• Built-in magnifying glass (4x) aids in minute detail work
  • 12 diopter
  • 2 alligator clips on 4-way swivels—holds items securely (leaving hands free)
  • Heavy-duty base for stability
  • Great for electricians, hobbyists, jewelers, and users who work with solder or small details

This is a cute, inexpensive little handy helper for jewelry making, electronics, or anything else where you need an extra hand. It's small and portable ... it fits easily in my jewelry making toolbox. The little clips are for SMALL jobs, like holding small pendants while you solder on the jump-rings, slender wires such as speaker or USB wire, or anything else where you need to hold two small items together while you work on them with your real hands. My only caveat is the base is small (though weighted), so it tips over easily if you're attempting to move whatever you're working with around while you are working on it. I ended up taping it down with a bit of blue painter's tape so it wouldn't budge while I fiddled with my stuff. If you want to solder something heavier like antennae wire or coax, there are larger, heavier models of helping hands with a larger base.

This serves the purpose for which I bought it. It's small, but it stands on its own when doing light work with the magnifying glass. This is not a very large product at all, and it can only handle small work, but that's exactly why I purchased this magnifier. It's a nice little tool.

I was having a hard time thinking of what to give my mother for Christmas this year. She has never pierced her ears and she was starting to have a hard time finding clip-on earrings that she really likes. So I included this magnifier as part of a jewelry making kit that included jewelry glue, jewelry making tools, and clip on earring findings. My mom is older and wears glasses so this magnifier makes it possible for her to create earrings in the styles that she loves. She is having a blast and really loves this!

I did my due diligence, reading numerous reviews both glowing and glaring. I wanted this strictly to hold small objects close to my macro lens. I took the magnifier off and am confident it will disappear into the clutter and never be seen again. Otherwise, the thing is exactly as advertised. For my purposes, the base is more than heavy enough. The clamps are strong. The flexibility is--flexible. You can put what you want where you want and it stays put. It arrived today along with my other steal-of-the-week, my $20 USD focus rail: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CCMHJ12/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 That smaller-than-a-little-fingernail woodsorrel was shot this afternoon while held in one of the clamps and focus-stacked with the new focus rail. Both are standouts, and the prices-- It's pretty hard to find actual quality stuff at those prices!

OK, read the one-star reviews and understand that they are written by people with unrealistic expectations for a very reasonably priced item. Yes, this unit arrived with parts rolling around in the big shipping box. The little box it is packaged in is very flimsy and only folded, not glued. That being said, once you round up all of the parts, the unit fits together fairly easily. The lens assembly is the trickiest, as you need to simultaneously line up the ball on the base and the one on the lens, between the two plates, before you tighten the mini thumbscrew. Another helping hands unit would have been helpful. Once everything is together, you're good to go. The clips are fine, the base heavy enough, despite reviews to the contrary. You should invest a few dollars for a mini gooseneck spotlight to highlight your under-lens work. If the clips do fail, it's easy to replace them with heavier ones from a shop like Radio Shack. FWIW, I use this unit to hold small plastic parts as I assemble and paint my detailed models. RECOMMENDED.

I really wasn't expecting much for six dollars and change but was pleasantly surprised. At first I was underwhelmed and thought I threw my money away. I was using it to solder pin headers on an arduino pro mini. It wasn't holding the board firm enough. I used a pair of pliers to tighten just a bit more than hand tight and it works perfect for what I need it for. The arms are still movable but stiff enough to hold small parts for soldering. The magnifying glass works OK but if that is the major reason you are looking at this you may want to invest in a more expensive unit. The arms also really don't articulate all that much but works really well for so many small projects. This thing is going to save me many many hours of time and frustration and only for a few dollars. Not to many things are going to give you that much value when you think about it.

Some reviewers of the SE MZ101B Helping Hands with Magnifying Glass have stated that the item was not assembled, and parts were rattling around the box, with the possibility of the magnifier getting scratched. Although the magnifier was not connected (everything else was assembled) I was happy to see it had a protective piece of cardboard wrapped around it. Assembly was simple, and the product worked better than I had expected. If you have a third grade education, ever used lincoln logs, or your brother had an Erector Set, you should be able to assemble this product. These were the best solders and wiring I've ever done, hands down, thanks to this product. Not to mention, it looks really cool sitting around, like a cross between Edward Scissor hands and something Ichabod Crane would use in Sleepy Hollow. lol Yes, I'd recommend this product to everyone I know.

Got this little guy to help me learn to make solder joints for car audio. I love it, makes holding wires a breeze. I actually posted some photos to a site I follow and had several enthusiasts inquire about this little stand. Its super handy and makes soldering joints a breeze. Friendly tip: Take some shrink wrap and put some on the alligator clips so the teeth dont pinch into your wires, after that they are perfect! Don't think twice about it, just get it!

I bought this for use with some hobby electronics soldering. After reading the reviews I figured I knew what to expect and for a little over $6 shipped (gotta love Amazon Prime) I took the leap. Some people complained that it was not assembled and came without instructions. Mine was ready to go and completely assembled out of the box. Others complained that the magnifying glass rattled around with the parts and was scratched. Mine was wrapped in plastic and cardboard and as I said earlier, it was completely assembled. Others complained that it is "tippy", and I fully intended to mount it to a board and make a little portable soldering station. I don't find it "tippy" or uneven at all. For what I will use it for it is perfect. It totally exceeded my expectations given the reviews. I hope everyone else who orders this has the same experience I had. Maybe I'm lucky, and I'm sure there is some validity to the other reviewers complaints, but this is exactly what I had hoped for.

My old magnifying glass was driving me crazy because it hung around my neck and I had to hold my breath to keep it from slipping while trying to paint small portraits on pendants. I was a bit scared after I read one review about this being cheaply made and some saying it was unsteady. I forgot to look up the size so I was surprised to find out it was so small, but that worked to my advantage giving me more room on my work table as it is plenty big enough for the small pieces I paint on. I don't know how anyone could say this is cheaply made. It is not made of plastic, it doesn't tip over at any angle and it was completely assembled. I couldn't ask for a better magnifying glass. I guess it might tip if I clipped something with weight to it, but then I would clamp it down, duh. This is much better than I expected and I would highly recommend this to anyone working on small pieces at a table.