I've tried the ball & socket style of helping hands (3D printed from this Prusa catalogue and Thingiverse) but found they bear little weight and got very loose very quickly with no way to tighten them bar a complete re-print so…

Requires additional hardware:

    2 x 10x20x2mm magnets (or 1 x 20x20x2mm magnet)
    4 x M4 16mm or 18mm hex head bolts
    4 x M4 nuts
    1 x crocodile clip

The clips I used were from e-bay and had holes in the flat backs.  If you have clips of a different design you can probably just superglue them directly to the End Link part.

The magnets (Amazon or e-bay) are optional - you could superglue the base to a  block of MDF or something similar or clamp the base to a worktop or whatever.

Printing:

    I recommend PETG or ABS.  Nothing wrong with trying PLA but it's brittle.
    All parts for 1 helping hand are in the Hands V2 Parts 3mf and gcode files.

Parts List:

    Base in 2 parts.  Superglue together if you use the magnet/s.  If you're going to use a different size or thickness of magnet you could just superglue it the main base and discard the bottom ring.

    Long Link (2 required).  One attached to the main base and the other attached to the End Link via M4 nuts and bolts.

    Short Link.  Fits between the two Long Links with M4 nuts and bolts.

    End Link and crocodile clip holder.  The latter is a push fit into the End Link which fits onto the end of the upper Long Link.

Assembly:

I attached the metal crocodile clips by squashing the pin in the End Link part with a hot screwdriver then securing with superglue - see middle picture.

Fit the parts together one at a time without the bolts then tap in the nuts.  If you try to tap the nuts into their sockets without the support of the adjoining link they are guaranteed to snap.

Then screw in the bolts with a 3mm hex driver/key.

Pretty self explanatory really if you follow the photographs - Base then a Long Link then the Short Link then the second Long Link then the End Link. The crocodile clip holder pushes into the End Link.  It's a tight fit but it is able to rotate to any desired angle.

Superglue the magnet/s into the recess formed on the underside of the base by gluing the Base parts together - see last picture.

I use the Helping hands (x2) on jewelers steel blocks which prevents them from toppling.

I've included the SolidWorks file if you want to mess around with the design but it's a bit add-hoc and messy so good luck with that ‘cause I couldn’t be bothered cleaning it up - it works and that's the main thing.

Another long-winded rant…

Any comments (or constructive criticism) welcome.

Regards, Paul