Selection of Pincers in a mock-up blacksmiths
Carpenter's pincers.
End-cutters.
Medieval pincers found in Hamburg-Harburg (15th/16th century)

Pincers are a hand tool used in many situations where a mechanical advantage is required to pinch, cut or pull an object. Pincers are first-class levers, but differ from pliers in that the concentration of force is either to a point, or to an edge perpendicular to the length of the tool. This allows pincers to be brought close to a surface, which is often required when working with nails.

Pincers are primarily used for removing objects (typically nails) out of a material that they have been previously applied to. Carpenter's pincers are particularly suited to these tasks.

Sharpened pincers are also used to cut away natural calluses, also called chestnuts, from a horses body.[1]

Further use of pincers is the trimming of the edges of horses hoofs.[2]

If the pincers have perpendicular cutting edges, the pincers are often called end-nippers or end-cutters.

Pincers, often red-hot, have also been used as an instrument of torture[3] since ancient Roman times or earlier.

Pliers are a similar tool with a different type of head used for squeezing, rather than cutting and pulling.

See also

References

  1. ↑ The practice of removing chestnuts
  2. ↑ The practice of trimming the edge of a horses hoof
  3. ↑ "Example of the use of pincers for torture in mediaeval Italy". Pbs.org. Retrieved 2018-04-16.
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