I was talking about tweezers, not cutters. Once I bought the Ideal Tek equivalent of Lindstrom TL SM-108 SA but I was not satisfied at all: the surface finish was not so good and its tips were not rounded like the Lindstrom ones.
I don't have that particular pair, so wasn't aware. Wonder if Lindstrom paid for additional finishing or if the Ideal-Tek labelled pair slipped past QC when they shouldn't have.
The Ideal-Tek labelled ones I have are standard profiles (7.SA, 0.A, 73.ZD*). These would be identical, and the fit & finish match those they're producing for Lindstrom. The rest of my Ideal-Tek's have Lindstrom P/N's.
* ESD conductive zirconium tips on a titanium body (these suckers can take some serious heat). Not made any more.In regard to Erem, I found a couple of ErgoSense pairs (2422E & 2422EB) cheap, so took a gamble. They cut beautifully, but they slip around in my hands too much. My mistake, but it wasn't an expensive one (~$15 per pair IIRC). I also have a pair of 576TX tungsten carbide cutters I'm not giving up (also one hell of a deal; just needed cleaned up). I really do like the foam grips, but both grip types are a bit small for my hands regardless of how well they grip or not (I'm 6'-4").
In my case, Tronex and Swanstrom fit my hands much better, and cut just as well. So they won out for me (excellent cut & better control). YMMV of course.
BTW, I didn't know Lindstrom cutters are now made in Spain: because I prefer to spend my money on good tools, it is SEVERAL years I do not need to "replenish" them!
But as I wrote, for my daily usage I have always preferred EREM cutters.
I'm the same way. I've still got a couple of my original Diamalloy cutters (now Xcelite's green handled cutters & pliers).
A bit of history; the man that founded
Diamond Calk Horseshoe Company (from Alloy Artifacts) was Otto Swanstrom in 1908. After his decendants sold it to Triangle Tools (which was then sold to Cooper), they created
Swanstrom Tools with better cutters.