Lineman Pliers at Last Best Tool
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- čas přidán 1. 01. 2021
- Lineman pliers are magical machines filled with strength, power, and features. But not all are created equal, and there are a few look-a-likes. Here are my thoughts on the Lineman. Featured are Snap On, Klein, Craftsman, Greenlee, Ideal, Channellock and Milwaukee.
Someone needs to do a “which lineman’s makes the best hammer” for the commercial electricians watching
Two things about pliers. I use linemans a lot. On almost any jobs, small or big, I get to access my lineman (bang, cut, twist, some bolting and stripping)...
I’ve come to love my pair of Goldblatt multi purpose linesman. The brand is mostly known for their masonry tools, but these are fantastic. They’ve worn in nicely, I love the functionality and size too.
My Klein's are the same model as "your favorite" and the super-stiff pair. I wanna say they're the Journeyman JC2000. Mine were obnoxiously tight for the first couple months of use. I think the key was to lube the pin joint w/ PB Blaster, WD40, or something of the like, and also to use them on solid copper wire, gripping, twisting, and ultimately stressing the joint a bit. I think I would also just grab a twist of 3-5
The serrated area below the hinge is an insulation crusher. You squeeze the insulation there to crush and break it down and then use the cutting blade to strip it off. That was more popular in the days of rubber insulated wire but it still works
Great video
Are you reading my mind? I was trying to find those seal removal tools on the website after you showed them off. Simultaneously, I was on a 9” linesman shopping spree this weekend (grabbed an ideal two days ago and a Klein today). I love my 7” Snap-On’s as a general purpose combination plier alternative (even thought the cutters are weird on mine too) but the aggressive teeth chew up the wires and the straighter handles didn’t seem like they’d be too comfortable at that size. About the stiff Kleins, they’re notorious for that (although all of my Snap-Ons were exponentially stiffer brand new than any Kleins I’ve owned). Today I ended up just grabbing the $100 Klein apprentice set so that I can put that in a separate kit with the other electrical tools ready to go for outlets , fixtures and similar. To my surprise, all of the pliers were ready to go without any break in necessary. I was relieved. Knipex are the only pliers I know of that consistently arrive ready to go. One word of warning for those that don’t know, being quite electrician focused, Klein’s aren’t hardened for steel wire, nails and things of that nature unless you buy the ones that are specifically hardened for heavier cutting.
I have some Kleins I like a lot, and smaller Knipex I find quite handy. For a long time I just had a pair of Doyle's, which are a bit stiff, but usable, and they cut okay (though I never tried to cut tape with them).
Love the video
I bought the wiha lineman because it has a crosshatch on one side to hammer with. Before I found myself abusing them as a hammer beforehand so these were perfect.
I also have those Greenlee pliers as well
Klein pliers and southwire linesman pliers and Milwaukee tools linesman pliers are what I have and can afford and have the crescent (new ones/ the latest version) and they work great for what they are.
Do you have any thoughts / opinions on the teeth patterns and gripping capacity of the different pliers. Specifically, I'd be curious to learn what you think of pliers with crosshatch pattern instead of the standard horizontal teeth.
I have longed for this video. One suggestion for a future video to consider adjustable wrenches, or water pump aka tongue and groove pliers or pipe wrenches. Last one promise jig saw blades. If these exist sorry I haven't seen any of them. Thank you for the great and interesting content
The handle flares you’re discussing at
A link with the orange one, your preferred one and the one with the bigger head would be great. I like tools with springs too
That gap is intended to be a steel fish tape puller
So with the knurled edge on the Milwaukee's(I'm an electrician and had the milwaukee's for around 3ish years) the head is so big that you can only really ream 3/4" pipe or larger. Also if you're working in a smaller box, if you're splicing wire I've had two difference occasions on tight boxes where the knurled edge actually wore through other wire without me noticing and causing an arc on my pliers. I just bought today the Klein J215-8CR, one of the newer pliers they've come out with that has 10/12/14 solid and 8/10/12 stranded strippers and im hoping with the smaller head and essentially being a 3-1 plier that it'll be used more than when i have to keep switching between pliers and strippers.
That Craftsman you have looks very similar to the one that I have. From two decades three decades ago. I've not had any problems with
The file on the outside of the Milwaukeee is a cool idea