Lineman's pliers
Encyclopedia
Lineman's pliers also called combination pliers are a type of pliers
Pliers
Pliers are a hand tool used to hold objects firmly, for bending, or physical compression. Generally, pliers consist of a pair of metal first-class levers joined at a fulcrum positioned closer to one end of the levers, creating short jaws on one side of the fulcrum, and longer handles on the other...

 used by electrician
Electrician
An electrician is a tradesman specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, stationary machines and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance and repair of existing electrical infrastructure. Electricians may also...

s and other tradesmen primarily for gripping, twisting, bending and cutting wire
Wire
A wire is a single, usually cylindrical, flexible strand or rod of metal. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads and to carry electricity and telecommunications signals. Wire is commonly formed by drawing the metal through a hole in a die or draw plate. Standard sizes are determined by various...

 and cable
Cable
A cable is two or more wires running side by side and bonded, twisted or braided together to form a single assembly. In mechanics cables, otherwise known as wire ropes, are used for lifting, hauling and towing or conveying force through tension. In electrical engineering cables are used to carry...

. Linemen's pliers owe their effectiveness to their plier design, which multiplies force through leverage. Lineman's pliers have a gripping joint at their snub nose and cutting edge in their craw. Some versions include either an additional gripping or crimping
Crimp (joining)
Crimping is joining two pieces of metal or other malleable material by deforming one or both of them to hold the other. The bend or deformity is called the crimp.- Uses :...

 device at the crux of the handle side of the pliers' joint. Lineman's pliers typically are machined from forged steel and the two handles precisely joined with a heavy-duty rivet
Rivet
A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite the head is called the buck-tail. On installation the rivet is placed in a punched or pre-drilled hole, and the tail is upset, or bucked A rivet...

 that maintains the pliers' accuracy even after repeated use under extreme force on heavy-gauge wire. Like many hand tools, linemen's pliers are available in a specialized version that is insulated and rated for use on potentially live wires, but this use requires very specialized training and licensing and is not permitted in many locations.

Durability

Like most hand tools the durability and useful working life of Linemen's pliers vary greatly according to load, frequency of use and the specific design and quality of the tool. Linemen's pliers may be forged out of alloyed or unalloyed tool steel. For basic quality pliers unalloyed tool steel with a relatively low carbon content of 0.45 % may be used. Top-quality pliers are typically made from higher carbon tool steel and alloyed with elements such as chrome, vanadium and moly. In addition to being suitable cutting soft copper and aluminum, pliers may be specifically designed for cutting hardened wire, such as piano wire or nails, by induction hardening of the cutting edges.

Cutting

Lineman's (or Linesmans') pliers are an essential item in the electrician's tool complement. They cut, bend, and may be used to strip wire insulation or cable jackets. As with most pliers and scissors
Scissors
Scissors are hand-operated cutting instruments. They consist of a pair of metal blades pivoted so that the sharpened edges slide against each other when the handles opposite to the pivot are closed. Scissors are used for cutting various thin materials, such as paper, cardboard, metal foil, thin...

 or shears
Shears
Shears may mean:* trauma shears, scissors used by emergency medical personnel to quickly and safely cut clothing* kitchen shears, a kind of scissors* pinking shears, a kind of scissors* blade shears, typically used for shearing animals...

, lineman's pliers apply most force closest to the pivot-point of the two handles, so for larger materials, the closer one can get the wire or cable to the joint or 'craw' of the pliers, the easier and cleaner the cut will be. Premium Lineman's pliers may have the pivot point moved closer to the cutting edge in order to produce much greater cutting force.

Bending/Straightening

Lineman's pliers can be used to bend or straighten heavy- gauge
American wire gauge
American wire gauge , also known as the Brown & Sharpe wire gauge, is a standardized wire gauge system used since 1857 predominantly in the United States and Canada for the diameters of round, solid, nonferrous, electrically conducting wire...

 solid wire or sheet metal components, especially in cases where smaller pliers don't offer enough mechanical advantage
Mechanical advantage
Mechanical advantage is a measure of the force amplification achieved by using a tool, mechanical device or machine system. Ideally, the device preserves the input power and simply trades off forces against movement to obtain a desired amplification in the output force...

. The square nose and flat side of Lineman pliars is particularly useful for creating accurate right angle
Right angle
In geometry and trigonometry, a right angle is an angle that bisects the angle formed by two halves of a straight line. More precisely, if a ray is placed so that its endpoint is on a line and the adjacent angles are equal, then they are right angles...

 bends.

Cutting metal-clad (MC) cable

A rotosplit
Rotosplit
Roto-Split is a highly-specialized tool invented by Lucifer C Ducret, the founder of It is used in stripping the casing from metallic-clad electrical power cable...

 is the ideal tool for this job, but lineman's pliers can be used to first 'crack' the spiral casing of the cable by bending it sharply, partially exposing the insulated wires, inside.
This creates a place for the pliers to gain purchase, and, with the application of strong force with two hands, they will cut the cable.
To strip the cable, saw through one wrap of the spiral metal casing using a metal-cutting saw blade (for example, on a hack saw or powered reciprocating saw
Reciprocating saw
A reciprocating saw is a type of saw in which the cutting action is achieved through a push and pull reciprocating motion of the blade.The term reciprocating saw is commonly assigned to a type of saw used in construction and demolition work...

) and then use two pliers to twist the casing sharply and break apart the sections on either side of the saw cut.
If no saw or rotosplit is available, it is possible (though laborious) to use lineman's pliers to grasp the end of the cable and unwind 12 inches of stiffly-spiralled aluminum to expose the wire inside.

Gripping

The most common application of the lineman's pliers in gripping is to twist bare (stripped) wires together, to form a common electrical connection
Electrical connection
An electrical connection between discrete points allows the flow of electrons . A pair of connections is needed for a circuit.Between points with a low voltage difference, direct current can be controlled by a switch...

 between the wires (wire nut
Wire nut
Twist-on wire connectors are used to fasten two or more electrical conductors together. They are a type of electrical connector.Twist-on wire connectors are also known as wire nuts or cone or thimble connectors. Marrette or Marr connectors are two other trade names for such connectors...

s can be used to enhance this electrical connection and guard against corrosion
Corrosion
Corrosion is the disintegration of an engineered material into its constituent atoms due to chemical reactions with its surroundings. In the most common use of the word, this means electrochemical oxidation of metals in reaction with an oxidant such as oxygen...

 of the contact-points between wires, as well as to insulate the bared wire ends and provide additional mechanical 'locking' of the junction). The gripping action of lineman's pliers is also used to pull fish-tape ends in a long (high-friction) wire run through conduit
Electrical conduit
An electrical conduit is an electrical piping system used for protection and routing of electrical wiring. Electrical conduit may be made of metal, plastic, fiber, or fired clay. Flexible conduit is available for special purposes....

, to crimp
Crimp (joining)
Crimping is joining two pieces of metal or other malleable material by deforming one or both of them to hold the other. The bend or deformity is called the crimp.- Uses :...

 soft metals, or to pull nails and other fasteners.

Other functions

Lineman's pliers are similar to needle-nose pliers
Needle-nose pliers
Needle-nose pliers are both cutting and gripping pliers used by electricians and other tradesmen to bend, re-position and cut wire...

: both tools share a typically solid, machined forged steel construction, durable pivot, gripping nose and cutting craw. The main differences are that the slender nose of the needle-nose pliers enable it to form small diameter bends, and position or support items in awkward places. Needle-nose pliers typically have a lower handle/nose length ratio, reducing the force that can be exerted at the tip. Also, needle-nose pliers tend be available in smaller sizes (for electronics
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...

 applications, they may be found as small as 1/10 scale of the full-size version).

Lineman's pliers may be used to cut steel screws up to #10, and virtually any dry-wall screw. Although, unlike some multi-purpose wire-stripping pliers, lineman's pliers will not always maintain a clean thread-continuity after the cutting, drywall screws typically will still function in drywall or soft woods such as those used in light-frame construction; driving the screw in reverse with moderate pressure will 'drill' a starter-hole, allowing the remaining threads of a cut screw to engage and draw the screw in normally. A machine screw cut by linemans' pliers may function properly about 60% of the time.

Lineman's pliers sometimes include an integrated crimping device in the craw of the handle side of the pliers' joint. The nose-end grippers of lineman's pliers are designed to come about 1/16" short of positive contact, when the pliers are fully closed. The pliers' gripping end may be used to squeeze soft metal flat, and function well as a crimper in some applications.

Lineman's pliers have a tapered nose suitable for reaming
Reamer
A reamer is a metalworking tool used to create an accurate sized hole. The process is called reaming. They may be used as a hand tool or in a machine tool, such as a milling machine or drill press.-Construction:...

 the rough edge of a 1/2" or larger conduit
Electrical conduit
An electrical conduit is an electrical piping system used for protection and routing of electrical wiring. Electrical conduit may be made of metal, plastic, fiber, or fired clay. Flexible conduit is available for special purposes....

, or cleaning sharp metal from the inside of a standard metal knock-out in an electrical enclosure such as a junction box
Junction box
An electrical junction box is a container for electrical connections, usually intended to conceal them from sight and meter tampering. A small metal or plastic junction box may form part of an electrical conduit wiring system in a building, or may be buried in the plaster of a wall, concealed...

 or breaker panel. Some brands manufacture pliers (i.e. Ideal) with a narrower jaw, suitable for reaming smaller conduit.

Professional Lineman's pliers are quite rugged and though not rated for striking, they are quite often used to sink (but not set) concrete inserts, pound nails, or chip small bits of concrete. Sometimes nicknamed an electrician's hammer.

External links

http://www.wihatools.com/300seri/326_combination.htm
http://www.kleintools.com/content/history
http://www.channellock.com/Category.aspx?zcid=94
http://www.knipex.com/index.php?id=1216&L=1&page=group_detail&parentID=1357&groupID=1362
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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