Interesting tool for holding wire

[bombastinator]

so my father was a biology researcher, and when he died I got his tools. One box of which was some of the weirdest tiniest tweezers I’ve ever seen.
There were some that have proven downright handy. I’m discussing one such here.

After using them for years I finally looked them up and found out what they are called:

Adson kocher biopsy tweezers.

I of course have no interest in biopsies but I do mess about with wire and cotton. They’re handy for this. The tweezers have a three tined claw at the end. One side is a V shape and the other side has a single blade that fits into th V.

They have two uses. One is thinning cotton. The claw has a high surface area with a small size and they’re strong. Great for pulling tufts of cotton out of the middle of a bundle.

The other use is holding wire end on. Fit the wire into the V, then clamp it down with the wedge. It holds very strongly and oesnt crush the end of the wire the way corrugated tweezers do. Particularly good if you want to yank hard on a short wire

 

[smoked25years]

so my father was a biology researcher, and when he died I got his tools. One box of which was some of the weirdest tiniest tweezers I’ve ever seen.
There were some that have proven downright handy. I’m discussing one such here.

After using them for years I finally looked them up and found out what they are called:

Adson kocher biopsy tweezers.

I of course have no interest in biopsies but I do mess about with wire and cotton. They’re handy for this. The tweezers have a three tined claw at the end. One side is a V shape and the other side has a single blade that fits into th V.

They have two uses. One is thinning cotton. The claw has a high surface area with a small size and they’re strong. Great for pulling tufts of cotton out of the middle of a bundle.

The other use is holding wire end on. Fit the wire into the V, then clamp it down with the wedge. It holds very strongly and oesnt crush the end of the wire the way corrugated tweezers do. Particularly good if you want to yank hard on a short wire
View attachment 803201

I've used those quite a lot but for their original purpose --haha! It's neat that you're repurposing your dad's tools. That box sounds like a treasure trove! See if there are any Swiss-made No 5 "Biologie" tips in that box. Those get used a lot. The tips are fine and easily damaged. They can be reformed but they are so so so good when new. Breaking open a new pair of No 5 forceps is a treat--haha!

I some No 5 and No 2 (not nearly as exciting as No 5 ) forceps that I use to thin cotton. You can actually find some very high end stuff for cheap on Ebay. Lots of garbage on Ebay but there's some good stuff buried in all of the trash. To cut coil legs, I use a $160 medical cutter that I got for cheap on Ebay.

 

[bombastinator]

I've used those quite a lot but for their original purpose --haha! It's neat that you're repurposing your dad's tools. That box sounds like a treasure trove! See if there are any Swiss-made No 5 "Biologie" tips in that box. Those get used a lot. The tips are fine and easily damaged. They can be reformed but they are so so so good when new. Breaking open a new pair of No 5 forceps is a treat--haha!

I some No 5 and No 2 (not nearly as exciting as No 5 ) forceps that I use to thin cotton. You can actually find some very high end stuff for cheap on Ebay. Lots of garbage on Ebay but there's some good stuff buried in all of the trash. To cut coil legs, I use a $160 medical cutter that I got for cheap on Ebay.

Sadly they were all ancient when I got them. There were wild bits though. My dad did surgery on insects. 1960’s vintage mostly. These weren’t his work tools anymore but merely the stuff no longer fit for purpose that he kept at home for other uses. I believe he used the tweezers I mentioned for more or less the same purpose I do. In his case tying fishing rod eyelets. The pointed tweezers all had blackened tips where they had been repeatedly reheated and straightened. There were still little scissors in there so small that the blades had to be sharpened under a microscope. I dunno what he used those for at home.

 

[smoked25years]

Sadly they were all ancient when I got them. There were wild bits though. My dad did surgery on insects. 1960’s vintage mostly. These weren’t his work tools anymore but merely the stuff no longer fit for purpose that he kept at home for other uses. I believe he used the tweezers I mentioned for more or less the same purpose I do. In his case tying fishing rod eyelets. The pointed tweezers all had blackened tips where they had been repeatedly reheated and straightened. There were still little scissors in there so small that the blades had to be sharpened under a microscope. I dunno what he used those for at home.

The tips may have been black from sterilization. They are commonly dipped in 70% EtOH and "flamed" with a bunsen burner. That's just a quick way. To really sterilize, you'd put them in an autoclave. Damaged tips are straightened or reshaped without heat. Don't know if you find this interesting or not but thought I'd mention it just in case.

If those little scissors are what I think you are talking about then they were originally quite expensive. A few penny pinchers might consider them a luxury since a fine tip scalpel might be used instead. But they do make some jobs easier and they are rarely replaced, unlike forceps.

 

[Dougiestyle]

3 Pcs Adson 12cm Serrated Tip 1x2 Rat Tooth Kocher Tweezer Dressing Forcep Plier Instruments https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FGCJZWU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_UAl3CbH4NG8JA

Wifey loves these