Preface

I’ve (surprisingly?) had a few electronics projects ongoing lately, and found myself in need of a third hand. I got in touch with the nice folks at QuadHands, and they sent out a Deluxe Magnetic Workbench. I can’t be happier to have it, and put it through some paces.

Official Specs

Massive 8.5″ x 11″ Powder Coated Steel Base – Perfect for large projects

Five All Metal Flexible Arms with Ultra Strong Rare Earth Magnetic Bases Can be Positioned Anywhere on the WorkBench – Unrivaled Flexibility

Stainless Steel Clamps Can be Rotated 360 Degrees and Locked Into Place with Knurled Thumb Nuts – Silicone Covers are Included for Delicate Electronics

Four Rubber Feet Keep the WorkBench Stationary – Won’t Slide Around on Your Bench

100% Satisfaction Guarantee – Lifetime Warranty – Professional Grade

Price

Listed at $79.95 but the actual (going) price is $59.95, with free shipping.

Short Review

This “magnetic workbench” has been extremely useful in a few projects I have going on around the house. The ability to move the arms around on the base, and the articulation of the arms has been very nice.

Long Review

Manual and Packaging

The QuadHands ships in a cardboard box, with all parts off the base. This way it ships flat. The manual is… honestly not really necessary. But QuadHands does include a couple business card’s printed

What’s Included

Powder coated steel base

Magnetic arms (two styles of 2 each)

Instructions and promise card

Protective stickers for magnet base

Rubber protectors for alligator clips

Build Quality and Durability

The base of this helping hands is steel. Not just that, it’s powder coated steel. It’s quite nice!! That’s better than paint or other types of coating because powder coating is temperature resistant. I had numerous occasions of dropping solder blobs on the surface, and there’s not a mar at all.

On the other hand, the arms have magnets that contact the surface directly. QuadHands has smartly included some sticker covers, which can be used at your choice. The reason they’re not installed from the factory is because they’ll reduce the security of attachment a little. I never move the arms around much so I haven’t used the stickers.

The arms come in 2 sizes, ~10″ and ~22″. The shorter arms aren’t quite as articulate as the longer arms. It’s not just a difference in length – they seem to be built differently as well. But it’s nice to have two different lengths.

The base has pre-installed rubber feet, which add around 1cm of height. I like these feet – in fact I tried to use them on another project I have going on (unfortunately they’re sold in rolls of like …. 1000 or so. I only needed 4.)

Also note how T H I C C that steel base is. It’s heavy enough to keep itself in place, especially coupled with the rubber feet. This workbench never moved around unintentionally once during my use.

The magnets in the arm base are N52 magnets. Now I don’t know how strong those are exactly, but I typically use N42 magnets in my projects, and those are ridiculously strong. These N52 are stronger! I had to tip the arms to the side to move them, that’s how strong. (They’ll also slide around if you force them, but I didn’t want to scratch the base.)

Size

Covered above, but hey, I like headings! It’s a 8.5″ x 11″ Powder coated steel base.

In Use

I had in mind a bigger project to do with this, but that project has gotten pushed. Expect to see this QuadHands in used in another project (which I do hope happens soon)!

In the meantime, here’s a much smaller project, but one that still puts some use on the QuadHands. I needed some leads for my bench power supply, and I essentially wanted extensions – female banana plug on one end, male banana plug on the other. I also wanted a copper rod with a male banana plug, which is easily used with the extensions. So that’s what I made!

I source some copper wire out of regular Romex wire, and [much] thicker copper wire from… copper wire from the home store. This is probably 6 or 8 gauge bare copper. Using the QuadHands, I was able to hold the banana plug, and the copper rod very securely.

Seasoned veterans of soldering will of course know that getting those two items soldered together is going to take a lot of heat. It did. I never had a problem with heat transfer from the alligator clip to the arm though, and these items didn’t suffer at all from so much heat.

Wishes

Having used this product a while, I’ve noticed a few things I’d love to see… added. Not changed, just different options. I’ve talked to QuadHands, and they’re very responsive to ideas!!

I would love an arm-only option. In addition to #1 above, a non-coated steel plate option would be neat (but I suppose finding a thick steel sheet locally would be easy enough). So with #1, I’d like a “feet only” option as well. Different sized alligator clips coming standard (2 and 2 of each) The screws at the end of the arms (where the alligator clips connect) could be 1/4″ (standard tripod) threading. This would allow many attachments, such as flashlights and phone holders. (I’m sure I’m the only person watching youtube how-to’s while doing these projects, right?)

Conclusion

What I like

Heftiness. There’s a lot of weight here, and that makes it very secure

Movable arms, which can be placed all over the base.

Removable arms, which can be placed on all sorts of stuff!!

Powder coating is a nice (tough!) touch.

The alligator clips are of good quality, and also removable from the end of the arm. They have a place for wire, too.

What I don’t like

I would like at least one traditional, screw-joint arm, for an absolutely rock solid placement of a project item.

Two size alligator clips would be a huge bonus.

Powder coating isn’t orange (jk, that’s not a downside. Orange is the best though, obviously).

Parting Shot

And here are my finished cables!

Up Next

Tomorrow it looks like I’ll have the Convoy S9, a light I’m excited to review! Then Lumintop!

Notes:

This item was provided by QuadHands for review. I was not paid to write this review.

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Whether or not I have a coupon for this charger, I do have a bunch of coupons!! Have a look at my spreadsheet for those coupons. Note I’ve upgraded that sheet so that now, you may subscribe and get notifications when the sheet is edited!!