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We Have a Drawer Full of Side Cutters, That’s Expensive
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We have been doing wire wrapping for many years and have ended up with a drawer full of side cutters. They range from under $7 to around $45 in price. There seems to be two themes, the $7-$10 range and the over $40 range. The cutters in the middle don’t offer much advantage, and for my money, $10 or less will get you what you need, read on.
When I reach for a cutter I head for only a couple pairs, depending what I am cutting. For wire wrap, I head to my Value Series Cutter or my 5″ Flush Diagonal Cutters. If I am cutting something hard, I have some cheap cutters purchased in the 1970s. They cut memory wire and are used on projects around the house. If you want a near-perfect cut, you are going to have to spend $45+ on a cutter, as I did. Did I mention I broke mine the first day I had them. They had a fine cutting edge that was no match for my smooth touch. Now, I don’t worry about the tiny blip in the middle of the cut wire. If it is an issue I hit it with a file. Where it is a big issue is with ear wires. We sell a lot of earrings and the ear wire is sometimes part of the design. (If it is not, we use ear wires from Rio Grande.) You can not get away with simply cutting the end you poke through your ear, leaving it untreated. We used to carefully file it down to a rounded point. That was hit and miss. Then we discovered Cup Burs. They are a small bit that is used in a rotary tool. They are sized to match different wire gauges. We now keep a cup bur for each of the wire sizes we commonly use. You cut your wire and stick the cut end into the cup and turn on the rotary tool, a perfect end every time. Get a decent pair of side cutters and spend a few dollars on a selection of cup burs. Steve |
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