Sturdy Helping Hand

Most of the helping hands (soldering arm) use ball joints. They do provide high DOF and is easy to use / make. However, since the rigidity of the arm relies on the elasticity of the material, the reliability tends to decrease rapidly. 

In other word, helping hand with ball joints cannot be sturdy/reliable enough. Therefore, I introduce you a sturdy version of helping hand.

Features : 

• sturdy, reliable arm
• can adjust stiffness of the arm by adjusting the bolts of the joints
• can manipulate arm's DOF by constructing the arm however you want thanks to the modular design
• unlike other 3D printed alligator clips, the hand part (“Spring Clip”) seals tight with almost no gap. therefore can hold thin wire without any problem
• “Spring Clip” has a replaceable spring, therefore can replace it whenever the elasticity is lost
• “Spring Clip” also provides various springs for different grip force.

User Guide : 

1. Arm

• There are 2 types of arm part. One with parallel two holes (i.e. arm_parallel), and one with perpendicular two holes (i.e. arm_perpend). Every arm part has one ‘smooth hole’ and one ‘threaded hole’. Therefore every joint should follow the form of “bolt - smooth hole - threaded hole”. As long as this form is maintained, you can construct the arm however you like. (Image below is one example)

  

• Bolt insertion should require an effort. This is perfectly intended because if the bolt is loose, the stiffness of the joint changes as the arm moves. You would need a flat screwdriver to insert/adjust the bolt.

2. Clip

• For the left hand, superglue the springClip_right and clipAdaptor_left like the image below. Do the same work for the right hand symmetrically.

    

• springClip_spring(1.5mm) is recommended. But if you wish to have a stronger grip, you can replace the spring to springClip_spring(2mm)

       

• If the elasticity of the spring is lost (e.g. thin wires cannot be held due to the gap created between the clip), you can always reprint the spring and replace it. 

3. Base

• Generally, attaching 2 legs is enough for the stability. But you can attach 2 more legs for extra stability

      

• You can adjust the leg's angle or fold them as you want