Poindexter Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 Hi I'm after some tweezers and other modeling paraphernalia to assist me in kit building and detailing RTR locos. I have found these http://cgi.ebay.co.u...=item3f093787b3 but would they be false economy? I don't want to break the bank (relatively speaking) but want tools I can use with confidence. At the moment I have 1 pair of tweezers and 1 pair of locking forceps Any suggestions please? Guy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
moorlander Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 Fully agree,check the cheap retail shops, around the female make up departments. For a couple quid you can get little scissors, tweezers and some small brushes useful for weathering models. Example in a local Boyes Stores i got some fine tweezers for 50p next to the counter. Incidentally they also had Vallergo (excuse spelling) acrylic paints. In the past i have used them for wargame figures. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 I have a few pairs of tweezers and forceps - they are of varying quality. My favourite pair were ex-dental supplier and are extremely thin pointed and sharp. I can pick up the tinyiest part with them. Other pairs have been dropped and bent, or heated by being too close to a blow-torch or the RSU. I have some cheap -(but nowhere near as cheap as that ebay offering) but they have very little "spring" in the handle and were really a waste of money. It all comes down to what you are prepared to pay and what you are prepared to put up with in terms of quality. When something is as cheap as those - I have serious doubts ... but let us know. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poindexter Posted April 19, 2011 Author Share Posted April 19, 2011 Cheers Lads. I think I'll pop to Wilkos or poundland (good tip) get some cheapies then replace with good stuff once I know what I want/need Guy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jol Wilkinson Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 My various stainless steel tweezers were bought from Squires of Bognor, going back about 10 - 15 years and are now £2.75 each. I haven't one worn any out yet. I am a real believer that buying cheap tools is false economy. You only need one or two types. Type AA - straight and type 7 - curved are really all I use, although I do have several others. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigwelsh Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 Those things are generally useless, I used to muck around with a set before I got some type MM from the Expo tools range. These are proper dental quality ones that are fine at the tip but very strong too with decent spring. I also have a curved pair that I don't use quite as often. I got mine from Antics in Cardiff but its essentially this pair: http://www.emodels.co.uk/plastic-kits/expo-tools-stainless-steel-antimagnetic-tweezer-inch-79003-p-21.html http://www.emodels.co.uk/plastic-kits/expo-tools-curved-tweezer-79007-p-20.html You can spend a fortune on diesel detailing parts, its worth spending a few pound on a decent tool to hold them with to help when applying them (otherwise you'll spend your modelling time in the carpet..). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 My various stainless steel tweezers were bought from Squires of Bognor, going back about 10 - 15 years and are now £2.75 each. I haven't one worn any out yet. Same here - there's no reason not to spend that really considering how much you'll use them! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackRat Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 Go for James advice, Squires you really cant beat them! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 (otherwise you'll spend your modelling time in the carpet..). You will probably do that anyway - but a good pair of tweezers will help you only harvest the parts and not all those other things that live there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 Make it your policy to buy the best tools that you can afford - they say a bad workman blames his tools - but that is often because he bought the cheapest! Tolerances and quality will always be finer and more accurate with decent tools - and NEVER buy cheap machine tools - just chuck your money in the nearest bin!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Welly Posted April 19, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 19, 2011 AVOID the Rolson brand of tweezers, my father bought a pack of 4 tweezers for only £4 a pack in my local branch of Maplin's ( I usually subsitute Cr for M in that shop ) They are made out of a kind of metal that is only slightly more stiff than the metal foil trays that my local Chinese takeaway uses! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Worsdell forever Posted April 19, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 19, 2011 Plenty available from Eileens, many of them similar to the ones that Craig recommends. The ones I use a lot are quite sturdy with the plastic/Teflon grips similar to the reverse action ones on Eileens. I have some very fine ones but I have no idea where I got them. Tweezers are the first tool that comes out of my toolbox and I couldn't do without really good ones. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Worsdell forever Posted April 19, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 19, 2011 These are mine. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodbine Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 Absolutely agree with Craigwelsh, re the MM pair of straight tweezers. I have several decent pairs of assorted others but always reach for my MM's in preference except when I can't find them. One pair of them will suffice for everything you need, especially if you're being budget wise. The other thing you absolutely must buy is a GOOD magnifying glass. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Wellyboots Posted April 20, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 20, 2011 ....... - they say a bad workman blames his tools - but that is often because he bought the cheapest! ....... Good to see someone debunking that old chestnut! It's also been said "buy cheap, buy often". To produce such cheap tools compromises have to be made and the cheaper they are the greater these compromises will be; the materials will be of poorer quality e.g. softer metals, the manufacturing tolerances will be greater e.g. looser fitting or misaligned parts and the quality control won't be as strict e.g. great chance of getting a defective product. It's all a matter of how these compromises affect the function of a tool. I have a pair of stainless steel MM type from Squires, which I've had for about 15 years, and they weren't "very" expensive when I brought them . They seem to strike the balance between quality and cost, the steel has the right springiness and is hard enough to resist bending at the very fine tips. If the current ones are of similar quality at under £3 they're a bargain! And as an example when I was young and foolish I brought a pair of cheap tweezers, they didn't last long, the metal they were made of wasn't very springy and one of the tips bent and when I tried to straighten it the thing snapped off! I replaced them with an Xcelite No. 700 costing maybe 4 to 5 times that of the cheap pair, that was 25 years ago and I'm still using them and they are still as good as the day I brought them. So these "expensive" tweezers have ended up being a real bargain! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold RedgateModels Posted April 20, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 20, 2011 My late Grandad always lived by the maxim of "making the job pay for the tool" in other words he bought the right tool for the job, and a good quality one also. This ensured that next time he needed to do the job he was ready If the job can't justify the tool, then don't do it, or pay someone else to do it My tweezers were made by a collegue at an instumentation company from pressure gauge diaphragm material - stainless steel, all welded and ground to a very fine point. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigwelsh Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 The MM ones are £2.50 from Antics online or from their shops which is cheaper than the Eileens price and probably Squires as well. I've never found a pair of reverse action ones much use for anything with the amount of jaw pressure they normally give. Top tip - blacken the jaws of the tweezers to aid you in avoiding soldering your work to them! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Apart from the mentioned suppliers , try Proops,(on line) who have tweezers, but over many years have marketed surgical instruments and tweezers of top quality. Give them a ring to find what they have, often not all is listed. They have an Ebay shop as well. They may have the locking tweezers, like scissors, that lock tight on items, very nice stainless steel, cost a fortune new. Stephen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 http://www.proopsbro...Forceps_62.html Try link to Proops site, for locking forceps, from £2 to £8 pounds dependant on sizes, up to eight inches, these are stainless steel and very useful indeed for holding and manipulating small items, and they lock quite fiercely, if you want. Stephen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 And for tweezers they do 26 types!!!!!! http://www.proopsbrothers.com/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Tweezers_58.html Stephen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Worsdell forever Posted April 20, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 20, 2011 I've never found a pair of reverse action ones much use for anything with the amount of jaw pressure they normally give. I also have some of these and didn't mention them for this very reason, I used them once and gave up! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 If you have not got enough pressure with the reversed ones, try the clamping medical forceps from Proops, they grip from very delicate to a full powerful clamp, and being stainless steel, can take heat, I use them for both ordinary soft soldering and for silver soldering clamping. Stephen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poindexter Posted April 20, 2011 Author Share Posted April 20, 2011 Right that's it you've convinced me. I've bought these http://cgi.ebay.co.u...e=STRK:MEWNX:IT and these http://cgi.ebay.co.u...e=STRK:MEWNX:IT Work out about the cheapest when you take into consideration the free postage and I have bought Phosphor Bronze Strip etc of them in the past and seem reliable. I'm glad you talked about reverse action because I had considered a pair, saved money there. Thank you for this discussion Guy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigwelsh Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 Yes good buy and I really think you'll benefit from them compared to the ones you mentioned at the start. The 79003 seem flatter than the MM and were slightly more expensive on Antics so possibly a stronger metal or something? The 79007 is the curved type I have and they are useful for holding something for filing. I might get some SS type one day as they seem to be an even finer tipped straight set. I use the MM for folding my brake lever guards though which are possibly the fiddliest small etch out there really! I had seen you mention the reverse type earlier so thought i'd mention not having much success with them. Do tell us how you find them anyway, should close off the thread nicely and allow others to buy from there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Worsdell forever Posted April 20, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 20, 2011 If you have not got enough pressure with the reversed ones, try the clamping medical forceps from Proops, they grip from very delicate to a full powerful clamp, and being stainless steel, can take heat, I use them for both ordinary soft soldering and for silver soldering clamping. Stephen. The main problem I had was telling my brain to 'let go to grip' and 'squeeze to let go'! I kept dropping stuff... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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