Over at Amazon, they have had the Southwire ES001 electrician’s scissors on sale for $7.49.
As you might guess from the name, electrician’s scissors are multi-functional scissors aimed at common electrical tasks such as cutting and stripping smaller wires.
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The scissors can cut solid wire up to 16 AWG and stranded wire up to 12 AWG. There are two grooves for stripping 19 AWG and 23 AWG wires. The outside edges of the scissors are textured for use as a scraper and a file.
A big feature is that the scissors have serrated cutting edges, which helps to keep materials such as wire, cable, and hardware cloth from slipping.
The scissors are plated with a nickel finish for rust resistance.
I think that the serrated cutting edges give the scissors appeal beyond purely electrical-related tasks and applications, but the tool’s smaller size keeps it from being a general purpose tool. It measures 5.38″ long x 2.19″ wide x 0.38″ tall, and weighs 0.19 lbs.
If this is something you could use, whether you’re a fan of electrician’s scissors or considering them for the first time, the pricing seems very hard to beat.
Compared to regular street pricing, Amazon has them for ~50% off. Lowe’s has the next-best price, at $12.38. Other dealers have it for $15-20.
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Sale Price: $7.49
Update: Sorry, it looks like Amazon has sold out. You can check back to see if they restock, but it’s unclear how long that might be or if the scissors will be at the same price. I’m still eager to hear your thoughts on this type of tool.
Buy Now via Amazon
Compare via Lowe’s
Are you a fan of electrician’s scissors? Would you buy these?
Southwire guarantees this tool for life.
Here’s a brief closer look:
Compare: Klein Electrician’s Scissors
Klein also (of course) has a line of electrician’s scissors. They have a couple of popular models – one without stripping notches, one with notches, and another that’s made from stainless steel instead of being nickel-plated. They also have free-fall-style snips, but that’s a very different design.
The Klein scissors are made in the USA.
Price: $15 and up
OldDominionDIYer
That deal is gone! Now it shows 7.95 + 9.45 shipping!
fred
The Wiss (Crescent) is now a bit less at $12.84 :
https://www.amazon.com/Coopertools-175E5V-5-1-Electricians-Scissors/dp/B00002NB9X/
but for small scissors I like OLFA:
https://www.amazon.com/OLFA-Scissors-Stainless-Steel-Serrated/dp/B001D3G51G/
Jason Lester
Klein Free Fall Snips all the way! The Southwire version of those is terrible in comparison. I don’t know about these regular ones.
Brad
There OK nothing wrong with them. I’ve done allot of low voltage alarm and network jobs over the years and I would use Southwire electrician’s scissors over any other type of non scissor wire stripper tool.
The Greenlee 1931’s are more ergonomic than Southwire which I’d buy if I didn’t still have 4 Paladin’s – Greenlee bought them out years ago and lowered standards a titch.
Mike (the other one)
Pay more and get the Kleins.
Brad
I’ll never understand the obsession with a mid-range product like Klien.
There 11-in-1 screwdriver is serviceable but other than that there are far better products on the market (Greenle for starters).
MM
I wonder the same thing. I don’t find any of their tools to be bad, but at the same time I can’t help but wonder what the hype is about, generally speaking. Their screwdriver type tools are nice, but they’re no better than any other mid-priced brand, and they’re certainly not up to the standard of Wiha or Wera. Likewise their pliers and cutting tools are solid, well made tools, but they are no Knipex. When I hear “Klein tools” I know it’s not going to be junk but at the same time I’m not expecting anything exceptional either.
I can’t help but think it is one of those brands coasting on an old reputation; I know they have been popular electrician’s tools in the US for many decades and remain that way today, but I don’t think they are the leader in quality today that they once were.
And just to be clear, I am speaking generally here. I have zero experience with Klein’s, or anyone else’s for that matter, electrician’s scissors. I have no doubt they may be better than the Southwire. My commentary is directed towards this legendary mystique that Klein tools seem to have about them, not anything in particular in this thread.
Peter Fox
I have carried and used my Klein 2001-7’s daily for almost a decade. Sharp, smooth and durable, I have tried other brands and have plenty of options. For a back up pair or if you are only going to use them occasionally other brands are fine and plenty serviceable. However if you are going to use them a lot buy the Klein’s they have been making them well for a long time.
JoeM
Slightly off-topic, but spiritually related to this directly… Does anyone else have the problem that, no matter how many types, and multiples of, any given scissors… you never seem to have enough?
I’m not talking about scissors going missing like lost socks in a dryer… I’m talking, you go out, you purchase… I dunno… Fabric Shears… (Just an example.) and the one pair you buy, you use every day for a month… then when the time comes to use them again… Poof… You need another set. Either you are doing more fabric on projects, or you’re using new fabric the old ones can’t handle.
Standard, mundane, kitchen scissors… Canadian Tire… They have a house brand called Mastercraft. Unlike most house brands, behind the scenes these are rebranded to Mastercraft or Mastercraft Maximum from the top brands all across the spectrum. Mostly SBD, but a lot comes from Bosch and TTi brands as well… Identical to the originals in every way, except the colours used, and the brand stamp. They even perform identically to the products they’re clones of, and carry a lifetime Canadian Tire No-Receipt-No-Problem Warranty. Something goes wrong, you walk in with the broken one, you walk out with a brand new one, or its current equivalent. Period, no questions asked. Several years ago, Kitchen Scissors were put in an aisle bin, on sale for $3 each. I grabbed 10, because they were on clearance for some reason. They work beautifully. But to this day? Whenever we reach for the scissors? They’re all gone. Migrated around the apartment on a multitude of other projects, and package openings. We gather them up, do some dishes and clean them all up, put them in their proper spot… Go to get them when we need them… All gone around the apartment again… STILL some of the best scissors I have ever used in the kitchen or household.
Does anyone else experience this? Where no matter how hard you try, no matter how high the quality, no matter the quantity… You’re always running out of scissors? Even after you clean house, put them all away, and count that you got all the ones you remember… you still need scissors?
This has been one of the biggest mysteries of my life, that’s why I ask. Look at the Southwire Electrician Scissors of the Article. Look how fast they sold out. Then how many alternatives showed up, only for them to sell out as well? Am I the only one that notices that our lives appear to consume Scissors at an alarming rate?
fred
Funny! But seemingly true.
I have scissors scattered about 3 houses, 2 garages a couple of sheds and several cars and travel kits. Some are specialized for use in the aquarium, for cutting bandages, doing barbering, cutting batting, trimming copper came-foil, for camping, crafts, decoupage, dog and cat grooming, dressmaking, electrical and electronics work, embroidery, fishing and fly tying, food prep (kitchen chores), leather work, nail (as in finger, paw and toe) clipping, paper crafts and scrap-booking, pinking, pruning (and bonsai), general sewing and thread snips, cutting tar paper and house wrap and wallpaper. Then there are the general purpose utility scissors that we keep in various desk drawers and cabinets so as to be handy when you need one – but alas – still need to hunt for them when you do.
JoeM
So, like me, you not only have multiple types for multiple jobs, you also have multiples of those types? Just… tons and tons of Scissors? Even Scissors on other things like Multi-Tools/Swiss Army Knives?
Does it seem like you have “Enough” of them? Like.. Ever? Because I’ve come home with more pairs of scissors in the past, and despite the reality that we always need more… I have been asked on many an occasion “Do you really need more scissors?” and the answer is always Yes. I have tried, my whole life, to keep up with having enough of these things, both the correct types for what I do, and the common everyday ones, and… somehow I always seem to need more. And I genuinely don’t think it has anything to do with addiction, because buying scissors does not trigger any kind of happy or satisfied feeling, like a drug would. There’s no “Reward Centre of the Brain” type of reaction to buying scissors. I buy them as casually as I would… I dunno… groceries? Paying rent? Somehow they are just always needed, no matter how many one buys them.
I hate to phrase it this way fred, but your experience in life is so much greater than mine… I’m hoping you’ve learned something in your lifetime that somehow helps me understand this. Among so many users of this site, I have come to greatly respect and admire the many years of life you have over a lot of us, and find you to be an invaluable source of wisdom, knowledge, and quality control as I fumble through the end of my 30’s.
MM
At home or in my personal workshop I haven’t really noticed it since myself and my family are good about putting things back where they go.
At various places I’ve worked? Absolutely. Scissors are one of the first items which grow legs and walk off. I think it’s simply because so many people have uses for them that they often get borrowed for some mundane task and then never put back. Office, lab, fab shop, it’s all the same. I’d say the same about deburring tools like swivel knives, hand countersinks, triangular scrapers, etc, in the machine shop. No matter how many I buy–in bright neon colors to make them easy to see–it seems there’s never one around when I need one. Also tape measures, utility knives, strikers for torches, soapstone crayons, and speed squares fall into this category as well.
JoeM
I have a whole list of things that, yes, in general, “You can never find them when you need them” without doubt. No matter how clean and organized you keep those items, no matter how much you restrict who gets to use them/touch them… You reach for their exact spot and they’re not there. Those I understand.
It’s just… it sounds crazy (but let’s face it, you all know me by now, when do I Not sound crazy?) but above all other items, and I mean even consumables like all the different kinds of Tape I use, Scissors… Just… There’s never enough scissors when you reach for them… Like fred I have all sorts of different specialty scissors, but I even have backups of those, because I’m always reaching for them.
Am I cursed somehow? Or does everyone have some different tool, basic or otherwise, even someone else with Scissors as it… where they keep buying, they stay in perfect condition, they are maintained regularly, sorted and put away regularly… yet still… Never, ever, enough of them when you need them?
And if it is Scissors for all of us… Have we discovered some sort of primal rule for all humans? That the most important invention we’ve ever come up with is scissors, of all things? Do we, as Human Beings, have a borderline supernatural need for Scissors?
I swear to you, this has stumped me most of my life. As an adult now, (which I begrudgingly accept is far more mundane than I make it out to be, the transition was not smooth for me.) when I’m asked “What would you like for (insert gift-giving occasion)” it has become a literal list of Socks, Scissors, and “A new spine if you can manage it. This one hurts.” I say that with a tiny bit of humour, because as much as this does directly relate to the Southwire Electrician’s Scissors going out of stock so fast, I am also quite serious about this strange Scissors-Always-Needed phenomenon.