Soldering Aid / Helping Hands

UPDATE: 17/10/2018

Added a longer base with provision to add weight in the form of either with a steel or brass bar 8mm x 50mm x 100mm or as I did, small lead shot of the kind used in scuba diving weights.

UPDATE: 13/10/2018

Modified to accept springs to auto close the jaws and extended the thumb lever for easier operation.
Also added a 100mm long base option if you want a bit more distance between jaws.

The springs I used are wire dia 0.7mm x spring dia 5mm x spring length 20mm
Got them off eBay so doing a search for 0.7mmx5mmx20mm compression springs should find you some.

My take on the soldering aid for wire and component holding.

I designed it so the gripper arms can slide along the base allowing for fine adjustment of parts prior to soldering. This also allows easy disassembly for storage.

Uses a couple of rubber bands located in the cutouts on the arms for grip tension. Plus these cutouts also provide a thumb leaver for easy opening of the jaws.

I'm currently looking to use small compression springs to close the jaws instead of the rubber bands.

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