A few months ago, Tronex sent over a small sampling of their pliers and cutters. I had been wondering about what sets Tronex tools apart from other premium precision pliers brands, and expressed my eagerness at seeing these differences first-hand.
Tronex pliers and cutters are pricey. There are a number of high-priced top-shelf brands of pliers, so Tronex is not alone in that respect.
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I can describe these Tronex in one word: Perfection.
I’ve bought and received premium pliers before, and can usually find a compromise somewhere. Maybe the jaws don’t line up perfectly, maybe the jaws are unsymmetrically ground, maybe there’s a small gap in the jaws, maybe the teeth have too many burs.
These pliers are astonishingly flawless.
The pliers shown here are Tronex’s 541 flat nose pliers with step tip, and they feature standard Tronex ESD handles.
I should also mention this early on – these pliers were made in the USA.
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For precision work, I often prefer smooth-jawed pliers. The non-serrated tips are far less likely to damage delicate components, and you can still get a good grip. Just don’t expect to loosen rusted-over nuts with them.
Tronex’s cutters are also proving to be exceptional, but I’m much more WOWed over these flat nose pliers.
You can open the pliers as wide as you want – there’s no limiter. Here you can see the start of where the spring-action mechanism comes into play. It’s a simple design, but well executed.
Tronex markets their pliers to jewelry makers, craftsman, professionals working with electronic components, and those in medical device manufacturing.
Here’s what they say about their pliers and cutters (straight from the Tronex website, with line-breaks added):
Tronex manufactures high quality pliers used for a variety of applications including jewelry making, electronics and hobby industries.
Our precision pliers each feature a bearing ring lap joint design which ensures superior performance to other pliers made with rivet or box joints.
Each pair of pliers has stainless steel leaf springs and our ESD safe cushion grips available with longer ergonomic handles, or standard handle length.
We out extra care and thought into designing our pliers with features such as a polished, handcrafted finish, slightly rounded inner jaw edges and some pliers have jaws which have tips which have been induction hardened for additional strength. All of Tronex pliers are proudly made in the USA.
With pricing starting at around $40 each, they should absolutely provide superior performance.
At these prices, Tronex pliers and cutters had better be the best ones on the market. I feel a little uncomfortable being so frank, but I do think they are.
The pricing makes me cringe. I want a drawer full of Tronex pliers, but that’s a bit above my needs. Well, right now at least. Maybe I’ll pick up a new plier or cutter style once a year, as a birthday or holiday season gift to myself.
One thing to emphasize is that these are NOT for beginners looking to buy their first precision pliers or cutters. These are what you buy when you are a seasoned hobbyist, craftsman, or professional and recognize the need for something better.
Aside from the price, Tronex offers a wide range of different pliers and cutters, and it takes experience to determine which ones are best for your needs. Because, unless you have very deep pockets, you’re not going to be able to buy one of each.
I’m not happy to talk so much about the price, but I know a lot of people will see the price tag of these pliers and let their jaw drop.
But the important thing to remember, and this is what I remind myself to keep things in context whenever I talk about premium tools, is that these pliers and cutters were designed without compromises and price points in mind. They were designed to be the best tools to tackle the job, and to provide nothing less than exceptional performance.
For something that you might use everyday, I think the price is justifiable. And in a commercial setting, maybe the time or effort savings add up over time.
Have you ever had lousy tweezers or pliers drop an important component or part on the floor? It can be a real time-suck.
Sorry, back to why I love these pliers so much,
A lot of precision pliers, at least those with serrated jaws, meet at the tip. These do the same, but they’re also designed to be parallel with the smallest gap between the jaws, making them exceptionally well suited for handling fire wire and component leads.
You can grip electronic component leads anywhere across those stepped tips, front to back.
I suppose that’s the benefit of the step in the jaws. I have never used mini pliers, which usually have straight jaws, that have such fine gripping ability before.
If you can’t quite see the gap in the previous image, here’s an “inverted” version. What you’re supposed to see is that there is a near-even gap between the two sizes of the jaw tips.
Additionally, the jaws are perfectly ground and finished. Maybe this is thanks to the “handcrafted” finish? But to be fair, I own a few long nose pliers that look to been hand-finished, and not in a good way. The jaws on some of my pliers are unevenly ground and crooked.
When fully closed, the jaws form an ever so slight taper. I tried everything I could find, and only a piece of paper is thin enough to not be securely gripped along the full length of the jaw tips.
The inner edges are eased, to ensure that a sharp edges doesn’t damage or ruin your work.
The handles are ESD-safe, which is important for anyone working with sensitive electronics. They’re also very comfortable and easy on the hands.
I saw an image on Tronex’s site that shows a pile of handle grips, ready to be installed on tools. That’s quite a bit different from what I’ve seen on mini pliers before. The ones that don’t have molded grips have dipped grips.
I don’t know how these handle grips are made, but I can tell you I like them. They’re the tiniest bit spongy, and also grippy without being sticky. Underneath the grip, the handles are gently curved.
For reference, these pliers measure to be about 5-3/8″ long. They also make most if not all styles with longer handles.
To be honest, I’m not sure if I would have bought these pliers. From a computer screen, I couldn’t really see how these would be better than pliers that cost half as much, or even less. I like to try new tools, and this wouldn’t be ToolGuyd if not for that propensity. But $40-$50 and up for mini pliers?
I’ve been pining for a few Erem pliers and cutters for a few years now. But I bought one at a Woodworking Show once, at a liquidator’s discount tool table, and it was not very impressive. Erem pliers and cutters are also very, very pricey. I was hesitant that if I would be similarly disappointed by a Tronex purchase.
Now, it’s easy for me to praise these very pricey pliers that I received at no cost for review. But I can tell you two things:
1) I am definitely going to buy more Tronex tools. I’ve been on the lookout for good bent nose pliers, and maybe Tronex’s will deliver where all the others ones I tried had fallen short. For future purchases beyond that, I’m really going to have to find another source, as Amazon only offers a small selection of Tronex pliers and cutters.
I am working on a lot of robotics and electronics projects these days, and so I feel comfortable in justifying the cost of these pliers and cutters. I anticipating buying one more Tronex tool in the near future, and maybe 2 or 3 more in the next year or so.
In short, these pliers are the best precision pliers, mini pliers, electronics pliers I have ever used. Heck, I’m pretty comfortable in saying that they’re among the best hand tools I’ve ever used, period. And the hand tools that are finer than these pliers – you don’t even want to know how much those cost.
I absolutely definitely recommend the Tronex tools I have been using, and that sentiment should be extendable to all of Tronex’s precision tools.
Buy Now(Tronex 541 via Amazon)
Buy Now(Other Tronex Pliers via Amazon)
Buy Now(Tronex Cutters via Amazon)
Thank you to Tronex for providing this and 2 other review samples unconditionally.
I did say there was a part 2 to what I wanted to tell you. More on that in a moment.
Alternative Premium Precision Pliers
Here are some other premium brands of precision pliers and cutters that you might find a little more affordable. I’m not saying they’re comparable to Tronex quality, but they’re fine tools that I’ve found to be quite good and definitely far better than generic mini pliers you can buy $15 for a set of 5.
Of these brands, I have the least experience with Excelta, but they’re good from what I’ve seen. Knipex are the most available, but I find their price to be too high for the quality. Swanstrom offers good quality and great bang for the buck. Lindstrom come close to Tronex quality, but I think I prefer Tronex better.
Review Balance Giveaway
2) I like these pliers so much that I want to balance out the review samples. This happens every now and then when I come across a review sample that I like enough that I’d be willing to buy it.
In addition to these 541 pliers, I have been using and testing Tronex 5222 taper relief flush cutter (~$45 via Amazon), and a 7211 large oval head cutter (via Amazon, but not presently available).
The 5222 flush cutters are really good, and the number of reviews on Amazon suggest that they’re among Tronex’s most popular styles.
I haven’t used the 7211 cutter very much, but they seem to be exceptionally well made.
While I don’t find myself charmed by review samples, I found myself feeling weird praising these tools. Thanks to what I experienced from this review opportunity, if I could do things over again I would go back in time and buy the 541 pliers and 5222 cutters with cash.
So, here’s what I’m going to do, to show you that my fondness for these pliers is genuine and that I mean what I say, I’d like to give away (3) $50 Amazon gift cards, so that 3 of you can try Tronex pliers or cutters for yourselves, on my dime. Winners could use the gift card on something else, but if in your shoes, I would definitely go for the pliers.
Does that make sense? I received an estimated $150 retail value in Tronex tools (yikes, it makes me cringe just saying that) and I find myself wanting to use them on personal projects, which I try not to do with review samples unless it’s explicitly for the testing opportunity.
So, I’m going to give away a total of $150 to readers to balance things out. I figure it’ll be easier for me to do this with Amazon gift cards, rather than buying and shipping pliers myself. Plus, this gives winners the opportunity to try a different style that might be better suited to their needs.
The giveaway ends in (2) weeks, at 11:59pm ET August 30th, 2016. The winners will be randomly chosen, but there are some entry conditions.
Winners must have an address in the continental USA. Winners must have commented at least (5) times on ToolGuyd by the end of the giveaway. So if your first ToolGuyd comment is to enter to win a gift card, you must comment 4 more times before the giveaway period ends. And they must be “real” comments, and not “I’d like to win the gift card in the review giveaway” type of baloney.
To enter the giveaway, leave a comment here, telling me about your experiences with precision pliers and why you think these – or other Tronex pliers or cutter styles – will benefit you.
schill
I think I’ll be adding these to my “if I could only justify it” list (which I do justify “from” on occasion). I like the rounded edges on the 541. I have a pair of inexpensive flat nose pliers that I’ve been using happily for 20+ years (no idea what brand they are). They’re a little beaten up now, but from the beginning they had sharp edges that tended to damage some things if I wasn’t careful.
I think that has to be the most built-up flush cutter I’ve ever seen (maybe I don’t get around enough). I usually treat flush cutters as semi-disposable – buy a decent pair and use them until the blades get too many nicks and then get another pair.
fred
Nice info – not too too expensive compared to other premium brands.
I was more familiar with 3 of the other brands (Swanstrom is also new to me) and Erem in the higher priced end:
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_5?url=search-alias%3Dtools&field-keywords=erem+pliers&sprefix=erem+%2Ctools%2C147&rh=n%3A228013%2Ck%3Aerem+pliers
Xuron, Xcellte, Aven and Euro-Tool are other brands – for small pliers more in the hobbyist category
Dan
As a kid, I used some cheap pliers to work on my RC car — the “5 for $15” type. Ugh. I would most typically use side cutters and needle nose, so I upgraded to some Craftsman Professional pliers back in the 90s, which have served me well for many years. They were showing their age, however, and in the past few years I have upgraded to Knipex pliers. Wonderful! A clear step above the Craftsman tools, which I was pleased with.
The thing I am most intrigued by about the Tronex pliers you show here is the “step tip.” That looks very useful! I haven’t seen that kind of design before but I can image it being a great advantage for precision work.
RKA
I’ve also got a set of the C Pros, haven’t been thrilled with them. The cutters were replaced with Erem cutters. I’m looking for a bent nose and round nose, but as infrequently as I use these, I just seem to put up with what I already have. No specific use, just the random occasion that calls for small pliers that will hold firmly without mangling.
Satch
Well I would certainly be interested in trying these and a gift card would help a lot. So count me in.
Stuart, if you like these then I won’t bother to tell you about Schmitz..ahem. Got your attention? Good. Go to http://www.schmitz-zangen.de/techninfo_6.php?art=6&lang=engl and have a look. Thees people make superb box joint pliers and cutters. They do not have typical U.S. distribution but are the supplier for man OEM brands. And they will sell to individuals here in the States with a credit card. Carriage is pretty dear but if you buy four or five pair it helps. They are not super cheap either but they are most certainly not cheap tools.
They were recommended to me on another forum along with…Tronex. I need about four pair to make my control work tool kit complete. A long needle nose, a shorter jawed needle nose, oval head cutter, and possibly a bent jaw needle nose. Schmitz offers bent needle nose in two, count ’em, two varieties. One bent about half way down the jaw and one bent near the tip. The one near the tip would work for me. I do commercial and industrial electrical maintenance and working in control cabinets with small wires needs smaller tools. Do not overlook serrated jaws though. There is nothing like dropping a small part into a bundle of one hundred wires to make you cringe. Great post btw.
Stuart
Thanks, I’ll keep that brand in mind!
I just took a look at the Schmitz site, and in the shipping drop-down, USA is not an option. And their Amazon UK and DE shop specifically says it won’t ship to the USA.
Satch
Stuart, right you are. You have to email them to ask how to do it. I conversed with a nice lady named Kim. She told me what to do but that was a few months ago and I have forgotten. Very good people to deal with.
David
I have Lindstrom, Swanstrom, Schmitz and Tronex pliers. The Schmitz are expensive but very, very well made. I have ordered them through the website via email and I can honestly say I don’t regret it ever, they are well made and easy on my hands (I dealt with Michael, who was very polite and easy to converse with, FYI). I use all my pliers for jewelry and electronics and my own personal opinion is that Lindstrom are my least favorite with the Schmitz and Tronex being my favorite for electrical work by far, and the Tronex and Swanstrom being the best for the jewelry stuff. I have larger hands and the long handle Tronex are just awesome. There is however, more play in the pliers for larger wires and are not the best in that case (for my jewelry work). I love that the Tronex are USA made and that always gets the edge.
Hepdog
I’m a fan of quality pliers – add my name to the list and I’ll try all 3 as I have been thinking of a precision electronics cutter to use for guitar amp building.
I bought a couple of good quality pliers a few months back –
Knipex 37 13 125
and
NWS 124-62-160
both of which get a lot of use – how would you compare the Tronex offering?
H
Stuart
I bought the Knipex when on sale a while back, and it’s okay.
https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/knipex-electronics-pliers-arrived/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
The Tronex is leaps and bounds ahead of the Knipex in terms of precision and finish quality. I haven’t tried that NWS, but in general my experiences with NWS have been positive. But even my shortest NWS would be considered a little too large to work with small parts.
My NWS long nose pliers can’t be beat as general purpose pliers.
Jim Santoro
Great timing on this post. I’ve reached the age where I decided I will slowly replace the tools I use the most with high end versions. I have about 10 pair of needle nose ranging from Harbor Freight throwaways to Snap-On (not impressed, Xcelite’s are better). I do a lot of electronic work and have been meaning to try a pair. This review has oushed me to it. THanks
Kevin
The Erem 2442P smooth flat nose pliers are very high quaility. They are made of superior alloy steel and will take years of daily use. I have used other brands and Erem is my go to, hands down.
garrett
Do these look like dental tools to anyone else? Small, neat, gem-like precision, immaculate finish, expensive… I was thinking abt buying the Little Champs to replace some of my older craftsman precision pliers, but now those won’t do.
Luckily, these will be easier to sneak in the house than those Facom angled socket wrenches.
Chris
I have a pair of cutters and pliers. I found the springs to be a bit soft and the pivots to have too much friction. I know, you might find that hard to believe but there are better pliers than these. Lots of things to like and wish they were the best since they are US made, but not the best in design in my opinion. The best spring action are the Engineer brand of pliers.
Stuart
I’m a big fan of Engineer pliers as well, but they’re even harder to find here.
I have their PS-03 mini needle nose pliers and they’re excellent.
I didn’t notice any friction in the Tronex pliers, and to me the springs felt normal. They could possibly be bent a little more to make them stiffer.
fred
Their (Engineer) screw (Neji-Saurus) pliers seem to be the most ubiquitous this side of the Pacific. I recall that you posted about them and their look-alike ones from Vampliers .
Chris
Yes stiffer springs would have been a great addition to these pliers. The engineer pliers with springs (not all have them) are very very good. large enough springs and the right amount of force.
demure
Have you ever used Parallel Pliers? I have two pairs that I use for my chainmail, and they are great. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058EDXRU/
They have different style jaws as well.
fred
At one time parallel-jaw pliers – AKA “Bernard Pliers” after the inventor William Bernard – came in a variety of patterns.
Here is a link that tells more about their origin:
http://www.sargenttools.com/About/Our-History/
They still can be had – mostly in styles used by jewelers and similar craftsmen:
http://www.ottofrei.com/Store/search/?search=parallel+jaw
Brian
These are interesting, I’ve never heard of them before. Most of my precision pliers are Knipex with some Lindstrom thrown in there…it would be pretty nice to have some USA made pliers/cutters. I have a couple of needle nose that are USA made but they aren’t nearly as nice as the European brands. I hope Tronex can compete, the more European tools I buy the more I am saddened by the quality of USA made tools. We need to make better tools, Knipex has proven there is a market…let’s stop trying to hit that under $15 price point(OEM cost, most USA precision pliers are rebranded from only a couple of brands).
Brian
I really like the idea of the Model 546 Half Flat, Half Round Pliers! I’ve never seen pliers like this before, great for bending without making a hard angle.
fred
There are lots of pliers with jaws – sometimes called mandrels – shaped to bend wire or flat stock into specific shapes – for craft and jewelry making – as well as for optician, dental and electronics work (as in shaping offsets in component leads) . In the craft area – you might take a look at the Wubbers (wubbers.com) brand on Amazon, Optician pliers – look at sources like WesternOptical.com, Jewelers pliers – places like OttoFrei.com, and Erem for electronics forming pliers
Brian
I’ll have to take a look at those, thanks!
Stuart
I thought the same when I saw them.
I also noticed that the longer handles version are a little less expensive.
I have a pair of tapered round nose Swanstrom pliers I use for tight radius bends, and also for playing around with paracord. The tips aren’t as fine as needlenose pliers, but the shape gives them better strength for really digging into knots.
fred
Splinter forceps (Amazon, Micro-Mark etc.) are also good for picking in and untying that Gordian Knot – if your sword isn’t handy.
https://www.amazon.com/Virtus-Splinter-Forceps-Serrated-German/dp/B00BTFXT8U/
Brian
i noticed those as well, definitely interesting for me. I do electronics repair as a profession and sometimes you need to bend leads to fit the application and I don’t really like the hard bend because it puts a lot of strain on the metal and insulation on the leads. I’m kind of picky about how a repair looks, I know 98% of my repairs will never be seen but if they are ever seen I want the next person to question whether it’s factory.
JML
These are very tempting. The forging, machining, and finishing look better than just about anything else I’ve seen on a mini-pliers except the Schmitz. I have many, from Klein, Sears Craftsman (the French ones that were probably from Facom), Xuron, and Piergiacomi.
The line of miniature pliers from Engineer are also very well made (in Japan) and definitely worth checking out. Most are spring-loaded.
Brian
I only have a crappy $5 set of small precision pliers that I use when doing electronic hobby work. They are terrible.
I’d love to have a nice set of pliers like this. It would make the work more enjoyable instead of spending time hassling with the garbage I use now.
David C.
These look very nice. I also picked up a few of the cheap Knipex mini pliers from Amazon a while back. They are nice, but these look a little better. The attention to detail and machining make these look very appealing for a user that really needs this level of tool.
I have been using the Xcelite flush cutters for my electric hobbies and they really perform well at their price point.
Tim B.
I ran into the Tronex rep at a local trade show with some colleagues a year or two back, and was VERY surprised at the quality for the price. They really stand behind their things. As an engineer, with certain things (like precision tools), it is quite clear that quality commands a premium… and “Made in the USA” often multiplies that. Though in this case, the value was quite obvious. We’ve switched to Tronex here as a result, and have had no regrets.
Adam
I’d love to get a pair of these for my dad, who’s just retired from construction and started a new business restoring antique electronic equipment.
Hilton
Have to say these look fantastic. I bought one of those special $8 Knipex pliers in December when Amazon stuffed up the pricing and the quality is pretty good (better than any other mini pliers).
I would definitely use the gift card to get a pair of Tronex pliers and I’d maybe even be the first person in South Africa to own such a tool.
Jim Sutter
I would like to add my name to the hat. I have been working on modding old video game consoles and these would be very useful. I also will be running at club at the high school I work at where we will be doing some work with electronics building and would love to have a better example of professional tools.
Rock Hound
I usually go by the name Rock Hound on here.
Rock Hound
Jim Sutter is my real name. I would like to be added to the list. Sorry for the mix up.
Stuart
Don’t worry, I see that your email address matches up. =)
Brian
If you watch Amazon and Amazon Warehouse and try out the Sears SYW points earning thing(where you earn points without buying anything) you can get really cheap Knipex pliers(and other high end tools). With SYW surprise points(coupon) and earned points, I’ve been frequently buying $40 pliers for around $5 out of pocket. It does take a small time investment, mostly in looking for deals. I’ve written how-tos but they’re on forums and I don’t think I should link you on Stuart’s site out of respect for his own forum. You can find out how to do it by googling “Shop your way points.”
Hilton
Is this for real?
Stuart
You can link to them, I don’t mind.
I’ve been more or less ignoring the Sears Shop Your Way points emails because they’re so obnoxious.
You have SURPRISE POINTS!! And then when I read it, it’s essentially just a coupon with fine print.
I guess “points” are psychologically different than “discount” or “coupon” because there’s the context that points are something you have and need to spend?
Brian
Here’s the link. http://professional-power-tool-guide.com/power-tool-forum/index.php?/topic/9976-shop-your-way-points-thread/&page=1
Keep in mind it always changes so read through the last posts. Thanks for the approval Stuart, I’m pretty sure you and Tools in Action are on good terms but I always want to ask permission first.
There’s also a thread on slickdeals but that forum sucks because the members are hostile towards newcomers and generally not helpful. BUT you should keep up with the thread because it’s updated often, I’ve found out about a few things that have earned me a lot of points. It does seem too good to be true at times.
You can check the TiA deals forum as well(where that original link I gave you is located), I post a lot of very good deals. I almost consider it a hobby to find deals on tools, I search every day and share what is reproducible. Earlier this year Amazon had two different pairs of Knipex electronics pliers on sale for under $10, retail is twice that or more. Stuart posted one of the pairs. Amazon Warehouse is another great outlet, just last week I bought two pairs of Lindstrom cutters for a little less than $10 each, the third-party seller threw in another pair as a gift…the cutters were nearly new, retail is $50 for one pair and $90 for another pair. This is not the norm but if you put in the time you can score big. With SYW, you earn the points and hope for coupons then keep track of the pricing as it swings quite a bit. Use the points and coupons on things when they’re at the low price and you really score. I always compare prices to Amazon, ebay and chadstoolbox, if the prices are close to those then you’re ok to buy.
Scott
I’m going to buy a pair of these, myself. I’ve tried several other precision pliers and cutters and they all work, but I’ve often felt they should have been finished better. Some of them had jaws that were a little crooked or ground uneven (Knipex). Some worked fine, but were just stamped steel (Xcelite, Xuron, Hakko). Actually, these three look like they could have been made by the same company.
I don’t have any complaints about the Xcelite/Xuron/Hakko cutters and pliers – they work very well. The flush cutters have been great.
I’m still going to try a pair of these, though.
Adabhael
This is also how I feel: once I upgraded from $5 specials (mostly to Xuron) for precision pliers and cutters I have found mostly everything works for my needs, but is not always best finished. I would like to try them out in hope these truly are perfection, not least because I shudder to think what the price point would be for a tool that is any more uncompromising in its pursuit of perfection.
Tom
I don’t have much experience with precision pliers. I have a basic set of the Craftsman Pros that I have been using for years. The handles aren’t great and the fit and finish isn’t perfect, but they always seem to get the job done for me.
While these look great, I think that I would be tempted by the new Channellocks, which seem really nice.
I’d be interested to try Tronex to see if I could ever notice a difference. I’m not saying that they’re not better, but I am not sure that for my purposes they would give me much of an edge up.
MT_Noob
These look pretty sweet. I have tried the usual craftsman, no-name, exelite and other brand precision plies and never found one that I loved. I have tried modding hemostats by removing the locking mechanism so it acts more like a precision plier but that was never robust enough. Even if I don’t win, I might have to order a pair to see how they perform.
Michael
The price point seems in line with Knipex. So if they are really that much better. they may be a winner. I have a number of Knipex that I consider top notch.
GMA15R
I have graduated from orphans, through Craftsman, and now use Knipex. I too, have seem some asymmetry and failure to close exactly but overall I find them perfectly suitable, if not perfect. I will try the Tronex. Heck – they still cost less then a dinner at a fancy restaurant.
Cory
I use precision pliers every day at work servicing the machines, these look really nice and don’t seem too outrageous price wise. Might have to check a pair out!
Satch
And gents remember, Schmitz and Tronex both are OEM manufacturers for a number of trade brands. I would not be surprised one bit to see that Schmitz is the contractor for those Parallel Pliers but who knows? I do know they supply some of the NWS line of precision pliers and most of the http://www.ck-tools.com/ pliers. I will have to check the source on the NWS models. They have two lines of precision pliers and Schmitz only supplies for one of them. I don’t know if Tronex is big into OEM supply but I have seen their stuff here and there with differing trade names on them. HTH.
Satch
I should clarify my comment about CK-Tools. As far as I know Schmitz supplies their precision pliers. I have no idea who supplies anything else. I was told this by a gent from Australia who uses CK and is the Aussie distributor for Schmitz.
Joren
I’m finding that I use a couple of my Xcelite pliers a few times a week as of late, and am running into certain tasks where a better pair would be useful, especially as I’ve taken on a new task and am assisting the local fire company in re-wiring their old ladder truck. A lot of cloth covered wire is getting replaced in the next year, and a lot of bending will be done.
Dennis Thurman
these look nice but just too far out of needed price range. does Tronex have bent
nose pliers for small part holding. Personally I like Channellock ,and back when
Craftsmen was any count they made a descent set.
Adabhael
I mostly use precision pliers and cutters at work for small electronics (sensor and actuators) and occasionally building fixtures and models for testing. At home, mostly to repair fiddly little things. As others mentioned, I find the combination of a flat and round mandrel (thanks fred!) on the Xuron 489 particularly useful when dealing with small wires. Does anybody else think that the quality of finish makes the first photograph look almost like a rendering of a 3D model?
fred
The idea of having one jaw different from another must have some appeal for jewelers because there seem to be many variations on this theme:
Flat-round
Flat-Tapered Round
Flat-Half Round
Half-Round – Concave
Round-Concave
Tear-Drop – Mating Vee
Brass Jaw – Steel Jaw
Nylon Jaw – Steel Jaw
And probably others.
Another brand of jeweler’s pliers that may be worth a look is Revere:
https://www.amazon.com/Revere-Round-Bending-Pliers-Inches/dp/B0058ECNIU/
Some available on Amazon – more at places like Otto Frei
fred
I forgot to mention pliers that have a stepped round jaw mating with another one, or with a flat or with a concave jaw.
Here’s one example
https://www.amazon.com/Looping-Pliers-Jewelry-Making-Medium/dp/B0112RPX4C/
Farid
This looks like the perfect tool for pulling a stuck credit card out off a wallet slot (:-D.
I know, a bit cheeky, but it actually happened last week while traveling. My wife needed to pull here ID card out at a checkpoint and it was stuck in the wallet slot. No amount of fiddling would pull it out. Out came my Leatherman squirt to the rescue. The serrated tip put a dent in the ID, but it worked.
But seriously, I have dozens of hobby projects that I can use there pliers on, so they are going to be on my list. The prices are high but not as high as some of Excelta and are USA made.
Interesting: some listings on Amazon show as Aven Tronex or Tronex By Aven. I wonder what that is about?
Koko the Talking Ape
To be honest, I don’t need them RIGHT NOW.
But most tools don’t really wear out. I had some crappy side-cutters that lasted for decades. I hated them; the edges were soft and quickly developed notches and nicks, but money was short and they did work, if I was careful to avoid the nicks. So they were a constant source of irritation, FOR YEARS. When I was finally able to swing it, I got some nice tools.
I have never regretted buying nicer tools, no matter how much I spent for them. I imagine it is possible for tools to be priced so extravagantly, that I feel they are wasteful, but I have never seen that. Tronex pliers are pricey, but they would have to cost maybe double that before I felt I was not getting my money’s worth.
Brian
Who were the winners? What did they buy?
Stuart
The winners haven’t been selected yet. It’s been backburnered due to the pliers I thought would be most popular being out of stock. Most seem to be back, even if not sold directly by Amazon anymore, and I can compensate by boosting the gift card amount – or order the pliers myself for reader delivery.
Winner selection is back on my to-do list for this Wednesday. Sorry for the delay, and thanks for the nudge!
Brian
No sorry needed, just curious because I was looking at them again after seeing a post on EEVB. Thanks for the response, I just want to see more reviews of them. I’m stuck between Erem and Tronex for my next pliers purchase, not a ton of info on either :/
Brian
Thanks Stuart, I’m shocked I was one of the winners! Hope you got my email last week, I can’t wait to try Tronex! Hope you had a great Christmas! Hope the little one wasn’t too much of a handful this weekend, my Nephew tired me out…how the heck do they have soo much energy?!
Brian
I finally made a decision and went with the Tronex Model 5222 cutters, this are beautiful! Great attention to detail, these are definitely in-line with the top tier of Knipex(not the $30-40 but the $70+) cutters/pliers. I like the grip, it’s like Lindstrom’s foam(?) grip. If you compare the equivalent in European pliers, these are cheaper. Thanks again Stuart for not only the suggestion but the giveaway that introduced me to Tronex!
Mark
How do Tronex compare to Schmitz pliers?
Stuart
Sorry, I never tried Schmitz pliers (yet?), so I cannot compare.