Useful wiring tip No. 3: Surgeons' Forceps

[madswitcher]

We all probably have favourite tools and useful little gadgets to help during construction or repairs: one of mine is a pair of surgeons' forceps picked up up from a swap meet years ago.  If you are tring to pull a component out from the component side of a board while using a soldering iron on the other side, fine pliers are not much use. 

So think of very fine-nose pliers that you can use to delve amongst components and which allows you to lock on/grip to  things such as a resistor end.  You can leave the forceps dangling while soldering on the other side of the board and then pull when the solder has melted.

You can also use then as a simple heatsink when soldering something delicate by gripping it.

I have two pairs, one with a curved end and a another with a straight nose and cost me $5 or so  (about 10 years agon that is)

Regards

Mike

 

[JohnRoberts]

+1  I have used a small forcep on my bench for years...

It is also handy for fishing fuel lines out of a chainsaw gas tank.

JR

 

[smorphet]

Agreed, locking forceps are very useful.

I also like "alligator forceps" which have a small opening jaw at the end of a long shaft.  They're great for gripping things in otherwise inaccessible spots, pulling wires, retrieving dropped screws, etc.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=alligator+forceps&tbm=isch

Steve.

 

[Rob Flinn]

I've been using forceps for years.

TIP.  It's also useful having a second pair that are curved, they help get in awkward places.

 

[PRR]

Forceps were the class-act for  passing joints around the dorm room.

I had to hide my workbench forceps (and clip-leads) or they would evaporate.

I still have them and use them often enough to stay in the top drawer.

The good-old stainless ones were expensive and going out of style. I bet fishing shops that cater to fly-tyers stock cheap but good knock-offs.

 

[maq3396]

Surgical instruments have a finite lifespan....the tips of needle drivers and pick-ups can only be retipped or straightened so many times.
While they may not be useful in the operating room any more they are more than adequate for our purposes.
If you know anybody that works in a hospital/surgical clinic inquire as to how they dispose of their old surgical instruments.  Not sure what the rules/regulations are in other parts of the world but my workbench has many end of life instruments that are used on a daily basis

 

[CJ]

hemostats, mine kept getting stuck closed in cold weather,