Duckbill Pliers

Jewelry Discussion
1

Dave Arens, or others, I have taken a few wire classes from Mildred
Anderes, where she makes excellent use of Duckbill pliers. Two of us
have looked extensively for these pliers unsuccessfully. Yesterday
while reading Jeanne McAnnich’s Chain book, she too refers frequently
to Duckbill pliers. So where are they sold?

Thanks,
Teresa

2

Teresa, One source of hand tools that carries duck-billed pliers is
Ames Supply Co. They sell tools to the service industry. You can
reach them at 800-323-3856 and at www.amessupply.com. Hope this
helps.

Jim Marotti
Lancaster, TN

3

You might try dental supply companies that specialize in orthodontic
pliers. I stumbled (and fell) several years ago on a modest supply of
orthodontic “chain pliers” from the S.S.White Dental Company. They
have been sitting in the original box’s and have acquired a coating of
of foam packaging material which will have to be removed. They have
large “duck bill” beaks which if not exactly the correct size, could
be reshaped to “fit”. If anyone is interested you can have one for
$2.00 + postage (about $3.75 for 3 day ground) for as long as the
supply lasts. Oh yes they are also “curved” not “straight” (grin!)
Remember we do fix ultrasonic cleaners. Warranty on ELMA and
Healthsonics.

Mike & Dale
Lone Star Technical Services
"If you don’t need us today, we’ll be here tomorrow".
1-800-223-4936

4

Hi Teresa,

 where she makes excellent use of Duckbill pliers. Two of us have
looked extensively for these pliers unsuccessfully. Yesterday while
reading Jeanne McAnnich's Chain book, she too refers frequently to
Duckbill pliers. So where are they sold?

Many times the tools aren’t sold by specific type names but are
lumped into broad areas such as pliers, needle nose, thin nose,
locking etc. A ‘duck bill’ is one of these classifications. However,
due to the relatively low requirement for this type of pliers, the
term ‘duck bill’ hasn’t made it into the vocabulary of the general
populace.

Basically, a ‘duck bill’ pliers is any pliers that has a jaw that’s
about 5 times wider than the thickness. It’s not necessary for the
jaw to be any certain width to be called a ‘duck bill’; it’s the 5:1
ratio between jaw width & thickness that determines the whether a
pliers is classed as a ‘duck bill’.

I’ve gotten duck bills at Sears, Harbor Freight, hardware &
industrial tool stores, auto parts stores & just about anyplace that
sells tools. Pliers aren’t always sold by ‘type’, you might have to
look at the pliers & decide for yourself if the jaw shape is what you
want. The only place I’ve seen pliers sold as ‘duck bills’ was at
industrial tool & auto parts stores (& not all of these). Some ‘duck
bills’ have square cornered jaws & some are slightly rounded.

If you can’t find a pliers that fills your requirement for a wide,
thin jaw, you can make your own. Grind or file the jaws on a pliers
that has the correct width jaw to the desired thickness.

Dave

5 
     where she makes excellent use of Duckbill pliers. Two of us
have looked extensively for these pliers unsuccessfully. Yesterday
while reading Jeanne McAnnich's Chain book, she too refers
frequently to Duckbill pliers. So where are they sold?

Hi Teresa: Here’s the url for AmesSupply- they have duck billed
pliers. Check it out. I have not purchased anything from them but have
looked at their product assortment and see that they do have duckbills
available.

Kay
http://www.amessupply.com/default.cfm

6

Teresa; These pliers are used in Dentistry and can be obtained from a
Dental supply co. If you experience difficulty in locating them let
me know and I will try to direct you to a source. JZD

7

There is a pair of duckbill pliers available in a set (111-817) from
Rio Grande. They are pictured on the bottom of p. 201 in the new
tools book. The sets are in stock. The individual duckbill pliers
could be also be special ordered. Call 800-545-6566 and an agent can
help you. Thanks.

Faith

8

Hi Folks!: The duckbill pliers I use originally came from Rio Grande’s
catalog - they are 5mm.wide. I have seen some smaller in width.
Yesterday, I received a phone call from them asking me about them and
was told that they had stopped advertising them 3 catalogs back. I
told them being that they are hunting down some to carry that being a
lot of us have arthritus/ carpal tunnel syndrome it would be a big
advantage to get pliers “user friendly” - with double springs and
foam padding if possible. I will let you know when I know. I think
its great that they are always ready to find tools that people need
and keep up with the newest stuff. If anyone has any questions re:
chains please email me. I’m the “lurker” type.