I purchased one of these and Bardwell is right, its an amazing piece of equipment , I used to use either the common 3rd. hand with the gator clips or a piece of Blue Tack, but this thing was a game changer for sure. Also the price has been dropped to $59.00, that still seems a lot to pay, but it’s really worth it, thanks for the heads up on this Joshua 👍
The phrase "3rd hand tool" conjures up thoughts of those crocodile clips held in place by the ball-joint tubing, etc., fiddly tools that can occupy more time setting it up than using it, but this one actually looks really good. My most useful '3rd hand tool', beyond my nimble fingers able to hold two pieces of wire with one hand (and moving them around to align them) to solder them together, is a mini suction desk vice, even without being suctioned to the surface its weight makes it sturdy, I literally just bought a 2nd one today it's so useful.
They are now sold out of everything except the little two arm version but that’s all I need so I ordered one. They’ll probably be out of those soon too. That’s what a JB recommendation gets you
It looks thought through but at the same time: A very small plate and due to the small magnetic "hands" it will only have a very low stability. You can indeed put two of them on top, but even a heavy wire might cause that to collapse. So if you only solder tiny components, light stuff then it might be a nice help. If you also solder things with a bit more weight this looks like it would quickly start to fail on you.
Fair point but many traditional 3rd hand devices can be had for 5ish bucks. This can potentially solve a boatload of small frustrations that those others can't. I think this is more of an "also" than an "instead". Everything has a tradeoff
I've had this for a while and didn't realise the different sides controlled whether it was grounded! Though the insulation on the grip probably means it never mattered
What a coincidence... I bought it and it came to me the same day you published the video :) Anyway, the tool is great, much better than other 3rd hands. And I hope you know about the "friction fix" for it? There's a small black rubber nub inside each of the magnets, sometimes it's inserted too far and you have to push it from the underside towards the ball to add a little more friction. It's actually written on omnifixo blog (I also received the info about it after the purchase).
@@werewolf_pl Cool. Thanks for the info. I just ordered this. Even though it seems a bit expensive. It looks like it has the possibility to be one of those tools that makes me say, " I should have just spent the money on one of these years ago instead of struggling so much." Again, Thanks for the tip!
I do a lot of small surface mount work. I love these and have never looked back. Good tools cost money. I have v1 and v2 and have been gifting them to other people as well.
Thank you Joshua Bardwell for this!!! I have seen this on your bench in your videos and was wondering about it. This video 100% sold me on it. I bought one through your link (hope you get some commission from it.) I am most impressed with it's versatility and options it provides. I have a couple different sets of 3rd hands.... and to be honest... they are ok... but mostly suck when needing slight adjustments. I even have some 3d printed wire holders for slicing..... again.... they are ok... but like the other ones I have.... too cumbersome for the use they provide. So thank you very much for this review video! Keep up the great work!
Thank you for introducing us to this awesome device! I just got mine and my old plate with the alligator clips it's going to collect dust from now on! The only thing I will miss is the magnifying glass with the build in LED lights.
I have a touch of arthritis in my hands which got more painful after taking Levaquin for a bout of pneumonia (TMI, sorry, LOL). This will be very helpful. Thanks for sharing this with us! :)
Brilliant! Pretty nice little thing! 😃 Blu Tack is great as well, but I want to make a small wooden vise for myself. 😬 Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
Ha, so happy right now that I already got one earlier this year, because I guarantee it's gonna be out of stock after this review. :D And they deserve that, so well thought out product, I love it! Thank you again, James, for recommending it to us!
Bookmarked it this morning when I saw the video.... now I go to purchase it and it's totally sold out! 🙃 Are there any other places we can buy this? I could really use this little contraption!! Thanks Joshua, videos like this one are so great. Love the channel!
This looks great but not $65 great. It would probably end up in my pile of 3rd hand tools when I opt to just use blue tak for speed. A board vice or the pointed tip magnet board holders for more involved applications works splendidly.
Seems well thought out and built, I ordered one. To the people bitching about the price and saying they'll buy a clone? Wtf! If you can't afford to support innovation find a different hobby, that's what kills businesses.
Damn! You didn't mention they are all gold plated and that's why it's $61 ! 🙄 Oh....... It's not gold plated? Holy cow! They like it a whole lot more than I do!!! Lol Is this one of those made in Europe products that we in the USA get hosed for because of the exchange rate? 🥴🤷 Banggood will knock this off in a month or two and it'll be $29.99 ! Don't get me wrong, this is co0ol and great, but the price is kinda ridiculous! 🤔😩 Blue tack is something like 5 bucks! Haahaa! 👍
I'll bet you a buffalo nickel that when they attempt the knock off, they'll forget some of the details that make this useful, like the friction rubber nub inside, don't make the magnets strong enough, etc. This dude spent VERY OBVIOUSLY a ton of time making the design perfect, so that it's actually usable. I had those octopus plastic arm helping hands thing sitting on a shelf collecting dust because when you try to have the arms hold something close to something else and you need it precisely in place, say you're trying to join to wires together as an example, you push them together, they're in place, PERFECT, and then you let go, and both arms retract a millimeter or two so it failed, and then you do it 20 times and it KEEPS happening. I gave up on them for that reason. I got these, and other than learning you gotta move them into position at the base of the ball, and hold them an extra second before letting go, and HOLY CRAP THEY STAY IN PLACE PRECISELY! If you appreciate this amount of meticulous design to make the product 100% useful, it's worth the money IMHO. They're not for everybody, I get it that they're pricey, but it works SO much better than any other helping hands I've ever tried. They're the only ones I'll even consider using.
But the board in a board vise and use these clamps to hold wires, components, whatever needs to be near the board. No rule says you can't use two tools together.
Can I have a desk with tons of these and a drawer made for these that pop up... Why does this just now Exist!?!? It's so simple... Everything should be this way lol
If its anything like helping hands this will piss more people off than make happy. Helping hands hold the item fine but the stupid arms always move no matter how tight the positiom lock is. I dont see a way to lock the position on this one so assuming it will be just as bad.
That thing is super cool - one thing I’m wondering about though, you mentioned that by flipping the base over, the arms become grounded. Is the coating on the base conductive then? It would be great if you could test that with a multimeter, because if the base isn’t grounded, you’d still have to hook up to at least one individual arm to actually ground the board you’re working on.
I just tried it and unfortunately the coating isn't conductive. But there's still an option to use it on other surface, you can attach it to anything metal. But stil... it would be better if it worked with the original setup.
I’m not even sure what the grounding would be needed for (static electricity?), but couldn’t the rubber tips just be removed then? Admittedly reducing grip. Just speculating what they thought there.
Ok, I had a look on their website. That’s actually what it’s meant for. You remove the insulation, and can then put GND through the base plate and attach a clamp to an insulated base, and thus test a component, e.g. a power LED.
@@droggisch The problem is that the base plate is not conductive (or actually the coating of it), so you still have to connect ground to the clamp itself. Or you can attach the clamp to other conductive material and then use it like you wrote.
@@KOrnhOliO1 The exact opposite. If you did order these be aware that one thing JB didn't point out is there's a rubber nub inside the magnets, and some of them got pushed down inside there so they're not protruding when shipped. Use a blunt thing on the not articulating side of the magnet and push the nub out. These provide friction so that the magnets don't wiggle around. So yes, they thought of that too. omnifixo.com/blogs/news/friction-adjustment
Cool tool but already have one that I call Dr Octo. It’s one of those deals that has a base with four articulating arms that are about one foot long and alligator clips at the ends. But hey, great review.
Looks neat, but I don't know if it's $70 neat. I'll probably wait a while and see if it keeps popping up in videos because you're still using it, or if you just go back to the putty. I've tried a couple things and I always go back to the putty, but using putty leaves a lot to be desired.
Blue Tac. Fits my budget!
Thants much better in the fact it holds the electronics in place rather than moving around too easy
True true...
I purchased one of these and Bardwell is right, its an amazing piece of equipment , I used to use either the common 3rd. hand with the gator clips or a piece of Blue Tack, but this thing was a game changer for sure. Also the price has been dropped to $59.00, that still seems a lot to pay, but it’s really worth it, thanks for the heads up on this Joshua 👍
I have these, best money ever spent. Tried a million others, this is by far the best!
Honestly I have been looking for something like this! Joshua again you have come to the rescue! Thank you so much!
The phrase "3rd hand tool" conjures up thoughts of those crocodile clips held in place by the ball-joint tubing, etc., fiddly tools that can occupy more time setting it up than using it, but this one actually looks really good.
My most useful '3rd hand tool', beyond my nimble fingers able to hold two pieces of wire with one hand (and moving them around to align them) to solder them together, is a mini suction desk vice, even without being suctioned to the surface its weight makes it sturdy, I literally just bought a 2nd one today it's so useful.
There are higher quality 3rd hands which are not the cheap crocodile ones but well built flexible arms.
They are now sold out of everything except the little two arm version but that’s all I need so I ordered one. They’ll probably be out of those soon too. That’s what a JB recommendation gets you
Ordered this and just got it yesterday. Absolutely Fantastic! Worth the cost and wait for it to arrive.
“It’s for the kids” that ship sailed a long time ago for me. She no longer believes that statement. 😬
I'm still milking that one
You didn't have to say "your kids". These are made by ex-Nike employees.
It looks thought through but at the same time: A very small plate and due to the small magnetic "hands" it will only have a very low stability.
You can indeed put two of them on top, but even a heavy wire might cause that to collapse.
So if you only solder tiny components, light stuff then it might be a nice help. If you also solder things with a bit more weight this looks like it would quickly start to fail on you.
Fair point but many traditional 3rd hand devices can be had for 5ish bucks. This can potentially solve a boatload of small frustrations that those others can't. I think this is more of an "also" than an "instead". Everything has a tradeoff
I've had this for a while and didn't realise the different sides controlled whether it was grounded! Though the insulation on the grip probably means it never mattered
The insulation is removable, they aren't dumb
Definitely cool, but not in the budget.
What a coincidence... I bought it and it came to me the same day you published the video :)
Anyway, the tool is great, much better than other 3rd hands. And I hope you know about the "friction fix" for it? There's a small black rubber nub inside each of the magnets, sometimes it's inserted too far and you have to push it from the underside towards the ball to add a little more friction. It's actually written on omnifixo blog (I also received the info about it after the purchase).
If you know some kind of helpful information about it, it may be helpful to others if you actually say what the "fix" is.
@@nemocheerio You're right, sorry. I edited the previous comment.
@@werewolf_pl Cool. Thanks for the info. I just ordered this. Even though it seems a bit expensive. It looks like it has the possibility to be one of those tools that makes me say, " I should have just spent the money on one of these years ago instead of struggling so much." Again, Thanks for the tip!
I don’t like how loose it is it would move too easily when trying to work on something
Yeah, the regular joint with adjustable tension mounted on a magnet probably would be better.
They thought of that.
omnifixo.com/blogs/news/friction-adjustment
Thank you, this will make splicing wires much easier so I'll have to pick one up!
I'd suggesting looking at the Stickvise if you haven't already.
Wow awesome thanks sharing. Ordering this Thursday!!!!
Ordering one for work and home.
I can fully agree on their excellence. Just got mine and I am so pleased with it. Excellent quality, versatile and really nice to use 👍🏻
Does it maintain its orientation strongly enough to resist wores that don't want to be bent? Looks like they might twist around with a nudge.
Yes it will. For really stiff wire use 2 clamps.
Holy Crap. This is why I love you Bardwell. Awesome.
I do a lot of small surface mount work. I love these and have never looked back. Good tools cost money. I have v1 and v2 and have been gifting them to other people as well.
What is the difference between the 2 versions? I just ordered one and don't know what version it is.
It really is one of there best tools I own.
I thought the title said 3rd best hand tool I've used! Lol. Pretty cool though!
this looks awesome! ive been wanting to get some third hands so i can stop soldering on the garage floor.
As soon as I saw the clip, I was sold.
This is a great product. Thank you for sharing.
Ordered such a cool device.
Just got mine. Its beats every other type of third hand out there. Make Electronics Fun Again.
Thanks Josh!
Just ordered one for the kids😎
2:23 into the video and my other tab suddenly updated to 'Thank you for your purch...'.
Wow I've been meaning to get a 3rd hand tool. Thanks.
Thank you Joshua Bardwell for this!!!
I have seen this on your bench in your videos and was wondering about it. This video 100% sold me on it. I bought one through your link (hope you get some commission from it.)
I am most impressed with it's versatility and options it provides. I have a couple different sets of 3rd hands.... and to be honest... they are ok... but mostly suck when needing slight adjustments. I even have some 3d printed wire holders for slicing..... again.... they are ok... but like the other ones I have.... too cumbersome for the use they provide.
So thank you very much for this review video!
Keep up the great work!
Thank you for introducing us to this awesome device! I just got mine and my old plate with the alligator clips it's going to collect dust from now on!
The only thing I will miss is the magnifying glass with the build in LED lights.
I have a touch of arthritis in my hands which got more painful after taking Levaquin for a bout of pneumonia (TMI, sorry, LOL). This will be very helpful. Thanks for sharing this with us! :)
I saw this on IG a while back, I think it's a one man show behind all this.
Ohhh I want one
Brilliant! Pretty nice little thing! 😃
Blu Tack is great as well, but I want to make a small wooden vise for myself. 😬
Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
Ha, so happy right now that I already got one earlier this year, because I guarantee it's gonna be out of stock after this review. :D And they deserve that, so well thought out product, I love it! Thank you again, James, for recommending it to us!
Yup, sold out
Sold me before the first advert!
I'm definitely buying the Blu Tack.
When he tells you how to buy it with your spouse's permission, thats when you know how much he likes it.
man i love it!!!!!
Went right away to buy it. Pulled the hand break at the ££££££££££
Yes, the cost does kind of brake the bank. :D
This is awesome! A little pricey, but seems worth it. What would we possibly use the grounding to the baseplate for?
Many applications, grounding for static discharge for one!
Bookmarked it this morning when I saw the video.... now I go to purchase it and it's totally sold out! 🙃 Are there any other places we can buy this? I could really use this little contraption!! Thanks Joshua, videos like this one are so great. Love the channel!
Pause @ 2:36 That, right there is perfection! 😆
Sorry 😅, thanks a lot for this JB!!! I definitely need to add it to my toolkit
Looks really good! Might try one later
🙂
I have to have this
Very inspiring design. Maybe a set with ceramic tips for things that becomes hot would be a good idea too. 🤔
This looks great but not $65 great. It would probably end up in my pile of 3rd hand tools when I opt to just use blue tak for speed. A board vice or the pointed tip magnet board holders for more involved applications works splendidly.
Had they included a ball of putty, it would have been perfection! Great idea!
The helping hand I had ended up in a bush 😂..
Here in Australia we have a much cheeper alternative it's called bluetack a re usable sticky putty
I discuss blue tack in the video. Definite cost effective alternative.
This is great! I can’t stand the squid arms, I’m a lefty and I’m constantly getting tied up. Bought this immediately
Seems well thought out and built, I ordered one. To the people bitching about the price and saying they'll buy a clone? Wtf! If you can't afford to support innovation find a different hobby, that's what kills businesses.
i dunno about spending 70 bucks on that
but its inspired me to build my own just like it
But does it give reach arounds with all those hands?
That's what I said about the Quads.
Got one before they sell out! Thanks JB!
Damn! You didn't mention they are all gold plated and that's why it's $61 ! 🙄
Oh....... It's not gold plated? Holy cow! They like it a whole lot more than I do!!! Lol
Is this one of those made in Europe products that we in the USA get hosed for because of the exchange rate? 🥴🤷
Banggood will knock this off in a month or two and it'll be $29.99 !
Don't get me wrong, this is co0ol and great, but the price is kinda ridiculous! 🤔😩 Blue tack is something like 5 bucks! Haahaa! 👍
I'll bet you a buffalo nickel that when they attempt the knock off, they'll forget some of the details that make this useful, like the friction rubber nub inside, don't make the magnets strong enough, etc. This dude spent VERY OBVIOUSLY a ton of time making the design perfect, so that it's actually usable. I had those octopus plastic arm helping hands thing sitting on a shelf collecting dust because when you try to have the arms hold something close to something else and you need it precisely in place, say you're trying to join to wires together as an example, you push them together, they're in place, PERFECT, and then you let go, and both arms retract a millimeter or two so it failed, and then you do it 20 times and it KEEPS happening. I gave up on them for that reason. I got these, and other than learning you gotta move them into position at the base of the ball, and hold them an extra second before letting go, and HOLY CRAP THEY STAY IN PLACE PRECISELY!
If you appreciate this amount of meticulous design to make the product 100% useful, it's worth the money IMHO. They're not for everybody, I get it that they're pricey, but it works SO much better than any other helping hands I've ever tried. They're the only ones I'll even consider using.
If there any link on AliExpress for that "Blue Tac" I'd like to get it... Thanks guys!
1:13 I bet touching a board mounted like this with a soldering iron is enough to move it out of place.
The tension can be adjusted by pushing the rubber stopper in and out.
@@JoshuaBardwell Thank you for a response, then it shouldn't be a problem, also flipping it upside down like shown at 1:33 would solve that
That's pretty cool!
Yepppp pretty cool guna have to add that too the tool kit. I usually have whoever’s close come hold a piece while i solder it ahahaha.
Ordered it the second I saw one.
Being N52 magnets, I wonder how likely these magnets are fracture.
Are these magnetic bases robust?
I wish you could tighten the arms though. Sometimes things especially boards will move on me.
But the board in a board vise and use these clamps to hold wires, components, whatever needs to be near the board. No rule says you can't use two tools together.
I've tried a few of these types of things. They always move on me and I end up chasing what I'm soldering.
Bluetak still rules!
But how are they doing on a complete quad that has motors and wires attached that need to be waterproofed ?
More like, "Happy Clamping!"....bought one.
awsome
Brilliant!!!!
Can I have a desk with tons of these and a drawer made for these that pop up... Why does this just now Exist!?!? It's so simple... Everything should be this way lol
I need a third hand but this one is not for me .. keep up these reviews show me more stuff I can't live without
SOLD OUT
If its anything like helping hands this will piss more people off than make happy. Helping hands hold the item fine but the stupid arms always move no matter how tight the positiom lock is. I dont see a way to lock the position on this one so assuming it will be just as bad.
nifty, would work nicely on my Aoyeu smoke eater deck.
Can it help build a Cinewhoop?
COOL
55 euro seems expensive, i'll wait for a Chinese knockoff version.
Nice, but currently not available.
"Grounded bases"
**eyeballs TIG welder and begins sweating**
That thing is super cool - one thing I’m wondering about though, you mentioned that by flipping the base over, the arms become grounded. Is the coating on the base conductive then? It would be great if you could test that with a multimeter, because if the base isn’t grounded, you’d still have to hook up to at least one individual arm to actually ground the board you’re working on.
Yeah, I don't think the ground solution they provided would actually work.
I just tried it and unfortunately the coating isn't conductive. But there's still an option to use it on other surface, you can attach it to anything metal. But stil... it would be better if it worked with the original setup.
I’m not even sure what the grounding would be needed for (static electricity?), but couldn’t the rubber tips just be removed then? Admittedly reducing grip. Just speculating what they thought there.
Ok, I had a look on their website. That’s actually what it’s meant for. You remove the insulation, and can then put GND through the base plate and attach a clamp to an insulated base, and thus test a component, e.g. a power LED.
@@droggisch The problem is that the base plate is not conductive (or actually the coating of it), so you still have to connect ground to the clamp itself. Or you can attach the clamp to other conductive material and then use it like you wrote.
If you push the little rubbers inside the feet more towards the base of the ball it will be stronger. It wont bend over on holding weight.
Thanks this is a great tip.
@@JoshuaBardwell You're welcome!
Back in stock 23 Sept 2022
Very cool invention but will be a tough sell at that price point.
This reminded me I need to order more Blu Tack, I got some and immediately lost it
It is cool and usefull but it is pretty expensive.. i have one that was 32$ and it Works great..
What is better this or the purple octopus arms thing I’ve seen before?
That's half the price of this? You guess... Lol And, the octopus arms thing makes things stay put. These magnets wiggle around way too much! 😎🤘
@@KOrnhOliO1 The exact opposite. If you did order these be aware that one thing JB didn't point out is there's a rubber nub inside the magnets, and some of them got pushed down inside there so they're not protruding when shipped. Use a blunt thing on the not articulating side of the magnet and push the nub out. These provide friction so that the magnets don't wiggle around. So yes, they thought of that too. omnifixo.com/blogs/news/friction-adjustment
The omnifixo is better, HANDS DOWN. I own them. And the price is so high that if I didn't LOVE them, I wouldn't be saying this. They're fantastic.
Cool tool but already have one that I call Dr Octo. It’s one of those deals that has a base with four articulating arms that are about one foot long and alligator clips at the ends.
But hey, great review.
It’s really cool. Id buy that for $20
got the 2.1 with 2 arms for 35€, price seems not too bad
Can't lie, it is the best I've seen also (drone pilot since '14)! But $70? Ouch!
I just make my kids hold everything so I don't get burned.
She purdy 😍
Those ball socket joints look waaayy too flimsy to hold anything up. I can see as you go to put pressure on with a soldering iron they just bend
The tension can be adjusted by pressing the rubber stopper further in and out.
@@JoshuaBardwell Ah neat. Thanks JB
Ok, and now, where do I find that blue tag?
Blue tack. Search it on Amazon 😜
Looks neat, but I don't know if it's $70 neat. I'll probably wait a while and see if it keeps popping up in videos because you're still using it, or if you just go back to the putty. I've tried a couple things and I always go back to the putty, but using putty leaves a lot to be desired.
I learned something today!!! That this thing existed! *SIGH*. Pre-Order status.... >.
looking forward to a clone