High Leverage From Laser Tools – Cutting It Easy 

It’s ironic that the things I might have sneered at a little when my hands were arthritis free are now things that I look for to make my life easier – and my hands less painful.  

The case in point is some new high-leverage pliers and cutters from Laser Tools that are designed to considerably reduce the amount of effort that plumbers, fitters and any other tradespeople who need hand tools – the vast majority, that is – might have to exert when cutting and preparing cables and wires.  

There are a couple of ways to modify these kinds of tools to increase the leverage available, so maybe we should start with the simple one: the High Leverage 7-in-one pliers.  

Long Enough is Key 

At 215mm long, the pliers have long jaws that open wide as well as give more leverage for easier cutting. The longer jaws also make it easier to fit seven functions all in one tool, as Laser Tools has developed a knack for truly simplifying our day-to-day and saving us precious running around time.  

Starting with the 11mm wide serrated front jaws that are good for pulling and twisting wires and removing bolts for example, then follows a range of four half-moon cutting slots for different gauges of wires from 18 to 12.  

After that there is a large and effective general wire cutter and, behind the fulcrum, a couple of screw cutters, a crimper and a reamer.  The quality of the pliers feels good enough that all of these functions will work even for professional use because I have seen so-called multi-use pliers that are not good enough to perform the multi-functions very well. 

I had no trouble at all cutting and stripping standard electrical lighting and power cables using these pliers and I guess time will tell if they can keep up the ‘as-new’ performance. 

Some design effort has clearly been put into the shape and design of the handles to be comfortable and non-slip in the hand, which is, as ever, much appreciated for the older generation of tradespeople – and some of the young’uns as well. 

Side Cutters = New Fulcrum Design 

These side cutters are a bit longer than ‘standard’ cutters, coming in at 190mm.The extra length, however, accommodates the set of two fulcrums that work on a double lever to give easy cutting on wires as thick and tough as coat hanger wire.  

The double fulcrum is not a new idea – there are variations around on other products, but all I need to say is that they work, and cutting tough wires is definitely easier than with a standard side cutter.  

Normally the trade-off for easier cutting is a smaller jaw opening, but Laser has solved the problem because the handles spread wide to open the jaws wide too. 

Talking about handles, – they are well-designed for easy grip and easy application of ‘squeeze effort’ when cutting tough wires. They fit my hands really well and  

there is a small lock on the fulcrum that keeps the jaws closed and protected when not in use – handy too when the cutters might spend a lot of time in a toolbag with lots of other tools.  

Professional Quality? 

It was easy to use both of these tools from the off. They did not have the stiff fulcrums that sometimes come with new pliers or cutters and this indicates careful, quality manufacture. I tried hard to leave marks on the cutting edges of the tools by cutting away with hard cables and wires, but they stood up well. You might like to consider these Laser tools when you next need some cutters or pliers, as the quality will hold up to any professional standard.