Super quick update to extol the virtues of some very good value side cutters I bought recently on a tip. Thanks to the Hackaday Circuit Sculpture remoticon workshop, when Mohit Bhoite was showing off his tools and mentioned these.
In short, Xuron makes an excellent range of cutting tools, coming in a variety of shapes and sizes. These ones are the 9100F type described as Oval Head Micro Shear with Lead Retainer. That last bit is the key for my use. It has a little clip that sits behind the cutting edges and grabs hold of the lead or pin you are cutting, after the cut is finished, preventing it from pinging off into the distance. Or worse, pinging off into something you’re building, for it to cause problems later…
Great stuff. Thanks, Mohit – I didn’t even know these were a thing.
