Featured Adjusting Pliers

Hold me. Hold me tight.

There are two reasons for owning this plier. The compression fixture has to be held rock solid when you need to adjust the temple or bridge. Adjusting the temple or bridge puts pressure on the drilled holes which can crack the lens. There needs to be equal pressure on both sides of the fixture for absolutely safest results. That is why our Delrin plastic jaw, for the minus side of the lens, pivots to match the base curve. 

Replacing the compression tubing is the other reason to have this plier. The Delrin plastic jaws are dual grooved to cradle the metal and plastic components, on either axis, for even, consistent pressure to drive the posts into the tubing. Opens extra wide for thick lenses.

#1050V – Black Vinyl Handle $34.95

#1050F – Green Foam Handle $34.95

See other models of this plier below. View all Rimless Related Products

Insider Info from Joshua

"I designed the first (and still the best) plier for working with compression rimless mountings. Basically, everyone else has a less functional knockoff. Our big feature is a pivoting pad. The pad that goes on the minus side of the lens pivots to match the back side base curve. If you are attempting to grasp the fixture to hold it steady while you adjust the temple the entire fixture and lens must be secured. The key is even pressure front to back. As the pads on other pliers don’t pivot, the fixture is only being held at the thickest point on the lens. This makes it much easier to inadvertently crack the lens at the drilled hole." 

Step Up Your Game.

The part of a frame the patient will notice long after leaving the dispensary is the temple ear piece. If the patient sees a series of crimps rather than a smooth arc, it will reflect on your craftpersonship. They will be constantly reminded about the lack of care that went into making their adjustment. Step up your game. Reach for this plier every time you need to change the curve on an ear piece. A range of stepped Delrin plastic arcs aid you in easily achieving the most comfortable and individualized bend.

Original. Best. Has A Fun Name.

This is the driver you shouldn’t work without! As the size and shape of lock nuts proliferates so does your collection of nut drivers. How many times a day do you try driver after driver and never find one that grabs the nut? Western has ended your search.

The expandable jaw automatically grips any size or shape lock nut, hex nut, star nut, cap nut or round nut. The more pressure you apply, the tighter the grip on the nut.

The Universal Nut Grabber is the one driver that does it all. 3-3/4" long.

Available in two models:

#5070 – Solid, all-metal construction for continuous laboratory use. $24.95

#5075 – Injection molded plastic exterior for office use. $19.95

See other options below, or view all Screw and Nut Drivers and Holders

Insider Info from Joshua

"The main motivation for Western to attend a trade show is to get to meet our customers and to hear about their dispensing challenges. For many years our clients would ask when was I going to design one wrench to handle any shape or size nut? I kept thinking about it but couldn’t come up with a truly universal design. Then, one day, I was exploring an artist’s supply store and noticed the tools for holding charcoal and lead. Using that as my inspiration, I designed the Universal Nut Grabber." 

Hold. That. Open.

Stop frustrating yourself. This is the spring hinge mounting tool that really works. This simple to use tool set allows you to extend the spring hinge barrel and hold it in the extended position. The self-locking plier makes it easy to align the temple with the frame front and insert the hinge screw. Single handedly assemble those frustrating spring hinge frames in seconds.

This updated model allows you to safely and quickly open several types of spring hinges. Watch our demonstration video and be dazzled.

For added convenience use the Self-Closing Fine Tip Tweezer or the Screw Starter to easily start the screw in the barrel.

Insider Info from Joshua

"One of the many nice things about owning the factory is that I can make product improvements whenever I want. As eyewear styles change regularly in both fashion and hardware a tool’s design needs to stay current. That’s what occurred when the US Military contacted us with a problem. They had been using our Spring Hinge Plier for years and loved it. Yet, lately the spring hinges that were on their frames didn’t work with the original plier. They sent me a few samples and I made a change to the jaw of the plier so it would still work on the original hinge as well as the new style.  Time for an upgrade to Spring Hinge Plier Kit 2.0" 

The Swiss Army Knife of Opticians.

Western’s engineering solution that saves you time six ways: punches out hinge and eyewire screws, re-establishes a screwdriver slot in a damaged screw head, flares or peens the screw end and can replace a hinge screw with a QuikFix Rivet.

The Shootout arms you with the most power available in a hand tool. The patented lever mechanism takes a gentle squeeze and transforms it into the controlled power needed to easily eject broken screws and reduce damage to the barrel.

The Shootout is simple to align and comfortable to grip even for the smallest hands. Kit includes precision hand tool and complete set of punches and anvils. 8 5/8" long. US Patent #6,006,410.

Insider Info from Joshua

"The head tool buyer for a very large chain came to me one day at a trade show and asked what we had for punching out screws.  We had nothing.  For the remainder of the show I asked our clients if punching out screws was a 'thing'. Sure enough, it happens more often than I imagined. Building a better solution to what was available was the engineering challenge. Making it reliable and user friendly came after several evolutions. The additional features making it a 'multi-tool' came from customer input."

Curves ahead.

The nose pad arms look like they’ve been steam rolled.  In one quick action, you can put the correct curve back into that pad arm. Place the plier’s concave jaw where you want the curve and the opposite jaw will press the arm into perfect shape. Actually, kind of brilliant.

Let’s twist again.

You clipped the excess off a screw and are left with a ragged end.  In oldie days you’d reach for a riffler or spoon file. Too often the file would slip off the screw and drive itself into the frame or lens.

Now you don’t have to take that chance. A few twists of this tool’s cupped serrated cap will safely round off the ends of cut screws. The working end is made of hardened carbide steel permanently mounted in a carbon steel nickel plated handle.

Works on screws with a maximum diameter of 1.6mm. Also use to smooth the ends of cut temples.

See other options below, or view all File and Finishing Tools

Insider Info from Joshua

"Here’s a long story made short. There are fewer fine file manufacturers now than there were two decades ago. Big file companies bought out the smaller specialists.  Consequently the cost of files has skyrocketed. We can’t change suppliers as there aren’t any. So what to do?  Eliminate the need for a specific file altogether by designing something just as functional but less costly. Two benefits for you. One, it costs less than a riffler file and, two, you are much less likely to slip off the end of a cut screw and file away accidentally on the frame or lens.  It’s a win-win."

Removing demo lenses from frames can be annoying and sometimes painful.

This plier isn’t subtle. Place the pointed jaw in the middle of the lens and squeeze. The lens will break and fall out of the eyewire. Great for removing display lenses from rimlon frames in a snap!

See other models of this plier below. View all Lens Pliers and Tools

Insider Info from Joshua

"This plier grows out of numerous requests to be able to remove demo lenses without hurting your fingers or the frame. Originally demo lenses just popped out, sometimes when you didn’t want them to. Now, with more accurate production those suckers are in there. Here’s a tool to match the energy needed to dislodge the lens. I found the most expeditious method to be splitting the lens. Shield your eyes and hold the plier and eyewear away from yourself and others." 

Size. Insert Screw. Tighten.

You need to mount a lens into the eyewire. Ideally when you’ve confirmed that the cut lens is the proper fit, you would simply screw closed the eyewire and be finished. More likely, you let go of the eyewire and the lens comes out. You preload the screw in a tweezer, reinsert the lens in the eyewire and hold the eyewire closed with your fingers. With your free hand, you pick up the tweezer and insert the screw into the barrel. Now, release the screw and pick up a screw driver, and attempt to get the screw threaded.  

Let us interest you in an easier way. Close the eyewire around the lens using this plier. Then, while still holding the plier, insert the screw into the top hollow anvil. Insert the screwdriver blade through the anvil and engage the screw slot. Tighten the screw. Remove driver. Remove plier. Done! 

Western’s parallel jaw design holds the eyewire closed more securely. This time saving plier reduces the possibility of damage to the frame by keeping the screwdriver tip from slipping off the screw head.

See other models of this plier below. View all Lens Pliers and Tools

Insider Info from Joshua

"You don’t usually hear foul language in a dispensary or lab. The most common exception is when a screw is dropped. Couple that with the grimace that comes with trying to squeeze an eyewire closed for a long period of time while reaching for the screwdriver. Not fun. With my fat fingers it was almost impossible and definitely not comfortable. That’s why I designed this plier. Honestly, it will take getting used to but worth the effort." 

Insert. Align. Mount.

You can stop hurting your fingers now. Instead of forcing a push-in style nose pad into the box, use this plier to gently pop the pad into place. Insert the pad between the plier’s jaws, align with the box and squeeze the pad into place without moving either the nose pad box or pad arm out of adjustment.

See other models of this plier below. View all Nose Pad Pliers

Insider Info from Joshua

"This is the complement to the #8032S Nose Pad Popping Plier. You can accidentally bend the nose pad arm when taking the pad out and also when trying to insert the pad. This little gem lets you replace the pad without messing up the arm and having to readjust the glasses. A MicroTool design to help you use as little pressure as necessary." 

Align. Squeeze. Pop.

You need to replace a pair of nose pads. If you are lucky, the pads will just drop out when you try to remove them. If you are not, you will have to wrestle them out of the box changing the position of the nose pad box and arm. With this plier a quick change stays that way without having to do a full readjustment. Slip the pronged jaw between the pad and the box and let the hooked jaw pop out the pad.

See other models of this plier below. View all Nose Pad Pliers

Insider Info from Joshua

" his plier inspiration came from hanging around busy dispensaries. A patient comes in for a nose pad swap. Should take a few moments of pleasant banter and it’s done. Yet a simple procedure turns complicated as the nose pad arm gets bent out of shape while trying to dislodge the pad. Now the frame needs to be readjusted. This little plier will pop out the pad without moving the arm. We made it a MicroTool because we didn’t want you to use too much effort to get the pad out"