Official Luthiers Forum!

With the shop's new electronics and finishing stations coming along, we've been working on how to kit out the benches, resulting in a bit of a re-look at some older gear. While Stewmac's Soldering Monster wire/tool/third-hand station was attractive as a replacement for the tiny Radio Shack third hand, we already have planned for dedicated tool holders over the bench and a separate wire spool holder. We also wanted a more portable solution than the Solder Monster, both for storage on the bench and for safe use on top of larger instruments.

In perusing eBay for third-hand tools suitable for use, I stumbled upon the 'Helping Hands Third hand Soldering Tool' sold directly out of China and similar from other vendors. Although the six arms were about half as long as the StewMac Solder Monster's, the construction was identical (nylon friction lock flex arms), and the smaller aluminum base looked suitable for mounting to a weighted, cork-padded shop-made base.



https://www.ebay.com/itm/helping-Hands-Third-Hand-Soldering-Tool-6-Flexible-Arms-Six-Arm-Clip-HY-/202610299680

At about $22-$26, the unit as received may be modified as follows:

- Removed three of the arms from the unit, and pop off the orange threaded base adaptor

- On the three arms still mounted to the base, pop off the alligator clip and keeper assembly

- Joint the ball-joint ends with firm pressure

This gives three arms which are of similar length to the StewMac Solder Monster, and we've found that 1 to 2 arms is usually adequate for our work. If one of more additional arms is thought necessary, another $25 or so gets a second unit in to be stripped of the arms.

For the weighted base, we re-purposed a 5 pound iron weight plate, some scrap ply, and some sheet cork:

- Remove the plastic feet which pad the unit's aluminum base

- Filling the center hole with a 12mm plywood plug super-glued in place, then sand that plug flush on both sides while flattening the faces of the plate

- Cover one side of the weight plate with PSA-covered sheet cork. Cork drawer liner from a big box store is idea for this use, as is the slightly thicker adhesive backed cork sheet material squares available at office supply stores.

- Use some double-stick tape to hold the third hand unit to the base, and secure with one or more sheet metal screws (the existing center hole does nicely, and aligns with the wooden plug, avoiding the need to drill and tape for machine screws).

The alligator clip ends which come with the unit are medium sized, but can be swapped out for finer-tip clips, or for other accessories (one version includes a flashlight and magnifier).









When the build-up on the bench is complete (we have lighting, tool storage, the second shelf unit for the bench meter, oscilloscope, and analog power supply, as well as transfer and labeling of all the electronics parts to the new small parts boxes), I'll post another thread on construction and materials (hint: the top is an Ikea Gerton table/desk top...$100 for a solid Euro beech 1-1/8" x 30" x 60" slab with steel L-channel already inserted flush with the underside to keep things flat). The adjustable-back drafting stool with foot rest is a $79 Amazon Basics unit that beats most of the better drafting chairs in the sub $250 range for comfort and use.

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For the times they are a changin'

- Bob Dylan

Thanks for taking the time to post these pictures, your mods and the information of where to get it. I could have used this a couple of days ago.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

This is great. Very useful, thanks a lot!

Upon seeing the StewMac monster, I decided the idea was pretty neat but the asking price ridiculous. So I went nearly the same path as you did, but bought the stuff separately rather than as a unit. I used a leftover large maple chunk as a base and epoxied into it the arms I got from Amazon for a few bucks. To that I added the El Cheapo alligator clips and I was in business for around 10$. I didn’t care for the inboard spools of wire, so I saved myself a buck in the process.

Not every StewMac tools can be cloned that easily, I'm afraid...

Thanks a lot for the IKEA heads-up. I might have saved a couple hundred on this, too.


Pierre
http://www.torvisse.com

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Pierre Castonguay

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions, gentlemen - much appreciated.

In discussing this a bit more with one of the gentlemen from the shop, the flex joint technology for the arms is borrowed from tool cooling/lubrication fluid-carrying hose units sold under the Loc-Line brand name. If 'Loc-Line' is used in the search terms box on Amazon, a number of brand name and overseas-sourced knock-off products of similar appearance will be found, including the lower cost units Mr. Castonguay is likely making reference to above. With the major difference in performance between Loc-Line and knock-offs being the amount of leakage and service life when exposed to cooling and cutting fluids, our use mitigates this difference (i.e., no fluids>no leakage>no material degradation from fluids used). For this soldering aid, even the lower cost knock-off materials will give good service, so our Chinese-sourced unit or Mr. Castonguay's bargain-brand materials should work well and be adequately durable in service.

For those that desiring stiffer/greater load capacity flex arms for other applications, the 1/2" ID size of Loc-Line will hold heavier items such as cameras, lighting units, and magnifiers over the work. For our use, the 1/4" size flex arm stock seems to provide a good balance between ease of positioning and stiffness.

If Mr. Castonguay could post a link or two for the materials used in his project and perhaps a shot or two of the result, I believe others here would be appreciative of that effort - I know I would!

_________________
For the times they are a changin'

- Bob Dylan