How to Use Diagonal and Wire Cutters Properly

You might think that using diagonal cutters, wire and chain cutters is a no brainer, but there is actually some common sense to apply that goes a long way when using such a tool. For starters, it’s obviously a good idea to keep any part of a living thing away from the business end of the tool, but a more nuanced assessment should clue you in to the fact that even using the tool safely and for the intended purpose you can have problems. Used improperly to cut the wrong gauge wire or something it was not designed to cut you can break the tool and/or cause injury to yourself. So make sure you’ve chosen the right tool for the job, wear your safety glasses and use the tool properly.

This guide does a great job of summarizing the basic use of your basic diagonal, wire or other cutters. Of course you open the jaws, put the thing to cut in the back of the jaws and squeeze the handles together. Done. The thing is cut. If you have a softer piece of metal you can cut closer to the tips. Unfortunately, no matter how good the tool is, misusing it can lead to the tools breaking, and we’ll take a quick look at what this can look like.

A good example is this cutter with a broken tip. This specific tool is made of C70 tool steel and designed to cut copper, hard piano wire, nails, screws, bolts, chains and more. So why did this tool which is designed to cut such tough stuff get a broken tip? Because as the aforementioned cutting guide points out, while this tool can be used to cut nails, a nail should be cut towards the back of the jaws, not the tip. When cutting hard or tough metals, the back of the jaws has more metal and support and a greater amount of pressure to get through the metal, whereas the tip is reserved for thinner or softer metals like copper wire. An excellent demonstration of the proper use of the tools can be found here with a demonstration of the Wiha 32636 cutting a nail properly. This is an excellent version of the cutting tool as it features a push button that increases the power of your cut while also reducing the amount of pressure needed. In short, don’t use the tip to cut if it’s something that’s going to be hard to cut.

Here at Haus of Tools we often stress that buying quality tools is the key to success on the job. That’s really only half of the story. The other half is using said tool properly. By misusing a tool, even a good quality tool, you not only run the risk of damaging and destroying your tool, you can also run the risk of injury because when tools break pieces of it can injure you or others. By selecting a quality tool and using it correctly you’ll be practically ensured of success on the job or around the house.