Small wire cutters/snippers - recommendations?

[David]

I used to have a really useful set of very small wire snips - a Swedish make (Lindtrom). Good for getting into tight spaces for cutting thin wires. [Note: just found a small pair of needle nosed pliers and managed to look up the maker. Then Googled. Mainly US hits, but £plenty!]

I now look at those available on line and I can't tell the difference between good quality precision engineered and cheap ones from crap steel.

Something like perhaps.

Any recommendations?

I'd rather spend more on a good pair than keep replacing cheap ones.

Cheers

Dave R

[Adam Aglionby]

Lindstrom , now actually owned by Snap On, ball bearing steel, really don`t get better , from about 20 quid on ebay.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

To the best of my knowledge, Lindstrom are still the make to go for. Although I have also got RS own brand which are close. May well have been made by them. But both refer to some years ago.

Impossible to do so without using them for some time. Mine have survived heavy use and are still as good as new.

I bought a set from Lidl (red and yellow handles) - small cutters, snipe nose pliers and ordinary. Good enough for most things and cheap enough to lose. ;-)

It seems easier to get decent electrician's size side cutters at a good price than the smaller ones. Economy of scale, I suppose. My favourites are an ancient set of CK ones.

[David]

Thanks to reponders.

After I posted (having looked at Amazon and the like and seen the Lindstrom at £50ish) I found a set on eBay around £20.

Think I will go for them.

Cheers

Dave R

[Bob Eager]

I have a Lindstrom pair for PCB work and they were worth the 40 quid I paid. But I don't use them for everyday 'rough' work.

As it happens, I have a pair of 4 inch uninsulated cutters here on my desk. My favourite pair (just reclaimed from son's room after he 'borrowed' them). They are Elliott-Lucas, and are 50 years and 4 months old!

[Muddymike]

I know what you mean. I have a pair of Linstrom side cutters that were given to me. They must be 50 years old yet still perfect. Only downside is they do not have insulated handles.

Mike

[Bob Eager]

I don't know what's happened to them recently, but somewhere I have a couple of pairs of Maun side cutters with cantilevered handles. Silver handles, black blades. Superb, and seemingly indestructible. I bought them in 1971 in Canterbury market, and they were used, ex-BT stock!

[newshound]

Do we think these might be fakes?

[newshound]

My best tiny pointed pliers came from Epsom market in the early 60's, they are ex-WD and have the little "arrow" logo on them. Proper "through" hinge, not the usual overlay type. Not sure when they discontinued the logo.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Decent tools should survive hard work?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

From Hong Kong? Never. ;-)

[Tim Lamb]

In message , Bob Eager writes

I still use the 1" micrometer I was required to purchase as an apprentice 55 years and 5 months ago. We had to make things like calipers, punches and tap wrenches:-)

[Andy Burns]

Anyone I knew who had Lindstrom cutters always considered them to be "DON'T ASK TO BORROW THEM" tools, presumably from people using them to cut nails with. I can't justify the price, but have some of these, can't remember which model, but nicely made.

[Bob Eager]

That is true for mine!

[Bob Eager]

True, but (a) I have other pairs (b) the jaws are quite small.

[Bill Wright]

I still use a few tools that my dad was given by retirees when he was an apprentice in 1936.

Bill

[polygonum]

I note that on Amazon, for example, several items are listed as Bahco Lindstrom - with some just Bahco and others just Lindstrom. I imagine they are one company - but are they the same products or two or three different quality ranges?

[PeterC]

They are lovely - I've a pair v. similarly coloured to those but, unfortunately, not the same make. I've used flush side-cutters for over 40 years now. Plessey used them on military contracts, so the slightest damage meant scrapping off, so we didn't want to waste them ;-) I've one 'big' pair - can cut 2.5 cable - and the rest are small. I always remove the spring and the cut-off retaining clip to get better 'feel'. This means that I have to be wary of the 'pingfuckit' potential of the offcut. They're good for cable ties, avoiding the sharp, sloping end that is commonly left. A contractor at work had a scar on the inside of his forearm from wrist to elbow from a badly cut tie.

I've had/known of several incidents of a blade snapping, sometimes when not overloaded for the size of cutter - that can be nasty. I always put a finger over the side near me now. Also go through cable one conductor at a time. I looked at bigger ones but the cost...!

[Bob Martin]

Your christening present? ;-)

[PeterC]

I've a few files that friend's father had soon after he became an apprentice, so about 1920. They were cheap imports from a long-gone manufacturing third-world country: Sheffield.