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Has anyone found a good tang nipper that works well on Uke / Mando wire? I have the SM nipper which works great on bigger wire, but on the Uke wire it causes the wire to roll when cutting which bends and distorts the edges of the wire.

Any pointers to tools you've had luck with is appreciated.

Thanks!
Brad


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Just to clarify.... I have the SM medium nipper, but they have EOL the nippers all together and the replacement is due in June. So I'll have to find something else.

Anyone tried the Jescar model?

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I have never found the tool useful for small fretwire. I always had a small notch in my workbench and grabbed the fret with a fretpuller tool (end cutter sharpened) and held it in the little notch. Then I filed off the tang with a small 6" medium file. Easy enough...did it for hundreds of mandolins.

I've tried several, and yes, they have all been rubbish on small wire.

I was recommended the Summit Fret tang cutter with the smallest anvil. Expensive, well made and saves heaps of time if you are making a living at this.

If you are using something like StewMacs #764 then you will get really good results if the nipped out portion is no more than about 3mm and you use a quick clean nip. No more work required.

This is the wire I use amost exclusively, and haven't found a nipper that could ever cut it without destroying it.

If you are using the #174 wire or similar, then the results are truley excellent.

Lot's of places to get them, but I bought mine from Jescar.

https://www.jescar.com/summit-fret-cutting-tools/

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Allen R. McFarlen
Barron River Guitars & Ukuleles
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Cairns, Australia

Thanks, Allen!

I actually did settle on the Summit with guiding plate 1&2. I also ordered some #37053 wire from Jescar. They felt the nipper and the wire should be fine together. I guess we will find out this weekend.


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To close the loop... I got these in and indeed the #1 guide along with the #37053 wire from Jescar work well. I like these nippers better than the SM style. The wire has a larger area to seat into and the cut is clean. Of course they are brand new, so let's see after a couple months use, but so far I'd recommend them.

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