Soldering Aid / Helping Hands

thingiverse

UPDATE: 17/10/2018 Added a longer base with provision to add weight in the form of either a steel or brass bar, 8mm x 50mm x 100mm, or as I did, small lead shot used in scuba diving weights. UPDATE: 13/10/2018 Modified to accept springs for auto closing jaws and extended the thumb lever for easier operation. Also added a 100mm long base option if you want more distance between jaws. The springs used are wire dia 0.7mm x spring dia 5mm x spring length 20mm, obtained from eBay by searching for 0.7mmx5mmx20mm compression springs. My take on the soldering aid is for wire and component holding. I designed it so gripper arms can slide along the base allowing fine adjustment of parts prior to soldering. This also allows easy disassembly for storage. Uses a couple of rubber bands in the cutouts on the arms for grip tension, plus these cutouts provide a thumb leaver for easy opening of jaws. Currently looking to use small compression springs to close jaws instead of rubber bands.