- Today we're going to look
at these new angled electrician shears from Knipex.
- Or something we like to call--
- [Together] Scissors from Knipex!
- Okay, we've got that one out of the way.
We can now call them Knipex throughout the video.
- We can now. You've got the original ones there.
- I have, yes.
- Which, to be fair, we didn't use a lot, did we?
- No we didn't, but since we've had the new ones,
we've discovered almost a hundred different ways
of using a pair of scissors.
- We have. And let me show you something
that'll change your mind
and how you think of scissors.
So, I've got here a 70 millimeter squared tri-rated cable.
So it's classic conductors.
There's hundreds of little strands in there.
Watch this.
(scissors snipping)
- Wow - Like butter.
(scissors snipping)
- Wow.
(scissors snipping)
- Nice neat end on there.` - Incredible.
- There you go.
Now, if there's one reason you should buy,
obviously not many people cut that--
this sort of cross section of cable very often,
but at the other end of the scale, fantastic for LED strip.
- Okay, something I like to call lead tape, all right.
- Yeah, that's right. - Do you know that one?
- All right it's good. - So, that's all good?
- And yeah, I mean what would I normally use for these
in the past we probably used--
we used to use the Super Knips.
- We did. - Which are good.
- Yeah, fantastic.
- But these, the precision you can get on these
to get a nice straight cut
exactly on the cut point is fantastic.
- [Gary] Okay.
- [Gordon] And so that's using the front blade there.
- Okay. Yeah. Okay. I like that. Yeah.
- And if we carry on from that,
obviously another very tape-like thing, labels.
- [Gary] How many times have we
taken a pair of side cutters
and cut maybe twice in order to make that cut
because we haven't got a pair
of scissors in our tool kit.
Yeah. We've done that ourselves
here at Lineside Studios.
- [Gordon] And what else can you use scissors for Gary?
- [Gary] Well, actually,
when those online retailers drop off those boxes,
maybe with next day delivery,
it's ideal for getting into those.
And we've all used our car keys before,
maybe a screwdriver,
or if you want to say what you use
to open cardboard boxes
if you haven't got a set of these Knipex scissors.
- [Gordon] Yeah, so that's using them
as normal scissors.
Fantastic.
But when it comes
to actually cutting different types
of wire and cable,
we've got just about everything we could find
in the workshop.
Where do you wanna start with Gary?
- Well I'd like to start maybe
with the hidden tool in there.
- Okay
- So let's think about the RCBOs.
And we know those fly leads are really long,
but you know often tools come with
a built-in torch, don't they?
- [Gordon] Yes. - [Gary] Okay.
And we love it. And we say,
"It's a drill and also a torch."
- Yeah. - But we pick up
a pair of scissors
and it's also a pair of scissors.
It can't have another hidden tool in there.
But it has, hasn't it?
- It has. - And we discovered that
when we shortened the lead on this RCBO,
which are always too long,
which is good.
Because there's a ferrule on the end of here.
So, we cut it with a pair of scissors.
Do you agree?
- [Gordon] We did. - [Gary] But how did
we ferrule it?
- [Gordon] Well, we ferruled it actually
using the secret tool that's hidden
in the handle here and there's two sizes.
This one goes up to six millimeters squared
and there's one goes up at 25 millimeters square.
- [Gary] Wow.
- [Gordon] It's pretty ambitious.
But we did that and it doesn't pull off.
It's pretty good.
- [Gary] No, it's solidly held on there.
No chance of yanking that off.
And that's a surprise within the tool isn't it?
- [Gordon] Yeah. That's the mystery tool hidden
within the handle.
And a long as there's nice little clip there,
keep it closed.
- [Gary] Yeah. Okay. So it locks into position
and it's also ergonomically friendly
and they designed it
so it's a little more comfortable.
And I'm not suggesting all scissors are the same
but my mum used to work with scissor a lot.
She was in the boot and shoe industry.
- [Gordon] Right. - [Gary] So when she used to--
a thumb there.
You know, she'd have a red mark on her thumb,
constantly opening and closing
a pair of scissors.
Where I think you'll find with those
they're a little bit more friendly on the hand.
- Yeah. These are very tactile.
They're not insulated scissors
so they're not most--
Obviously, if you look at Knipex tools
if it's got the yellow
and the red they tend to be VDE approved.
These aren't, these are just normal ones.
And I can understand why
because your fingers right next
to the metal bit there.
That would just slip along it.
So, don't use them on live cables.
- And talking of slipping, it might fall from your hand.
Is there anything to help you from losing
those scissors on scaffolds?
- There is a little point for a lanyard.
Or is Knipex call it, what do they call it?
- [Gary] Tethered tool system,
they call it Gordon.
- [Gordon] So, they have a special bungee
for people who drop their tools.
- I like the way you look at that box.
The whole back of it is in German, isn't it?
- And while I'm on it,
I might as well get the part number out the way.
It's a 95 05 20 SB.
- Okay. So that's great.
So, we've done the ferruling.
So, we've hidden the secret tool within there.
But let's see what else it can do.
Now, we've got some braided flexi.
We've used this many times around Lineside Studios.
We like it because it's also (inaudible) red.
- [Gordon] Yeah. - [Gary] What's the problem
with it when we start terminating the ends?
- [Gordon] Yeah, it's the fabric.
You just need to give it a little haircut
every now and again
just to get it nice and neat and yeah.
Cutting that with--
You try it with side cutters
you just never make a neat job of it.
But with these, yeah you can give it a nice little haircut.
- [Gary] You can.
And that leads me nicely into data cables.
Now, we've had some experiences
with working with data cables.
We don't always get it exactly right
and data cable people will always jump in
and give us their feedback.
But the one thing we have found is obviously,
when we start stripping that string--
really handy is it,
give that string a little pull.
But getting rid of it can be tricky can't it?
- [Gordon] Yeah.
And again, effortless through that.
And again with the little plastic separator
in the middle.
You can lock that out
and even cut the conductors themselves.
- [Gary] Yeah.
So, that for me is at the time when
I've done it many times
with a pair of side cutters.
It seems to never cut the string.
Does it cut? Trying to cut.
Trying to cut and scissors, oof, it's off.
- Yeah. So we've done flexible cables,
both the obviously,
the little copper strands when you
need to give them a little haircut as well.
Or actually cutting the full conductors themselves
or indeed with a full cable.
- [Gary] Yeah. It's quite satisfying as well, isn't it?
When you cut through that flex
with a pair of scissors.
It's a different sensation than using side cutters.
And one that I really like.
- [Gordon] Yeah. And another one.
So, I was out in Tenerife recently
with Mark Fradley the--
- [Gary] Was that on the company account?
- [Gordon] It was. Yes.
The electrician to the rich and famous out there.
And Tenerife is the land of flexible conduit
and everyone has multiple sets
of electricians' shears or scissors
in their tool bag because it's fantastic
at cutting flexible conduit.
- [Gary] Okay. Yeah. And then once you've cut it
obviously, in case you just want
to trim that end off that you just made
that a smarter end.
And again scissors are in there
trimming that end off.
- [Gordon] Yeah. And then keeping the trimming
back to ferrules again.
So again, got our massive conductor there.
- [Gary] Did it do that with the scissors?
- [Gordon] Well, with the ferrules sometimes,
you know, it's sometimes tricky.
Especially if you're doing it
and you've sort of bent
the cable around the radius.
You can't quite get the ends straight.
So, you just again need to give
the old ferrule a little bit
of a haircut when you're finished.
- [Gary] What size is that?
- [Gordon] Again, a 70 millimeter squared.
So, that's a pretty big haircut.
- [Gary] Then the pictures also come in handy
when we were posing as if we were the cast
from "Star Trek."
When we forgot to mention initially
to Rick that his label was still hanging
out in the back of his shirt.
Well, we went in.
We nearly took off his gold chain
with the price of commodities at the minute
and then we attacked the label with the pair of scissors.
But when we were looking really closely
we didn't just have enough time to trim
out those gray hairs.
- [Gordon] So one thing,
we don't think you should use it for obviously,
all of the cables we've used here
are flexible class five or class six
or thin data cable.
We did try it on some class two conductor.
We had some 10 millimeter earth wire.
- [Gary] Okay.
- [Gordon] Yeah.
- [Gary] It does do it.
- [Gordon] It does do it.
But I could imagine if you do it all the time
you'd feel it on your wrist.
It's probably not the tool for that.
- Might shorten the life of the tool as well, mind you.
I don't think it's gonna do it any favors
over the long term.
I imagine, now and again someone's always going
to grab the wrong tool
and use it in the wrong position.
Something else that you're going to remember
on the side of the box.
- [Gordon] No, I think we've done all that.
Yeah. So that's, yeah.
You say we've got the crimps,
we've got the handles,
stainless steel blades.
It's-- yeah, weight.
What did we think weight was?
Weight is 135 grams there, Gary.
- [Gary] Okay. So, in other words
it's light, ergonomically friendly
it's got a clip and you can also use
the tethering system in case you drop it.
However, during the process we were obviously
stripping using the ErgoStrip
which is in front of me here.
And if you want to see how we did that
and used it in a review,
check out the video on screen just there.