Soldering Station with Helping Hands - Coolmade (2017 New WorkBench) Soldeing Tool Metal Vise with 6 Pana Assembled Helping Hands Aluminum Base for Soldering, Assembly, Repair, Modeling, Hobby, Crafts

This thing is pretty cool! Much better than I expected.I wish it didn't look so much like a toy - it's certainly festive colors.The articulating arms are easy to adjust and not too finicky positioning.It comes with a USB powered fan which is kind of silly IMHO - but I have a power bank so it will come in handy to waft lead fumes away when I solder. The magnifier though is welcome and it has its own arm. The base is solid and has a heft and rubber feet that will help it stay put.Everything is well built except the actual clamps which are alligator clips with heat shrink. They have a round plastic sleeve that you push up into the arm as a friction fit. Unfortunately not quite enough friction - I will likely put tape on it since I have doubts they'll last long term - they are definitely the flimsiest part. It would have been a nice touch to offer a variety of clamps such as some flat smooth jawed clamps.Would I buy it again? You bet - far better than those clunky arms that have a butterfly nut to tighten.

I first ordered Hobby Creek Helping Hands Third Hand Pana Hand Soldering Tool. I was happy because it connects with my PanaVise. However, I really wanted a standalone setup and kept seeing these. I decided because of the price I would take a gamble and try it out. The arms and the craftsmanship of the clips are far superior than the name brand item shipped by Hobby Creek. I was floored. I am grateful the other connects with my Panavise but that does not always make it the best choice. I use the arms I purchased with this order on that item. I then purchased a second one of these because the seller was helpful with a missing item and I wanted the extra arms. Great purchase.

The nicest thing I can say about this solder station is that it has a nice aluminum base and, overall, it's very pretty.However, for soldering, using something like an open flame, it's not so great.First, observe all the plastic bits - especially surrounding the alligator clips. All that pretty plastic is going to melt and you're going go through the arms fairly quickly as the round plastic sleeves that attach the solder clips to the cylinder sleeves is also going to melt. The plastic tips over the alligator teeth (ffs, why?!?) will go up in flames first, (remove them, please!), followed by the red sleeves over the pinch-ends (will be the second things to melt)...Overall, if you love the smell of melting plastic combined with flux and solder, this is the station for you! Will last you at least 10 or so solder sessions!

I wanted to be impressed, my dad being a tv repairman for decade using his own version through his career. I wanted this is be something better but I was sadly let down. The arms are cool but they are too stiff to move without putting extra weight on the base. Even then the alligator clips come off all the time because they are only held on with friction which is plastic on plastic. I had to literally wrap all the clips with electrical tape to keep them in place. I may end up drilling for locking pins instead.

Nice sturdy base, but the clamps press on to the arms. Not a super big deal but they do tend to fall out while I'm getting my board set up on it. Once its secured it seems to stay just fine. That's the reason for the 4 stars instead of 5. The clamps seem to get lost after they fall outMakes a huge difference for ease of soldering. And I paid just under $25. Pretty good deal in my opinion

The fan while a good idea... has to basically be on top of your board to either blow fumes away or to pull them away depending on how you have the fan oriented... it was mostly in the way. The movable arms are fantastic...the claws... again good idea, mediocre implementation. They fall out and/or come use from the slightest of movements and the little red rubber that is supposed to snug them in doesn't as well as begins to crack almost right away. I will be super gluing them into place after which I'm sure they will work adequately.

Pros:It's really a third hand.The little fan and the magnifying glasses are a nice touch.Cons:- Crocodile clips fall apart from the arms; nothing that a drop of glue won't fix.- Fine tune the desired position is sometimes challenging. When in need to hold a cable at an exact position next to a PCB, it gets frustrating. Arms are hard to move in small increments.

The arms are sturdy and the base is nice and heavy. It doesn't slide around. But what good is it if the clips won't stay in. The clips are loose and fall out very easy. A little glue can fix that. But then they won't be able to tilt sideways asset all. I wouldn't recommend buying this one