Introduction: New Use for Nail Clippers
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About: My work combines conductive materials and craft techniques to develop new styles of building electronics that emphasize materiality and process. I create working prototypes to demonstrate the kinds of electron…
I recently moved and was not able to bring all of my tools with me.
So i discovered that nail clippers work beautifully for clipping wires, and stripping them.
Step 1: Use Them the Intended Way, Just for a Different Purpose
They are especially good for clipping off the excess wire after soldering.
Nail clippers are so lightweight, i find them easier to hold and handle than a pair of wire clippers.
I don't know how long the nail clippers will last for this (ab)use and am not sure if they will maintain their nail clipping efficiency. But for now I'm happy.
15 Comments
7 years ago
another similar but different idea - i keep a pair of clippers in my tacklebox for trimming fishing line after tying off tackle
15 years ago on Introduction
Yup :) i have a pair of sideways ones I use for clipping the legs off components after i solder then to a board :) they do a great job :) just be careful they don't ping off somewhere :D
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
Also good to wear safety glasses...though, I can rarely find my clear ones when I need them, or even my yellow tint ones (even though they're all scratched to s***), and can only find my dark tint ones, which I also use as sunglasses...lol.
13 years ago on Introduction
When I can't find my wire-cutters (i have two pairs and I still loose them), I grab nail clippers. Works for what ever the guage of the insulated wires in CAT5 ethernet cables where I scavenge my wire for breadboards etc
14 years ago on Introduction
They'll last for years, as long as you have a good pair. I've been using clippers for things like this forever.
Reply 14 years ago on Introduction
and a bad pair will get chipped from the first wire as i learn while i was bored working the cash register at osh and then innocently placed the pair back in the bucket...
14 years ago on Introduction
Poor man's wire strippers. Nice instructable.
14 years ago on Introduction
Welcome to the club.
14 years ago on Introduction
also use them for cutting model parts off the sprue, then cutting the burrs of the model parts and finally filing the rest of the burr flat.
15 years ago on Introduction
This does not work. The jaws of the nail clippers quickly dull after cutting more than just a few wires. Get yourself a leatherman or small wire cutter.
Reply 15 years ago on Introduction
Well I've cut quite a few now, and they still work as good as ever. But then again I'm not cutting thick wire, just the thinnest kinds.
15 years ago on Introduction
You can use nail clippers for cutting off really annoying hangnails too!
15 years ago on Introduction
When you buy new clothes, there are loose threads all over them. 99% of people don't care to clip the loose threads off of their clothes, but clippers work well for that, too. You can use the same clippers as you use on your nails for this.
15 years ago on Introduction
Warning: Use your own (cheap) clippers as cutting metal will dent them and render them useless for their primary use.
Reply 15 years ago on Introduction
I guess I've decided to dedicate one pair of clippers to my wires