1x KP709 long-nose serrated precision pliers with box-joint
Just curious of some common uses for those?
manipulating device leads (pull through board, straighten them out before clipping, etc.), squishing things together (wire, wire jacket), in a pinch i use my pliers to hold joints in place to get an initial set on tricky joints before i reflow for a really solid joint.
if you only have room or budget for one hand tool, you absolutely have to have a flush cutter (and they are not common anywhere except for electronics). but your second tool should always be a pair of precision pliers, preferably snipe-nose serrated for grip (which the kp709 is).
I took this picture for JayK, but this is my working collection of hand tools:
i use every single one of those nearly every day; none of them cost less than 40$/ea, and those are only the ones that have survived. over the years i've owned probably in the dozens of small hand tools. these are the best of them that i've found so far; the flush cutters are mostly carbide and resharpenable swedish made by larsen, the pliers and oval cutter are wiha germany drop forged tool steel with full polish, etc. etc.
small hand tools for the electronics hobbyist are a bit like knives for a chef. you only need a few, but the ones you have have to be absolutely 100% reliable. when you're soldering down that 40$ tfqn-240 IC, you really don't want to make any mistakes.
