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couldn't find my side nips tonight so i grabbed a pair of pruning shears and these work great cutting wire, thin aluminum and brass pipes and they are great for getting under tightly wound zip ties to cut!!
lol, who'da thunk it? :&
I have used the long handled ones in a pinch to cut the copper tubing off of AC rads but never grabbed the short handled pair before lol nd they fit in my hand real nice too.
hahaha! ; )Quote:
Originally Posted by newattitude
are pruning shears and end loppers different ?
They might work well for a while but they will dull quickly seeing as their meant to cut wood. My pruning shears were $85 so I won't be cutting metal with them anytime soon lol.
yes bear they are different tools.
I use a pair of lopers to remove wires from power supplies.
Loppers are great for cutting out car wiring looms. Get them down & into the tight corners, snip, & yank that part of the loom out.
In movies about the mob, you always see them cutting up the bodies with chainsaws, hack saws, band saws etc. That's not really the way they do it.
They use pruning shears and limb clippers (no pun intended). Super easy to go right through each joint, the tendons, connective tissues, etc. Each time I have seen this thread pop up to the most recent, it reminds me of this fact.
Just a bit of morbid humor, I hope it's not too out of place.
Scott
Ha, nice tip there NA!
I use a pair of kitchen scissors, lest I think they are. Bloody things work great for snipping wire, plastic ties, and the connector ends on ribbon cable, an other types. These are like a beast pair of scissors tho. Another pair I tried using didn't do jack, but these suckers..SNIP! Like it's butta!
Scott..You never cease to amaze me with the info, I ever need to hide a body your the man I'm coming to..wait for it..for a hand..haha! I found it interesting but as we all know, I'm kinda odd. Ok, maybe more then kinda.. ;)
Sirscrapalot - “I don't trust society to protect us, I have no intention of placing my fate in the hands of men whose only qualification is that they managed to con a block of people to vote for them.” - Mario Puzo from the Godfather.
Yup.. Exactly what I use mine for.. not much gets through a loom in one or 2 cuts.. but I have found my loppers will for the most part!Quote:
Originally Posted by eesakiwi
I also use a pair of scissors for cutting the gold connectors off of ribbon cable. Works great but makes my hand hurt if I'm doing a lot of cable.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sirscrapalot
Caveman pounds his head against cave wall.
Shears are the things with like 12 inch blades that shear the side of a shrub to shape it.
Loppers usually have like 2 foot handles and are usually used for cutting small/medium branches.
Nippers (Nips for short) fit in your hand and are more like scissors in size, for cutting the small stuff.
That's where I save them up and use my paper cutter, no hurting the hands there.Quote:
I also use a pair of scissors for cutting the gold connectors off of ribbon cable. Works great but makes my hand hurt if I'm doing a lot of cable.
I still use a really old paper cutter, the type that was made in the 40s-50s, with the really heavy blade and cutting surface. They work great for all kinds of material.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mechanic688
Scott
For those of you that are using pruning shears or loppers, just a quick tip. Use hone stones and files to sharpen them.
BEFORE they get beyond sharpening or deform badly, sharpen them up. They are easier to maintain than reshape and sharpen when badly dulled. Just follow the existing shape and take an equal amount of passes on each side to avoid reshaping the blade. I use a file to remove the burrs and and nicks. If you are cutting big material leave the filed edge. It acts as serration and helps cut bigger material. If you use them on fine material such as 14 ga. or smaller wire then finish with the hone stone to a smoother finish.
WARNING:
If you change the blade shape, you will potentially ruin the ability to cut with them. Then again if you are using them for this purpose you probably expect them to get worn out or ruined at some point.
I have taken "junk", "dull" shears and loppers people have replaced because they cut hard because of over use or misuse and made them cut like new this way. A little common sense and free time and you have a really nice cutting tool.
Last one I found was a Fiskars 2' loppers. Retail was almost $80. I paid $2 for it, spent a minute or two with a file and hone stone and it cut like new. I have used it now for a few years. Cant beat the price. I have turned down $20-$30 on it already several times after letting others use it. To me having a nice, comfortable, dependable tool is worth more than resale for a quick profit.
Hope this helps the rest of you keep your favorite shears and loppers cutting for a long time to come. BTW this works nicely for scissors and shears as well.
Whenever you're scraping... ;-)Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonniebrass
Real men use their teeth... Me personally, I ain't got none left!!!