ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Best linesmans

I’ve used a similar trick with beach sand and oil. Sometimes a few whacks to opposite sides of the pliers face with a hammer does it.
I bought two pair a few years ago and switched between them, so I could get them broken in at once just in case something happened to one pair. Mainly because I hate the pliers break in period so much. It’s as bad as with a new pair of steel-toed boots.

Seems like everybody and their mother is making side cutters these days. As far as I’m concerned, anything other than the Klein J2000-9NE is an unnecessary reinvention of the wheel. I also have The Klein 1000V insulated lineman’s, but they are bulky, hard to work with and a waste of money for most everyday applications. All this PPE crap is out of control for lower voltages. I’ll use them when working 277V hot or when otherwise needed, but not for ordinary every day wiring.

Actually Silicone spray is kinder to tools than WD-40.
Sure more expensive, but seems to "last" a bit longer in it's effect.

WireNuts,
Thanks. Believe it or not, I was thinking about this very same thing yesterday after my post. It makes perfect sense and thanks for the reply.......John

Asking for everyone's favorite? Are you trying to start something?

As for linemans... for the longest time, there was Klein- and everyone else. The jaws of the 2000 series were designed to handle steel as well as copper, the nose had an agressive knurl that grabbed wires real well, and they lasted either forever, or untill the first arcing condustor turned them into strippers.

Other brands were, simply, balloon ballast by comparison. Even firsm that made other decent tools (Channellock, for instance) dropped the ball when they tried making linesmans.

The first pair I encountered that compared well with Klein was Knipex. Snap-On also had an excellent pair .... but, both of those somehow felt 'different.'

Everyone started coming out with fancy handles... most of which seem to not quite fit in the loop on you pouch.

In the past few years, I have seen some perfectly decent linemans come out.
Channellock has -finally- hit a home run with their latest model - the one with both a crimping die and tape puller.
For the die-hard Klein fan, who wanta a basic pair, but also wants his to not get mixed up with everyone elses', the Greenlee looks to be identical, but for the color.

I'm a Klein devotee. The best electrical tools made, in my opinion.

I used to buy Ideal products 25 years ago. Then I noticed some of their stuff was made, I believe, in Japan.

Anyway, you would have to pack a lot of "premium" into a pair of cutters to make them worth that kind of money.

I have a pair of Ideal linesmans I have had for many years. They seem to work but it is not my favorite ... well I guess they are now. My Kleins seem to have taken a walk in all of the construction.
I am still hoping they will turn up when I clean up some of the junk I have accumulated around here.

What about Klein screw drivers. Mine seem to wear out awful fast. That little black tip seems to be just for looks and brand recognition. The bigger the screw driver the longer they last, for me. I guess it because of the larger area covered on the screw. But I am not happy with Klein screw drivers anymore.

No kidding. I haven't found a long-lasting screwdriver yet. Klein used to be the best, but not anymore. They all seem to wear out prematurely. Wonder if this has something to do with using recycled steel in the manufacturing process? I would imagine that at some point, steel can only be recycled so many times before it's quality weakens.

Of course, if I could teach myself to stop using my 1/4"X8 as a wood AND brick chisel, it might last a bit longer. I wonder why nobody has come up with a true stainless steel screwdriver.

Back to the lineman's pliers issue: I think that spending about $40 bucks a year for your best friend in the trade isn't too much to spend. If you factor in the cost of a hammer that you don't need to buy, these things are actually a bargain even if they do fail prematurely.

The strength of the blade and shaft goes up as the square of the thickness. It quickly reaches a point where the measly amount of force a human can put on it isn't enough to damage a big screwdriver through torsion alone.

Now, misusing it like a prybar/lever and bending the shaft, that's quite another issue, as the deflection is a function of the length cubed, and the longer the shaft, the more likely you are to bend it despite the extra thickness...

Kleins. I like the model with the fish puller - comes in pretty handy. Under $30 and I've had the same pair for so long, I don't remember when exactly I bought them.

And, yes. They do double as a good hammer sometimes