Flush cutter for 18 gauge brads

[lardy1]

After all these years I still lose focus and get the angle wrong and blow out light gauge brads and staples. Mostly 18 gauge. I've always used end nippers or diagonals and dealt with that ****** bit left in different ways. I've been shopping around and what looks interesting to me is this Williams (which I believe is rebadged Pro America):

Flush Cut Diagonal Cutting Pliers with Spring

{ "1": "Flush Cut Diagonal Cutting Pliers with Spring" }

www.williams-industrial.com

I don't want to ruin what appears to be a pretty nice tool and I don't want to waste my money doing it with a cutter not up to the task.

Am I dreaming?

 

[GeoBruin]

Your use case sounds fine to me as long as you're not doing it all the time. You'll definitely dull them up pretty quick cutting brads all day.

There are purists here who will tell you to only use them on zip ties and copper wire but that's not how the real world works.

My concern is, you're almost going to have to dig in to the wood or whatever you're nailing to trim it off truly flush, and even then, you're only using the very tip of the cutters. Otherwise, you'll have to break out the nail set and give it a tap anyway, in which case, you could probably use some more stout cutters meant for harder materials.

Also, those don't lool like true flush cutters to me. You can still see a chamfer on the back side of the blade in the picture. Proper flush cutters will look like they're ground flat on the back side. That of course comes with some compromises in strength/durability however.

Maybe buy them and give it a try. If it's the miracle solution you're hoping for, you've won. If it doesn't quite pan out, you've got a set of flush(ish) cutters which are handy for lots of things.

 

[lardy1]

I'm in for a stouter set of cutters if I can find anything I trust. I'm also fishing for suggestions in that regard. Maybe an actual flush cut is out of the question. Everything I'm seeing seems more in line with conductive wire cutting such as copper and aluminum. I'm pretty sure that's because of the inherent fragility of the flush cut structure.

 

[Cooter Brown]

Unless I'm misunderstanding your problem, there's another option. If it's in an area that won't be seen, you can use a nail set to drive (actually bend) the protruding end under the surface of the wood. If it's in a visible area and the finish is going to be opaque, drive it under the surface, fill and finish.

Of course that violates Garage journal's "buy a new tool" rule.

 

[JradM]

I'd like to know what the stoutest flush cutters are too. I have flush cutters but they're only meant for copper and plastic. Anything harder would ruin them in a hurry (and that's not conjecture, I've ruined others before).

 

[KnurledNut]

If you have access, grab the nail by the tip with pliers and wiggle it back and forth. It will usually break below the surface. Not that ive ever spalled a nail before or anything...

 

[JradM]

There's always that "Nail Hunter" tool from Lee Valley if you want to just pull them out. It's going to leave marks with 18ga nails though.

 

[RTM]

I'd use a pair of cross or end cut nippers and a nail set, and say done

 

[anetode]

フジ矢 – 1923年の創業以来、大量生産に流されず品質にこだわり続けたクオリティファーストの工具ブランド – フジ矢 株式会社 – ペンチ、ニッパ、作業⼯具、自動化・省力化装置の開発、製造

このさきの未来に残すべき、日本の伝統的なモノづくりを維持し世界に発信していく責任より工具製造のプロフェッショナルの力を集結。職人をささえ業界を変える工具ブランドを展開しています。

www.fujiya-kk.com

 

[lardy1]

フジ矢 – 1923年の創業以来、大量生産に流されず品質にこだわり続けたクオリティファーストの工具ブランド – フジ矢 株式会社 – ペンチ、ニッパ、作業⼯具、自動化・省力化装置の開発、製造

このさきの未来に残すべき、日本の伝統的なモノづくりを維持し世界に発信していく責任より工具製造のプロフェッショナルの力を集結。職人をささえ業界を変える工具ブランドを展開しています。

www.fujiya-kk.com

Those claim to be durable enough for the 18 gauge fasteners but are they actually flush cutting?

 

[ecotec]

Will the FastCap ones cut brads?