Diagonal Cutters

Mini Diagonal Cutters. These are great little cutters! A must have for clipping leads and extra solder tails. 4" long.

Diagonal Cutters Product Help and Resources

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September 19, 2013

This tutorial covers everything you need to know about through-hole soldering.

Core Skill: DIY

Whether it's for assembling a kit, hacking an enclosure, or creating your own parts; the DIY skill is all about knowing how to use tools and the techniques associated with them.

1 DIY

Skill Level: Noob - Basic assembly is required. You may need to provide your own basic tools like a screwdriver, hammer or scissors. Power tools or custom parts are not required. Instructions will be included and easy to follow. Sewing may be required, but only with included patterns.
See all skill levels


Comments

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  • bobdabiulder / about 7 years ago / 1

    I wish I could review this, but I recieved this as a gift. Works great, cuts almost anything. Still tough to cut thick things, but it's doable.

  • adamj537 / about 13 years ago / 2

    These work fine, but the springs can work loose from the handles. They are held in place by a notch in the steel handle and the padding. The end of the springs can fall out of the notch, making the spring not work right.

    • I find myself wrapping a little tape around the metal prongs and handles. Then I just slide the rubber grips over and it seems to work pretty good.

  • Afterthis101 / about 11 years ago / 1

    I thoroughly enjoy these for clipping solder tails, filament ends, and small zip ties. I keep a handy pair next to my 3D printer. The SparkFun logo on there is a really nice touch, too. These really are not for cutting leads or larger zip ties. Use flush cutters for those.

  • bigG / about 13 years ago / 1

    Its seldom I offer comment, but having just purchased and tried these I have to say that these "cutters" can't cut the mustard. If you literally say what they do, then I suggest they should be called mini diagonal wire squashers. A little blunt... mind you casting my eye again on the description given above I think it's correct they're really solder cutters and not wire cutters.

  • Azdle / about 13 years ago / 1

    Ordered these back in may, finally needed them today. They're total crap. They can't cut even the smallest resistor leads. I didn't have any other cutters that would fit, so I ended up just squeezing really hard, this smushed the leads to the point where I could bend the leads back and forth and snap them off.

    • Kamiquasi / about 13 years ago / 1

      For cutting leads and such, you really should be using flush cutters. Sparkfun sells some that look like they should do the trick just fine, but if you want some really good ones, look for Piergiacomi ones.
      I've got the TR-25 myself - in use for well over a year and practically zero wear. One of the other major advantages is that the handles are at an angle to the 'beak', allowing you to get flush to the PCB without your fingers getting in the way.
      The down side? They're not exactly $2 :)

  • soehler / about 13 years ago / 1

    These use to be real nice low cost cutters, I use then a lot, but today I got a new pair and was verry disapointed by the quality, they lock when you cut something. It seems that spark fun changed suppliers, I miss the old one

  • NXTreme / about 14 years ago / 1

    Great little clippers. I really like the fact that they are red and have the SparkFun logo engraved on one side.

Customer Reviews

3 out of 5

Based on 3 ratings:

Currently viewing all customer reviews.

These pliers suck

They don't fit your hand naturally (it's a feel thing), too small for big people, the cutting edge didn't hold as well as other clippers and even notched on stuff that wasn't hardened.

Works fine

Works okay for clipping wires and breakaway headers, but in most cases I prefer flush cutters, wire cutters, or snips.

The perfect little Diagonal Cutters

When you need a cheap little pair of cutters, these are it! The grip is great, and they're sharp. the 4" size is perfect to always have on hand. You shouldn't be ordering these for lots of heavy duty cutting, but as someone with large hands (XL gloves do not fit me), I can say that these work perfect for cutting solder or wire or whatever quick snips you need. Grab yourself a set of these so you don't need to be dulling your preferred sets of flush cutters on simple cuts.