A helping hand, also known as a third hand, soldering hand, or X-tra Hands, is a type of extremely adjustable

jig The jig ( ga, port, gd, port-cruinn) is a form of lively folk dance in compound metre, as well as the accompanying dance tune. It is most associated with Irish music and dance. It first gained popularity in 16th-century Ireland and parts of ...

used in

soldering Soldering (; ) is a process in which two or more items are joined by melting and putting a filler metal (solder) into the joint, the filler metal having a lower melting point than the adjoining metal. Unlike welding, soldering does not involv ...

and craftwork to hold materials near each other so that the user can work on them.

Description

A commonly produced version consists of a weighted base, a pair of twice-adjustable arms ending in

crocodile clip Alligator clip A crocodile clip or alligator clip is a plier-like spring-tensioned metal clip with elongated, serrated jaws that is used for creating a temporary electrical connection. This simple mechanical device gets its name from the rese ...

s, and optionally a

magnifying glass A magnifying glass is a convex lens that is used to produce a magnified image of an object. The lens is usually mounted in a frame with a handle. A magnifying glass can be used to focus light, such as to concentrate the sun's radiation to crea ...

, held together by flexible joints.

Purpose

The clips are used to hold a light workpiece in place while the joints allow the user to change the position or angle. Sometimes helping hands are augmented with modules from the adjustable coolant hose systems used with

machine tools A machine tool is a machine for handling or machining metal or other rigid materials, usually by cutting, boring, grinding, shearing, or other forms of deformations. Machine tools employ some sort of tool that does the cutting or shaping. All m ...

. Tools Brazing and soldering {{tool-stub