When I got home from Harbor Freight I tested the 10" cable cutters on a piece of wire - not even a dent in the wire and two half moon indentations in the cutting blades. I know that one should never buy anything electrical or hi tech from HF - add cable cutters to that pile of junk. Has HF gone to pot?
Are you sure they weren't pruners. :)
I double checked the label for a quick return :-< mike
Even pruners can be used to cut cable - I was a telephone lineman for
20 years, one of my tools was garden pruners, used for hacking up big lengths of recovered cable to get it into manageable lengths....MOST cutters are CRAP. Its like very other tool - you get what you pay for. My "Lindstrom" sidecutters are over 20 years old now, still razor sharp. Mind you, they cost $80 then - hate to think what they would be now.....
Good tools are a JOY to use - but I aint telling you guys anything new in this....
Andrew VK3BFA.
My cable cutters are H.K. Porter, and although they're old, they will whip through a 1" electrical cable like butter.
GWE
Were the cable cutters for electrical wire, that is copper and aluminum and you used them on steel wire maybe?
Was it copper wire that damaged the tool? They're not meant to cut steel. If it was copper, that tool must have been playing hookey during heat-treat.
It was steel wire. I bought the thing as a better alternative to the tin snips I have been using for chain link fence work. WTF- all my other cutting tolls will cut steel wire.
Guess you must've missed that last sentence in the item description, eh?
-- Andy H. "Clean up your workspace or Die..."
NOT in the ad and not on the item. mike
You'd be better off with a bolt cutter for cutting chain link
I know but I don't have that much fence or need for a bolt cutter.
mike
Hummm...Ive got a cable cutter in the truck that came from HF about 9 yrs ago. Ive cut welding cable, aluminum support cable and so forth. Heat treat wasnt up to US standards..had to sharpen it from time to time..but its worked well enough over the years. What were you trying to cut?
Gunner
Rule #35 "That which does not kill you, has made a huge tactical error"
NOOOOOOOOOOOO
Not for steel..nonononnono
Get a small plasma cutter and go though that fence like a razor blade though belly skin
Gunner
Rule #35 "That which does not kill you, has made a huge tactical error"
On Thu, 26 Oct 2006 19:24:05 -0700, with neither quill nor qualm, "42etus" quickly quoth:
I took one look at these in the store and knew they wouldn't cut steel so I didn't give them a second thought. Evidently, they're for cutting coax, battery cables, or Romex.
When in doubt about a tool, look it up on their website before buying. The good news is that they're Pittsburgh and are lifetime warrantied.
I wonder if these might be better suited for hardened cable:
I use fencing pliers to cut fence. I think I used them on some chainlink. I know it works on the tension wire. They're really made for barb wire. Karl
snipped-for-privacy@n> >
On Fri, 27 Oct 2006 02:41:13 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, snipped-for-privacy@noplace.org quickly quoth:
Note the shape of the cutters on your dykes and such. They're double-beveled, not single. Why don't you have a pair of fence pliers? Hmm, can't find them on the HF site now...
Hi Mike,
Find a pair of Channellock 8 inch Diagonal Cutters #338. I've abused the crap out of mine for years and they still work pretty well. Used to cut tempered stainless steel antenna rods with them. Had to squeeze them so hard that may hand would sting when the rod popped. They are a bit worn in the jaws now, but still cut everything but fine stranded stuff. I just use them for nasty things now. Must be almost
30 years old. See this link at Lowes:
Thanks for the link. I have about three pairs of diagonal cutters that I have reserved for electrical/copper only. Used tin snips with
12" pipe extensions on the handles (have three sets) - They actually survived that ABUSE. I have just looked at the cable cutters at HF for years - the sale price was $3.99 soooo I said WTF let me give em a try - and clearly failed.Now if I could just determine pipe threader HF# 30027 at $19.99 actually works on steel pipe.
mike
The 12" boltcutters from HF would cut cyclone fence wire effortlessly. I have a pair of 8" that I use, probably paid about $8 for but not at HF. I think I got them at Fleet Farm. They open a bit wider than the HF 8" jobs, almost to 1/4". With compound action, they easily snip anything that'll fit into the jaws.
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