rubber jaw fine wire gripper pliers (PTFE) - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 09:48:55 am
content: I was thinking about my hands and I realized I always get some pain after working with fine wire, particularly for teflon. Its difficult to hold and rotate and also pull on for stripping. The thumb pointer finger grip you make on the wire is not comfortable.I wanted like a rubber plier that will hold a fine teflon or other wire, but not crush the insulation (i.e. no visible markings on insulation under microscope).I have a number of soft jaw pliers but they only work on solid bare wire really. Nylon, delerin. way too hardIs there a tool for this?They say non-marring. I need non-indenting.I have hemostats that I put a groove in. Too uncomfortable. I thought about getting a pair of fine smooth needle nose pliers and cutting grooves in them, but its like annoying to figure out where to put the wire (because of insulation thickness variations) as not to damage it. I think this should be silicone, perhaps even the 'sticky' type used for phone anti slip padsOr imagine you can grip some fine magnet wire to carefully sand it. I thought about dipping pliers in plasti-dip, but then they won't close right. It would need to have a space in the middle. I thought about using those cylinder pliers, but I noticed.. as far as not denting goes, round jaws are the worst because they focus the pressure of a sphere point on the wire, wheras a flat jaw distributes the force.I would need round half cylinder pliers with a small space in between them when they are closed. Then you could use silicone heat shrink.... like bail makers pliers, but with a half cylinder instead of a full cylinder. Closest thing I have is square lincoln electric welding pliers, but they are giganticLike this one, of course its riveted. Heat shrink won't slip offhttps://www.etsy.com/listing/733725079/quality-brass-lined-soft-jaw-flat-nosebut it would need to be heavily modified to cut a space. And it looks like it kind of sucks, no spring, bad handle, etcTo engineer a proper silicone insert that works for some other pliers, I think it would be like designing a car tire. not easy to make it any good.And I almost gave up but..... it looks like glass makers have a similar problem. They have silicone sleeved pliers that do just what I want with a geometry that does not suck for the application!!!!Perhaps someone knows a nice pair for maybe... silicon wafer use? some high end crap that ends up in a fab?

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 10:26:37 am
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on May 26, 2025, 09:48:55 amI don't think so. However, try double-stick tape. I prefer the type that looks like masking tape with a liner. You can get by with single-stick tape wrapped around the jaws of your hemostats or fingers sticky side out. If using hemostats don't lock them.For Kynar wire, I use smooth-jaw clamps like needle clamps and have no problem holding 24 awg wire by the insulation to strip. I rarely use the tape method.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 10:35:18 am
content: i think these do ithttps://www.amazon.com/SPEEDWOX-Running-Cutting-Breaking-Stained/dp/B0CPXMJQYSmaybe.I want a tool. It should be on the bench and ready to save my hands lolI don't know exactly what they do or how they are shaped but it looks damn close to what I had in mindI don't like tape. I really started to get stressed out if I need to use tape. I would rather not do it. It makes me feel the same way that sorting tiny screws. I had enough of that. If I could telekinetically float the tape around and not touch it OK, but it means either get your hands dirty or screw around with tweezers and its not ergonomic either.I did this last week with 30 awg and using 3m double sided vhb tape, it kinda worked a little. does not stick much to teflon. pissed me off. But this was for just aligning wires for soldering (for someones project prototype). got board made instead, they can afford it

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 10:43:45 am
content: and how good would that be for like gripping a tiny wire that leads out of something. I forgot what the last annoying bullshit I had like that where they give you like 1 inch of pvc wire on some potted thing that needed to be modified. some kind of sensor. when it comes with a connector you don't want or know what it is etc

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 10:55:35 am
content: A whole inch? 25.4mm is not enough? Tune in here:https://www.willseye.org/chiefs-rounds/and see what eye surgery is like.Of course, try your glass pliers first. Then you will have a lot less than 1" to work with. PVC is a lot softer than glass at room temperature is.EDIT: BTW, the diameter of Gore-Tex suture is typically 7-0 (CV-8) or 0.05 mm. You can make any instrument smooth jaw and dip in liquid PVC to get a little better grip.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 11:09:19 am
content: speaking of which it might be a good idea to buy some of those wire retainers for my side cutters, so I don't have to visit that guy

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 11:17:05 am
content: this may work too actually. I found it while searching for a 'non marring pipe aperture tool'.google AI is on crackhttps://www.amazon.com/Holding-Non-Marring-Jewelry-Bending-Forming/dp/B01N1UH3AGkind of work I mean. Minimum denting. if you get it right.

author: Kean
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 02:36:55 pm
content: Have you considered different style of wire strippers?I have two types specifically designed for PTFE insulation.The first are ones with a blade that you spin around the insulation axis, but need to be a precision design (not the common cheap ones). I mostly use this for micro coax. I bought it many years ago, and it was pretty expensive. I'd need to pull it out of a storage box to get the model details.The second are models with two pairs of blades that pull apart, so it doesn't need to grip on the remaining insulation. I have the Knipex 121202, which I find works reasonably OK but you need to get the right set of blades for your particular wire sizes. It also tends to jam up with the insulation easily, so needs regular cleaning.Here is a video review of the Knipex 121206 - same as my 121202 but for larger wire sizes.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 08:38:45 pm
content: damn i was watching a video it looks like those are slightly concave or something its meant to snap the glass I thought it was just for handling it. so problem unsolvedI have those (from weid muller) but I don't like them for some situations (but they can be great). The one I like to use is the one that is like the size of a match box with the various dials on the side for setting depth and strip length. The xeno morph jaw ones don't have fine feel control that you get on the tiny lever of the match box ones. Though I have been meaning to get a pair by adding the one that has the screw adjust on the match box instead of the discrete bumps because its not quite right. or maybe its worn down by nowthe weidmuller xenojaw ones are good for silicone wire of pretty much most gauges maybe down to 22. For high gauge teflon wire (8AWG) I got pissed off and resorted to doing it with a cable stripper to score it and very careful yanking and grabbing. I think its OK for teflon wire in the maybe 10-24 awg range (though I hardly ever use these guage range) but the settings seem to randomly become invalidated. PVC I try to stay away from because its just not worth the money to have that in a prototype or whatever.But honestly for thick silicone, even if the weidmuller works, i MUCH prefer the 'stack of card jaw' pliers (not sure who makes em). Imagine you took 2 decks of cards and attached them to the end of a plier jaws, so the cards deflect and 'grip' the object. beautiful. It tears clealy without really cutting it ! also amazing for some multi strand cable and shielded cable when you get a hang of it. Combined sometimes with a light score from the cable stripper tool to weaken it. Very nice to strip wire without damaging braid or possibly foil once you get a hang of it. Getting the depth perfect on some cable with the stripper tool for easy pulling is too difficult. but with the card jaw ones, it ends up working even if its too lightly scored to pull with your hands.the main flaw of the match box ones is that they get crammed full of silicone wire (there is no proper ejector) and you need to pick it out with tweezers sometimes. For the fine silicone. its mad annoying. PTFE falls out. They need to add another lockable spring leaver to make a manual ejector if it does not fall out.and honestly more then anything for home I want to use the thermal strippers and I just want something that can comfortably hold the wire. at work there is fume police. I don't know if you can thermally strip silicone either... hmm. I find it much less annoying because its easy to rotate with your fingers if its curled because its slightly sticky. works better with the human body.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2025, 09:23:07 pm
content: And as for the expanding stripper pliers, I need to try to get one for smaller gauges, perhaps its the solution I need. I don't have a high quality version of those aroundsuggestions for a part # for expanding stripping pliers that have small gauge holes in the die?perhaps this one?https://www.toolsource.com/crimperstripper-c-194_238_241/precision-insulation-strippers-with-shaped-blades-1432-awg-p-131802.htmlI did not know they made them in sizes under wall-wiring. The old one I have goes to 16 lol

author: Kean
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 27, 2025, 04:05:49 pm
content: The ones you linked are the exact Knipex ones I said I have. I have used them for PTFE wire from 20AWG down to 26AWG. I'm uncertain how well they would perform for finer wire.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2025, 07:43:41 pm
content: forgot after writing long post

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 30, 2025, 07:48:42 am
content: if you scroll down here you can find something similar but it needs a slightly different insert madehttps://pentooling.com/pliers.html

author: SYOM
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 09, 2025, 08:06:46 am
content: One option could be pliers that are silicone-coated or even specifically designed for electronics work, such as Erem pliers, which are known for their precision and smooth jaws. If you’re open to customizing, you could also try adding a silicone cover to your existing pliers or using silicone heat shrink for a softer grip. Alternatively, fine-tip tweezers with silicone pads might be worth considering, as they can provide a similar grip without marking the wire. If you’re up for a DIY project, you could experiment with creating your own silicone inserts for pliers to get the exact grip you want.