MAKE: Blog: Cool Tool: Third Hand

Cool Tool: Third Hand

3Rdhand
Here's a quick tool blurb we sent over to Kevin Kelly's great Cool Tool blog - "The "Third Hand" is a low cost helper that has been an indispensable assistant for many of my projects in electronics. It holds circuit boards in place as you put in components, or if you need to solder delicate parts which require a steady hand (sometimes, more than two) it gives you a few more. It's also pretty tough to find someone to help you at 3am when most of the important work seems to happen. Two adjustable metal clips hold in your circuit boards (or whatever else) and a magnifying glass gives you a little zoom in action for the really tricky constructions. Perhaps I anthropomorphize useful things, but on an otherwise cold work bench, the Third Hand looks like a little robot pal with claws raised, always eager to help." - Link.

Bonus video - Link.

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Comments

Oldest comments listed first.

Posted by: RobCruickshank on May 5, 2006 at 9:33 AM

Try this- clamp a pager motor in each claw, then fire them up, preferably with some kind of speed controls on them. With just the right combination of vibration and ball-socket joint tension, it'll move around like some sort of Ray Harryhausen lobster thing.

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