A silly question about dykes

[chickenfarmer]

My Knipex side cutters have one handle that curves out at the end a little bit. I understand that it totally doesn't matter and you use them based on which side of the blade you need to cut with. Buuuut, when they engineered that little flare out, do you think they meant it to fit the palm of your hand, or to locate and keep your fingers from sliding off

 

[Fedwrench]

I always thought it was there to properly orient the pliers so that the open side of the jaws faced away from you. **** cut would then fly away from you instead of towards you.

 

[speed bump]

In the flared out portion of plier handles I like letting my pinky ride. I can open up the pliers pretty wide that way and make light cuts easily.

 

[redwrench60]

It’s meant to keep your fingers from sliding off while reaching down to cut something like rebar tie wire, or while pulling them out of a tool pouch or pocket on carpenter jeans. It also helps to orient them in your hand without looking in low light areas.

 

[redwrench60]

I kind of have a love/hate relationship with this feature.

 

[1cargarage]

It’s meant to keep your fingers from sliding off while reaching down to cut something like rebar tie wire, or while pulling them out of a tool pouch or pocket on carpenter jeans. It also helps to orient them in your hand without looking in low light areas.

This^^^

The asymmetry on your Knipex is pretty subtle. If we are to take Knipex at their word, it's there for "efficiency":



What is more common is a pronounced and substantial hook/flare on one side, which offers several advantages to some:



Extended and repetitive tool use by individuals in a specific trade/field who are performing the same task day-in and day-out leads to tweaks and modifications from the very slight to complete overhauls etc.
Ironworkers, and more specifically, guys who are tying rebar all day long on forms underfoot are hunched over for LONG periods of time. The flare/hook allows them to maintain a grip on the pliers without having to clench them at all - just using gravity. You will see the hook/flare not only on dykes, but "Ironworkers" pliers which, in addition to being side cutters, have aggressively knurled plier faces for pulling, tying, and twisting annealed wire as well as some "Lineman" style pliers.



TLDR: I don't know specifically with the Knipex pliers that you are showing, but with the more common asymmetrical handles on dykes, the hook is to keep the pliers in the hands of guys who are working hunched over all day long using the pliers underfoot to tie rebar together with wire.

 

[ZRX61]

I always thought it was there to properly orient the pliers so that the open side of the jaws faced away from you. **** cut would then fly away from you instead of towards you.

That's why you fill the jaws with RTV & then cut it down the middle once it dries. Holds the stuff you cut so it doesn't fly away (kinda critical on aircraft etc)

 

[Ton ton]

Pretty decent thread so far. These industrial pliers/ cutters are expensive when you buy them @ HD. Supply.

 

[sparky 1971]

I have a pair and do not like them because of the flare. I always figured they were made for right handers, which I am. There were the times I needed to flip them and the flare became cumbersome. That, along with the tip being rounded instead of more pointed made me switch back to Klein within a week.

 

[sparky 1971]

I always thought it was there to properly orient the pliers so that the open side of the jaws faced away from you. **** cut would then fly away from you instead of towards you.

I think you're right, but what about lefties? They would have the curve at the top. Maybe Knipex makes a left handed version.

 

[carmantl]

I busted rods for the better part of twenty years. The hook on Klein rod pliers enable you to put much more pressure on the wire for a stronger tie. On the dikes they help orient the cutting edge to be away from you(if right-handed), making it easier to get very close cuts. I agree with the above mentions of gravity resistance as well.

 

[Ton ton]

I busted rods for the better part of twenty years. The hook on Klein rod pliers enable you to put much more pressure on the wire for a stronger tie. On the dikes they help orient the cutting edge to be away from you(if right-handed), making it easier to get very close cuts. I agree with the above mentions of gravity resistance as well.

It's always good to hear from a professional pliers user.

 

[Tools4Me]

I don't really know why Knipex does it, and they aren't consistent as a brand with it either. I lean towards it being a way to keep larger or heavier cutters from falling out of the hand. I usually only notice a hooked handle on tools that might be used when working with rebar and tie wire. Situations where dropping a tool will often mean it can't be easily retrieved. If it was about orienting the cutters, Knipex would do it to all their cutters, but many of their models don't have the slightly hooked end. Klein is the brand of choice for most electricians in the US, and most of their diagonal cutter models don't have one bent handle either. Knipex also has the hooked handle on its' pair of high leverage center cutters. The cutting blades on those are perfectly centered, so whatever the orientation is it cuts the same. There is no need for a tactile orientation indicator.

Amazon.com

Another thought I had, was the bent handle tip might have at one time in the past been done to allow that handle end to be drilled and a ring put in the hole so the tool could be attached to a lanyard. The bent end might've helped to keep the lanyard ring out of the way of the moving plier handles during use.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Not sure why the discussion goes this way when the subject comes up. Everyone knows that the thread will get edited, deleted and probably a ban or two.

Keep the discussion to the tools and leave the other subject elsewhere.