But they do work great on toe nails...

Ha ha very funny : )

 

I have two pairs - my cutters and my best cutters, and my best cutters are only for component leads.

I'll remember that.

 

Speaking of nail clippers, I have been known to use nail clippers for cutting off thru-hole leads.

That makes sense thought of that briefly as well but then I said "naaahhh" : )

 

What you need is called a “flush cut plier”. Also known as a “flush cutter”. The cutting edge is flat on one sIde allowing a cut to be flush to a PCB.

This is a link to a pair that I use. Here is one on sale at Harbor Freight.

I got option 1 and it is great. There is some mild curvature on the tip to maneuver. Awesome, thx.

 

Ha ha very funny : )

That really wasn't a joke... Us old geezers have toenails almost as hard as the rocks in our heads!

 

Here's another style of flush cutter:
View attachment 284468

OMG they charge a processing fee and a shipping fee. The cheapest I could get was $19.99 Unbelievable, despite it being $3.99. The attached photo is a similar tool I found on Amazon. Do you think the end cuts or is just a plier?

 

OMG they charge a processing fee and a shipping fee. The cheapest I could get was $19.99 Unbelievable, despite it being $3.99. The attached photo is a similar tool I found on Amazon. Do you think the end cuts or is just a plier?

Those are end cutters and they are definitely not good for trimming leads on PCB. They won’t cut close to the board even though they cut from the end the bevel on the cutting edges won’t let them and they are not low profile.

 

OMG they charge a processing fee and a shipping fee. The cheapest I could get was $19.99 Unbelievable, despite it being $3.99.

They place a surcharge on small orders. If you want to buy from them, add some things you can use for other projects.

I usually wait until they give me a discount code and/or free shipping before I place an order and I usually order around $100 worth of stuff at a time to make any shipping cost less of an issue. Shipping cost is the reason I rarely buy anything from Circuit Specialists.

 

Those are end cutters and they are definitely not good for trimming leads on PCB. They won’t cut close to the board even though they cut from the end the bevel on the cutting edges

But they will cut better and are more like the real lead trimmers if you have a grinder or belt sander. I took a set like that and ground them down until the outside bevel meets the inner one. They work fine, but you need to watch when grinding not to over heat them.

 

The attached photo is a similar tool I found on Amazon

If you use Amazon, look at these. I just got a pair(2) of them, really nice sharp tools. Although I bought mine on Ebay they were shipped by Amazon. The Ebay price was a little less too. The cutting head is around 20 degrees from the handles. https://www.amazon.com/stores/BOENFU/WireCutter_HANDTOOLS/page/D789DCED-8758-40B5-B40B-587696E40332

 

They place a surcharge on small orders. If you want to buy from them, add some things you can use for other projects.
View attachment 284999
I usually wait until they give me a discount code and/or free shipping before I place an order and I usually order around $100 worth of stuff at a time to make any shipping cost less of an issue. Shipping cost is the reason I rarely buy anything from Circuit Specialists.

Thankyou!