DSPIAE Single Blade Nipper 2.0 (ST-A)

[Mike]

Single Blade Nipper 2.0 (ST-A)

DSPIAE

 

 

I'd never heard of DSPIAE until a friend of mine was muttering about the new sprue cutters he'd bought at Telford (thanks Dan), and how awesome they were.  I was in the market for a set, as my old Xuron pair weren't looking too good, and I was sick of the crush-marks that were being left in parts when I removed them from their sprues.  Post-Telford they were only available from the AliExpress shopping platform, so I took my life in my hands and ordered a pair.  It wasn't too painful, and after I got over an initial inability to pay by card, the order was completed and I was kept apprised of progress toward delivery by email from the AliExpress platform.  About a week later and a small box arrived with the DSPIAE logo on it.

 

 

 

Inside the box was a shrink-wrapped black box with an overlapping lid made from sturdy card.  Inside the lid is a card insert with a small holster for the blade visible, with cleaning cloth, plastic cover and instructions hidden inside.  Removing that shows off the final layer containing the nippers and an adjustment wrench in a card-topped custom foam surround.  The interior of the lid is a bright red, in keeping with the overall black/red theme that carries on a feeling of quality.  Each nipper is also individually ID coded, which enables the buyer to confirm their purchase's authenticity and access product support if necessary.  The adjustment wrench has a rounded Allen head that you use to change the limit of closure of the jaws, to ensure a clean cut with no stragglers, whilst maintaining the sharpness of the single blade by preventing it from mashing unfettered into the non-cutting jaw.  The handles are 90mm across when open, and the length from stem to tip of blade is 110mm, so they're quite a compact set of cutters, but don't let that put you off if you have large hands.  My mitts are fairly large, and I have no trouble using them, with the red foam grips making maintaining a good grip on them simple.  Afterall, the last thing you want to do is drop them on a hard floor.

 

 

 

I could show you some pictures of pieces of sprue that I have cut with the nippers, but that's not going to tell you much other than it's a clean cut.  What a picture will not tell you is that the cutting process is smooth beyond all belief and almost effortless.  I can honestly say that it has completely changed the way I cut parts from sprues, and has given me increased confidence that the result will be clean and require much less in the way of clean-up than previously achieved with side-cutters.  Simply place the cutters close to the part, and lightly scissor the jaws closed. That's it.  A beautiful, clean cut that is close to the part, and has not harmed, stressed or crushed the surrounding styrene in any way.  It also applies much less pressure to the parts when cutting, so you're less likely to have any breakages as a result.  For example, when cutting off fine tubular parts with multiple sprue gates, the sideways and lateral pressure of a standard cutter squeezing the gate can cause the parts to shatter as the gate widens by the thickness of the blade.  This shouldn't be an issue with these nippers, and I have successfully cut a number of parts that would have otherwise been subject to this concern.  With very small parts, you need to be careful to place the blades properly against the sprue gates, as the slightly wider nature of the non-cutting jaw can conceivably push the blade off course.  With that in mind however, it should no-longer be an issue.  That's the only caveat, and you'd only do it once!

 

Note the comparative smoothness of the cut on the left compared with that of the right

 

The instructions name all the components of the nippers and also give names to the accessories, such as the "nipper holster", which will be useful if you are storing your nippers in a tool box or transporting them.  This will protect the blade, and also protect the world from tiny amounts of grease that are lubricating the pivot.  There is also a plastic cover for the blade, which is very tight-fitting, but would protect your blade from much greater impacts than the leatherette holster, so it has a use.  The little microfibre cloth is wrapped in a foil bag, and is DSPIAE branded in one of its radiused corners – very nice quality too.  The instructions are a little "Chinglish" in places, but the jist is plain to see, with a final warning that you should under NO circumstances attempt to cut anything other than styrene, ABS or polyurethane resin with the blade, or it will damage it.  Shortening polyurethane to PE may not have been the best idea however, as someone is bound to think that's the hobby's de-facto standard shortcut for Photo-Etch instead, with resulting damage.  If you've read this however, hopefully you won't.

 

 

Conclusion

I wouldn't think you'd catch me enthusing about a simple sprue-cutter in such a gushing manner, but these things really are that good.  Their performance when compared to other brands is like that of chalk and cheese, so they are most definitely worth the extra cost in my opinion, which when you remove the shipping cost makes them pretty good value.  I have purchased two from DSPIAE now, plus a couple of pairs of their tweezers, and so far they have not been stopped by customs (presumably due to their low value), but always bear this in mind when purchasing from overseas.

 

Oh, and before you ask. At this stage I have no idea what DSPIAE stands for - other than really good quality tools.

 

Extremely highly recommended.

 

This link and the one below takes you to DSPIAE's AliExpress shop, with lots of interesting tools for the modeller.  Britmodeller cannot be held responsible for the amount of money you spend when you see what's available.

 

Review sample purchased from

[cmatthewbacon]

+1 here. I’ve heard people complain about the price or the hassle of ordering (get them at a show if you can), but that’s like complaining about the price of a Ferrari vs an Audi TT(Xuron) or Mondeo (Modelcraft). They just work at a different level: I’ve reduced clean up time dramatically, and not lost a single, however fragile, part to breakage or the carpet monster since I got mine as a birthday present last year...

best,

M.

[goon]

I've had mine for a few months. One of the best purchases I've ever made. Top quality.

[BikKit]

Great to read this as I just ordered a pair on Monday 😀

[Mike]

11 minutes ago, cmatthewbacon said:

the hassle of ordering

TBH, the hassle of ordering them online is negligible once you've created your account.  I'm currently trying to resist the drill set and numerous other things

[prowler0000]

Been sniffin' around these for months.

 

Read review.....

 

SOLD!

 

& as a new member, I saved 3 bucks! (however much >that< is!   🤔)

Edited January 16, 2019 by prowler0000
Coz i saved money!

[Tbolt]

Very tempted by these now. I bought their circle cutter at Telford and it's a beautiful piece of kit. I won't buy them direct though as everything I buy outside Europe over the £15 limit gets hit with import VAT ( even when the cost was under £16! ) so I'll buy from the UK or Europe.

[Mike]

13 hours ago, Tbolt said:

Very tempted by these now. I bought their circle cutter at Telford and it's a beautiful piece of kit. I won't buy them direct though as everything I buy outside Europe over the £15 limit gets hit with import VAT ( even when the cost was under £16! ) so I'll buy from the UK or Europe.

I've ordered two of the cutters now from the UK directly from AliExpress, and both have got through unfettered.  I couldn't tell you whether it was due to what was written on the waybill, as I didn't look at the time, but there you go

[Andy Moore]

You can also get the same clippers with Meng branding, which are identical apart from the logo. Those ones may be a little easier to get hold of (I believe HLJ used to stock them; not sure if that's still the case), but they'll probably cost a little more than the original Dspiae ones.

 

As Mike and others have said, the quality of these clippers is outstanding. I've been using them for about a year now and I've never damaged or broken part since switching to them*. They're also still as sharp today as when I first got them.

 

 

*Disclaimer: I've damaged and broken many, many parts, just not as a result of using these clippers)

 

Andy

[Mike]

55 minutes ago, AndyRM101 said:

You can also get the same clippers with Meng branding, which are identical apart from the logo. Those ones may be a little easier to get hold of (I believe HLJ used to stock them;

They do look identical even down to the accessories, but at £50 plus shipping, the DSPIAE branded ones at £26.80 delivered when I bought them start to look excellent value

[Tbolt]

9 hours ago, Mike said:

I've ordered two of the cutters now from the UK directly from AliExpress, and both have got through unfettered.  I couldn't tell you whether it was due to what was written on the waybill, as I didn't look at the time, but there you go

I think it probably has to do with your local Parcel Force office as other people have said they didn't get charged with other low valve items, but every single item I've had over the limit I've been charged and now the handle fee is £11 it can get expensive.

Edited January 17, 2019 by Tbolt

[jenko]

On ‎1‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 9:29 PM, Mike said:

  I'm currently trying to resist the drill set and numerous other things

I was at Euro and didn't resist.  Boy was that an expensive day 

 

Dick

 

And yes the nippers are the best !!!

[Sundowner14]

I have so far tried and largely failed in not buying anything that DSPIAE have produced. All their gear is on a different level.

 

That is all

[Mike]

4 hours ago, Sundowner14 said:

I have so far tried and largely failed in not buying anything that DSPIAE have produced. All their gear is on a different level.

 

That is all

True.... and

[Wizball]

So, really interested in getting myself a pair of nippers. Some mention they've got other DSPIAE stuff as well - anything in particular to recommend? With shipping being a factor I'd rather just order once. Curious about the super glue applicator - what makes it much better than toothpicks, my current method?

[franky boy]

Spot on review Mike. I've had mine for a month now and have been very impressed by them.

 

No more carpet monster problems!

 

James

[Mike]

1 hour ago, Wizball said:

anything in particular to recommend?

I've got their tweezers so far, which I added on to my last order   Cheap and nice

[Mike]

34 minutes ago, franky boy said:

No more carpet monster problems!

You know, I honestly hadn't thought to that aspect! Because the cut is so much more gentle, you don't get that 10g acceleration that standard cutters impart.  Good spot!

[Gav G]

Be very, very careful buying through AliExpress. It's a well know channel for counterfeit goods.

[colin]

Got mine off ebay for £24 from China, no vat or Royal mail charge one of the luckey purchases with that.

 

[TK501]

Hello everyone! Found this site nearly a year ago and have been slow carving out time to get started on a project...but I am full tilt involved with one now! Found this thread and, being in the market for pair of nippers, took the plunge and am anxiously awaiting delivery of this new tool. Now it's back to my snowspeeder build here in NJ!

Mark

[azureglo]

Me thinks, I should give mine another go but is no match for my Hyper Gate saw last time I tried., does have the distinct advantage that you can actually buy one unlike said saw which is obviously fabricated from Japanese rocking manure...

 

Anil The Tool Junkie

[azureglo]

On 1/16/2019 at 10:23 PM, Tbolt said:

Very tempted by these now. I bought their circle cutter at Telford and it's a beautiful piece of kit. I won't buy them direct though as everything I buy outside Europe over the £15 limit gets hit with import VAT ( even when the cost was under £16! ) so I'll buy from the UK or Europe.

Subject to stock then these folks should be able to lighten your wallet:

 

https://www.hmhobbies.co.uk/search/for/DSPIAE/

 

[Tbolt]

7 hours ago, azureglo said:

Subject to stock then these folks should be able to lighten your wallet:

 

https://www.hmhobbies.co.uk/search/for/DSPIAE/

 

That's who I was looking at buying from, but slightly concerned about them as their doesn't seem to be an reviews around and when you hit "About Us" on their site it's blank.

[BikKit]

Postman turned up with these this morning. They feel and look like top quality looking forward to trying them out later 😃