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Module one: History and Safety
Module four: Specialist Electricians Tools
Module three: Core Electricians Tools
Module three: Core Electricians Tools
Pliers and Cutters.
Types of Pliers and Cutters
Electricians' side cutters
Side cutters are a key tool for all electricians. They are the tool used day in and day out to cut and prepare wire for connection, so good performance is critical.
Through metallurgical and heat treatment improvements combined with blade angle changes, the C.K range of electricians side cutters have had their blades re-engineered to cut soft wire more easily. Obviously a big advantage for an electrician.
In fact the C.K Redline VDE side cutters have been independently tested and proved to cut through wire more easily than similar products from other leading brands.
The independent tests were done by a German test house that specialises in pliers and cutters performance testing. They are known as the VPA (standing for Versuchs und Pruefanstalt) and are world renowned for their expertise in this area.
And the even better news is that they still cut through hard wire efficiently and without damage. A win-win development.
But the Redline VDE side cutter story doesn’t end there. The C.K side cutter range has been developed even further to help electricians in their day to day work.
The develpment of the Combicutter
Day in, day out, electricians are stripping back wires and preparing them for safe connection to consumer units, plugs, lights, in fact to a vast array of equipment.
From new build to renovation or extension, it’s the same story, strip, prepare, and connect. Access can be limited, and carrying several tools to do the job is a pain.
But how do we know this?
We know, because we spend time talking to a panel of professional electricians to find out more about what they really do with their tools. We found out a few unexpected things about side cutters, like:
1. Wire stripping
For preparing flat twin and earth wire (this is the grey coloured flat cable used for lighting and plug circuits) an Electrician will first cut along the wire to reveal the earth wire, then using the tip of the side cutter blades, the earth wire is pulled down the length of the cable.
This way the wire rips through the outer insulation, revealing the inner wires without there being any chance of damaging their insulation.
The traditional method for stripping the ends of the inner wires, is to use the blades of the side cutter to lightly cut and then pull off the insulation. It is quite difficult to do without damaging the copper core of the wire and it takes a lot of effort.
2. Doubling back wire
To make extra sure the connections are secure it is common practice (in the UK) to double back the wire. It is normally done by using the tip of the side cutters to roll the wire into a loop before squeezing the loop together using the blades of the cutter.
As you can imagine this takes some skill and always results in some damage to the wire.
3. Cutting pattress screws
Patress screws? These are the screws that hold a switch or plug cover to the box sunk into the wall. For a variety of reasons the screw holding a cover to its back box can be too long.
The box could be shallow, it could be mounted very close to the surface or long screws may be the only ones available so they need to be cut to length.
Cutting a patress screw with side cutters damages the thread sufficiently to make it difficult to start in the box tab, an irritating time waster.
C.K has developed the new Combicutter range of side cutters specifically to overcome these difficulties and make the job easier, quicker and damage free.
We know that some electricians will be comfortable with their skills and may not want all of these features. That's why we've introduced 3 versions of the combicutter.
