Those wire strippers

[Alex Eisenhut]

You know the kind.



Can someone explain to me why this nominally electrical tool has a screw cutter on it? I have one of these since years, they all look the same.

But what purpose does a screw cutter serve for electrical stuff?

The cutter doesn't even work well with standard screws, leaving all kinds of burrs that make the screw unusable.

I used the cutter tonight with purpose-made break-away drawer handle screws:



But like it says, it's for drawer handles. For wooden cabinets, not electrical cabinets...

Why this bizarre combination of tools?

[xrunner]

I dunno why it has a screw cutter - but I've used one to cut screws and I found it works pretty well for the screw size indicated. But you really need to put a nut on the screw first so when you cut the screw after you take it out you unscrew the nut and it cleans up the threads. 

[Mr. Scram]

I dunno why it has a screw cutter - but I've used one to cut screws and I found it works pretty well for the screw size indicated. But you really need to put a nut on the screw first so when you cut the screw after you take it out you unscrew the nut and it cleans up the threads. 

That works, but I still wouldn't recommend that method if you can avoid it. The resultant thread isn't quite as reliable as you'd like.

[Alex Eisenhut]

Well, I suppose the only reason it has a screw cutter is that it's the only tool with a long handle to begin with. You'd never be able to cut a screw by hand if there wasn't a long lever.

After 30 years of wondering, I answered myself.

Yay.

[IanB]

Can someone explain to me why this nominally electrical tool has a screw cutter on it? I have one of these since years, they all look the same.

But what purpose does a screw cutter serve for electrical stuff?

The screw cutter is specifically designed for the sizes of screws commonly found on electrical boxes and cover plates. Sometimes the supplied screw is too long and you need to shorten it.

The cutter doesn't even work well with standard screws, leaving all kinds of burrs that make the screw unusable.

If you screw the screw into the threaded hole in the cutter before cutting it to length, then when you unscrew the screw the burrs left by cutting are automatically re-formed to the thread profile, leaving the screw usable. For this to work, you must of course insert the screw in the right direction so that unscrewing it will feed the cut end back out through the threaded part of the hole.

It does work, I have tried it.

[xrunner]

That works, but I still wouldn't recommend that method if you can avoid it. The resultant thread isn't quite as reliable as you'd like.

Well I'm not to old to learn a better way - inquiring minds want to know, how would you do it? 

[sleemanj]

The screw cutter is the only reason I keep one of those handy.  They do leave a pretty sharp edge though even when used correctly as above, i find it's best to debur the cut with a quick rub on a sharpening stone.

[Alex Eisenhut]

The strippers I worked with... wait, let me rephrase that. The wire strippers I've worked with were always made of some sort of soft, garbagey mild steel that didn't stand up to much use.

Maybe I just got the garbagey ones. But it does work OK on the break-away screws.

[Mr. Scram]

Well I'm not to old to learn a better way - inquiring minds want to know, how would you do it? 

The answer is probably more boring that you'd think: by using a thread cutting die. Though the nut trick might help you to get the die on properly. Put the nut on, cut the bolt, chamfer the cut end, lube things up, remove the nut and use the die to cut neat fresh threads. That should leave you a neat thread that's close to a factory one.

Just using a nut often leaves a thin bit of material on the end of the bolt or causes deformation, which sometimes causes the bolt and nut to bind and cause all sorts of unpleasantness. The die cutter is specifically made to cut things to the proper size and a useful tool in general.

[Monkeh]

Or just use a dremel or a grinder carefully and you'll have a perfectly intact thread and a flat end.

[CopperCone]

i got a milwakee combo thing and it kicks ass. i like the screw cutter.

[macboy]

The strippers I worked with... wait, let me rephrase that. The wire strippers I've worked with were always made of some sort of soft, garbagey mild steel that didn't stand up to much use.

Maybe I just got the garbagey ones. But it does work OK on the break-away screws.

I've always had the same experience.
Then I discovered Klein brand. They are more pricey but not too bad. They'd still be worth it at their price. I also found a good one at Cdn Tire, and figured it was worth a shot at the sale price of $4. No screw cutter, but as a stripper and cutter for household wiring jobs, it is excellent, leaps and bounds beyond the cheapies that are included in those crimp terminal kits.

[6PTsocket]

I dunno why it has a screw cutter - but I've used one to cut screws and I found it works pretty well for the screw size indicated. But you really need to put a nut on the screw first so when you cut the screw after you take it out you unscrew the nut and it cleans up the threads. 

You are using it backwards. Thread the screw into the threads, from the outside with the cutoff passing into the unthreaded jaw. After cutting, when you back out the screw, the threaded jaw acts as the nut to clean up the end of the thread.

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[Monkeh]

I dunno why it has a screw cutter - but I've used one to cut screws and I found it works pretty well for the screw size indicated. But you really need to put a nut on the screw first so when you cut the screw after you take it out you unscrew the nut and it cleans up the threads. 

You are using it backwards. Thread the screw into the threads, from the outside with the cutoff passing into the unthreaded jaw. After cutting, when you back out the screw, the threaded jaw acts as the nut to clean up the end of the thread.

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Not very well.

[6PTsocket]

I dunno why it has a screw cutter - but I've used one to cut screws and I found it works pretty well for the screw size indicated. But you really need to put a nut on the screw first so when you cut the screw after you take it out you unscrew the nut and it cleans up the threads. 

That works, but I still wouldn't recommend that method if you can avoid it. The resultant thread isn't quite as reliable as you'd like.

I have no idea what you guys are talking about. I have used these tools to shorten screws for 40 years and never had a problem. It allows for very exact thread length adjustment. What is the alternative? Do you prefer a hacksaw or a Dremel cutoff wheel and a nut?

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[Gyro]

The only reason I still keep mine (also about 40 years old) on the shelf is for the screw cutting function - they still cut screws cleanly. I've long since acquired superior alternatives for all of the other jaw functions.

The screw sizes on mine are of Metric. The OP's photo shows US thread sizes on the cutters, which are coarser. Coincidence?

[IanMacdonald]

Never trust these tools to do any kind of crimping. Often the wire just falls out. 

[Monkeh]

The screw sizes on mine are of Metric. The OP's photo shows US thread sizes on the cutters, which are coarser. Coincidence?

When was the last time you used an imperial machine screw?

When was the last time an American electrician used a metric one?

[AF6LJ]

Never trust these tools to do any kind of crimping. Often the wire just falls out. 

If you have the right terminal, for the right size wire, and it matches what the tool can crimp, you are going to find it hard to mess up....
They work great.

As for the screw cutter, that works great also, the threads won't be damaged....

What I find shoddy....
Is the stripper, I wouldn't use one of those if it was the only wire stripper around.

I'll use my blue point stripper or my Teledyne Strip-All

[Mr. Scram]

I have no idea what you guys are talking about. I have used these tools to shorten screws for 40 years and never had a problem. It allows for very exact thread length adjustment. What is the alternative? Do you prefer a hacksaw or a Dremel cutoff wheel and a nut?

I've posted the alternative in my earlier post The point was that a nut is not intended to cut threads, but a die cutter is.

[Gyro]

The screw sizes on mine are of Metric. The OP's photo shows US thread sizes on the cutters, which are coarser. Coincidence?

When was the last time you used an imperial machine screw?

When was the last time an American electrician used a metric one?

Sorry, in the edit I completely messed up the context of what I was trying to say. 

What I meant was that the people who were complaining about the cut quality were mainly from North America (coarser screw threads). I was wondering if the different threads would affect the cut quality. The finer metric threads would hold the screw straighter and maybe improve to shear quality.

[Monkeh]

The screw sizes on mine are of Metric. The OP's photo shows US thread sizes on the cutters, which are coarser. Coincidence?

When was the last time you used an imperial machine screw?

When was the last time an American electrician used a metric one?

Sorry, in editing I completely messed up the context of what I was trying to say. 

What I meant was that the people who were complaining about the cut quality were mainly from North America (coarser screw threads). I was wondering if the different threads would affect the cut quality. The finer metric threads would hold the screw straighter and maybe improve to shear quality.

Oh, I've used several examples which make a complete, total, and utter mess of metric screws, that's not the problem.

[Gyro]

I guess they just made them better 40 years ago then. 

[rdl]

I guess they just made them better 40 years ago then. 

Like so many other things.

[IanB]

What I meant was that the people who were complaining about the cut quality were mainly from North America (coarser screw threads). I was wondering if the different threads would affect the cut quality. The finer metric threads would hold the screw straighter and maybe improve to shear quality.

Actually, the threads used on the screws for electrical boxes and faceplates in America are quite fine pitched, typically 24 or 32 tpi if I remember correctly.

[eugenenine]

The screw sizes on mine are of Metric. The OP's photo shows US thread sizes on the cutters, which are coarser. Coincidence?

Turn it over

They are usually metric on one side and standard on the other

[Monkeh]

The screw sizes on mine are of Metric. The OP's photo shows US thread sizes on the cutters, which are coarser. Coincidence?

Turn it over

They are usually metric on one side and standard on the other

How can that work well?

And not over here, they're metric, metric, and.. metric.

[6PTsocket]

I have no idea what you guys are talking about. I have used these tools to shorten screws for 40 years and never had a problem. It allows for very exact thread length adjustment. What is the alternative? Do you prefer a hacksaw or a Dremel cutoff wheel and a nut?

I've posted the alternative in my earlier post The point was that a nut is not intended to cut threads, but a die cutter is.

No, a die is to cut male threads. This is just a cutoff tool and often deforms the very end if the thread. Unscrewing it from the tool or running a nut off the end is all that is needed to straighten the end of the thread. The nut does not have to cut anything.

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[Mr. Scram]

No, a die is to cut male threads. This is just a cutoff tool and often deforms the very end if the thread. Unscrewing it from the tool or running a nut off the end is all that is needed to straighten the end of the thread. The nut does not have to cut anything.

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Cutting a bolt deforms it and the threads. That's the whole point. You can sort of put it back in roughly the right shape when you run a bolt across it, but that doesn't guarantee ending up with a good or reliable thread. With a bit of bad luck, you end up with bits of the bolt gumming up your threads, but having a snugly fitting bolt can wear out threads on the receiving end too. Often that thread is much harder to replace than the simple bolt that inserts into it.

A nut is not a thread making or repairing tool.

[eugenenine]

The screw sizes on mine are of Metric. The OP's photo shows US thread sizes on the cutters, which are coarser. Coincidence?

Turn it over

They are usually metric on one side and standard on the other

How can that work well?

And not over here, they're metric, metric, and.. metric.

Yours is defective, replace it then with one with both sizes

[Gromitt]

The screw sizes on mine are of Metric. The OP's photo shows US thread sizes on the cutters, which are coarser. Coincidence?

Turn it over

They are usually metric on one side and standard on the other

How can that work well?

And not over here, they're metric, metric, and.. metric.

Yours is defective, replace it then with one with both sizes

Why? You only need metric sizes.