Quick overview of my tweezer collection - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: loki42
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2025, 10:52:09 am
content: I know some of you have a somewhat over the top tweezer collection as well, but I did a little video of mine.Erem, Knipex, Ideal tek and others.

author: Kean
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 15, 2025, 01:29:18 pm
content: Tweezers are a bit of a personal preference, and you definitely need many different sizes and shapes/lengths.I have a few of the Swiss Ideal-Tek stainless models, like 5A.SA, 5B.SA, and the titanium 7A.TA. I also have a bunch of cheaper and larger models - e.g. Vetus brand or old medical ones.I mostly use the 5A's which are probably a bit too small and pointy when dealing with 0603 and larger, and the tips are easily damaged when I abuse them. I do occasionally deal with 0402 or 0201 where the 5B shines. Apparently the 5A are only 0.01mm difference from the 2.SA (the first ones you showed), but I prefer the offset design of the 5A.One type you are missing is cutting tweezers. The 15AGW are awesome for fine work, but you must only use them on fine copper wire or other stuff that wont damage the edge.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 15, 2025, 01:52:16 pm
content: IME $5 Chinese blue titanium tweezers from Aliexpress/Temu beat all those expensive tweezers by a significant margin. Angled ones I got from Temu a few months ago are sharp as a fine needle but incredibly though at the same time. I even use them to snip plant suckers with no damage to the tweezers whatsoever. Straight ones I bought a few years ago are somewhat more delicate but still tougher than expensive stainless steel equivalent. I have multiple expensive tweezers but almost never use them. And frankly some <$2 stainless steel ones are better than most of $20+ western brand tweezers too. It's one of rare tools where expensive != good.

author: Kean
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 15, 2025, 02:01:25 pm
content: I have a pair of those blue ones, but I am not a fan of them. They have incredibly pointy tips which is useful for some stuff, but certainly not general purpose... whatever that might mean to each of us.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 15, 2025, 02:23:44 pm
content: Quote from: Kean on May 15, 2025, 02:01:25 pmWell, it's a bummer these don't come in less sharp variants, but when you need something not sharp, even most of $2 tweezers are almost as good as expensive ones. For example I'd rather use super cheap fake "Swiss"WEITUS (not VETUS) I bought a decade ago rather than any Wiha from a set I bought last year and barely ever remember about (wasted money). You really need to see and use them to find what's actually good.

author: loki42
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 15, 2025, 11:08:27 pm
content: The Pakistani erem copies are pretty nice but the cost of hand tools is so low that the fancy tweezers cost less than lunch does here so I consider cost pretty irrelevant. My favourites by far are Erem followed by Knipex.

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 09:28:38 pm
content: I like stainless steel because they keep looking good when modifying. I have some from Erem, and every 2 to 5 years I grind a few mm off of them, because the part where they touch gets worn out.I also find that some of the tweezers with ceramic tips are a bit hit and miss. Their tips done match well, but they are somewhat adjustable. But also the ceramic tips can be ground with a dremel and a diamond disk. to make their edges fit perfectly. Ceramic tweezers also nearly do not wear.One of my ceramic tweezers had it's tip broken (I may have done this on purpose to see how strong the ceramic tips are) I removed the broken tip, closed the legs with some wire, and then ground a chisel shape on the remaining ceramic tip. And this turned out to be a remarkable useful electronics tool. The chisel is not very sharp (knife shape is around 50 degrees because ceramic is brittle), but this chisel holds up quite well, even when working with glass filled FR4.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 09:45:16 pm
content: I predominantly use Ideal-Tek 5BSA. Fine tip and bent at the end.