High leverage pliers and cutters. Good or gimmick?
- Thread starter impactims
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swsman
Well-known member
Use them, they make life easier. Much like long ratchets, wrenches, needle nose pliers etc.
Doc from last best tool used to rave about the snap on high leverage pliers. I added them to my wish list he used to talk about them so much.
then recent he started talking every few days about some county comm **** he obviously never used and just fondled on camera. Including some $1,000 titanium adjustable wrench he got for free.
i removed the high leverage pliers from my wishlist and unsubbed from last best tool on my YouTube
then recent he started talking every few days about some county comm **** he obviously never used and just fondled on camera. Including some $1,000 titanium adjustable wrench he got for free.
i removed the high leverage pliers from my wishlist and unsubbed from last best tool on my YouTube
barefootboy
New member
I very recently took a very similar action.
I have a set i use occasionally. They don't cut stranded wire well but ok for concrete mesh, coat hangars, etc.
The handles in mine come together before the jaws fully do and have pinched the heck out of a few people's hands.
I was given them, if I'd paid more than $25 Id be irritated at the performance.
The handles in mine come together before the jaws fully do and have pinched the heck out of a few people's hands.
I was given them, if I'd paid more than $25 Id be irritated at the performance.
Never had them before so I got some.
What do you think?
I I swear by them!! I love the high leverage pliers. The cutting ability they have is incredible. If I can get the teeth on whatever I’m working on I’m grabbing my high leverage first.
mreisner
Well-known member
I have the new small version of the Cutters and they are fantastic, especially for things like brake lines and tomato cages that some little old lady somehow got wrapped underneath the deck of her lawnmower. I also have the high leverage pliers and only use them once or twice but have been very happy with them so far.
KnurledNut
Well-known member
I have both pliers.
The HL9CP “stretched out” and are really no longer reliable. In their prime, they would have been a handy tool.
The HL138’s are pretty nice when you need a firm hold but otherwise find them limited, especially considering how wide the handles have to open.
For compound action diagonal cutters, I use Wiha Bi-Cut, NWS, and an old long reach Ampro.
The Knipex mini bolt cutters fill a lot of those roles too.
My basic Knipex 250mm diagonals get used the most.
This thread isn’t about LBT and I’m not gonna rain on his parade, but keep in mind he is a tool collector, not a user, and I see no indication he really has ever been. Like so many youtubers, he makes revenue showing off new tools. It’s also obvious he reads this forum for content creation ideas, because several of his videos are on topics we have discussed here. He has probably made a half dozen videos or better on things I have personally shared. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is a member incognito.
The HL9CP “stretched out” and are really no longer reliable. In their prime, they would have been a handy tool.
The HL138’s are pretty nice when you need a firm hold but otherwise find them limited, especially considering how wide the handles have to open.
For compound action diagonal cutters, I use Wiha Bi-Cut, NWS, and an old long reach Ampro.
The Knipex mini bolt cutters fill a lot of those roles too.
My basic Knipex 250mm diagonals get used the most.
This thread isn’t about LBT and I’m not gonna rain on his parade, but keep in mind he is a tool collector, not a user, and I see no indication he really has ever been. Like so many youtubers, he makes revenue showing off new tools. It’s also obvious he reads this forum for content creation ideas, because several of his videos are on topics we have discussed here. He has probably made a half dozen videos or better on things I have personally shared. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is a member incognito.
dr_clyde
Well-known member
Tools like this seem like a gimmick until you need one.
Remember, there exist jobs and tasks that use a specific tool all day, repeatedly. They can't just "get by" with using something non-optimized for the task without losing money or causing excessive hardship for an operator.
If you only cut hardened wire or cable once or twice a year, these kind of cutters probably aren't worth the money. But if you do it every day as part of your job, they're worth every penny and then some.
Think of it like any other specialty tool. It can the difference between just getting the job done and making a profit. For example, a homeowner probably doesn't need a Milwaukee cordless Pex flare tool. The extra time it takes to manually flare a few fittings here and there is nothing compared to the extra cost of the tool, which will sit 99.9% of the time. But a professional plumber might use it several hours a day for weeks at a time on jobsites, turning a much larger profit that makes the tool not only justified, but required as the competition is using one and bidding accordingly.
Remember, there exist jobs and tasks that use a specific tool all day, repeatedly. They can't just "get by" with using something non-optimized for the task without losing money or causing excessive hardship for an operator.
If you only cut hardened wire or cable once or twice a year, these kind of cutters probably aren't worth the money. But if you do it every day as part of your job, they're worth every penny and then some.
Think of it like any other specialty tool. It can the difference between just getting the job done and making a profit. For example, a homeowner probably doesn't need a Milwaukee cordless Pex flare tool. The extra time it takes to manually flare a few fittings here and there is nothing compared to the extra cost of the tool, which will sit 99.9% of the time. But a professional plumber might use it several hours a day for weeks at a time on jobsites, turning a much larger profit that makes the tool not only justified, but required as the competition is using one and bidding accordingly.
The high leverage pliers truly grab / hold super tight with minimal effort. I find them a bit more awkward to manipulate because a trade off is that they require the handles to be opened more than regular pliers to get the same jaw opening. But when you want pliers with a strong hold and can just be opened and closed without going to locking pliers, these are great to have.
I certainly wouldn't get rid of mine or take them off my want list just because some guy on UT quit pushing them. UT promoters, even if suspect, can still show a lot of useful info about a tool. Glean what you can from videos, but don't let the promoter alone make the decisions to buy or not buy for you.
Seth
I certainly wouldn't get rid of mine or take them off my want list just because some guy on UT quit pushing them. UT promoters, even if suspect, can still show a lot of useful info about a tool. Glean what you can from videos, but don't let the promoter alone make the decisions to buy or not buy for you.
Seth
Buckgnarly
Well-known member
My Snap On set comes in VERY handy when pulling porcupine quills....they grab like no other!
IndyGarage
Well-known member
I like my Knipex mini bolt cutters when you need to cut something fairly heavy and fairly soft. Don't try to cut something hardened with them, they will break.
I've watched a few of that guy's videos, and he seems useless to me. He clearly doesn't use the tools. He seems to be obsessed with owning them. I saw one video where he was going on and on about how a chinese set of wrenches he bought didn't have a warranty and he was worried about that.
neophyte
Well-known member
For cutting steel cable, you should really just buy dedicated cable cutters for steel cable and wire rope.
One of things certain manufacturers of wire cutters used to specify, was not only the MAXIMUM wire gauge and type cutters were made for, but also the MINIMUM wire gauge, since small hard, high tensile wire were mire likely to cause a small pressure point, and nick cutters, and wire rope/cable, is basically made ip of numerous strands of high tensile wire.
Knipex, Midwest, Felco, HK Porter, and various Japanese manufacturers, all make cable cutters for small high tensile wire rope.
HK Porter used to rebrand small wire rope cutters from more than one Japanese manufacturer, and in the past, Knipex did as well, although I believe the current Knipex offerings are homemade in Germany.
As for “high leverage” wire cutters/dykes, sometimes they are really necessary.
Some hard wire, like piano wire and springs, are just too hard and tough to cut with regular “single pivot” wire cutters.
Angle grinders, and other powered abrasive cutters are sometimes an option, but space considerations, and safety issues can be an issue.
Grinders spin, and if the spring or wire is in a mess of other material, eire and material can get caught, and can wind up around the grinder.
Sparks can also potentially start fires in upholstery, or in locations around flammable liquids and other materials.
Hacksaws might be a solution, but are large, and a pain to use for more than a few cuts.
Mini Bolt Cutters aren’t necessarily fatigue free, but will allow relatively safe use for numerous cuts, in a relatively confined area.
As far as high leverage pliers, sometimes you need to grip stuff very strongly, and regular pliers can’t apply enough leverage.
Vise grips and other locking pliers are a more readily available, cheaper option, and are usually fine if a piece needs to be gripped a while, but if you need to keep changing the position of the gripping plier, then it gets tiring and annoying to have to keep releasing, and then relocking Vise Grips, which us not an issue with non-locking extra high leverage pliers, like the Snap-On pliers. I don’t own these just similar higher leverage designs).
Harbor Freight announced clones of the Snap-On design high leverage pliers more than a year ago, but the pliers haven’t shown up in stores yet, and the newer “long slip joint” copy of the SO design, just went up in price $5 before I’ve ever come across a pair in stores.
For those who complain about Harbor Freight copying Snap-On designs, that particular design goes back to the early 1970s, and is well out of patent protection, and was a simpler combination of a previous patented design, combined with the form factor of a basic slip joint plier, so their really are no “IP rights” violations involved.
One of things certain manufacturers of wire cutters used to specify, was not only the MAXIMUM wire gauge and type cutters were made for, but also the MINIMUM wire gauge, since small hard, high tensile wire were mire likely to cause a small pressure point, and nick cutters, and wire rope/cable, is basically made ip of numerous strands of high tensile wire.
Knipex, Midwest, Felco, HK Porter, and various Japanese manufacturers, all make cable cutters for small high tensile wire rope.
HK Porter used to rebrand small wire rope cutters from more than one Japanese manufacturer, and in the past, Knipex did as well, although I believe the current Knipex offerings are homemade in Germany.
As for “high leverage” wire cutters/dykes, sometimes they are really necessary.
Some hard wire, like piano wire and springs, are just too hard and tough to cut with regular “single pivot” wire cutters.
Angle grinders, and other powered abrasive cutters are sometimes an option, but space considerations, and safety issues can be an issue.
Grinders spin, and if the spring or wire is in a mess of other material, eire and material can get caught, and can wind up around the grinder.
Sparks can also potentially start fires in upholstery, or in locations around flammable liquids and other materials.
Hacksaws might be a solution, but are large, and a pain to use for more than a few cuts.
Mini Bolt Cutters aren’t necessarily fatigue free, but will allow relatively safe use for numerous cuts, in a relatively confined area.
As far as high leverage pliers, sometimes you need to grip stuff very strongly, and regular pliers can’t apply enough leverage.
Vise grips and other locking pliers are a more readily available, cheaper option, and are usually fine if a piece needs to be gripped a while, but if you need to keep changing the position of the gripping plier, then it gets tiring and annoying to have to keep releasing, and then relocking Vise Grips, which us not an issue with non-locking extra high leverage pliers, like the Snap-On pliers. I don’t own these just similar higher leverage designs).
Harbor Freight announced clones of the Snap-On design high leverage pliers more than a year ago, but the pliers haven’t shown up in stores yet, and the newer “long slip joint” copy of the SO design, just went up in price $5 before I’ve ever come across a pair in stores.
For those who complain about Harbor Freight copying Snap-On designs, that particular design goes back to the early 1970s, and is well out of patent protection, and was a simpler combination of a previous patented design, combined with the form factor of a basic slip joint plier, so their really are no “IP rights” violations involved.
dnschmidt
Well-known member
The NWS Fantastico are just that. Best diagonals I've ever used.