SE 4X Magnifying Glass with Helping Hand - 2-1/2 Inch Lens, 360 Degrees Rotatable Clips for Soldering, Jewelry Making, and Detailed Work -MZ101B

Perfect for painting small dnd and battle miniatures

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 affordable gadget, so I did not expect it to knock my socks off... I was basically taking a chance on a low priced item to see if it would suit me and was perfectly fine eating the cost if it did not.My primary use for this is repairing damaged XLR cables and so far the helping hands have indeed helped but with a few caveats that I have to work around.The base it too light. The magnifying lens feels like it weights just as much as the base and even if it doesn't, it makes the unit top heavy and susceptible to tipping over. I tend to not make use of it, but I have managed to make use of it, but I need to be careful not to bump the hands while soldering.The alligator clamps themselves grab and hold cables fine securely. The wing nuts that hold them to the base exist in two states: "loose" and "for the love of god, where are the channel locks?!" so unless you have fingertips of steel, you'll want some pliers nearby.The unit came fully assembled in the box and the glass was covered with cardboard and rubber bands to protect it, but it was just sorta shoved unglamorously into a small cardboard box. Again, it was under 7 bucks.Once I acclimated to working with it, it's fine. I don't solder often and this performs the necessary functions i require. If i soldered more frequently or were doing circuit boards or heavier items, I might be additional ones to use in tandem or upgrade to a heavy duty model or other option, but these are fine.

I can see why this is listed as a best seller. It is neat. Remind me of the robot in 'Short Circuit' and is every bit that flexible. All of the metal pieces are machined so there are no rough edges, sharp points. or anything that would get in the way of using it easily. The optics are very good. There is a disclaimer in the ad listing some leeway in the power of the lens. I don't know how to measure it for power, but it is uniform and without flaws. It works well left-handed or right-handed which is refreshing. And then there is the base. I didn't think it would be heavy enough to support it. But it is. Sure I could get it into positions where it was top heavy, but for actual use it's fine. It is also shaped so you could clamp it down if you wanted to. I recommend it highly. I can't see where I'd need another one, but if I did, I'd order it again and from the same supplier. It's a real handy little gadget that actually does what it's supposed to.