Customer Reviews

Xacto X75170 X-tra Hands with Magnifier

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

PROS:
-Heavy (So it wont tip over)
-Magnifying Glass
-Grippy base
-Cheap

Cons
- Adjustment isnt easy as pie.

When I first ordered this, I was wondering how on earth it would stand up without falling down. Surprisingly the stand is very heavy for how small it is. You can arrange this little guy in every any any direction you want. If you plan on doing any hobby work like soldering or model building, this investment will pay for itself as soon as you use it once.

First off, this is a great device; it holds things firmly, doesn't fall over, and it was built well. The arms are a little tough to adjust, but once you get used to it, it is not that bad. Anyway, it is seldom that I have to adjust the arms because I can usually get the wires in a useful position by changing the place at which the wires are clamped.

Anyway, I think that this thing is great and it is unimaginably helpful at fixturing wires and other components; however, the clips are so strong (when they are new anyway) that the "teeth" puncture the insulation of the wires that are clipped. I found that the clips come in contact with the copper wire to a point where they begin to heatsink the wire; this made soldering a little more difficult until I decided to wrap each "jaw" of the clips with electrical tape. This mod makes the clips less aggressive and leaves them effective enough to hold wires securely.

I've started in on a project that requires a lot of small soldering work on circuit boards. My hands aren't very steady so I have difficulty with such small work. Added to that the tiny tiny color bands and markings on components were giving me a head ache trying to decifer them with my unaided eye. This gizmo seemed like the perfect solution to my challenges.

It definately does a great job of holding small components steady for soldering and the adjustability of the arm positions works well. My only complaint is that the magnification is very low. Myabe 2X at best I think. Fortunately my vision just needed a very small boost to help identify the parts without getting eye strain so it works o.k. for me. If you can't see small stuff at all to start with this product may not provide enough magnification to help.

Overall the construction seems to be sturdy and as noted by others the base is good and heavy for its size.

As noted by some other reviewers, one wonders how it can hold anything, but it is heavier than you would think and does the job just fine. The price is right too. After looking in hardware stores at the model without the magnifying glass at a much higher price, I am glad I found it here on Amazon! I can highly recommend it!

OK quality, nothing special, screws a bit hard to tighten, the magnifying glass is useless, it's just too small, I didn't need it anyway. It works well otherwise, the foot is heavy and stable enough for most small jobs and the clips align properly and hold parts well.

I got this to make soldering easier, and while it helps, there's still room for improvement

The base is neither wide enough nor heavy enough, as the unit keeps falling over.

The magnifying glass had some scratches on the lens when I received the product, they're small and don't really get in the way, but I think it's unacceptable to ship a product in that condition.

the joints come loose very quickly after I tighten them

If you want a cheap magnifier/holder get this, but don't expect it to be perfect.

As mentioned elsewhere, magnifier is not especially useful; the alligator clips representing the "hands" themselves are also rather difficult to rotate. The other joints work well, and the base is heavy and steady. Good enough.

X-tra hands does a fine job in holding wires and parts during my hobby soldering jobs. Would recommend it to my friends. And the price is right.

I have one of these, yet I find I do not use it very often. It is a pretty good piece of hobby equipment for the cost, certainly, and the clips are good for holding and stabilizing a project. My preferred hobby is painting 30mm miniatures, and I find that I get better mileage out of a (pretty cheap) jeweler's loupe that I can clip to my glasses. Alternately, I also find myself using an adjustable lighted magnifier, the type that is mounted on an arm and connects to an edge of a table. Simply put, I rarely use my X-tra Hands.

These Helping hands are a very good product that really helps you with your small projects. The product has a very solid feel to it, and seems to be made out of quality materials. Many degrees of freedom for various handling parts can help you get things that you need to hold in almost any position. The magnifying glass is very strong, and it can also be moved and adjusted so that it provides optimum viewing conditions. My only problem with this product concerns the bolts that fasten the central shaft - they are very hard to unscrew with your hands, and it made it impossible to adjust the central shaft initially. I needed to use a pair of pliers for that task. Other than that, this is a very good and functional product.