Helping Hands with Magnifying Glass

I love this little helping hand -- can't believe how handy it is. As a jewelry designer, it's a must have for holding bracelets while I add parts to it. The adjustable arms work perfectly so that I can customize to the size of the item I'm working on. I have found it just as helpful with necklaces, because of how wide I can adjust the clips. Also, the clips are quite strong, so no chance of anything falling off. When it came in the mail, it was totally assembled, however, the nuts were so tight, I had to ask my other half to loosen them so I can move everything as I need. He fussed at me for spending so much money on another tool. He thought it cost between $30 and $50. He quit fussing when I told him how affordable it was. It is definitely worth the price. In order to keep it from tipping over, I keep the magnifier toward the back to give it balance (that's all I use the magnifier for). That gives it enough weight to counter the weight of the jewelry I'm working on. I have a magnifying lamp that I use for better vision, so the magnifier serves no other purpose than for balance -- but it works perfectly. This tool has ended a lot of frustration, making my work much more enjoyable. I'm planning to buy a second one so I can have two pieces in progress at the same time.

The design on this is just fundamentally not that great; the base is not big or heavy enough, the magnifying glass is too heavy and makes it unstable (I took it off and replaced it with a mini-wrench to keep it from tipping over constantly), the articulating joints don't stay tight and bend in the middle if slightly overtightened. The whole thing is just frankly awkward to adjust and feels like it has joints in the wrong places, or not enough of them no matter how it's arranged. But man, it still kicks ass when you REALLY need another third hand. That instantly sweeps away the drawbacks. It makes you appreciate the ugly little bastard after neglecting him all of his life, dodging his constant calls, ignoring the weekly (more like weak, jesus christ) little league games, running from child support enforcement... but then you remember you have the SE MZ101B Helping Hands with Magnifying Glass, and the enormous sense of relief that sweeps over you when you realize you don't have to call that annoying little brat. At least not for now. Five stars.

I dabble in electronics and soldering. I bought this mainly for the "helping hands" portion. Though I suppose the magnifier can be useful at times, I am considering removing it, as it's kind of a hassle to adjust and tends to get in the way more than anything else. Unless you have bad near vision, you probably don't need it. If you need to do really high precision soldering your skill level is probably such that you would already be looking at something much more high end than this. On the other hand, I guess it's nice that the magnifier is there and you can choose to leave it on or take it off. For this price I guess it can only be a win. The alligator clips are more useful. Soldering can be a real pain (literally sometimes) when you're trying to solder something that is both small and awkwardly shaped. The only real concern I had when ordering this was that it would be so poorly made that it would just break. At this price, you can't help but wonder. While there are some obvious cost cutting measures that jump right out at you when you really look (the wingnuts are obviously very cheap, for example), nothing has broken yet. The magnifier is OK quality but it's actual construction is about what you'd get if you bought it at the dollar store. All in all, I'd guess the value of the parts used to construct this is very low. But, it doesn't cost much and if you need something like this only very occasionally, it's worth what it costs. I'm not entirely sure I have any confidence in their quality control, however. It's obviously made in China. Probably from the cheapest materials they can get their hands on. But mine works fine. I kind of wish there was a way to control the tension on the clips so they don't bite into more delicate things like wire insulation but you obviously can't have everything at this price. One other thing I worried about when I ordered it was some people said it tends to tip over. The base is quite small but it seems stable enough as long as you don't either try to hold something that's unreasonably heavy with it or bump it too hard. It stands up fine just holding wires or small components/boards. Obviously, it's not going to hold a motherboard or anything like that. This will literally get you by in a pinch.

This is a very helpful clamp, but after repeated bench use, some parts have proven a bit flimsy. The lens mount in particular is a pain. Other than the base, the lens is the heaviest component of this clamp, and the ring that the glass is housed in connects at the point where the ring mounts to the arm assembly. This means the thread is hollow and split into two halves that are pushed together to put tension on the ring and held together by the mount. The threads don't fit snugly, however, which means the lens wobbles and frequently falls out when adjusted. Similarly, the alligator clips are friction-mounted and loosen over time - they either can't be moved, or they're so loose that they fall off - no happy medium. The base and the arm assembly are solid. Heavy construction, ball joints with compression fittings - If the lens ring and alligator clips were sturdier, I would give this 5 stars.

Es un buen producto. Llego en tiempo y en forma. Lo acabo de recibir, pero se ve muy bien, ya solo falta que le de uso. La lupa es estupenda, tiene un muy buen aumento. Las pinzas tienen bastante fuerza. La base es algo pequeña pero basta con saber colocar el mecanismo en el centro, no muy al frente, si no se caerá. Para trabajos pequeños, esporadicos o de hobby es perfecto. Muy recomendado. Despues de darle algo mas de uso, actualizare mi reseña, pero por ahora, van 5 estrellas.

This is a handy little tool. Makes small difficult holding jobs easy , and reasonably priced , good value for the money

me ha llegado el pedido dentro del sobre y la caja estaba destrozada y desmontado todo, lo cual montarlo es practicamente imposible, con lupa aplastada

Not worth the price-chinese item-cheaper substitutes available

Simple, base is heavy and sturdy, works well for many applications. Used it for basic electronic soldering