I bought two of these, both 11 inches long, one 45 degrees and one 90 degrees. Opening them wide makes the action tighter and less agile, likely due to some sort of imperfect processing or tolerance. And yes, when you close them the jaws don't fit together perfectly and you could probably slip very thin paper through one side of the jaws or where they curve, but really if you're buying them for some then you're working at the NASA should probably spend a few euros more. More than enough for general use. I bought them for auto work and overall they are good value. Cheap enough that I won't fuss over them even if they break.