I got this for helping hands with light and magnifier.



Issues are that it takes up desk space without the used space offering much value, and to use the magnifier I have to place it so close to the work that I can't do the work. I must do the work without it, and then can use it to check the quality of the solder joint.

Interested in feedback on this, and suggestions for alternatives. I wear glasses, so that must be factored into any solutions.

Thanks! (This is my first post on IntoFPV!)

Welcome to intoFPV!

I have a tremor, so for me, soldering aids are a must.
Here’s what I use as “helping hands”:

It’s wooden clothespins hot glued to a small piece of wood. The blue stuff is Blu-Tack. It allows me to hold boards and wires in place in the clothespins. The blu-tack allows me to stick a board in it at any angle I may need and it’ll hold it firm.
I’ve tried a wide variety of “proper” (manufactured) helping hands, but I still prefer my cheap little diy wooden one. It was always frustrating to me to try to get those flexible arms to stay exactly where I wanted them- they always seemed to spring back a few millimeters.

For magnification, I use a headset like this:
https://www.amazon.com/YOCTOSUN-Recharge...177&sr=8-4

Or my digital microscope, but that’s more for inspecting- the headset above is what I use when actually working on the board. The magnifying lens swivels up, but, I can tell you from experience that it’s a bad idea to walk around with them swiveled up on your head. They stick out quite a few inches from your face, and if you forget you’re wearing them and smack them into something, it transfers that impact straight to the bridge of your nose.

Thanks. The magnifying headset looks good--I was thinking of that. Was a bit worried about it working with glasses, but from the little I've seen on YT about using something like this, it looks like it should work fine.

Yup. I also wear glasses- can’t see farther than half a foot in front of my face without them.

I position the bridge/nose holder thingy on the headset behind my glasses. The lens sticks out far enough for plenty of clearance in front of my glasses.

Thanks. I ordered the newer version of these for $19.99 (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B7J9MDCL) and some TMANGO ones for $15.99 (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XNWH8BT). Will keep whichever ones I like better.

I'm a fan of the magnifying lamps that clamp to the edge of a desk, I use the light as much as the lamp. Also like that your whole face is behind it in case something goes awry. When done with it push back away.

(27-May-2023, 01:02 AM)aerokam Wrote: Thanks. I ordered the newer version of these for $19.99 (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B7J9MDCL) and some TMANGO ones for $15.99 (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XNWH8BT). Will keep whichever ones I like better.

These are almost identical, with a few differences. They obviously are designed by the same company, or one ripped of the other.

• Same basic design. When I first looked at them I thought they were the same.
  
• Lenses appear exactly the same, including the case.
  
• Both have "temples" as well as headbands.
  
• Both have USB rechargeable batteries, but the Yoctosun has USB C while the less expensive one as USB micro.
  
• The instruction manuals have almost exactly the same layout, with English on one side and Chinese on the other.
  

Differences (Yoctuson then Tmango):

• 4 LEDS, 2 LEDS
  
• USB C, USB micro
  
• 4 blue charging indicator LEDs, a single red LED.
  
• Bigger, more comfortable looking nose frame ("wrapped type spectacle nose frame), "nose bridge holder".
  
• More padding on inside of "glasses leg", or what I'd call the temples.
  

I haven't tried them yet. They are charging.

Gotta go fly!

I think mine are the Yoctuson, and they were the cheapest available when I bought them. They all look pretty similar, I’ve dropped the yoctosun lenses a few times now and still no scratches.

(27-May-2023, 11:13 PM)Lemonyleprosy Wrote: I think mine are the Yoctuson, and they were the cheapest available when I bought them. They all look pretty similar, I’ve dropped the yoctosun lenses a few times now and still no scratches.

So far I can't figure out how to get the
mag glasses to work with the lower part of my transition glasses, which is the close focal length part.

I've figured out how to work with the helping hands magnifier, and I figured out what to do with the space it takes up. Tried to upload pic, but not working. I put my fume extractor on it.

I’m supposed to have bi or trifocals, but I can’t stand the things. I’d imagine you’d need to adjust the swing arm so the lens hangs lower.

I figured out how to use the mag glasses. I realized that I can look through the upper/distance part, since basically the reading part of the glasses lenses magnifies things, which is what the magnifier lenses do. The "add" part of the prescription is +2.75 for both eyes, so same strength lens for both eyes works--or else I'm mainly using my dominant eye.

I've also figured out how to use the magnifier on the helping hands, and it works great for soldering, especially with the light, which is really bright. I use the mag glasses more for close inspections.

Interestingly, I find I'm liking the less expensive Tmango ones better. The main thing is that the smaller nose piece fits nicely behind my glasses, while the larger one on the Yoctusuns push my glasses down my nose, and are harder to use. So I'm leaning toward keeping the Tmangos.

I also am preferring the temples to the headband, since they're easier to quickly put on and take off. Today I put on the 3.5X lenses to do a close inspection of a solder tip that seems bad (new tip), and a couple of practice wire to pad solder connections. The focal length is really short, so I have to hold them almost to my face to see things, but the magnification is more than I get from the helping hands magnifier.

Excellent. I’m glad one of them might work out for you.

I’ve got a rather wide nose that has been broken multiple times, and I’m really sensitive to anything touching it. I might have gotten lucky with the yoctusuns being a good fit for me.

My wife picked up a helping hand similar to the OP, but it has an LED ring light around the magnifying glass, and 5 arms instead of 4. It cost her all of $3 at Falling Prices, lol! I found the same thing with the magnifier getting the the way of actual soldering. I have some handheld magnifying glasses from lab class in college that have nice optics; I use those for inspection. I also found the LED light can sometimes make solder joints harder to see. I think diffuse light makes solder joints easier to see (ie, the large overhead flourescent fixtures in my garage is all I use... turning on bench top lighting typically makes the situation worse). On the upside... the type of flex arms on these style of helping hands work very well for precision placement. I have soldered on all sorts of jigs/tools/improvised stuff over 35yrs... and I have found those heavy metal flex arms to be the best. Anything else I just clip the pcb, hold wires with my fingers, and go to down. With these style of flex arms, I often find myself clipping the wire too, because it's steady/precise enough. This is super helpful on larger joints that have to be filled with more solder after wetting... frees up a hand to feed solder with.

On a related helping hands note... my hotair rework station has become infinitely more useable since I printed a gun holder to attach to the end of a clamp-on desk lamp arm. With that arm, I can position the hotair anywhere it's needed across my entire bench. Since adding this tool, the hotair gets used waaay more often.

(04-Jun-2023, 10:41 PM)truglodite Wrote: My wife picked up a helping hand similar to the OP, but it has an LED ring light around the magnifying glass, and 5 arms instead of 4. It cost her all of $3 at Falling Prices, lol! I found the same thing with the magnifier getting the the way of actual soldering. I have some handheld magnifying glasses from lab class in college that have nice optics; I use those for inspection. I also found the LED light can sometimes make solder joints harder to see. I think diffuse light makes solder joints easier to see (ie, the large overhead flourescent fixtures in my garage is all I use... turning on bench top lighting typically makes the situation worse). On the upside... the type of flex arms on these style of helping hands work very well for precision placement. I have soldered on all sorts of jigs/tools/improvised stuff over 35yrs... and I have found those heavy metal flex arms to be the best. Anything else I just clip the pcb, hold wires with my fingers, and go to down. With these style of flex arms, I often find myself clipping the wire too, because it's steady/precise enough. This is super helpful on larger joints that have to be filled with more solder after wetting... frees up a hand to feed solder with.

On a related helping hands note... my hotair rework station has become infinitely more useable since I printed a gun holder to attach to the end of a clamp-on desk lamp arm. With that arm, I can position the hotair anywhere it's needed across my entire bench. Since adding this tool, the hotair gets used waaay more often.

That's a good deal. I paid $21 at Amazon. Mine has the LED light ring around the glass too, and I've been always using it, whether I use the helping hand clips or not. The light works well for me.

I've been practicing mostly with the practice board on my solder mat, but today I did an actual fix on my FC using the helping hands to hold it in a better position for using the magnifier while getting the iron in there with no issues. It worked out great.

I use the magnifying glasses I got with 3.5 X lens for close inspections. I thought about getting a magnifying glass, but then realized I could use my phone, and it works great.

I like the wood idea, that's really simple and elegant!