The base for this helping hands set up is extremely important. The base provides the stability for the arms. Without a strong base, the arms will be useless. rstraugh at Instructables used a 1/2" thick aluminum base for his helping hands. He recommends OnlineMetals.com for getting the materials. However, after browsing the aluminum selection, it was obvious that aluminum was way too expensive. Instead, I bought a sheet of 1/2" thick, 12"x12" Polypropylene sheet. I also bought a 1 foot 1/2" diameter plastic rod to make into a PCB holder. As you can see, the materials were pretty cheap, but the cost of shipping more than doubled the total cost.  My plan is to drill a grid of holes into the polypropylene sheet so that I can reposition the arms around on the sheet. I expect that the polypropylene will not be as dense as aluminum, but it should be offset by the sheer size of the sheet. I think it should be heavy enough to provide a stable base for the arms. |
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