knipex installation pliers

[h34thy]

I've used ck for about 6years now I've still got the side cutters I bought 6years ago, there a little blunt but still very usable, they cost £30 but if their gona last u 6years who gives a .....
Got the ck croppers too had them for about 4year, ck quality stuff 100% recommended.
I used knipex for a year when I first started out but they kept seizing up on me, yeah Calvin Klein's tools are the best for me lol!

 

[shanky887614]

I've used ck for about 6years now I've still got the side cutters I bought 6years ago, there a little blunt but still very usable, they cost £30 but if their gona last u 6years who gives a .....
Got the ck croppers too had them for about 4year, ck quality stuff 100% recommended.
I used knipex for a year when I first started out but they kept seizing up on me, yeah Calvin Klein's tools are the best for me lol!

any tool will do that if you get them wet, put a drop off 3-1 oil on fulcrum and they will be as good as new

 

[Richard Burns]

My snips got rusty working in the rain but were OK, then after a while I thought must free them up, oiled the hinge and for the next several cables was cutting the cable instead of stripping it, got trained to the greater force!

 

[barneybhoy]

The pliers came yesterday and so far I'm really happy with them, they're much narrower than standard pliers but a bit wider than long nosers, the cable croppers excellent as is the wire stripper part. They feel comfortable to use and they're handy for feeding cables through packed distribution boards
It's early days but so far I'm really happy with them and would definetly recommend :0)

 

[Ash700]

My best tools were bought over 30yrs ago. Good tools last for ages, unless you blow chunks out of your side cutters (damn, I hate it when that happens). As it happens, I've just bought a large assortment of cutters, pliers, etc - all Knipex, and they feel that they'll last as long as anything I've had, unless you decide to cut through live cables! :-o

 

[shanky887614]

My best tools were bought over 30yrs ago. Good tools last for ages, unless you blow chunks out of your side cutters (damn, I hate it when that happens). As it happens, I've just bought a large assortment of cutters, pliers, etc - all Knipex, and they feel that they'll last as long as anything I've had, unless you decide to cut through live cables! :-o

its true in most things, take my razors for example. they are over 100 years old and still perform better than cart razors

 

[edexlab]

Sorry to upset the OP but I bought some of these from Rapid online for £36 inc vat although these are non insulated handles they are otherwise identical, I do have some insulated cutters etc and couldn't see the point in buying the VDE version.

Also I can never understand how so may people own snips or cutters which have been blown by cutting through live cables, the only time it's happened to me was when someone borrowed them and returned them with a new stripping notch, doesn't anybody check whether things are live anymore !

 

[barneybhoy]

(null)

I didn't mind paying full price for them as they're never out my hand, I saw that they were available non vde but just personal preference I always buy insulated drivers, pliers snips etc
I wouldn't feel comfortable in some situations using non insulated tools

 

[dan86]

do you work live?

 

[Ash700]

I was just trying to inject a little humour... and, as it happens, I haven't blown a chunk out of my side cutters in over 20yrs! Yeah, so which idiots are doing that then? ;-)

 

[stuartcourt]

I prefer to work live, breaks up my normally mundane life

 

[barneybhoy]

No i never work on any circuits that are live but sometimes its unavoidable working around live parts, that's why I feel a bit safer using vde tools

 

[shanky887614]

I was just trying to inject a little humour... and, as it happens, I haven't blown a chunk out of my side cutters in over 20yrs! Yeah, so which idiots are doing that then? ;-)

my boss. he had blown a hole in at least 3 pairs in the last 6 months.

the lads were laughing at him as it makes a change from him putting holes in everyone elses.


he has a full toolkit in his car but never uses it

 

[edexlab]

Hope I didn't offend you Ash700 ,I was just referring to the point you made but nearly every Electrician (with less than 10yrs experience) I've met always talk about their blown snips/cutters and the shocks they've had over the years, while stupid things do happen occasionally I'm beginning to believe that too many people don't actually haven't a clue what they're doing or am I being naive ,I wonder if there is a 5 day course that'll help me?

 

[Ash700]

Not at all, edexlab. I mentioned chopping through live cables only to make a point about tool durability, in that, I've cut through the odd live cable in my time (believing they weren't live) and, as you'll know, it's a sure way of causing damage to cutters. On the other hand, I've never 'deliberately' tried to cut anything I knew was a harder material than the cutters. Hence, as long as I'm not chopping through live stuff my cutters last for eons.

Whenever someone else cuts through a live wire, the resulting flash - generally followed by lots of swearing, makes me laugh... :-D