Aaaaaand the handy cup’s wingnut stripped today.
Guess I’ll have to get a ring or something…
man, I expected better from that company.
Might as well replace the wobbly arm as well… It’s fine for now but how many days until it dies on me…
Hey folks! Carly from team Handy here. We’ve noticed that some of you are having an issue with a defective arm when it comes to the HandsFree Desk Mount. I want to make it clear that the maximum loading weight of the arm is 2.5kg.
Anything more than 2.5kg can potentially break the arm.
If your HandsFree Desk Mount does break, please contact our support team at contact@thehandy.com. Thank you!
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You have a link to that C-shape clamp? Would like the screw to fit. Would be nice.
Looks like they’ve stopped selling it on amazon but something like this should also work (as long as it has a standard 1/4’’ screw hole).
Avoid the type that uses a thin sheet of silicone tape on the claw. They always fall off.
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Thanks yeah did a search but wasn’t there. That one looks good and the red is sooo… hot.
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I had to give up on those types of C-clamps because the interior corners are rounded and the clamp width it relatively narrow. This makes it so the clamp doesn’t fit snugly against the edge of my desk with its sharp 90degree edges. That creates a gap that causes the mount and Handy to wobble side to side when stroking. Its not a dramatic movement–maybe 5-10 mm, but it was bad enough that it sometimes caused issues.
I switched to the following bigass heavy clamp and it has been rock-solid.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BS9MJN7Y/
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I noticed this too, plus trying to tighten it while also using it for 30+ minutes starts hurting the desk… and I have a desk mat that absorbs the dent from the top and from the bottom the clamp is against the metal bar around the desk because otherwise I’d have a hole in my desk already.
Probably upgrade to that flat design instead.
Hey, does anyone think they could help me find a solution for my desk?
It has this curved beveled edge that’s about 1 inch deep and the desk is 1 inch thick.
These clamps don’t work on it at all because of this, and I can’t find a clamp that goes deep enough that it would clamp beyond the slanted edge.
Anything I could purchase from Amazon that I could simply attach since I’m not handy at DIY stuff, or anyone know of a clamp that would go deep enough?
The clamp I linked above is over 3 inches deep (front to back) and can expand to over 2.5 inches between the top and bottom parts of the clamp. I’m pretty sure you can even use the screws to expand the max gap by another inch. The center screw itself is 1.5 inches from the back wall.
It will have no problem getting by your bevel. Whether its worth the price is your call.
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Oh wow, thank you so much for the help and sorry I didn’t see your earlier post. It is a bit pricey, but if it works then I’ll be happy. I’ll probably pick it up in about a week and see how it goes. Thanks again, I really appreciate you and this community taking the time to help each other.
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Oh damn … My computer desk has a drawer …
All right, everything arrived and it works great so far.
I skipped the official mount altogether simply due to the horror stories here, as well as the other threads from this site and around the internet.
Here’s a full list of everything I got.
70mm Bottle Boots:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083BMV2YG?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
(Thanks to Falafel’s DIY post in this thread)
71mm Tripod Collar Mount Ring
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DVKZBXG?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
(Also thanks to Falafel’s DIY post in this thread, as well as various sources saying the same thing)
NEEWER Heavy Duty C Clamp:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BS9MJN7Y?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
(Thanks to fuccaneer’s posts here, and direct help in directing me toward this clamp for my desk with a beveled edge)
CAMVATE 11 inch Adjustable Articulating Friction Magic Arm
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XRHN5HX?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
(Thanks to glassxat’s posts here, and the fact that its max. load is 3kg, compared to the 1.5kg of the SmallRig magic arm. I also just really like the red accent)
Notes:
It’s a bit awkward to get in the right position at first, but it becomes easy quickly.
Thanks to the clamp having so many mounting holes, I was able to attach the arm to the back/side or whatever, instead of the top to get the position I needed.
Because of this I’m able to use the handy with the buttons still facing me.
Notes continued:
Gotta tighten things down quite a bit, a little more than I thought I would need to.
Also, the bottle boot makes it difficult to get the lens ring on, but definitely works for holding the handy in place. I have to open the lens ring, then screw it back in a little so it stays in place, then slide the lens ring down over the handy/push the handy up into the lens ring with the bottle boot on it. After that I tighten the lens ring down with the screw and it holds perfectly.
So yeah, overall I’m very happy with this setup and really thankful to the community for all the shared information. I hope this post can help others as well.
Thanks everyone.
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I went for this setup too since my cup broke again. The rubber pads inside were just gone this time lol.
Anyway, I haven’t even used it yet and I can already tell it feels and looks way more secure than that stupid cup. Thank you guys for the suggestions!
The real MacGyver!
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I used it later that evening and man it felt good to not have to worry about the cup falling off or sliding down mid session. It stayed in the perfect position during the whole session.
Honestly a much better solution than the cup. Installing it was easier for me, because you don’t have to worry about stuff breaking when tightening it.
I posted my solution here, which uses the Handy cup mount with a 3rd party microphone arm. It’s not cheap, but very solid. I don’t have issues with the cup holding the Handy.
I’ve tried a few of these adjustable arms and they all seem to be rather flimsy 
But I’ll definitely try those heavy duty clamps, maybe they’ll help to stabilize it a bit more.
Hi I also bought the Camvate 11 inch friction magic arm and find that it cannot hold the weight of the handy. As in, I attach the mount ring to the magic arm and then attach the handy, it instantly starts sagging as there is not enough support. Did you have the same issue ?
I got these now
https://amzn.eu/d/05gyZ1rD
https://amzn.eu/d/0ahM9evn
The arm takes a bit getting used to because it’s hard to fix it completely but after a few attempts it has been pretty sturdy and overall the part seems a lot less likely to break like the last one, but it’s also 3x the cost lol.
I had a somewhat similar problem but only when I first set it up, and only during use it would appear to drift out of place, but it was because the screw wasn’t tight enough at the area where the arm connected to the clamp. This caused it to slowly unscrew itself simply because I didn’t tighten that area enough, which would cause the handy to change position and move but only during use. I had to tighten it more than I thought I would need to. If you’ve already tried tightening everything down really well and it’s still not working, I’d recommend you return it and possibly try a different arm.
It definitely shouldn’t sag when it’s not even in use. Mine stays in place even during heavy action scenes, the only movement is a slight vertical wobble straight up and down, but it’s not even noticeable without looking at the device.
I guess I should mention the way I did it.
Tighten the magic arm really well so that it’s locked in place at a 90 degree angle (L shape),
Screw the magic arm into the clamp, and tighten it by twisting the magic arm.
The lens ring just simply screw onto the other end, and tighten it down by turning the lens ring itself.
If things are slipping when trying to tighten them down, then you need to tighten the magic arm even more to make sure everything stays locked in place.
Once everything is set, then you can loosen the magic arm to adjust the position of everything.
Simply manipulate the arm to get everything where you want it, then tighten the arm really well again.
I hope this helps.