Recommend me a good precision pliers set made in either the USA or Germany.

[espyking83]

Fat paycheck is burning my pockets, brag on your small business purchases here.

 

[pedrodagr8]

If money is no object Tronex is made in the USA of USA made tool steel. Unlike some other USA made brands that source their steel from elsewhere. Their precision pliers and cutters are second to none (and have a price to match). Personally, I LOVE mine. They came about with the tech industry in the Bay Area and are still made there.

There are also Lindstrom, Erem, etc. These are mostly made in Europe and very high quality, some would argue just as good as Tronex. Excelta Five-star series is mostly made by Tronex.

 

[espyking83]

If money is no object Tronex is made in the USA of USA made tool steel. Their precision pliers and cutters are second to none (and have a price to match). Personally, I LOVE mine.

There are also Lindstrom, Erem, etc.

Does anyone rebrand Tronex? They look very familiar.

 

[pedrodagr8]

Does anyone rebrand Tronex? They look very familiar.

Yes, I actually was exciting my original post to include this. Excelta rebrands Tronex for their Five-Star line, plus a few other lines.

 

[espyking83]

OK thanks, currently browsing them on Amazon lol

 

[espyking83]

Some reviews say the handles of the Excelta are exceedingly spongy, is this true or an exaggeration?

 

[Champo]

Schmitz pliers are made in Germany and are priced very reasonably. They are the OEM for a lot of other German brands. Quality IMO is as good as lindstrom and erem (I own all three).

 

[pedrodagr8]

Some reviews say the handles of the Excelta are exceedingly spongy, is this true or an exaggeration?

The Excelta are a bit softer than the Tronex. That being said, I have no problems using either at all. Everyone will have their preference, I prefer the Tronex. The Tronex are designed to flex some when you grip tight. I find it allowed me to feel very very tight even with very thin needle nose tips.

Just FYI, I have one pair of Excelta cutters, five pairs of Tronex cutters and one Tronex needle nose.

 

[pedrodagr8]

Schmitz pliers are made in Germany and are priced very reasonably. They are the OEM for a lot of other German brands. Quality IMO is as good as lindstrom and erem (I own all three).

I agree, Schmitz are likely the best value option. Very few know about them but they are a good compromise between quality and price. They are not quite Tronex quality, but are very good. They are the OEM for NWS and a few others IIRC.

Website: http://www.schmitz-zangen.de/ it can be hard to find so I included it here.

 

[lilcraigford]

Here is another thread worth perusing through: small/'precision' pliers set for electronics, etc

I'll throw Xuron out there. I've been anxious to pull the trigger on a few of their products. I have also looked at Pro America. They're products are sold under several different names (I know Proto is one of them).

 

[four.cycle]

^
pictures
HERE: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5351977#post5351977

... and scroll down just a bit for a couple more.

Proamerica manufactures for Proto, Armstrong, and Wilde.

best prices: Ebay / sellers donvito-NY and bowerstool

 

[Monte]

or these from Italy:
www.piergiacomi.com
Also available rebadged from many companies (Wiha...)

 

[morgaj1]

I really like the Hakko pliers.

 

[upgrading]

My Hakko looks exactly like Monte's pic, except red instead of yellow.

 

[pedrodagr8]

Here is another thread worth perusing through: small/'precision' pliers set for electronics, etc

I'll throw Xuron out there. I've been anxious to pull the trigger on a few of their products. I have also looked at Pro America. They're products are sold under several different names (I know Proto is one of them).

I absolutely hated by Xuron flush cutters. I have not used their pliers, but if their flush cutters are an indication of their attention to details then they are straight rubbish. The metal was soft, the tips didn't even get close to aligning. They didn't so much cut the metal as mangle it into submission. Much worse than the chinese made Hakko cutters that I used.

I have quite a few pairs of Excelta pliers that I use when doing electronics work. The pictures attached to this post show a few of them of various ages. I find them to be a little bit too spongy for my liking when new, and they are porous enough to be very hard to keep clean. To me they are a bit past the point of comfort and more towards the point of making it hard to feel the piece you are working on. The handles are a true closed cell foam and their thickness is not always consistent between pliers which can be a little annoying. The porosity/texture makes them hard to clean, because you don't want to scrub them too hard, and because some chemicals will damage the foam. The foam will also melt and shrink away instantly if it quickly touches something hot like the shaft or tip of a soldering iron.

Over time, the foam will react with anything on your hands. This will change the color of the foam and slowly cause the foam to become hard. It will eventually lose all sponginess and feel instead like one of the formed styrofoam packing inserts that come with a new computer or television.

That being said I still own quite a few of their pliers, because I like the actual pliers a lot. They might not all look pretty but they are still very useful and good quality pliers. The hinges don't have extra play even after a lot of use, the tips of the needle nose are strong and quite resistant to breaking or bending, etc. The pieces of spring steel (that open the pliers automatically) will eventually break off after much use, but the pliers will still continue to work just fine as long as you don't care about them not opening automatically anymore. Any other brand with the same self-opening springs will have the same issue so it is not just a Excelta problem.

I like my Excelta pliers the best after they age a bit and the foam hardens up, because then they give excellent tactile feel while still being large in diameter so they are easy to handle unlike the often very thin vinyl coated handles of other brands. They also don't get slippery if your hands are a little wet, greasy, or sweaty like vinyl handles will.

My first picture shows a small assortment of my Excelta mini pliers. You can tell by the handles which are newer and which are older. My second picture shows two of my newer pliers and one has a noticeably thinner foam handle than the other. The third picture shows how the handles age after much use, and the last picture shows a chunk out of the end of one of the handles where you can see the individual cells of the foam.

The majority of my mini pliers are Excelta, Erem, and Xuron. My Excelta pliers are made in Italy, my Erem pliers are made in Switzerland, and all my Xuron cutters and pliers are USA. I also have various vintage Utica (USA), Craftsman (USA), Snap-on (USA), Pastorino (Italy), Klein (USA), and Mega (Spain) pliers which have been nice as well. I never thought Lindstrom were worth the money. My Erem pliers have foam handles that are black and a bit thinner, but otherwise about the same as the Excelta handles. My Erem pliers are heavier though, because everything is made thicker. The Erem pliers do have a nicer internal spring that is hidden in the hinge instead of the visible springs that will eventually break after much use. I have never broken one of the internal Erem springs.

A very good review of the Excelta handles. Those excelta are made by a different company (not sure who) than the Excelta 5-stars (which are made by Tronex) but the comments about the handles still apply. The Tronex have a more firm rubbery handle material. Hard to describe but when I get back home from visiting family I can take pictures to compare the two.

or these from Italy:
www.piergiacomi.com
Also available rebadged from many companies (Wiha...)

I am almost certain the Geodore are made by Schmitz, the Wiha that you show are very similar as well but not 100%.

Examples:

Compare this Schmitz kit to your Geodore kit. The cutters offered are the exact same type, the look and style are the same.

I really like the Hakko pliers.

The hakko cutters I had were OK, they were too soft to cut some hard header pins and noticeably deformed. They are a good cheap set but far from the high-end in quality. That being if you want/need the quality.

 

[four.cycle]

recent additions:

Proamerica 4018 5-3/4" long smooth-jaw needle nose pliers by four.cycle, on Flickr

Proamerica 4040 4-1/2" angled flush cutter pliers by four.cycle, on Flickr