A medical device support system including a central shaft, an extension arm, and a brake assembly. The extension arm has a support for a medical device and a hub at its proximal end mounted to the central shaft for pivotable movement about the central shaft. The brake assembly is secured in the hub for rotation therewith and includes first and second discrete arc shape clamp pieces configured to flex toward and away from each other to respectively increase and decrease a frictional braking force to the central shaft. The hub includes a hub access opening configured to allow passage therethrough of at least one of the arc shape clamp pieces.
