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khaaanquest t1_iumlpoz wrote

Reply to comment by penlowe in Scissors for life - electrician scissors for the win by ransuru

Huh, never knew that electrician scissors were a thing, nor that people would have strong opinions on scissors. What's the benefit of this type of scissors to electricians?

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fazalmajid t1_iumuen7 wrote

Very tough stubby blades meant to cut copper wire. The Olfa ones posted by OP are not true electrician’s scissors like these:

https://www.kleintools.com/catalog/electricians-scissors/electricians-scissors-nickel-plated

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Metahec t1_iun28n8 wrote

I don't think I've ever wanted a pair of scissors more in my life

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fazalmajid t1_iun341n wrote

Try these instead:

https://www.whiteley.co.uk/store/diy/wilkinson-black-electricians-snips/

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poopsididitagen t1_iunzsxq wrote

Are they that much better? Worth the upgrade from my Klein snips?

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dirtycimments t1_iuoc303 wrote

Honestly, just the reason they don't have them without that black coating makes me say no-no.

I'd say those kleins look better.

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ember13140 t1_iuolzyv wrote

Powder coatings always look like crap the first time you look at them. Also it's easier to lose.

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fazalmajid t1_iupdudw wrote

They're not powder-coated, it's Teflon to prevent the blades from getting fouled by adhesives, only the cutting edge is exposed.

I'd say both are durable (I have both, though I tend to use the Klein more), but Whiteley makes industrial scissors as well, including ones designed to cut Kevlar, so they have some expertise making tools for highly technical and demanding jobs.

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[deleted] t1_iunb1zz wrote

[deleted]

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clickclickbb t1_iupk361 wrote

I dropped a brand new pair while on a scissor lift and they broke into about 4 pieces.

I get the stainless steel version of the Klein's now. They seem to stay sharper longer and they don't rust.

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Central_Incisor t1_iun71vu wrote

Sadly I have never found the "file" on the back useful. I have a pair without the wire strippers and they were wonderful when cutting shielding for wires. If I had to use them all day I would probably look at the All-purpose version as it allows different grips like resting the large loop in your palm as you cut.

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friendlyfire883 t1_iupao8s wrote

It's not a file it's a comb for straightening datacom cables to make them easier to terminate. The notches are the exact width of a rj45/rj11 connector.

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Central_Incisor t1_iupdd28 wrote

Just so that we are talking about the same scissors this is the electrician's scissors I have. It makes no mention of a comb and specifically refers to the outside edges as having a scraper/file.

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friendlyfire883 t1_iupe7hg wrote

That's wild, I don't think you could file much of anything with those scissors. I was taught to use then to comb cat 6 10 years ago and I've been doing it ever since.

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Central_Incisor t1_iupf5dj wrote

My understanding is that they were to round off any burrs from power box knock out holes. More like burnishing and deburring than removing large amounts of metal. Hell, it's cool you found a good use for it!

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clickclickbb t1_iupmb7f wrote

I couldn't get used to the yellow handled snips. That long bit on the one side just felt awkward even though I use my palm to cut cables and it felt really weird to use it like a normal pair if scissors (like if I'm cutting paper). The worst part about them is that they are way out of balance and I can't do my cool scissor spin into pocket move that all us low voltage guys look really cool doing.

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Lv_InSaNe_vL t1_iuremw7 wrote

See I disagree I think the yellow handled one's a much more comfortable to use. But yeah personal choice and all that

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clickclickbb t1_iurolgf wrote

I just think I've been doing this for too long and they weren't solving a problem or made things easier for me so I didn't give them a real try. I also didn't know where to put them when I wasn't cutting anything. I usually put my snips in either that useless coin pocket jeans have or in a belt loop and the longer handled ones don't balance right there and would fall out.

Definetely a personal preference thing here.

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Lv_InSaNe_vL t1_iurpztp wrote

I'd either just throw them into my back pocket with my screw drivers or into the coin pocket.

But I almost always have my tool pouch so I usually just put them in there.

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Veronica-goes-feral t1_iuool5k wrote

I think my holy grail would be the Klein snips with the Southwire handles and lock.

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fazalmajid t1_iun9t7n wrote

> Sadly I have never found the "file" on the back useful.

No, nor the wire stripping notches.

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Umbroboner t1_iunghew wrote

I've actually used them numerous times. Comes in handy when you dont have your strippers nearby..

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Kevolved t1_iuoduf1 wrote

I'd use the file to ream some pipe in a pinch, but data guys don't usually run pipe around my area.

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PowerandSignal t1_iuo5lkc wrote

This. You hold them differently too, so the handles are fine. Ring finger through one side, other side sits in your palm.

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tambor333 t1_iuny2u2 wrote

I have a set of these for my car, my drawer of helpfulness (junk drawer), and one for my shop. They are super handy.

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FastRedPonyCar t1_iuoskbv wrote

I have these but they make them with yellow rubber coated handles. 10/10. Would cut another 500 cat6 cables with again.

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nuffced t1_iuoc2ii wrote

Jensen makes a similar pair. No plastic for me thank you.

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LiftsEatsSleeps t1_iupoz1p wrote

I have a pair of those in my tech bag, use them a ton when running new Ethernet drops.

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metavektor t1_iuqp8av wrote

Hmmm, why wouldn't you use pliers for that? So you can snip at the end of the blade?

I love my pliers with gaged stripper sections, am trying to figure out why I'd want scissors as well. Not a professional so this is probably obvious to some others

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93OctaneGrass t1_iur0lif wrote

I have several pairs and of the klein electrician scissors. You can abuse the shit out of these and they still cut well.

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evlsk8er t1_iup5021 wrote

Nah the ones with the one yellow handle are the way to go.

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PresidentSuperDog t1_iumpew3 wrote

People can have strong opinions about anything no matter how inconsequential it seems to other people.

I moderately offended someone last week because I thought their ketchup preference was mediocre.

While I don’t have a scissor preference, I can understand why someone that uses them regularly would. Using a well made tool just feels better.

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RevRob330 t1_iumxpnu wrote

https://xkcd.com/915/

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PresidentSuperDog t1_iundhy7 wrote

I will never have an original thought, not that I thought this one was. But to have a cartoon already existing of my thought is somewhat disheartening. There is probably also a cartoon describing this feeling as well.

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penlowe t1_iump8u5 wrote

Clearly you don’t know anyone who sews, or at least haven’t been in their sewing space ;)

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fazalmajid t1_iumuj4h wrote

Or tried to use their fabric scissors to cut paper…

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FreakyManBaby t1_iun08ec wrote

offer: use my mother's kitchen scissors for something not kitchen related. receive: a woman's wrath.

y/n?

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Sahqon t1_iuncbah wrote

My mother's sewing scissors almost got me late-term aborted a few times...

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HalfysReddit t1_iuoj245 wrote

The main thing is that instead of it being two blades with straight edges that "cut" something, it has two thicker blades with at least one of them being serrated. This in effect means the scissors "chew" through material instead of cutting it.

This means they're much better for cutting heavier things, like copper wire or sheet metal.

That being said, if you don't need to cut strands of copper wire on a regular basis, I might actually recommend gardening shears for most people's uses. They "cut" like traditional scissors, but have one flat and dull blade, and the handles are designed to give you mechanical advantage so you can cut fairly thick things like small tree branches. You can use them to cut anything you'd use electrician's scissors for, they just might not give you the clean edge on the copper wires for a very long time like you'd expect if you were an electrician doing that a lot with electrician's scissors. They're also just about as good as cutting sheet metal as tin snips are, while being much more versatile. Again, if you're not cutting sheet metal on a regular basis, you probably don't need a tool that's designed specifically for cutting sheet metal.

I wouldn't call myself a scissor snob but I do a lot of DIY things, my career is in technology, and I do a lot of camping. So I own at least like a dozen pairs of scissors and have used a bunch of other hand-held cutting tools.

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guitarlisa t1_iunbomt wrote

I worked as an electrician's helper for quite a bit and I never once used or wanted a pair of scissors. I can't figure out what these are for. Maybe they are for cutting wire or stripping it? I use wirecutters and Kleins, but I would never trade them for these.

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FreakyManBaby t1_iunvafb wrote

after using a good set of scissors for wires and cable and even guitar strings my brother will never go back to dykes

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Kevolved t1_iuoe70c wrote

Electricians don't usually use the scissors. More of a teldata guy thing.

The scissors are for like cat 6 cables, much thinner than what you were probably using.

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tambor333 t1_iunypyj wrote

As someone that used to wire data centers, these were indispensable for making cat 5/ 6 UTP cables, of which I made 10's of thousands over the years.

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Lv_InSaNe_vL t1_iureyzv wrote

Haha I moved from a cable monkey to a "normal" office IT position and I love impressing people by doing a full termination in like 30 seconds.

They're always like "how do you do that??", well I spent like 2 years doing almost nothing but that haha

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Sith_Lord_Jacob t1_iuq5wbi wrote

Cutting flat copper for wrapping leads. More common in industrial work

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Central_Incisor t1_iuygqrg wrote

I had to cut polyester fabric with copper wrap around interference shielding and scissors were the best way to get a quick clean cut. If you already have the tool in hand, you'll use it for cutting wire too.

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ToIA t1_iuong4x wrote

I'm an electrician and have never used these in my life. Have seen quite a few low voltage guys with them on their tool belts, but never a sparky.

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friendlyfire883 t1_iupa19c wrote

Some people try to use them to take the place of several tools in their kit, the only thing I've found them useful for is datacom splices personally.

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Luddites_Unite t1_iuoncai wrote

There is no benefit. No electrician I've ever met or heard of uses a pair or scissors to cut wire, that's what linesman pliers are for, or diagonal cutters, or even wire strippers.

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clickclickbb t1_iupnm2m wrote

Scissors aren't good for cutting house wire but they are better than Klein's or diagonals for cutting control wire, cat 6 data cable, and string. Whenever the electricians in my company get slow and they come help us pull the low voltage stuff they usually show up with scissors after a few days. I can understand not wanting to carry extra tools but snips definitely have a benefit in many situations.

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