[Elecraft] Good side cutter pliers for PC board assembly

[Joe Planisky]

Hi Pete,

I have both the Xcelite 170M shear cutters that Don mentioned and a  
pair of Xcelite MS54-5J flush cutters. Both work well.

Note that the 170M is a shear cutter.  That means that the cutting  
edges of the blades look ever so slightly mis-aligned so that one  
cutting edge slightly overlaps the other.  Wires are actually sliced  
all the way through instead of being "pinched off".  That means the  
clipped off wire ends don't go flying across the room, and there's  
less mechanical shock delivered to the component.

The Xcelite MS54-5J cutters are the conventional flush-cut dikes.   
Since the cutting edges exactly meet in the center, it pinches the  
wire off and can cause the clipped end to go flying.  However, it  
produces a cleaner looking result than the shear cutters.

The 170M is cheap: around $5.00 vs around $16.00 for the MS54-5J.

The 170M probably won't take as much abuse as the MS54-5J.

73
--
Joe KB8AP



On Jul 7, 2010, at 12:54 PM, Pete Smith wrote:

> ... I am looking
> for a good pair of small side cutter pliers ... to use in PC board  
> assembly.
> -- 
> 73, Pete N4ZR