XYK Helping Hands Soldering Station, Soldering Kit, Third Hand Soldering Tool 4 Flexible Arms Helping Hands for Electronic Repair Soldering Jewelry Crafts

I had low expectations for the XYK Helping Hands Soldering Station, Soldering Kit, Third Hand Soldering Tool but holy cow was I surprised. I expected cheap plastic and parts that will fall apart in a year but that is not what you get with this tool. It is made of metal, steel. The only plastic are the rubbery tips covering the alligator clip ends and they are there to insulate things. The base of this tool is solid steel, every part except the feet is steel. The ends of the arms can be adjusted within about a 10mm range. The alligator clips are solid and feel extremely durable. It is very easy to assemble with all the parts included, even a nice quality screwdriver to tighten the feet. This is a high quality product that is well thought out and I have no doubt it will still be serviceable when I am long gone. I highly recommend this product.

I got this so I could solder some smaller wires for a few projects I have. I’ve already used this, and it is perfect for my needs. This has a metal platform, four rubber feet, four flexible arms, and four alligator clips. There were two additional clips with this kit, but I’m not sure if those were supposed to be there as spares or were just added by mistake because the product list only showed four clips.Everything is high quality, and this was very easy to put together. They even give you a decent screwdriver to screw in four screws. That seemed like overkill, but I like the screwdriver, so I’ll keep it. Overall, I’m very pleased with this soldering station.

It's helpful but I find it doesn't have the ability to reliably clamp onto smaller pieces and wires, which is disappointing.

Typically speaking, I am terribly hesitant about buying products from China, but thing doesn't suck. Especially for the price and quality.That being said, let me go ahead and answer the questions that I know you're probably wanting to ask - because God knows I was asking these questions and figured I'd just buy one and see.1. Are the arms flexible enough to put where you want them, while being stiff enough to stay there once you clamp something weighing more than a feather in them?Yes. They definitely are. I figure that if I wanted to solder on something too heavy for this setup, I'd be better off just propping it against a brick on a work table in the first place.2. It kinda looks like it has two different lengths of arms. Reckon why that is?Because it does. It has two long arms, and two shorter arms. Plus, each arm can be put on whichever corner you want. So you can be the Michelangelo of your Helping Hands-gelo... Ba Dump Tsh!!3. Reckon if the base is stable enough to keep still if I'm having a bad day and engage in an uncharacteristically aggressive soldering session?Yes, with a caveat. The base is nice and heavy and the elastomeric feet are very dense yet sticky enough to stay put on your table in most circumstances, however (here's the caveat), if you're so unhinged about things that you end up knocking this thing around while you're soldering, it ain't because this is a faulty product. That's on you. I'm not your dad so I can't tell you what to do, but you might want to get some therapy, adjust your meds, or order a sledge hammer and go find a pile of rocks to break up. I'm just sayin...The base is some type of steel. Magnets will hold to it fairly well - in my opinion, better than a 400 series stainless steel. So I don't think it's stainless, but don't quote me on that. That being said, it does seem to have a well applied coat of powder finish that should keep it looking good and professional for quite a spell. Just don't leave it out in the yard during bad weather like that no good cousin of yours, and you should be happy with it.As for the arms and clamps, the arms are not attracted to a magnet at all. They are either aluminum or a non - 400 series stainless in my guesstimation. They are plastic coated with what seems to be a fairly durable and robust polymer. Good for those guys that decided to do that!The clamps ARE slightly attracted to a magnet, just like what I would expect a 400 series stainless to be. If you put a gun to my head, I would guess 410 stainless, but I could be wrong. Also, you shouldn't put guns to people's heads. That's not nice. It sounds like something that no good cousin of yours would do...I'm not sure if this is the norm or a mistake in packaging at the factory, but I got two extra clamps with my setup. I'm a big fan of having spare parts, so that kinda may my navel wobble in a good way. And all the clamps had these little rubber-ish sleeves on the grippy end which I kinda like. Sometimes you don't want those alligator teeth on alligator clamps to be unnecessarily digging into parts and boards that they ought not be digging into.

Nice all metal design, very stable and arms can be bent and twisted into any position, a big upgrade over old jointed butterfly nut tightened helping hands. The manufacturer should skip the cheap screwdriver - we'all have tools.

Love it very handy

Work very well holding circuit board. I like the price. Heavy and stable base. Also has four adjustable arms.

I got this product so I can start soldering boards for FPV drones . I quickly found out the clamps weren’t strong enough to hold the boards on place . The flexibility in the arms don’t really stay where you want them too . It’s sold at a great price but you get what you pay for I guess .