![]() Lower quality versions are generally not suitable for cutting tempered steel, such as piano wire, as the jaws are not hard enough. The handles of diagonal cutting pliers are commonly insulated with a dip-type or shrink fit electrically insulating material for comfort and some protection against electric shock.ĭiagonal pliers are useful for cutting copper, brass, iron, aluminium and steel wire. In Canada, Australia and New Zealand too, the items are often referred to as side cutters. The term snips commonly refers to larger items, not to those used for cutting electrical wiring etc. In UK English and Irish English, diagonal pliers are commonly referred to as snips, nippers, or side cutters. "Dike" can also be used (but only colloquially) as a verb, as in the phrase "when in doubt, dike it out". The blades are made of tempered steel, and inductive heating and quenching are often used to harden the jaws.ĭiags or dikes is jargon used especially in the US electrical industry to describe diagonal pliers. The jaw edges are ground to a symmetrical " V" shape, thus the two jaws can be visualized to form the letter " X", as seen end-on when closed. ![]() Instead of using a shearing action as with scissors, diagonal pliers cut by indenting and wedging the wire apart. The plane defined by the cutting edges of the jaws intersects the joint rivet at an angle or "on a diagonal", hence the name. Diagonal pliers with uninsulated handles.ĭiagonal pliers (also known as wire cutters, diagonal cutting pliers, diagonal cutters, side cutters, dikes or Nippy cutters) are pliers intended for the cutting of wire (they are generally not used to grab or turn anything).
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