45-degree diagonal cutters?

I have a newer pair of Xcelite nippers. If the above link does you no good I'll grab them when I get back to the shop and post the part number.

"wire nipper" just gives me millions of hits. Adding "45 degree" is what I need. And already did. Hence my question here.

Are they 45-degree type? Yes, I'd appreciate a pn.

Thanks!

Most nippers are 45, diag cutters are a totally different animal.

Xcelite 170M

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Such tools are still around, but I have never seen a flush cutter that had a half inch long cutting jaw. Ever.

Try hunting up Lindstrom on ebay if you want the absolute best Swiss steel hand tools. Not cheap.

Alternatively, Xcelite dies still exist and they as well as a few other inhabit the bottom of the market, from a quality POV.

Regular flush cutters are cheap steel, don't last long, and only cost about $8 each, so they get bought by the case in boxes of ten.

The angled pair are usually single sales items though. The bottom end has them for about $5 more each, and the top end has them at a similar price to all the others because they are all expensive at that level.

They are also worth it.

If you want a pair that will last decades, and is fully serviceable, and uses the hardest steel and tightest tolerances, Lindstrom shares no equal. Well worth the typical $35 - $55 a pair.

Not true. "nippers" are various, and there "norm" varies from USER to USER, and no, the industry does not "usually use 45 degree" as was inferred by your remark. Most were.... AT the shithole you were at at the time.

Most at two of the places I have been were the other variety. You probably knew that was an incorrect statement, the moment you hit the period key.

The Lindstroms are worth the extra outlay if a long term, personal tool is desired. For a production level, multi-user tool, the lower quality steel, shorter life span brands are cheaper and are the better value for such a setting. It just depends on who the tool is for, how well they take care of their tools, and the term you wish the tool to last for.

Jeez, for $27 plus tax and shipping? Damn. For about $5 more, you can simply buy the best steel in the world. Lindstrom.

If you are putting out that much already, what is adding 5% for a twofold gain in quality?

If you do not want to spend that much, the cheap Xcelite, and Plato brands, etc. are the right choice, and you shouldn't spend more than $12 each for a ten pack of them. Also worth it. If you are buying the cheaper brands, you should buy at least two, if not the ten pack, because they will wear due to the softer steels used. The Swiss brand will last forever or until you break them via some form of abuse or other.

at

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I cobbed a bunch of lindstrom cutters and pliers from a place I worked at years ago. They were going belly up and tossed out boxes of the things. I'm still using the few that I haven't given away or broken. As long as you don't use them to cut steal (hence the broken cutters) they are awesome. I wish I would have grabbed more.

Swedish.

-- "Electricity is of two kinds, positive and negative. The difference is, I presume, that one comes a little more expensive, but is more durable; the other is a cheaper thing, but the moths get into it." (Stephen Leacock)

I've got Lindstroms that I've had 30 years. Look their age, but still work as good as ever. The newer ones aren't as good, IMHO.

Golden rule: Never, under any circumstances, lend cutters to *anyone*. Never let them out of your sight / control.

Amen to that. Otherwise they'll instantly find some piece of hardened music wire that needs to be snipped..

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Ditto, but about 27 years and used almost daily. The best pair of cutters I've ever used. Does yours have yellow handles by any chance?

Were they going belly up because of buying only the finest, or despite of that?

At the liquidation sales for some bankrupt companies, sometimes I have seen hard, tangeable evidence of WHY they went broke.

That in my humble opionion is just plain silly. If you refuse to lend people tools when they ask, they wait until you are not looking and borrow them anyway.

The best thing to do, IMHO is to buy several sets of medium grade tools, i.e. cheap but not the best. Still capable of doing the job, but nothing you would worry about if it came back unusable.

Then you leave one set around for people to borrow and lend them out agressively.

The good tools you keep locked up and never even let them know you have them.

:-)

I used to have a guy who worked for me part time who was constantly having his tools stolen. From screwdrivers to floor pullers. I just bought a bunch of screwdrivers for him and on his days off, I went around and collected them from where he left them.

Geoff.

Oh. It comes from one of those "over there" countries. That one that does all the watches. Or maybe a neighbor...

The fact that they use ball bearing steel is pretty cool. One would think that some dope over here would make such a choice.

If I made hand tools, I would. It is a shame that Greenlee or Klein doesn't have a fine tools category.

Well, ALL the techs and engineers in our labs have enough brains to know that they are for copper, and if they want other than that, there are plenty of cheap ones around. Then again... I guess there are a couple that do not think about such things.

I still dislike working with folks that are oblivious to the details of life around them. The same kind of people that think they have it together enough to yack on the phone while driving.

That's nice YMMV

Never heard of Lindstrom

Most will have several pairs of cutters. Of varying sizes. Electrician's size tend to cost rather less than instrument ones because they are made in larger quantities. I would happily lend out my Lindstroms to someone who knew what they were. Others would get a pair of my cheaper electricians ones. Lidl in the UK do some very good and cheap tools - ideal for this sort of thing. The cutters I bought from them will cut piano wire without damage - a good test. And cost several times less than branded ones which won't.