AmtechS2885 Magnifier LED Light Helping Hand with Soldering Stand, One Size

The base is small and not heavy enough, even using a lightweight soldering iron. Apart from that the clips doesn't hold the board properly.

I purchased 2 of these, 1 for my 12 year old son and 1 for myself so we could paint his model figures together, i liked the idea of the LED lights in the design and the reviews were good, they arrived beautifully packaged as always by amazon, they arrived next day delivery on time. we were both very excited as we could start painting whilst looking like pros :). We each chose a box and started opening, outer carboard box house a polystyrene box, inside this chunky box the helping hand magnifier was securely stored, as we both opening together i immediately noticed a difference between our packaging, my one had a plastic bag covering the device, his one didn't? ...i had a gut feeling .... as he continued to set his up i could clearly see that the magnifier was hanging at a strange angle and there was an obvious split where it joined the bendy arm, my son went to switch it on and was greeted with a strobe light show ... only one LED was working and it flashed rapidly, i continued to assemble mine, it was perfect, just how i expected it, adjustable at every angle, 2 bright LEDs, ( i had to remove a plastic "pull" to activate the battery, he didnt) great magnification, sturdy base, strong crocodile clips also adjustable, seriously ...perfect for what we wanted to do, naturally i gave mine to my son, now i will have to go through the chore of returns as my post office only opens for 23 minutes a day, if the wind is blowing north, i have no idea how to rate this ? mine was fine, my sons, a disaster! clearly upset! ... but i have to review honest and true and as a whole package?? ... grrrrrrr why cant we do half stars? my score 2.5/5

So I figured I wanted a new hobby - and that was fine until I discovered I had to deal with small items, very small holes to thread things through and needing a magnifying glass and some more light just to see what should go in where! I needed 3 hands, but only have 2. To every problem there is a solution - if we are willing to look.I found this gadget which combined the three functions I needed, and I love it.Shaky hands? - solvedEyes sight dodgy? - solvedNeed more light? - solvedIt arrived on time and well packaged, the only minor there being the battery compartment lid was slight undone and one of the AAA batteries that came with it had a slight dent in it. Pushed it all back in and the LED light worked fine.I love the fact that every joint is adjustable, so this thing will move which ever way suits your craft or soldering work. The clips hold the object well, use one for a light item and both for something heavier. The twin LED lights at the top of the goose neck but bottom end of the magnifying glass are well positioned. The goose neck bends and you can shimmy the holding arms up and down it to the right working height and tighten the nut to hold it in place.I like the quirky feet-shaped design of the base-it does look and feel kind off not heavy enough but it works fine for me. I mean how heavy can jewellery making bits be? It ain't gonna topple over for sure.This will make my new hobby so much easier to do. It comes at a good price too as I didn't need or want something too pricey, so its good value for money.This is a fun tool to have for anyone doing craft work of any sort and needs an extra pair of very handy helping hands.

This comes well packaged and is well made, I did have an issue with the led light and I had to move the micro switch inside the stem to fix this, its a quite easy fix for anybody who is able to use a soldering iron and so its not a big issue for me, but I hope this helps someone who is having trouble with the led not staying on. Because of this fault I have knocked off a star, but its a fine tool.

I recently bought a soldering iron kit and TBH if you don't already own one of these "helping hands" then you really do need one. Undoubtedly the addition of the magnifier and the light really make all the difference. Easy to put together and the base is wide enough to keep it stable. Now I will be able to do some more practicing as so far I've just managed to make a mess because no matter how steady you think your hand is when it comes to soldering the steadier the better.So this item is exactly as described but what I liked almost even more than the product itself was the delivery box it came in, check my pictures out and that's the box it comes in. I can't guarantee that every product from this company comes in the same designed box but if they do it's great marketing ploy as you really do remember them and I'm so tempted to order something else as I've put this box on a shelf in my craft room and use it for storage.

The LED is a bit dim, but a nice addition.Wished the base would be heavier, so it won't fall over.As long as you keep the foot pointing towards the object you are holding, you are ok, unless it's a rather long item (then it will fall over).The clamps are strong. The screws that lock the arms in position could have larger handles attached (I have big thumbs).Would love to have a magnifying glass twice the size, but it's ok for occasional use.Given the price it feels like a good deal and can be tweaked to perfection.

This is useful if you are working on something small that you need to hold still and where you need to be able to see what you are doing. I've used it for holding N Gauge wagons whilst I applied weathering treatments and it is good for that. Keeps you hands clean too! Not sure that the soldering stand is particularly useful as I think you would want your iron away from whatever you were working on. However if you want a dual purpose tool I think it is fine. Seems well made.