Strong Hand Tools Fully Articulated Arm Rest, Fully Adjustable, Welding/Fabrication, ARA18, Strong Hand Tools

Another great product from Strong Hands! This is very useful for horizontal work when welding out of position--it moves fluidly as you move. True, the bottom setting is higher than the surface of your welding table, but a support system is not needed when welding in standard position. Strong Hands is not known for their assembly instructions, but assembly of this arm rest is straightforward, and all of the few elements needing assembly were there.I often modify tools and equipment, and being in agreement with two common complaints about this rest, I addressed these. The first has to do with the wing nuts used for adjusting the base and swing arm height: these are hard to get tight, so I simply replaced them with knobs available from Amazon--female M10 (2) for the base and male M5x10 (3) for the column (see photo).The second is the magnet holding the base to your welding table: it's not very strong, so the rest can tip if you swing away from the center of support. Weakness of the magnet is caused by the facts that it has a non-ferrous cover (to keep it from accumulating metal debris) and that there is a lip of about 3/32" that holds the magnet away from your ferrous surface. A simple swap with the magnetic base to my torch holder (for which magnetic pull is not such an issue), which is identical except that it lacks the non-ferrous cover and has a much stronger magnetic pull, greatly improved stability. To make it rock solid, I slapped the magnetic base face outward in the chuck of my woodworking lathe (I don't have a machinists' lathe) and turned the lip down, so that the magnet is only ~1/32" from the table. Much better!

I use this almost every day and I'm very happy with the quality of the construction.While the magnetic base isn't terribly strong, it's certainly strong enough for this purpose and allows you to quickly move the piece atop your welding table.It's not something to necessarily knock-about or abuse, but if used precisely as designed, it's really a helpful and beneficial implement.Overall, I'd give this two thumbs up and recommend for anyone a little extra help when welding taller pieces.

I tried out this device for positioning, as if I was actually welding with it, and I did some actual welding as well. I think the concept is excellent, but the execution is slightly weak. First, the cup that supports the forearm is a little too high for my comfort, even at the lowest setting. What I did was reverse the armrest by turning the cup sliding-mount upside down on the support rod. Doing that will lower the cup rest about 1-2 inches, and that seemed to work much better for me. 2nd, the base magnet and screw adjustment leveling bolts are not adequate to keep the rest from tipping over. The best solution I found was to position the rest so that the magnet is towards the work and inline with your forearm, because the weight of your arm will tip the device over if done any other way. I found that clamping the bolts side of the rest down to the table worked best for me. Having magnets on both ends and a lower positioning of the cup would have been better. I do like it, and will continue to use for my welding projects.

It’s hard for me to keep a steady TIG torch when my arm is not resting on something. So I usually keep various wood blocks around for the times when I must elevate the torch several inches above the fixture table surface. This usually results in me having very short weld runs because I have to stop to reposition the blocks constantly.This articulated arm rest is working out for me and I’m very glad that I bought it. My fixture table is small and the base that came with the arm rest is fairly large. So instead of installing the magnetic base assembly, I bolted a 5/8” OD bushing (3/8” ID) to the bottom of the vertical shaft which allows me to position the arm rest assembly very close to my work piece (see pics).I also didn’t care for the tiny thumb screws that came with the unit (they may work fine, but I saw a review that talked about how easily they stripped out). I cut a piece of 1” schedule 40 steel pipe, drilled and tapped for 1/4” thumb screws … and there’s no way I will strip these tightening by hand.I don't think the modifications I made are not necessary for the arm rest to work well. But I changed a couple of things to suit me, and I am very pleased with it and would certainly buy another one if it’s ever needed.

Built an adapter to fit holes in my welding table. Now I really like it!!!

The concept is great, but it doesn’t allow me to get my hand low enough to the work. This is especially true on flat work. You have to elevate the work to comfortably weld.

I simply love this arm positioner. The height adjustment and multi position of the base has made my out of position TIG welding so much easier. I think I will get another one for my filler rod hand also. For the money, you can’t really build this high of a quality without having an entire machine shop. Worth every Penny.