Comments on: Finds: “CoBolt” Lever Action Center Cutter

By: Myself

Myself — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 04:26:36 +0000

Ahh, is “pinch” the term that’s been missing from my vocabulary? I knew anvil wasn’t right, but I couldn’t think of anything besides bypass. Thank you!

By: CyberKender

CyberKender — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 00:32:02 +0000

These also come in versions with an opening spring and one with ergonomic handles. I’ve got a set of the latter and they’re awesome. They cut through .064″ spring stainless steel wire with about the same effort that Wiss M5s need to cut .030″ 316 stainless welding wire. They also cut much cleaner than most other pinch-cutters.

Myself is right about dull edges making them less effective, but good luck dulling them without doing something rather extreme. Several hundred cuts through the above .064″ stainless hasn’t done more than buff the edges of mine.

By: Myself

Myself — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 22:58:57 +0000

This looks a bit beefier than the standard hard wire cutter, which may be variously known as a “wire rope” cutter or a “piano wire” cutter. Usually the pocketable versions of those only go to 3/16″ or so.

However, those other cutters use a bypass action, which will continue making reasonably easy cuts even with somewhat dull edges. The anvil style pictured here will get considerably less effective if you manage to dent the cutting edges.

Being made by Knipex, I’d trust them to work exactly as designed for quite a while. I only own one pair of Knipex pliers but they’re the most handsome piece of engineering I’ve played with in a long time.

However, I know a quick way to take a chunk out of even the most hardened cutting jaws: Take someone’s word for it when they tell you a circuit has been de-energized!