PLIERS FOR ETCHING

Hasegawa Pliers for Etching — pliers for photo-etched parts

Specialized modeling pliers from the Japanese manufacturer Hasegawa for working with photo-etched parts. Unlike ordinary pliers their jaws are flat and smooth, so they grip the etched sheet across its whole width and leave no scores on it when bending. The bend then comes out straight and sharp along the whole length of the edge, not rippled as happens when bending with tweezers. It is not a kit but a tool that a modeler obtains for builds with photo-etched sets.

Use

• Bending photo-etched parts to a right angle — boxes, platforms, brackets, bins.
• Shaping long photo-etched strips, for example ship railings and walkways, where the bend has to be straight along the whole length.
• Gripping and straightening a part that has become distorted while being nipped out of the fret.
• Holding a photo-etched part while soldering or while gluing with cyanoacrylate glue.
• The gentle straightening of fine plastic parts, where ordinary serrated pliers would leave an imprint.

Who they are for

Above all for modelers of ships who work with railings and walkways, and for builders of aircraft and military equipment who add photo-etched detail sets to a model. They are also useful for anyone who builds from detail sets — a photo-etched part is bent only once and a bad bend can no longer be fully put right, so it pays to have the right tool from the start.

Photo-etched parts are thin and sharp — work over a tray when nipping and bending and protect your eyes, as parts that fly off are hard to find. Do not use the jaws of the pliers for cutting wire, as they would go blunt and stop meeting flat.