While crafting things and sorting out electrical connections, pliers come in very handy. Pliers can serve a huge number of purposes, but it is mostly used for holding grip or cutting small pieces of wire and similar material. A plier is generally made of sturdy steel alloys that are used for making the body of it. The handle side is usually covered with thick plastic or rubber, to provide insulation and also to provide a better grip. There are many kinds of pliers, each of them for specific functions, but there are 5 most common ones that we’ll usually deal with. They are:-
1. External straight nose circlip plier
These pliers are used for installing or removing circlips on shafts and boards. A circlip is a small locking device which has two holes where a plier needs to be put and then made to work.
2. Long nose plier
These pliers have elongated jaws and are used to grip small objects and reach tough places easily.
3. Combination mini plier
These pliers are a combination of pliers and can be used to carry out multiple tasks such as stripping wires, cutting wires and materials, gripping objects and more.
4. Wire stripping pliers
As the name suggests, these pliers are used to strip wires and then make connections with the open ends of wires.
5. Bent nose pliers
The main reason bent nose pliers are used is that they don’t come in the line of sight and are very useful in some situations where it needs to access hard-to-reach places. These kinds of pliers are also used for opening and closing circlip.
How to use
All types of pliers are used in a similar fashion. They are meant to be used with one hand, your dominant hand preferably. Hold the plier handles with your hand, and grip it tightly. Put the jaws in between the material that you want to twist/cut/flatten out, and then hold it tightly. Now, depending on the type of plier, you can perform various operations.
Safety measures to follow
1. While using pliers with some electrical components, always make sure that you’re not touching the metal part.
2. Hold a strong grip on the plier so that it doesn’t slip which might be hazardous.
Common applications
There are potentially a lot of things that pliers can be used for:-
1. To strip wires for making connections
2. To tighten nut bolts.
3. For cutting wires, as well as for twisting them together.
Important Links
● Types of pliers in detail (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ2G54ebgfs)
YouTube video link
● Theory about circlips (https://youtu.be/ohbIFfdZJOo)
YouTube video
