How to choose Dumont forceps
Pattern numbers and descriptions
#1 Strong Tips
#2 Strong Tips
#3 Thin Tips
#3C Short, Thin Tips
#4 Very Thin Tips
#5 Super Thin Tips
#5 Modified Oblique Thin Tips, Half Curve
#5/15 Thin Tips, Bent 15 degrees
#5/45 Thin Tips, Bent 45 degrees
#5/90 Thin Tips, Bent 90 degrees
#5A Oblique Tips
#55 Light Shanks, Very Thin Tips
#N5 Cross Action, Super Thin Tips
#6 Thin, Hooked Tips
#7 Curved Thin Tips
#7S Small, Curved and Thin Tips
#N7 Cross action, Curved, Thin Tips
#SS Long and Narrow Shanks, Thin Tips
#SS/45 Long and Narrow Shanks, Thin Tips, Bent 45 degrees
#PP Strong Tips
#PP/45 Strong Tips, Bent 45 degrees
These tweezers come with standard or "biologie" tips. Biologie tips tend to be around half the size of standard tips. These tip grades are sized differently for every pattern number. The standard tips of #5 forceps are 0.1 mm wide and 0.06 mm thick. The tips of Dumont #5 "biologie" tweezers are 0.05 mm wide and 0.01 mm thick. The new #5 SF Super Fine Dumont Forceps are the finest with tip dimensions of 0.025 x 0.005 mm, half the size of biologie tips.
Compare the various alloys and their respective properties below.
Carbon Steel: Carbon steel is one of the hardest materials used for tweezers. The hardness of this material measured on the Rockwell-scale is 60. The tips of tweezers made of carbon steel are very durable but the hardness makes them more brittle than other materials. Carbon steel stains and rusts easily even in mildly corrosive environments and it is highly magnetic.
Inox: Inox is a special brand of stainless steel. Inox is a hard alloy (Rockwell 55) but it is softer than pure carbon steel. Consequently, tweezers made of Inox have hard tips that are a little more flexible than carbon steel tips so they do not break that easily. Inox is a magnetic alloy with good stain resistance.
Titanium: Titanium is a relatively soft alloy (Rockwell 37 at the tips) which allows the tips to be very flexible. Titanium is about 30% lighter than other stainless alloys. It is exceptionally resistant to corrosion, which makes it the ideal material for experiments done in saline solutions. Titanium can withstand heat above 400 degrees Celsius without deforming and it is absolutely non-magnetic.
Dumoxel: The increased stain and corrosion resistance over Inox makes Dumoxel a very popular alloy. Its hardness (Rockwell 36) is much below that of Inox so tweezers made from Dumoxel have flexible tips that do not break easily. It is non-magnetic and resists high temperatures very well up to 400 °C.
Dumostar: This alloy combines the best characteristics of the other alloys. It is a mix of steel, , nickel, cobalt and molybdenum. Dumostar resists temperatures over 500 °C and is fully non-magnetic. Even though it is a very hard alloy (Rockwell 62), Dumostar tips are very flexible. Not only is this material resistant to material fatigue, it can also flex a great deal more than other alloys without permanent deformation. Its optimal resistance to all forms of corrosives including organic and mineral acids and salt together with its physical properties make it the best choice in many areas of biomedical research.
Black ceramic coating: The ceramic coating on our new #5 forceps offers increased hardness, corrosion resistance, and thermal insulation. It prevents electrostatic discharges and metal contamination.
