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Half-round Nose Pliers / Long-nose Pliers for Electronics Work

Created on: 6 August 2012

Half-round nose pliers, long-nose pliers or similar can be very useful in electronics work.

Some uses of half-round nose pliers or long-nose pliers are:

  • Bending component leads to fit stripboard or a printed circuit board (PCB)
  • Straightening component leads that have been bent or kinked
  • Inserting components into a new "tight" breadboard or where the leads of the component are thicker than normal
  • Holding components and / or wire when soldering
  • Used as a "heat sink" to protect heat sensitive components during soldering

This video shows some of the uses of half-round nose pliers.

The pliers in the video have a cutting area close to the hinge of the pliers. Not all pliers of this type will have a cutting area and a cutting area is not necessary if you have side-cutters.

The cutting area is followed by a flat area that can be used to straighten component leads. This is followed by an area at the tip of the pliers that has ridges on it. The ridges allow gripping components or wires and prevents them from slipping if any force is applied – e.g. when inserting a tight fitting component lead into a breadboard.

Half-round nose pliers
A Cheap Pair of Half-round Nose Pliers
Half-round nose pliers jaws
Half-round Nose Pliers Jaws