Knipex VDE Cable Shears

Hi, I'm Ben Curry from Electrical Innovations and I'm going to be talking about these Knipex multi-jaw croppers that I've been sent for a review.

We're going to spin the camera around, were going to look at how they perform. First thing we're going to do is just show the sort of thing we use for cutting them and what we used to use previously or still use. These are our CK, trusty cheap croppers, those ones are a bit rough, quite blunt. Here's a bit of a newer set, but we went through quite a few of them.

Then we've been asked to have a look at these Knipex ones. Twin Jawed, one for scoring second one for cutting. A flat edge so it's a nice neat cut. VDE, it's 1000 volt protection. They've got these pinch guards on them as well, so you can kind of hold them. They're not going to sweat through your hands, as opposed to these things where holding them like this, you can catch your hand in there, no danger of that with these, that's what the spiel says anyway, on the advertising. In practise some people like to use these because they're nice and thin, other people like to use these because the comfier and the bigger handlers, chunky grip, I've got no real opinion. I use both different sets. I used to use just this sort of thing all the time, but more recently I've moved towards this sort of style. No opinion, either way from me there.

One of the things about these, which is one of the main selling features is the fact that they are really easy to trim the installation with the front set of jaws. As you can see, not doing a very good job of showing them off am I. Then chop it, the second set. That's the idea of how it's supposed to work. Front set is for cutting, second set, chop it, and you can see it from the image, it's got a nice clean, straight cut, that's a very nice job with them. That's the 16 mm earth.

This is bell wire, kind of the opposite end of the spectrum, still works. You can still strip with it, if you need to. If you're neat and precise, you can get decent cut and you can see I've still been able to be neat enough where it's not scored the copper.

You would never used them for this in the real world, but just goes to show what you could be doing with them. They're precise way you can still get a good cut. We've got a normal twin & earth. I think this is, its red and black out the scrap box, some old, two, five stranded, red and black, and just quick work of that, chop that there. They're not so good at doing that if you needed to, because just the size of the jaws, but they're not really designed for that. You've still got your stops at the bottom. If you are using these for second fixing for some weird way, you could still pull out the earth and all of that sort of thing. Quite nice for that, they really make short work of two five.

So far so good, the main thing I think most people would use these on in my trade domestic electrics, would be your standard 25 mm meter tails. They do an actual, really nice job of that. They can take outer insulation very nicely, same again on the inner insulation, quite nicely. Then if they need to, you can take some brute force but it does chop the end and it does a good job of it as well. Now to compare these, to these which are hella blunt, so blunt I can barely open them up. These, do one handed chopping a lot easier. They are a bigger set, you can see, you've got more leverage, but don't think the Knipex, although it said it was a up to 70 mm, I don't think I will want to be using these all the time, one handed like this.

I would much rather have a bigger set of croppers for the bigger cable and use that for what It's supposed to be used for. Even the smallest set on 25, if anything they are better than both of them, I think because they're newer and they're sharper. You could still score the insulation, pop it off, give it a haircut when you need to, another haircut with them. These go through the 25 more tails a lot better than the Knipex ones. The Knipex ones do feel more expensive, do feel a nicer build. They look a bit more polished. These are all rusted. They don't last long, these sort of things, but they are dirt cheap. They're pretty good, I do like them. I just wonder compared to just having a bigger set that are for the job, how much use I get out of them, they are sharp. They do go through but they do need to bit of persuasion, try get the best view in there as possible, so you could see, that's that compared to... there you go.

That's them. Overall I think they're a nice pair of cutters. These are not something I would probably ever buy, unfortunately. I could see why someone who were into, having the VDE, their ergonomic grip, you got a little thumb holder there, look, where you can push open with your thumb, its kind of shaped. I can see why people like that sort of stuff. They're just a bit too. I know their multi-purpose and this special design for doing a certain type of job. A set of them for me does the same job cheaper and it's actually, it does a better job at cutting tails.

Overall, I don't know, they're a nice pair of cutters, for sure. I can't help thinking the thing that they're designed for, there's better items to the job. If you're cutting big cables and you're going for these, you probably would be better off just with a bigger set of croppers, even a two handed set, or if they're really big, automatic set that would just do a better job of it, overall. It's a shame really, because they a nice set. I do wonder what, just a big set of them with the VDE installation on it might look like, bigger set of jaws, maybe? Overall, that's my thoughts, they're alright.

Sorry, It couldn't be more of a positive review on them, but yeah, not bad. They're a nice set of cutters, but I think for me, I'll stick to my old trusties.

Well, hello everybody. This is going to be a review of the Knipex 200 mm VDE cable shears. I've been sent these shears to test out and trial. So thanks to Harry at Tool Talk for sending them out to me. Now, as it happens, I lost a set of cable cutters of my own before Christmas, and I've been using a junior hacksaw or even a set of tin snips for a while, but they're definitely not the best way to deal with thick electric cables. And so in January, I had actually bought a set of Wiha power cutters for myself. And when I mentioned that to Harry, he asked if I could just compare the two different tools, even though they're not exactly like for like.

Now the Wiha power cutters, they're not just meant to be cable cutters, they're more of a very strong diagonal cutter or side cutter, and they have a push button feature, which adjust the pivot point. So here we've got standard side cutters, and pushing this little button changes it. It changes the pivot point of the handle, so you can get a much stronger cut or you have to use a lot less effort, a lot less strain on your wrist for cutting. And I found it's quite good for a two-stage cut.

And according to Wiha these work as standard diagonal cutters as you see there. They can also be used they say for small bolt cutters, they can be used for cutting chain, they can be used for a bit of heavy duty cutting. And Wiha say they're ideal for wires and cables. So with a press of this button, you can cut through extremely hard materials. Wiha say screws, nails, bolts, chains, and then switch between the two strengths with one hand. It can be a bit fiddly finding that little sweet spot, but yes, it is possible to do that.

Now the Knipex shears, they're definitely full-time cable cutters. They have got a sort of a two stage approach. You've got this first area up at the top and you can use that to cut through softer material or the insulation. And once you cut through that, you can drop down into this inner area here, where you can get more force in, and with that, you can cut through the inner cores. Now the packaging that came with these, this little card here, it says they will cut through up to a 20 millimetre diameter cable, or it also says, a 70 square millimetre cable. Now I calculate that 70 square millimetres to be a 22 and a quarter millimetre diameter, that's just short of an inch. Plus the insulating sheathing that will be outside it.

So you're talking about cutting through a cable that's 25 millimetres, one inch in diameter or more. It would be quite a hefty cable. But it does say here that they are not intended for use with steel wire armoured, or for solid core cables, just for stranded. So let's a bit of test time.

Well, both of these will cut through your standard twin and earth quite easily. I've not had any problems with either, away they go. Twin and earth, they eat it up. That's just them on the standard settings for both. Both of them will deal with this 10 mm cable, a bit harder there, but again, if I go for the inner position on these, that 10 mm earth cross bond is eaten by both of them. That cuts them there without even have to go... on the standard setting, bit harder, but okay on the power setting. Now, when it comes to a bit of standard tail, this is seven stranded metre tail, I do have to chomp away at the insulation, but once I've done that, put it to the inner setting, I do need to apply a bit more force, but that deals it. And the Wiha one actually struggles a bit more and if I was doing a lot of tails, I think I may end up buying myself something more appropriate. But it will chomp through there. When I go for the power setting, I can finish it off to cut through the cable.

Now this is the seven stranded cable, it's slightly... Been around for a long time. I think both of them would cope a lot better with a softer 19 strand cable, but I haven't got a section of that to play around with. And the other thing I've used here is this Doncaster High Tough, and that again has got... It's not armoured, but it's a tougher... and I can cut through that quite easily with these cable shears, even when I'm just trying to nibble a bit off the end, which is a bit more difficult. The Wiha, again, it'll struggle with that so I won't even bother.

Now, I wouldn't like to use either for cables much bigger than these. So how Knipex can claim that these could be used by larger cables? Well, I suppose if you look at the jaws, they do open an awful long way. If you were doing that all day long, you'd probably develop quite strong wrist muscles, if you are using it for long periods of time. But it does eat through all the sort of standard cables you have to come out and find in a domestic situation.

Price wise, the Knipex has got a recommended price of around 54 to 60 pounds. Wiha, 37 to 44. I'm sure for both of them you can shop around and find might be available a little cheaper than that. So the Wiha's slightly cheaper, but it's not intended for the big chunky cable cutting task.

Which is the best one? Well, if you're cutting cables all day, and if I was, the Knipex... it's purpose designed for that. It's got a very tight shear, which you might be able to see there, and it just chomps through the cable. Even if you have to do it in two stages. But if you're using the tool for multiple tasks throughout the day, cutting a bit of cable, doing some other work, then the side cutters, the diagonal cutters of the Wiha is a bit more useful. You nibble away at a few things where with this, it might be more difficult. Although I have to say, if I was doing a lot of side cutting, the eight-inch, 200 mm length of these side cutters is a bit bulky. And if I was doing a lot of work, I prefer a 160 or even 180 mm side cutter.

But both of these cope with the cable, and this tool that Harry asked me to review in the first place, definitely deals with anything I've been able to throw at it. Even if I had to take a couple of goes to cut through the cable. That's all folks.