Helping Hands

Helping Hands are the best friend you can have when working with little parts.

This tool was designed for a short electronics workshop but asking every participant to buy their own would get costly. This can be built in a matter of minutes by people of all skill levels. Gathering tools and parts will take some people longer than the assembly.

Parts

• Alligator clips with #4 bolt post. Very common
• Clipboard with flat clip
• 16-14AWG ring terminals for #4-#6 bolts
• Galvanized steel wire

Tools

• Phillips screwdriver
• Wire cutter
• Crimper
  • A pliers may work in a pinch (pun intended)

There are no modifications to the clipboard so you really have two tools and a good clipboard is invaluable. Not to mention it can protect your work surface.

Cut 12" of galvanized steel wire. 12" is roughly the length of the long edge on a clipboard. The wire shown in the pictures is 24" long and 12" too long.

Crimp a ring terminal onto each end of the steel galvanized wire.

If the terminals have a seam, possibly under insulating plastic, be sure the seam is nestled in the rounded end of the crimper.

Bend the wire into a squared off W like shown in the picture. Ruler shown for size reference.

Remove the bolts from the alligator clips. Put the bolts through the ring terminals and back into the alligator clips. Tighten firmly.

Clamp the W shape of the wire under the clipboard clip. This will make the surface of the clipboard into a wide base to keep things from shifting about better than a heavy base which is prone to tipping. Position the arms as necessary, like a regular Helping Hands, but without having to tighten and loosen bolts.

It is possible to use heavier gauge steel wire for a firmer hold.

This idea came to me in a flash. Collecting everything took a single trip to the hardware store, which is rare for me, and according to the timestamps on my photos I built this in 20 minutes which included taking photos. Nothing should be expensive or hard to find and this is a really useful tool.

I run a blog where I talk incessantly about the things I build, including more photos of this project. There are other neat things there like a device that can improve brainpower and a smart pocket watch in the works.