Carpenters Pincer (200)

The job is removing nails that cannot be hooked. A claw hammer needs a head standing proud; a pincer works on nails that are flush, driven below the surface, or headless. Its jaws are broad and sharply edged and they meet end-on, so they can bite into the timber beside the nail and close underneath the head. Then the curved back of the head lets you roll the tool over on the workpiece, levering the nail straight up as it goes.

That rolling action is the whole design and it is worth using properly. People instinctively grip the nail and pull backwards with the arm, which is hard work and tends to bend the nail over. Rolling the pincer on its own head converts a small hand movement into a strong, straight lift, and it is dramatically easier — most people who find pincers hard work are simply not rolling them.

Two hundred millimetres is a comfortable one-handed size, right for panel pins, tacks, staples, finishing nails and general carpentry nails, and light enough to carry all day.

It is drop forged carbon steel, high-frequency hardened, with a two-colour comfortable dipped handle. Surface hardening gives the cutting jaws a hard, wear-resistant edge over a tough core, so they keep biting without chipping when they meet a hardened nail.

The buyers are carpenters and joiners, cabinet and furniture makers, shopfitters, upholsterers removing tacks and staples, restoration and repair trades, packing departments, and hardware dealers supplying woodworking trades.

Three things. Put a thin offcut or a piece of card under the head before rolling on anything you want to keep — the tool presses hard into the surface as it levers, and a bruised mark in finished timber is difficult to remove. Roll rather than pull. And keep the jaws for nails and soft wire; hardened screws and bolts will chip the edges, and a chipped pincer no longer bites cleanly beside a flush head, which is the one thing it is bought for.

Keep the pivot lightly oiled. Message us on WhatsApp for a price.