Pliers - Tronex Flat Nose - Short Smooth Jaw (Long Handle)

These pliers are so easy on my arthritic hands. They are the best pliers I have ever owned and I have bought and tossed plenty

Ordered these pliers to make chain maille jewelry. My husband and I recently got interested in making chain maille jewelry after seeing some beautiful pieces. We started with inexpensive pliers from a craft store and slipped, gouged and dropped jump rings regularly. In addition my husband ended up with a blister on one of his fingers after finishing a bracelet because of the short handles. I ordered a pair of wubbers classic flat nose pliers for him. What a difference they made for both of us! Much easier to work with the rings.After doing some additional research, my husband wanted to try some lindstrom rx flat nose pliers and I wanted to try these tronex flat nose pliers and a pair of swanstrom short jaw flat nose pliers. The winner among the 4 pair of pliers is these tronex flat nose pliers.The wubbers are nice and my husband will probably use them in his non-dominate hand, but I find they slip and mar the rings more than the tronex.The lindstrom rx are very nice pliers but my husband does not like the bio spring. I like them very much because when closed, their handles are close enough together that I can manipulate and pick up things with my non-dominate hand without having to first put down the pliers. But I find that the edges on the jaw are too sharp and continuously mar the rings no matter how careful I am.The swanstrom pliers tend to stick in the closed position, even after adjusting the leaf springs making them tedious to use. I also find their jaws are not as smooth as the other pliers and tend to leave slight marks on the rings.These tronex pliers have very smooth jaws, their edges are eased (rounded) more than any of the other pliers we have tried and do not leave any marks on the rings. The handles are long enough for my husband. He would give them 5 stars, but I personally give them only 4 stars. When holding them closed in my non-dominate hand, it is difficult for me to pick up or hold items because the handles are a little too far apart for me in their closed position. I have a medium sized hand for a woman and they just don't close close enough together for me. As I continue to use them, I'm adjusting my style so I can pick up items easier, but it just doesn't feel natural.Even though, I highly recommend these pliers for anyone making chain maille. Just be aware of their limitations if you have small or medium female hands. Still, I am ordering 2 more pairs and returning the lindstrom and swanstrom pliers.Also the service from Tronex was very prompt. The pliers were shipped immediately and arrived sooner than anticipated. The nominal shipping fee was also waived. Apparently there is an unadvertised promotion that wasn't apparent until the pliers were in my cart and the order was ready for review just before finalizing the purchase.

I have decided that Tronex are by far the best wireworking tools out there. I had purchased the cutters and they were great too. Sadly, before I purchased Tronex (flat and round nose), I recently purchased Swanstrom needle chain-nose and bent chain-nose pliers and while they are sturdy, comfortable to hold and well-made, they do mar my wire more than others as they have very sharply delineated edges. I may stick with them anyway as they are good quality and I've had them a bit too long to return. But I wish I had bought Tronex because their edges are eased, which makes a big difference when working with thicker wire, less noticeable with thin 30-24 gauge since less pressure is needed to bend and hold onto those thin wires. In addition, the Tronex have a much smoother finish to the metal, which is easier on wire too. Plus they are very comfortable to hold, I like the full size ones.UPDATE: After working with both Swanstrom and Tronex (above) now for 6 months I have a few additional comments. I actually learned to love the Swanstroms, and the stickyness when they open and close entirely went away after several weeks of use. Swanstroms are superior for thicker gauges of wire, while Tronex works well for smaller gauges but slips and doesn't hold well to thicker gauges due to the extreme smoothness, (which is great for delicate wire). Given that Swanstrom is quite good on smaller gauges too, I would say I prefer them and intend to buy a flatnose in the Swanstrom as well. The round nose in the Tronex is very nice, as the lighter metal color allows you to mark them with sharpie while the dark steel Swanstrom would require some other way to mark them to achieve uniform loops. In addition, they come to a finer point. Tronex cutters are superior and I'm very happy with those. So Tronex for cutters and long round nose has been great. Swanstrom for the other types of pliers is my preference.

Quility Quility QuilityYou can feel it the moment it touches your hand..A+ and beyond. Made in the USA

Like the quality of this item

Excellent pair of pliers. Extremely well made with a lot of attention to detail. Not inexpensive but worth the asking price.

so far great

Very Well Pleased