Best Soldering Helping Hands

[MJ]

Hi!

What would people recommend for the best simple soldering "helping hands"?

I'm a beginner at soldering.

Mostly doing plugs, jacks cables, etc. now, building up to doing some circuitry eventually.

There seem to be so many styles of these things out there?

Thanks!

 

[pucho812]

look up panavise.

I have one with a heavy base and one with a suction base. The heavy base has multiple attachments so I can use it for connectors to PCB's. the suction is for filed work on cables and snakes.

 

[dmp]

I have a panavise base with a multipurpose vise attachment & circuit board holder
Been using them for 10 years and have never wanted to try anything different
There is a 'helping hands' attachment I think

 

[NOON]

For connectors get yourself a lump of wood and mount the mating connectors on it. (e.g. panel mount XLR connectors of each gender. for 1/4" jacks etc you can just drill a hole of appropriate size.) This conveniently holds everything in place while soldering, including pins that may move a little if you apply too much heat while learning to solder. You can also write the pin numbers in the appropriate spots on the lump of wood and reminders like "have you put the boot on the cable first?"

 

[scott2000]

Ah..Of course. Always thought it was a patience builder but it never seemed to build in me..lol

You can also write the pin numbers in the appropriate spots on the lump of wood and reminders like "have you put the boot on the cable first?"

 

[pucho812]

If you haven’t made a cable where you solder it and forgot to put the boot first then you are a liar or never made cable

 

[musika]

I have a collection of soft items like pieces of old shoe leather and rubber, etc. handy because it helps protect whatever you’re soldering from the jaws of the alligator clips.

 

[MJ]

Thank you for all of this terrific advice! I'm going to check out the panavise, and also make some wood blocks as mentioned with the XLR connectors numbered. Great idea, as it's pretty much all XLR and1/4" TRS. Thanks again!

 

[matriachamplification]

I tell my kids to hold really still or they will get burned.

Joking! We have a Panavise set up that I know little about.

 

[JohnRoberts]

I used to hold solder in my mouth like a third hand. Kids don't do that at home, especially with leaded solder.

JR

 

[MJ]

I actually unfrotnately have a tremor in both hands.

And am learning to solder this late age.

Very late late in life!

There is the connector, the soldering iron, the wire and the solder itself.

I don't have four hands, so I'm trying to figure out how this works!

A really terrific person on "Gearspace" told me about using an aid to hold the iron steady for people like me with shaky hands, so now I'm looking at "helping hands", and how to integrate that the optimal way too?

There are so many choices in that arena, but I'm trying to figure what would work out best for my specific situation.

 

[pucho812]

I used to hold solder in my mouth like a third hand. Kids don't do that at home, especially with leaded solder.

JR

if we are going to compare what not to do, I once was on the phone in the studio tech shop with a phone call from management. At the same Time I was soldering. In shifting things around in my hands, I held the hot end of the iron for what seemed like an eternity but was probably less then a second between two fingers like a cigar.

Management wondered why I had a sudden burst of expletives in the middle of a phone call. I was too embarrassed to admit what I had done so I made up that it was someone else in the shop shouting.

 

[JohnRoberts]

I never did exactly that but close enough... Sometimes you smell it before you feel it.

JR

 

[pucho812]

I never did exactly that but close enough... Sometimes you smell it before you feel it.

JR

if it smells like chicken, you're holding the wrong end.

 

[Dan Kennedy]

A combination of no depth perception, astigmatisms, and working in low light conditions has more than once resulted in burning the tip of my nose. Like JR says, sometimes you smell it before you feel it.

 

[totoxraymond]

I bought this vise a few years ago and suddenly i stoped burning myself:

https://fr.farnell.com/stanley/1-83-069/etau-a-rotule-multifonctions/dp/1696668?st=Stanlye etau

one good advice: if like me you always drop things on the ground, be very carefull while getting them back. I once catch the iron cable while crawling under the bench... my shoulder still remembers.

 

[TimG]

I have tremor too, and this one has been better for me than the alligator clips type. Very steady and I can get at it from any angle.

https://www.amazon.com/AmScope-Adju...ocphy=9007902&hvtargid=pla-983760329969&psc=1

 

[MJ]

Both of those look terrific. Thanks!

Especially the PCB board holder. When I tried the alligator clip ones, they moved too much for me also.

The PCB one seems to come in other variations also.

And the vise looks terrific.

Thanks again!

 

[NOON]

I have lots of sensible strategies and appropriate tools and things but sometimes you're just tacking a bit of resistor lead onto something quickly and it's not worth the setup time. After about 40 years of soldering I still haven't made the connection between holding a 300 degree tool on a piece of metal about 2cm away from my fingers and getting burned.

 

[totoxraymond]

That's what i like about the stanley vise, you clamp it on your table edge, so the setup time is very short. And it's out of the way in no time. That's what i call ergonomics.