It might be time to admit I have a problem

[pickdropper]

Interesting. Are your Hakko cutters forged or stamped?  Mine are cheap stamped cutters and are the disposable pair I use for things I don't care about.  Perhaps they have a higher end line I don't know about.

Mine look like this:



And yes, you are totally right; don't cut guitar strings with cutters unless they are hardened.  The nicer ones I have are precision cutters made for for soft metals.

I highly recommend you try a set of Erems or Lindstroms.  Excelta makes some decent ones as well, but they vary.  They are usually a cut above (pun intended) the Cresecent, Xcelites and Hakkos.

I have the same one that you Pickdropper
and it does the job really well.
Mich P.

That's cool.  It's always nice when you find tools that you like.


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[brucer]

You have a problem?  Let me tell you about problems!  I keep reading this thread and I still can't decide what to buy for my first pair of quality sidecutters (my cheap ones are mangling things ... again) or where to buy them here in Canada ... does anybody have some advice for this Google-challenged hack?

[miter53]

I pair I just got (pictured above) I picked up on EB for $20 + shipping.

[pickdropper]

I pair I just got (pictured above) I picked up on EB for $20 + shipping.

Awesome.  I've bought some of them on eBay.  There can be risk involved because tools can sometimes be worn out (or resharpened too many times) but overall I've had more good luck than bad.

I've also founds some really good deals on eBay on NIB cutters.  Those are worth looking out for as well.

[davent]

You have a problem?  Let me tell you about problems!  I keep reading this thread and I still can't decide what to buy for my first pair of quality sidecutters (my cheap ones are mangling things ... again) or where to buy them here in Canada ... does anybody have some advice for this Google-challenged hack?

Active Tech carry Hakko and Xcelites but it appears none of the higher end brands. I've a pair from Xcelite and they're not at all impressive. Love to find a Canadian source as well.

http://www.active123.com/Brands.html

edit
As good as being in Canada, Digikey carry Erems & Xcelite but they also have a US brand called Swanstrom mid-priced side cutters, any opinions on those?

http://www.digikey.ca/product-search/en?FV=fff40013,fff8022f,fffc00e8&chp=0

[pickdropper]

You have a problem?  Let me tell you about problems!  I keep reading this thread and I still can't decide what to buy for my first pair of quality sidecutters (my cheap ones are mangling things ... again) or where to buy them here in Canada ... does anybody have some advice for this Google-challenged hack?

Active Tech carry Hakko and Xcelites but it appears none of the higher end brands. I've a pair from Xcelite and they're not at all impressive. Love to find a Canadian source as well.

http://www.active123.com/Brands.html

edit
As good as being in Canada, Digikey carry Erems & Xcelite but they also have a US brand called Swanstrom mid-priced side cutters, any opinions on those?

http://www.digikey.ca/product-search/en?FV=fff40013,fff8022f,fffc00e8&chp=0

In general, it's more about how the tools are made than the name on the tools.  I usually buy the ones I do because I have had experience with them and know them to be high quality.  I've had very good luck with the Swiss made tools in general.

Most of the cheaper cutters out there are stamped.  These deform rather easily with use.  They are also usually fairly cheap, which makes replacing them a bit more tolerable.  The jaws often don't match up as well and they usually aren't quite as sharp.

Drop forged are usually ground to be more precise.  How precise and how sharp depends on the manufacturer.  The style of cut (semi-flush, vs flush vs full flush) depends on how they grind the jaws to mate.  Some of the nicer ones even have user definable stops so you can't press too hard and grind the jaws against each other (which will dull them over time).  Some of the companies have fancy marketing terms such as "precision drop forged' which usually means that they were ground by a CNC instead of by a person.  Other companies, like Erem, claim it isn't drop forging but a proprietary process (that looks an awful lot like drop forging).  I don't know enough about the process to know if that is true or not.  Their cutters are top notch as long as you know that most are made for cutting soft metals.  Their tungsten carbide cutters are made for harder metals but I can't bring myself to pay $150-200 for a set of them.

As far as Swanstrom, it depends which ones you get.  I've seen a couple at work that were pretty decent for the money.  The first one on the Digikey link is the same OEM model that Hakko sells, it just has the Swanstrom name on it (they are sold under many many names).  It is an inexpensive stamped cutter, which is fine, but you should know what you are getting.

The rest of them are $25-35.  For around that price, you can probably find a NIB Erem on eBay, which would be my recommendation.  For example, here are a few I found that look like really good deals:

Erem 2422e NIB - Currently $20 + $5.80 shipping

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Erem-2422E-5-Oval-Head-Full-Flush-Cutter-/221632046087?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item339a4ca407

NIB cutters pop up all the time on eBay.  You can find them if you look.

There are also used cutters available that can be worth trying out if you are willing to accept that there is risk involved.

[davent]

Unfortunately with ebay listings shipping to Canada is not so nice.

That NIB $20 listing shipped to canada shows $15.80 shipping $7.35 import charges and those are $us so official exchange rate turns it all to $50cdn.
dave

[pickdropper]

Ugh.  I would skip that too.

Probably a better bet would be to find somebody in the US to buy a set and ship them to you.  If you can wait until after the holidays, I can help you out.


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[dadler]

Of all of them, the Erem 2422E and 776E get the most use.  The 2422E is more standard size with an oval head.  The 776E is very small and has a tapered relieved head.  If I were to recommend one, I think the 2422E would probably be a good choice as an all around cutter.

Thanks-On your recommendation, I ordered a set of the 2422E from Amazon.

An aside: In the past, I have never received counterfeit Apex Tool Group products from Amazon (have purchased a lot of the green-handled Xcelite electronics pliers without issue). Hoping all will be good here as well.

Amazon used to be my go-to place for almost everything, but now I second guess my purchases after receiving a few counterfeit items. And they also keep a running ratio of your returned item count to ordered item count, and if you exceed a magical unpublished threshold, they ban you forever. So I have become more judicious in my purchasing, and often order from other vendors even if it costs a bit more to avoid headache. /Rant.

[pickdropper]

Interesting.  I didn't realize they had a magic threshold of returned items, although I can't say it's completely surprising.

Let me know what you think of the cutters.  Hopefully you like them.

[davent]

Here they are on Amazon.ca- $161cdn. (+$24 shipping) Top seller i'm sure!

http://www.amazon.ca/Erem-2422E-2400-Full-Flush-Cutters/dp/B00EBZWLBQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1418337789&sr=8-2&keywords=erem+2422e

Amazon appears to have them in their store for $71 but out of stock at the moment.
Digikey, well, well $65.

Ebays looking good again!

Dave , Thank you very much for the offer! I'm ok for now, was just casting about seeing if i could find anything to help Brucer out. We have to be ever vigilante searching out the locals and vendors south, with good cross borders deals.

Thanks!
dave

[brucer]

... was just casting about seeing if i could find anything to help Brucer out.

Woo Hoo!  Thanks for the suggestions and research.  Now I can have a problem too!

[davent]

... was just casting about seeing if i could find anything to help Brucer out.

Woo Hoo!  Thanks for the suggestions and research.  Now I can have a problem too!

Yes, yes, misery loves company, one for all, all for one, we must all suffer together!

[raulduke]

This thread has finally persuaded me to get a proper set of cutters.

I have in the past bought cheap pairs and got rid as soon as they have blunted.

Getting a proper set should work out far more cost effective in the long run.

[alanp]

The Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness only works if you buy ONE pair of $50 boots.