).

When the UPS guy showed up, I was charged $35 for customs/brokerage fees on a $65 item.

United States Postal Service has an agreement with Canada Post where the customs cost is usually/normally $0 (zero).

Additionally, I actually want to go to the store, explore, touch, feel the actual goods. I would totally get one of those $4 HF multimeters (sometimes free with coupon) just to take apart and learn more about electronics.

I hear you! I have about 4 of thoes meter along with the 11 function one which is suprisingly decent! It lacks the auto range that my fluke has but I was impressed for $21.99. Well if you ever come to the states make it a point to track a store down. They have a lot of cool stuff there, at really good prices. However you do have to be careful what you buy sometime. Anyways, I can't tell you the amount of stuff I have from there. Honestly I think one of my best purchases from that place was my airbrush kit. I paid $90 for it. I use it in place of compressed air cans. I've had it now for about 3 years and it has saved me so much money on compressed air.

[Peter9DO]

Re: Got rid of my "Helping Hands"!!!!!

@RetiredCaps - if you ever want anything I can put together a box of stuff, just pay me for the items and the shipping I'll send it out to you, I live right across the river in Buffalo, NY. I would have no problem sending you something if you wanted it. I owe you one, after all the help you have given me in the past! Let me know!

[retiredcaps]

Re: Got rid of my "Helping Hands"!!!!!

@RetiredCaps - if you ever want anything I can put together a box of stuff, just pay me for the items and the shipping I'll send it out to you,

Thanks for the offer, I'll keep it in mind.

PS. Someone posted this over at eevblog. Since I don't have first hand experience at Harbour Freight, I guess those who might find it hilarious?

https://cdn.badcaps-static.com/pdfs/...b8a0289c05.pdf

as part of this thread

http://www.eevblog.com/forum/general...tion-for-dave/

[Peter9DO]

Re: Got rid of my "Helping Hands"!!!!!

Thanks for the offer, I'll keep it in mind.

PS. Someone posted this over at eevblog. Since I don't have first hand experience at Harbour Freight, I guess those who might find it hilarious?

https://cdn.badcaps-static.com/pdfs/...b8a0289c05.pdf

as part of this thread

http://www.eevblog.com/forum/general...tion-for-dave/

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! That's GREAT!!!! Oh, I have to send that to some people! As I said you have to be careful what you buy there. Honestly they have more stuff there that you will never use, and will never figure out why they even stock it. Like the mini table saw (see link below), a 4" table saw.... for what? As soon as you turn it on I can see it vibrating all over the table... I don't get it. Anyways, Harbor Freight is a good place to go if you're board on the weekend and just feel like going through some useless items and find a gem from time to time. I personally LOVE the store, they have good prices for stuff you will never see anywhere and if your creative you can repurpose some items to be yet more useful. I have been debating about picking up this solar light there that has a removable solar panel and make a little circuit, to power my Arduino off of solar power as an example. Again, the offer is always there, if you ever want anything from there just give me a shout! Thanks for the laugh!

http://www.harborfreight.com/4-inch-...saw-93211.html

[LDSisHere]

Re: Got rid of my "Helping Hands"!!!!!

Honestly they have more stuff there that you will never use, and will never figure out why they even stock it. Like the mini table saw (see link below), a 4" table saw.... for what?

http://www.harborfreight.com/4-inch-...saw-93211.html

I have one of these saws and I love it. I use the diamond blade that it came with to cut my PCB board, both before and after etching. It cuts through fiberglass/copper like a knife through butter. I get nice clean edges. I used to use cut-off wheels with my Dremel tool but it never gave good results. I could also see it being useful for RC plane and boat construction. I do understand thinking it is a joke if you have no real purpose for it, but it is very handy.

The spoof ad is one of the funniest things I have seen in a while. You do have to be careful about what you buy there. Reading the reviews before purchase is very advisable.

I have been looking at these lights in the ads for a while: http://www.harborfreight.com/27-led-...ght-67227.html

I finally picked one up when I bought the clamp and I think it is great. I plan on buying 3 or 4 more. Every car is going to get one and I am going to turn one into a strobe light. Even with the cheap carbon batteries it comes with, it will blind you.