Knipex has launched new angled electricians’ shears, 95 05 20 US, with ergonomic handle grips, multi-zone cutting blades, and crimping function.
The curved blade section helps to capture and cut larger wires and multi-conductor cables.
It can also cut smaller wires and cables.
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The straight blades are precision-ground with fine serrations for a clean slip-free cut.
There is an additional wire cutting notch located just in front of the slide lock.
These shears are also equipped with two end ferrule crimping areas, one for 10-20 AWG ferrules, and one for 4-8 AWG.
The tool has a spring-action mechanism, with a large slide-lock used to close the tool for storage or transport.
It has fiberglass-reinforced plastic handles with multi-component grips. A hole at the end can be used for a lanyard or tool tether.
There are slightly different versions of the same tool, with the 95 05 20 US shears being sized with AWG crimping areas.
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Knipex 95 05 20 US Features & Specs
- 6-1/4″ length
- Weighs 0.42 lbs
- Stainless steel cutting edges
- 45° head angle
- 1-1/4″ blade length
- 10-20 AWG and 4-8 AWG crimpers
- Belt pouch is sold separately – 00 19 75 LE
Knipex lists the tool as made in Taiwan, and KC Tool’s listing says the blades are made in Taiwan with the tool assembled in Italy.
Price: ~$50
ETA: Coming Soon
Discussion
Neat.
Who’s in for a pair?
Andy
I think I’m irrationally excited for this. Not sure why, but I’m in.
fred
I had gotten an email from Haus of Tools promoting these too:
https://hausoftools.com/search?type=product&q=Knipex%2095%2005%2020%20US%20*
Ball_bearing
I would like to try them, just because of the angled grip. If it reduces muscle fatigue, it is a plus. Not too sure about the crimper.
Steve
Maybe for lighter duty/low voltage guys, but I can’t see it replacing anything I have. I’d be willing to try them if someone had a pair, but not spend 50$ unless I had to have them after using; which is doubtful…
fred
$43 each – with free shipping at Haus of Tools – might help – but still might be too pricey if you find you don’t really like them.
Corey Moore
I use my knipex shears all the time in industrial electrical. Obviously not for anything over a 4/0 or more complex than conductor+jacket, but I’ve whipped up plenty of welding leads and the like with em for years now. I’ve cut 20klb pulling rope with em one handed as well. I’ll probably never not have a pair again in my career lol the tips will eventually break when used as an improvised flat head to open buckets, though.
fred
Looking at Amazon – the price has dropped – and they also list this as something similar:
https://www.amazon.com/C-JET-TOOL-Stainless-Electrician-Professional/dp/B091CQWTGW
I can’t say that I’ve ever heard of C-Jet Tool (Taiwan)
fred
Looking at the C-J blades – they look close enough to the Knipex that it might be they come out of the same factory in Taiwan.
SImon
Those specific C-JET TOOL shears have been on sale on Amazon for over 2 years now. I don’t know who exactly makes these but the other Knippex shears are madi in italy by FUMASI. The FUMASI shears are patented so C-JET TOOL might be in relation to a parts manufacturer for the italian made shears.
I like that design though, it seems almost fun to use lol.
MKY
Stuart –
***There shears*** are also equipped…
***It has has*** fiberglass-reinforced…
Stuart
Thanks! *fixed*
Mark M.
If you did a lot of chest-level or higher work, especially on low voltage, I could see where these would be super cool. I have the standard Knipex elect shears and I’d buy them again in a heartbeat. One of those tools that just works and has a fantastic feel in the hand.
MM
These look very nice, I saw the Euro version on Knipex’s website last year. I think they’d be great for general purpose workshop use and they’d also be useful for automotive work too–the pistol grip shape fits into tight spaces and these look like they’d be fantastic for cutting hose, zip ties, wire loom, heat shrink tubing, and so on. I bet it wouldn’t be too hard to strip large conductors with the notched portion of the blades either, these would be especially awesome for guys doing 12V stuff like car audio installs, marine or RV wiring, etc.
I’m not too happy about the price. If they were more like $35 I’d jump on a pair. At $50? Eh, if I were using these regularly that’s fine, but I don’t think I’d get that much use out of them. I’ll keep my eyes open for a special.
fred
The Euro version is $30 on the Mr. Worker web site – so I expect that’s about the price they may sell for on the other side of the pond. Here – it looks like $43 – with shipping is about as low as I’ve seen (Haus of Tools) so far – but Amazon’s price has been jumping around – ranging from $44 to $69 within the last day or so.
MM
Thanks fred, $30 sounds very reasonable to me. I do order from Mister Worker every now and then so I’ll probably throw a pair of these in with my next order.
fred
I’m guessing that the Mr Worker ones will have crimpers sized for DIN standards – not AWG. That may not be a big deal if you don’t plan to use that feature.
MM
I wasn’t planning on using the crimp feature at all. I rarely use those types of ferrules, and when I do I have a very nice pair of dedicated crimpers left over from my lab work days.
Shipping from Mister Worker for just these would likely be quite pricey, but if I tack it onto an order of something bigger I think they would likely ship for free.
Stuart
It might be $30 there, but they’re charging $18 shipping and $6 and change handling, with a nearly $55 order total and mid-May 2023 estimate.
It’s unclear whether EU and USA crimpers are sized differently, or if the difference is only in the labeling or packaging.
fred
Mr. Worker (headquartered in Italy) is OK if you buy more. They often have a tiered coupon code with thresholds that offer different percent savings. There is often a threshold that triggers them to include shipping (usually DHL) in the price. If you buy only 1 small item – you get clobbered with a special handling fee and costly shipping from the EU. It is also sometimes hard to discern stock status with them – so you may be waiting weeks or even months for an order to be completed. They do respond to emails – and try to be helpful.
fred
I should have also mentioned that the some of the USA suppliers of German tools may sometimes make up with service and speed – although at higher price – compared vendors located in Europe. I’ve had very good luck with KC Tools – although not everything they list is in stock. I’ve also dealt with Palmac and Haus of Tools – without issue (other than waiting on out of stock items). I’ve gotten emails from Chads Toolbox and Crawford Tool recently – but have not bought from either within recent memory. I also know folks who buy from Amazon UK or Amazon DE (I’ve bought from Amazon JP) and say that you can sometimes find good deals.
Franco
Just curious, I have purchased from Amazon UK and Germany a couple of times, as well as other UK vendors, and on rare occasion tried some vendors from France and other countries.
What you mention by Mr. Worker having discounts when you buy more, my experience has been that with larger orders the likelihood of getting dinged with taxes + duties+ the inflated handling fee by DHL, UPS or whomever is handling the shipment. Smaller shipments, around $100 or less usually pass under the radar. Most things that go by Royal Mail get through no problem.
I had made an order off of Jens P website for Stahlwille combination wrenches, About $150USD, which was a very good price at the time. When I got them (beautiful and work great). This order I got hit but do not remember the amount; all I can remember is the bitter taste left in my mouth for the extras I got hit with.
I made an order off of Sortimo website for 1 box, to give it a try. When UPS delivered it, they collected at the door. Again, I do not remember the amount but it totaled just as much as the box cost me (another bitter taste)
I am in Canada. When Canada Post is the delivery carrier to my house, they aren’t as bad. $10 flat fee + sales taxes. UPS, FedEx, DHL and other main carriers are very excessive with their fees + they have no objection with adding whatever customs & duties.
Do you guys in the US get hit sometimes, often or never?
MM
@Franco
I’m in the US and I’ve ordered many things over the years from Amazon Germany, Japan, and UK. I’ve also purchased things from private individuals and other (non-Amazon) businesses in Japan, Canada, Germany, France, and Denmark. I have never been charged an import duty, “service fee” or anything like that. I’ve had to pay for the postage itself of course, but never anything beyond that. UPS, Fed Ex, DHL, etc…they drop off the package but they don’t collect a penny other than whatever I was charged for postage at the time of purchase.
Franco
If that is the case for everyone, you guys are lucky.
TonyT
@Franco,
You’re allowed to buy up to $800 without paying US customs (returning on airline or via the mail).
Many states (including California) have a Use Tax which is basically a sales tax you’re supposed to pay for items you didn’t pay sales tax on (e.g. US online or international orders).
There can be other issues, such as buying glasses / sunglasses from overseas (the lenses are required to pass a shatter test which is hard to prove; when I bought a Kio Yamato frame from Japan I made sure the seller marked it as glasses frame).
I haven’t had any issues, including getting a Prusa Mk2.5 3D printer from the Czech Republic, but my company did get into customs trouble years ago because of transfer pricing.
Franco
Again, you guys are lucky.
I am 30 minutes from the US border and often go for day shopping. We are aloud $0 till I am out for 24 hrs or more, then can bring in $200 tax and duty free. They recently changed the rule from 7 days now down to 48+ hours, we are allowed $800.
But any online order is like less than 24 hours, so we are aloud $0. Because of time, paperwork and to be nice(???), they allow many items to come through without taxes and duties. But if the declared value is over $100, then the chances increase slightly, $200-300 even more. $500 and above, if it comes in without getting hit, you won the lottery.
Anyway, aside from taxes, and sometimes duties, what kills me is that the carrier acts as a customs broker and does the reporting, and hits you with brokerage or handling fees.
I have had some bad ones in the past. Years ago at Christmas time we decided to order from Disney various clothing with Mickey and other Disney characters for the kids and grandkids. The order was ballpark $350. UPS was the carrier and collected an extra $250, of which 150 was duty and taxes, $99 was the UPS fee.
I was outraged and called them, all they did was direct me to their website where all their fees or shown. Their fee is based strictly on the value of goods; my $350 fell into the tier which was $99. Insane!
MM
I know the UK is very bad about this. When I had my machining business we made a lot of motorsports parts. We shipped worldwide but there was a disproportionately high number of customers from the UK who would ask that we under-report the value of the contents on the customs paperwork so they could dodge import duty. Of course this presented a problem: not only is that illegal, but we also can’t insure the package for more than its declared value, so if that package were to go missing or get damaged we would have no way to replace it, so our policy was not to do that. We couldn’t guarantee proper customer service if we couldn’t properly insure the packages. This really upset some customers and I have been called some colorful names because of this.
Stuart
@Franco,
I’ve never been hit with customers via Amazon DE/UK/JP . With some sellers, such as Prusa (3D Printing), they’ll clearly disclose monetary limits beyond which customs fees can be imposed.
I have had orders held up at customers for other things, such as a pen requiring a HAZMAT waiver due to liquid ink. That never happened with Amazon Japan, but it did happen with a smaller maker that shipped me a sample from Europe.
Franco
I think it comes down to the import policies of each country and how it is enforced, or not. In this case Canada and the US.
I have friends and family in Europe although similar laws, they are more strict in enforcing them, from what I was told.
Franco
Also wanted to add, it has less to do with where it is coming from, but more with the carrier, at least here in Canada.
Not counting countries that might be suspect for security reasons, if I order form most “normal” countries, most items under $100 come in, no problem. The thing is that technically here in Canada, you are supposed to pay taxes on every item purchased. But for small $$$ amounts, it is probably too much paperwork and not worth it.
The carriers, Like UPS, FedEx and DHL probably are told by customs Canada (CBSA) to lay off small amounts, probably because the CBSA would be swamped. As the value goes up, UPS, FedEx and DHL have a vested interest in declaring because the can charge (overcharge) you with a handling fee, which increase along with the declared value. Where as Canada Post with typically a flat $10, probably does not care as much.
Also, in the past few years both Amazon (.ca) and eBay (.ca) will often charge import fees at purchase, so you do not get surprises when the item is delivered. They do not have any exorbitant handling fees, possibly because you see the charge before finalizing and their interest is in making the sale…the carriers have by the b**ls because the order is paid for and their are adding fees after you have paid.
Franco
Look nice and probably work very well, like most Knipex tools. But I have plenty of cutters and crimpers that I will pass on getting these.