medium quality hemostats? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: sarepairman2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 12, 2016, 09:41:56 pm
content: What is a good supplier of half decent hemostats?I see a few brands that are like 30$ per pair.I am interested in a making a set of the ones that Robrenz makes (I made one and its great!), but I am unsure what price bracket to shoot for.the 2$ ones might be horrid, but the 30$ ones might be over kill (i would like to make a whole bunch of them for different wire sizes. )i.e. whats the slightly better then excelite brand of hemostats?

author: uncle_bob
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 13, 2016, 03:10:58 am
content: HiThe main market for these gizmos is medical rather than electronics. We just happen to use them. You see a gap in the pricing as they go from the "made for hobby use" approach to the "we sell these to doctors". My guess is that at least 2/3 of the price delta has nothing to do with the design. It has to do with all of the fluff that the "health and safety" regs bring in. I'd also bet that the price goes up depending on how picky a country you want to sell them in.All of that is going to make your quest a bit tough.Alternate idea (assuming you are targeting electronics), design something that is better suited to electronic use. Don't copy the medial gizmos. Do something that works better !!!Bob

author: GreyWoolfe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 13, 2016, 03:20:32 am
content: I use hemostats all the time, 6" and 8", both straight and curved. I get mine cheap at local flea markets and when they wear out, I replace them. I have them in my tool bag in my company van and in my tool chest in my office/workshop. Cheap and cheerful is the way to go.

author: HAL-42b
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 13, 2016, 04:12:17 am
content: Medical and veterinary students must buy, and often subsequently sell their student sets. So a market for these things forms around faculties.

author: mtdoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 13, 2016, 05:04:16 am
content: Quote from: uncle_bob on February 13, 2016, 03:10:58 amThere's a huge difference between the quality of typical hobby use ones and real surgical hemostats. The steel is much higher quality and the tolerances are worlds apart. Same goes for forceps (tweezers).No "health and safety" regs for surgical instruments that I'm aware of (at least not in the US). For obvious reasons there are regulations about the sterilization in an autoclave before use. That has no bearing on what you buy though.For electronics use the "real" surgical tools are overkill IMO. The consequences of losing your clamp on a wire or component while soldering are not the same as losing the clamp on an artery during surgery...

author: mojoe
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 13, 2016, 05:05:08 am
content: Try hobby stores. There is a store her in town that caters to the "make your own ugly jewelry from cheap-ass beads" crowd that has hemstats, tweezers, etc.

author: mtdoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 13, 2016, 05:07:17 am
content: Quote from: mojoe on February 13, 2016, 05:05:08 amI don't know what country the OP is from (? SA = South Africa), but here in the US - Harbor Freight sells cheap ones that are probably fine for electronics use. Sporting goods stores that sell fishing gear also usually have them.

author: sarepairman2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 13, 2016, 05:21:23 am
content: well I could buy 6 for 15$ on ebay or 1 for 30$ on ebay.no one has any actual brand names to ease the hunt?

author: Addicted2AnalogTek
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 13, 2016, 05:24:52 am
content: What I've noticed is that surgical ones have smooth jaw surfaces and hobby/fishing ones have grip jaws. Having at least one of each helps. I got mine for free from the hospital ER. For what they charged me for my visit, they should have given me a whole set of precision surgical tools.....

author: mtdoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 13, 2016, 06:31:06 am
content: There are literally hundreds of different types of surgical hemostats - all different sizes and shapes -some with smooth surfaced jaws some with toothed.Quote from: sarepairman2 on February 13, 2016, 05:21:23 amI don't know of any "medium quality" brands. There are a few different surgical quality brands. Roboz is one brand that comes to mind. There are others.Depending on use it might be worth it to spend enough to get a high quality brand. It's like any tool - how important is top quality for your use or your satisfaction using it?

author: sarepairman2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 14, 2016, 05:33:57 pm
content: i'm not sure. the cheapest bullshit on the market might be OK for wire grippers so long they don't subconsciously irritate me with their wiggle and cause my brain to malfunction while I am working

author: Addicted2AnalogTek
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 14, 2016, 05:51:31 pm
content: I have a pair of the really cheap chinese made ones, and they definitely have that "wobble" in addition to the catches either being really loose or really hard to unlock - varying on what the size of the part you have it on is. One thing that I notice is the medical grade ones that I have are all stainless steel - possibly 316L? they are all made in Pakistan, and all function smoothly. If one had to pay for them, I'm sure they would be ridiculously overpriced for hobbyist needs.I would love to get a few more pairs, specifically some with angled jaws and long handles, so I will continue to check in and see if anyone else provides some input to where to purchase and what to get. If I find some good ones, I will certainly share the info.

author: uncle_bob
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 14, 2016, 05:56:05 pm
content: HiWhat may be considered "medical grade" (or veterinary grade) in one region, may be very different than what qualifies in another region. There are indeed vast differences in what is considered "good enough".Bob

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 14, 2016, 06:17:37 pm
content: Bought a whole lot of surgical tweezers on auction for $40, which was the asking bid and the only one. Even though half are designed for cutting sutures ( little cutter tip useful for fine wire cutting) I still have 50 or so. Now on the look out for the matching hemostats for them, not going to buy new ones for the price asked for them, and the cheap ones are rubbish, along with often being a disposable plastic unit.