Tsunoda RP-200, Needle Nose Pliers (8-Inch)

This is a beautifully made tool that has me in awe.Generally the 125mm version is small and will work for light to medium gripping applications. The jaws might not be delicate enough for some jewellery or smd electronics applications, they're probably more suited to everyday hobbyist or small workshop or on-site tasks.There's no flex in the jaws even when they're under a decent gripping or levering load at the tip or being twisted and there's no flex in the handles. The tips are strong enough to use for removing upholstery staples from wood for example.The machining throughout is superb and flawless. Both faces of the gripping part of of the jaws are perfectly parallel and the grips make flat contact throught their entire length to the point where they'll grip a thin strip of plastic like cling wrap anywhere in the front half of the jaws. The jaws are slightly blunted at the end (see the pic above with the USB-C plug for scale). The machined gripping area of the jaws is quite pronounced as well as induction hardened and they grip very well. They will leave visible marks if they're used to grip plastic or softer metals.The hinge has zero slop in it, it's silky smooth and there's no resistance to opening or closing fully in either direction. I can't stress enough how good the hinge is, it's really a pleasure.The wire cutter is sharp and crisp to use. It will cut 8mm dia appliance cables, copper or steel wire a few milimeters thick very easily as well as a single, very fine strand of 0.2mm copper wire anywhere along it's length. The meeting of the cutting edges is perfect and gap-free along their entire length.On the back side of the hinge is a second, more high leverage gripping surface, something akin to a fish tape grip you get on linesman's pliers, just smaller obviously. This grip has a 3mm parallel gap along its length and it also has hardened gripping surfaces.The handles are dipped and easy enough to grip. They're small... especially in my XXL hands but they're what you'd expect for this size of tool. They're not sprung.I can't get over how good the machining is and the attention to detail, every machined face on one jaw aligns perfectly with the machined face on the opposite jaw. Every right angled edge is broken with.a radius just sufficiently that it's not sharp enough to be an annoyance or uncomfortable during use. The gripping surfaces are aggressive enough and hardened so they'll do real work. They're far beyond what I expected at this price point and I'm very happy. I'll definitely be buying more of this brand in future.

Very nice quality. These are some of the best needle nose I've ever used. Super comfortable in the hand and very precise engineering.

Bought two, happy with both. I bought another style of this pliers and have been very pleased with how well it was made. I needed one for my tool bag and another for my boat. I would buy them again; good quality

Precise, well made, and too cheap to believe. Honestly I found this brand at the beginning of the year (thank you Project Farm!) and I have been nothing but impressed. The tool quality to price ratio is better than any hand tool company I've ever come across. I know there are 'higher end' hand tool manufacturers out there, but none are going to satisfy the task AND the wallet like Tsunoda. You can't go wrong. Buy it.

High-quality and precise. The 8" length are thinner/lighter than many others. They fit into tight spaces, which can be a benefit.

Excellent

Other reviewers have covered how great these are I just wanted to make a couple notes after I got these in after seeing this brand featured on Project Farm’ YouTube channel.The packaging. Lots of actual Japanese products are packaged lightly because they don’t worry about theft the way we do in the US where things are welded shut in plastic. I love it. It’s easy to open, but yes it’s not super sturdy.The gap. Mine has a gap too when you close the tool. With the precision of everything else on this tool, that clearly is intentional. I thought, well, how often do you pick up something like a piece of paper with needle nose pliers? So I tried it. The gap is so thin it will actually grab and hold a piece of standard printer paper.I’m not going to rush out to replace all my tools with these, but if I lose another pair of pliers the replacement will surely be Tsunoda.Edit: took a couple years but I did break the tip off. I forgot exactly what I was doing but I remember it was leveraging something I shouldn’t have. Now I miss them and will replace them with the same version.

After watching Todd on Project Farm do a video comparison on pliers, I figured whay not try a few pairs of Tsunodas. What can I say...if everything was still made with this level of bushido quality or old school American quality, the world would be a better place. The grip on the handle is smooth and soft yet firm and sturdy. The sharpening on the wire cutting lower portion of the teeth is precise and the serrations on the needle nose end are dangerously accurate. I just received these but am confident they will last for a long time. Skip harbor freight, get a pair of Tsunodas.