Hawke wrote:
On 4/25/2010 9:57 PM, William Wixon wrote:
what's the consensus on the best (sliver removing) tweezers?

b.w.



I don't know what tweezers work best for removing slivers but a while
back I got some advice on removing splinters from a guy who used to work
in a saw mill. Working around wood all the time the guy was always
getting splinters and he said the best way to remove them was with a new
and clean razor blade. Instead of trying to pick out a sliver with
tweezers it worked better to slice down through the skin little by
little with the razor blade. I've tried it myself numerous times since
learning about it and I've found it works well. Just a thought.

I use a really fine pair of tweezers marketed as electronics assembly
tweezers. But what _really_ helps is the 10x assembly microscope that I
obtained to use for working with surface-mount circuit boards. It's
amazing how easy it is to take a sliver out when you magnify it up
enough that it looks like a match stick.

Keep in mind that if the sliver is buried you just about have to do
surgery. In order of difficulty of the presentation of the sliver, I
use "household" tweezers, or a needle (slide it alongside the sliver,
then pull up to rip through the skin), or _really sharp_ tweezers
that'll do the job of the needle, or a _brand new_ Exacto knife blade.

If you have a sharp Exacto knife (#11 blade) and really keen eyesight
you can slide the blade in alongside the sliver, then cut straight out
(i.e. slice through the least possible amount of skin). A needle works
for this, but not as well, and it rips the skin, which makes it harder
to see the sliver.

Then grab the sliver with fine tweezers, or lever it out with the blade
or needle, or tease it out with the point.

--
Tim Wescott
Control system and signal processing consulting
www.wescottdesign.com