Helping Hands Tool

Do you own some “helping hands tools“? If you don’t, you should!  I am not sure where the name helping hands tool came from since these cool devices have been around for as long as I can remember, and I don’t think they were always that! I think the first time I saw one was at Radio Shack back in the 80s. Back in those days, they were sold as a precision soldering tool and a little too expensive for my taste back in the day. Most of us who dabble into building electronics projects, robotics, and computers saw it mostly as a novelty, not a necessity.

Although Harbor Freight Tools was founded in 1977, one whole year before Home Depot, it didn’t become popular until the early 2000s. Not to me, anyway. With Harbor Freight Tools came the availability of some very, very, cheap Chinese tools! Some two decades later, I’ll be the first one to tell you that buying tools at Harbor Freight can be a hit and miss. However, when it comes to helping hands tools, most hobbies, lure makers, and even many professionals will tell you they are ones to get.

As of the publishing of this article, Harbor Freight offered two sets of helping hands tools. A small one – HTF (SKU 60501 and 60319) and probably the most popular. At $4.99 a 96% of the customers’ approval and an overall 4.5 out of 5.0 rating, it is perhaps the best buy when compared, for example, to the helping hands tool Lowes offers. There is also a larger one called the Jumbo Helping Hands With LED Lights. The SKU for that one is 65779, and the cost is $8.99. The description says, “Ideal for precision work like electronics or detail work. This helping hand tool has a stable cast iron base to keep your work steady. The magnifier with light is LED for a clearer, better view when soldering and other detail work. The magnifier with light features a 2x magnification with a 6x zoom lens to get a close look at your work.” This one has an 89% customer recommendation score and a review rating of 4.2 out of 5.0.

Although those are not terrible reviews and very similar to the reviews of the helping hands tool Walmart and Amazon offer, there is room for improvement. If you dig into the comments, most have to do with its small base, the mast on the larger one not holding the workpiece correctly.

As somebody who uses the Harbor Freight helping hands tools almost daily for either airbrushing fishing lures or some electronic project requiring a precision soldering station. I will be the first to tell you that if you implement my modification to the Harbor Freight helping hands tools, you will gain a lot of respect for this little device. I say Harbor Freight helping hands tool because those are the ones I have, but I believe that you can apply the same principles to any type or brand, including the ones offered by Neiko, Stalwart, NOEVSBIG, and Würth.

The modification consists of building a base that adds weight and stability to the helping hands tool. This modification works with the regular one as well as the ones with the magnifying glass. However, for the adjustable helping hand with magnifying glass, I also modified the vertical shaft, which is one of the biggest complaints many people have about them. Aside from making a longer shaft, almost twice as long, I also added notches that allow the set screw to grab, keeping both the alligator clip bracket and the magnifying glass from slipping and move while working. Given the type of work I do with these things, these modifications are vital to the product’s quality. I hope you take something away from my latest video on “Helping Hands Tool,” and if you haven’t already done so, please subscribe to the Cuban Redneck DIY channel, where we offer DIY tips and low-cost projects for the weekend warrior with no handyman or woodworking experience.