Here are some other things you can do to protect yourself from counterfeit cutters: 1) Buy directly from www.techsprayeu.com2) Buy from one of our certified distributors: https://www.techsprayeu.com/contact-us 3) Purchase 170LX, which we have not seen counterfeited yet. Same basic cutter with a premium handle: https://www.techsprayeu.com/platoshear-ergonomic-cutter-4.
Techspray does not offer replacement, only complete flux bottles. The needles are standard parts that are commonly used for automatic dispensing systems. You can find compatible needles with distributors like Grainger. They are 1" stainless steel needles, 21 guage for FD-2 and SF-2, and 26 guage for FD-21 and SF-1.
The lifetime of a Plato 170 cutter is dependent on a number of variables, including the thickness of the wire or lead and the amount of force used in the cutting process. The spring and hinge mechanism is tested and rated for 1 million cuts, but that’s just opening and closing. The life will be much short when actually cutting something. For maximum life on a high volume assembly line, consider the Plato Extra-Strong Cutter (part #170S), which has a more robust rivet and blades. It can cut 50% thicker gauge wire or leads, and will last longer in a production environment.