That is one of the ball joints I dread. I have several, including one with a magnifying glass.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Weller-T0051...&keywords=Weller+esf120&qid=1621394809&sr=8-1
Guess I won't be buying it from Amazon. I have an odd sense of humor.

 

@dl324 Wow! that's half the price Amazon wanted...

That was the third place I checked. The others were around 15% or more higher.

Before I bought any aids, I used to hold a couple things with my left hand, iron in the right, and solder between my lips. When I was a technician, I didn't give lead poisoning much consideration (and I was a nail biter back then). 99% of lead taken into the body of an adult will be eliminated in waste in a few weeks (much slower in children). I'm slightly more careful now, but not paranoid about it like the EU.

 

Don't see any significant advantage of the Weller over the $20 AmScope one. Both seem to have the exact same board holding devices. The cheapo one I use can be a pain to adjust and this looks better:

But looks can be deceiving. Sure looks more flexible. I usually grab a couple of the upper corners of the board and brace the bottom against the benchtop for stability or suspend small items in the air.

 

I went ahead and ordered the glue. I also have some Duro cement that might work (I'll hold it in reserve).

 

Magnets are a major tool for me. Especially the 5/8" x 1/16", I put them on the bottoms of things to use with my steel worktable to help them stay put..

 

hi W,
A very basic holder which I sometimes use, is a piece of wood 4" * 6" * 1" thick which has 3 or 4 strong rubber bands, stretched around the width of the wooden block.

Easy for holding bits in place while being soldered, slip the work piece under a couple of bands.
E

 

@Wendy Here's something to consider. A prosthesis designer in the UK named Dani Clode designed a third thumb that can be controlled by a toe.

https://www.daniclodedesign.com/thethirdthumb



https://news.yahoo.com/scientists-create-robotic-prosthetic-world-first-122406090.html

Some test subjects used it to peel a banana with one hand or stir a cup of coffee while holding it.

 

I have zero control of my left arm/hand.

 

I have zero control of my left arm/hand.

All of the video I saw had it on the right hand.

 

Mirror image, does it matter?

 

You didn't mention, or I missed it, what type components you're talking about for the most part. Surface mount, or through hole?

Don't find them anymore, but for through hole, they used to make a board holder that had a top hinged cover with 1/4" thick foam. They also offered a 1/2" thick foam sheet for larger parts. You'd stuff the board from the lowest profile to the highest and between stuffings, you'd close the cover and clamp it, flip it over and solder. Mostly one handed operation.

Many techs would make their own using wood for the frame, brass hinges for the cover. I saw them in electronic assembly rooms all the time back in the day. Many of them built by the company. With pick and place assembly of surface mount these days being much less expensive, that sort of explains why they're not still on the market.

If you're mostly doing surface mount, they make all sorts of glues specifically for holding a part in place until it's soldered. Must be some available at most electronics suppliers.

 

Being a child of the eighties as far as electronics go I prefer through-hole, works for protoboards too.

 

One area thats very difficult is stripping and preparing the ends of wires for soldering onto connectors,

Even with working fingers I find some types of cable very unco-operative when trying to strip and tin - usually microphone cables it seems.
What works reasonably well is to release the stripper before it has pulled the insulation off completely, then tin as much as possible of the exposed wire, (with the remaining piece of insulation holding the strands together) then snip off the end.
Obviously this requires tinning with a soldering iron, not a solder pot.

 

Even with working fingers I find some types of cable very unco-operative when trying to strip and tin - usually microphone cables it seems.
What works reasonably well is to release the stripper before it has pulled the insulation off completely, then tin as much as possible of the exposed wire, (with the remaining piece of insulation holding the strands together) then snip off the end.
Obviously this requires tinning with a soldering iron, not a solder pot.

I did have some success with partial stripping like that then putting the wire on a silicone (sticky) mat and rolling the insulation in opposite directions. Works OK for smaller single wires as long as I can control the stripper which is a bit hit n miss. Doesn't work for larger cables (hard to get a tight twist) or ribbon cable (obviously).

 

Forcepts are great tools for handling wire and some components but I find the tiny ones almost impossible to unlock. So I came up with this...

​

Like I said magnets are my friends. So is super glue and my Dremel.

 

Like I said magnets are my friends. So is super glue and my Dremel.

Neat idea! I have used rubber bands around the handle of some needle nose pliers for a similar effect.

 

Latest brain fart. Forceps holding blocks

 

@Wendy, thought of you when I saw this at Circuit Specialists. One hand soldering:


https://www.circuitspecialists.com/...-53310629&mc_cid=7b5f5db3a6&mc_eid=dee465064d

Extra 5% off with CLOVER code. Good until midnight MST 3/18. I think they meant MDT.

 

I often use "Painter's Mate" green masking tape for holding components in place for soldering; it generally works better than those frames with the foam. When I haven't had enough hands available for soldering, I've sometimes held a plastic tube container of solder in my teeth.
https://www.amazon.com/Standard-Rosin-Core-Solder-0-5-Oz/dp/B007Z7QDXY
Quick-grip bar clamps can be operated with one hand.
https://www.irwin.com/tools/clamps/one-handed-mini-bar-clamps