Looking for a really good set of tweezers

Fred, when you decide on some inexpensive tweezers, both ModelExpo and Micro-Mark have several to choose from.

the brand i use at work (jeweler) is Dumont. they are worth every penny. come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

My experience with mine are the same as others report: the tines are easily bent and lose their shape, although this is easily fixed with some pliers. The metal they use just isn't very hard, and is low quality. More of an annoyance than anything else. I generally avoid bending them out of shape merely by being extra careful with them.

I know that in my profession we avoid surgical instruments made in these countries like the plague. Very poor reputation in the medical community.

batai37 wrote:

HawkeyeHobbies wrote: Well at least they are from the right continent. Those from Pakistan, India and China are not of the best quality. That's putting it politely. Substandard quality would be better. Best would be using a term that would have to be censored. Are TDI's tools made in one or more of those countries?

I believe they are Swiss made. I have Pakistani cheap ones but if you use some sandpaper and file them they work very well. 

HawkeyeHobbies wrote:

Well at least they are from the right continent. Those from Pakistan, India and China are not of the best quality.

That's putting it politely. Substandard quality would be better. Best would be using a term that would have to be censored.

Are TDI's tools made in one or more of those countries?

I don't know how they all compare but for the price of the Excelta tweezers you can get TDI's tweezers which look to me like as good as they get.

http://www.tdiinternational.com/tweezers.html

I love the Erem tweezers, because of the foamed covers on the handles:

DN5SN & DN7SN the latter being the curved one.

Thanks, Gerald.  When I get this set, all my old tweezers will be relegated to junk jobs.  They're all bent and warped and I'm not even really sure, from what.  I don't mistreat my tools or ask them to do anything outside of their intended design, yet the tips no longer touch.  I try to reshape them, but they get worse.

What are the part numbers on the reverse action pairs, you have?

Thanks again,

Fred

Perfect with one exception, look at getting one pair of reverse action tweezers. They allow you to hold a part without squeezing. Like the one holding the pin.

Also pick up several of the really cheap ones too. These are perfect for hold small parts while painting them. Just give them a wash in lacquer thinner to remove the paint build up. I have one small pair and one large pair and their only duty is for painting or acting as small clamps.

The cheap tweezers I purchased in the past are not religated to tasks which can and will damage them...such as annealing PE or soldering brass.

Good tweezers allow one to grip on tight without the risk of the tines bending or warping out of alignment with each other. Here is the HD one that is picture on the left in the picture above.

Thanks for suggestions, guys

Gerald, what do you think of this selection:

7-SA-PI    Curved fine point

5-SA-PI    Straight micro fine

3-SA-PI    Straight very fine

2A-SA-PI  Flat round tip

1-SA-PI    Straight slender

Are these decent enough for fine PE work and working in tight areas?  I was thinking of getting them from All-spec.com as they have them for about $11 - $13 each.

-Fred

What you are looking for are assembly grade tweezers. Those that manufacturers use to assemble electronics and the like.

Xuron sells a couple good ones which you can order from your LHS. You can also get them from Excelta. Be prepard to spend something like $20-60 a pair, depending on what model you choose.But you will not ever be needing to purchase another one, they last forever for what we use them for.

I can pick the fuzz of a Frog's butt with these. Slivers removal is a piece of cake as is applying PE, Decals and Masks. Perfect for removing masks too!