Compound Tile Nippers High Leverage Design Heavy Duty Construction Long Lasting Tungsten Tips Ergonomic Anti-Slip Soft Grip Shipping Weight 0.7kg Grey Compound Nippers in stock. Ships in small satchel. Sometimes the shipping app charges for medium satchel. I refund any extra payment always. You only pay what your shipping costs. Every time. Every Order. Click on the photos to enlarge. I really can vouch for this amazing tool. I was invited to go to Santiago Chile a few years back to mosaic the front of the Municipal Building with artists from all over the world. The day before I left, a pair of compound nippers arrived in the post and I ummed and ahhhed about packing them because all we needed was going to be provided for us. I ended up taking them and I used these nippers from 8am-4pm, minus breaks for about 12 days and I made a gazillion cuts in ceramic tile. AND might I stress that we were not using ceramic tile like you find at Bunnings- the pretty coloured Johnson Tiles or the like, these were thick high fired ceramic tiles as strong as cement, maybe 8-9 mm thick. These nippers literally saved my hands. All artists were supplied with sidebiter nippers and most managed, but there was an extreme amount of complaint and pain endured for the art. When I wasn't using my Compound Nippers, the guys working next door to me from MOSAICIZM borrowed them as well and wished they had a pair. I made the section with the large white and gemstone (Mookaite) flower, and the little(red) Loica bird. You cannot imagine how many nips went into the creation of just that section. Truly the best investment you can make in a tool- for cutting ceramic, porcelain or the like. Trade in your regular side-biters for Compound Nippers. Remember these are for shaping tile. If you want to cut thick tile in half use a Slide and Snap tool specifically for that job, or a score and snap for smaller shorter cuts. Make sure you are using a tool for what it was intended for. This is the best compound nipper- use it for nipping! The tool takes the grunt of the pressure, not your hand or wrist. Anyway- enough reminiscing... no maybe not enough- I can never get enough of that project- I'll load some pics of the mosaic I created with these nippers on here :) Great Value - and your hands and wrists with thank you! The fourth photo on here shows me using my right hand, holding the nippers, but resting them on my upper thigh and just putting the tile in the nippers with my left. Your cutting hand stays supported, your wrist doesn't get strained, and most of the weight is supported by your body not your wrists. If you have a lot of cutting to do. Set yourself up somewhere comfortable so you can work this way, and have a bucket on the ground to catch your offcuts, and you are set. Your hands will thank you. Obviously you don't get my pair I took to Chile, you get a brand new pair you can make your own memories with. :) Technical information: The compound action deliver double force than conventional nippers. Extra leverage requires less effort to cut and make this work better than usual Drop Forged Housing with Tungsten-carbide Trimming Tips 5/8-Inch Biting Surface ( straight cutting edges), Non-slip handle grip: cushioned handle. comfortable in your hands. Used for irregular cuts on all tile or stone. Ideal to cut all tile, porcelain. Perfect for trimming work on flooring, walls and removing tiny points More important information when handling this tool. Tools take a lot of time and a huge financial investment to come into being. The whole process of design and creating dies is not easy or cheap. Most tools are made for who is using them, and these are obviously full size and suitable for hands, and BIG hands, but not so suitable for small hands. I was a garden designer and creator before mosaics, and I used secateurs every day. I had the same issue with secateurs. The expanse of the handle was so wide that I would have to stretch out my fingers sooo wide to be able to pick up the cutter. I realised it was causing me pain, so I changed the way I did things. I never ever picked up the tool with both handles. I'd pick up the tool with the right handle only, and push it against my body- my side, or my thighs if I was squatting or on my hands and knees working... Pushing the tool to you, closes the handles to a distance where there is no stretching required, and no long term pain. Then you just clasp the second handle easily. If you get in the habit of only picking up your hand tools in this manner you never have to worry about sore hands, or looking for rubber bands, or any other solution you might need. It becomes second nature. I forget I even do it, and I do it every time. It will take a long time before someone makes a smaller version of these no doubt. There has been discussion online lately complaining about the size of this tool. Accept. Adjust. Benefit. Candace Clough a mosaic artist in the US made "The Breda"- a tool to cut stained glass, it's ergonomically advanced and designed to be kind to your hands. Just ask her how much time and effort and money goes into making a new tool. It is a complex process. Also the price you have to sell the tool for is usually a lot higher.! So to get what you want in life, you can often adjust what you do, to still get what you want. Karen Baker.
