This one hurt a little

[aballen]

Knowing I'll never replace it.  OA126 black glass diode, telefunken.  Apparently they are delicate too.

[aballen]

[midwayfair]

PM me your address, I'll give you one.

The way I handle these is I use two pairs of pliers -- a needlenose to hold a leg as close to the glass as possible, and a second to bend the lead. Then I make a little double bend:
  ____
|      |
  |    |

[Govmnt_Lacky]

That doesn't look BROKE.... it looks BURNT! 

[RobA]

PM me your address, I'll give you one.

The way I handle these is I use two pairs of pliers -- a needlenose to hold a leg as close to the glass as possible, and a second to bend the lead. Then I make a little double bend:
  ____
|      |
  |    |

That's a good idea. I've broken a couple trying to get them in the holes that PCB's have for Ge diodes. On my own layouts, I've made a new footprint just for Ge diodes that has more space so I can bend the leads farther from the glass.

[lincolnic]

I know that feel. I broke a pair of 1N695s building my Percolators - and that was using pliers to bend the leads. Some of those old diodes are super fragile.

[aballen]

Broke right in my hands.  I was pretty surprised

[billstein]

I've had the same experience with that diode.

[raulduke]

Doh 

As Jon says, use some pliers, or get yourself one of these:

[Bret608]

I feel your pain. I've broken several at this point, all different kinds. I pretty much use Jon's technique at this point; even then, it still happens from time to time.

[pickdropper]

Doh 

As Jon says, use some pliers, or get yourself one of these:

I have one of those.  It works really well if the pad spacing is wide enough.  Often, it is not and I use a similar method to Jon, except that I usually use tweezers to hold it close and bend it.

[GermanCdn]

I find the dual plier method works better than the leg bending frame (I have used both), I use a Crescent Micro tip needle nose pliers to hold the right at the base of the diode, then bend the leg with another set of pliers, thereby not imparting any torque to the body.

I also install germs last, as breaking them on the board is just as likely as breaking them when bending.

[alanp]

... alright, I'm a meatworker, not an office worker, I'm used to slamming around 27 kilo boxes, and I've never broken a glass diode!

[aballen]

I have buttery soft keyboard hands and this baby broke in them

[AntKnee]

Wow, I've only installed a couple, but I didn't think twice about holding it in my fingers and bending it like I would a resistor. I won't do that again!