For those of you in the electrical, installation, telecom, and network fields, Milwaukee has a new lineup of various VDV handtools and accessories. As one of the first releases in this series, the Milwaukee Electrician Snips adds some additional functionality to your standard wire snips.
While there’s not much here on the feature side that we haven’t seen before, what Milwaukee is really going after is solving one of the biggest frustrations – blade loosening.
Noteworthy Features
Bolt Lock Design
These electrician snips feature Milwaukee’s bolt lock technology. Milwaukee claims that the all-metal blades on these bad boys won’t ever come loose from one another. It may not be as sexy as a flush hot rivet joint, but so far, there’s not even a hint of loosening to complain about.
Handle Design
Milwaukee typically puts some effort into making tools that feel comfortable in the hand, and this model clearly has some thought behind it. The Milwaukee Electrician Snips feature a high leverage handle. For smaller wire, you can hold it like a typical pair of scissors. When you want more leverage for a tougher cut, you switch so that your palm is on top providing the force rather than your thumb.
As it turns out, they’re not terribly comfortable. I have smaller fingers and can make it work. I gave them to one of my co-workers with sausage fingers and he almost couldn’t use them considering how relatively small the holes are. While I like the compact design, this is one area that Milwaukee can make a bit larger for the sake of comfort (and guys with big hands).
Multi-Function Blades
As far as the blades go, Milwaukee includes wire stripping notches for your light stripping applications. These work pretty well as a backup for my go-to strippers and there have been plenty of times that the snips have saved me from digging around in my bag when there are just a few quick strips to make.
Milwaukee Electrician Snips have a wire gullet at the base of the jaws. This helps hold the wire in place so it doesn’t walk down the edge when you start your cut. There are also micro serrations that bit down to keep the wire from going anywhere in precision situations when you want to cut near the tips. The blades are plenty sharp out of the package and cut very well.
Price and Value
Milwaukee Electrician Snips retail for around $30. There are definitely cheaper models on the market. These are well-built and carry a limited lifetime warranty. For their primary function of snipping wires, they’re solid and definitely belong in the premium category. Looking around, the closest competitors are a few dollars less, though.
Final Thoughts
The only feature missing here, which we’ve seen on other models, is a notch for deburring metal. The handle ergonomics need some help with larger finger access and perhaps dipping the bare side of the handle to improve the comfort. That said, the functional side of Milwaukee Electrician Snips is outstanding – the best I’ve used. For that reason, they have the starting role in my tool bag.
Milwaukee Electrician Snips Key Features
Bolt lock technology- High leverage ergonomic handles
- Wire gullet prevents wires from walking
- All metal handles
- Forged blades
- Serrated teeth for non-slip cutting
Milwaukee Electrician Snips Specs
- Model Number: 48-22-4045
- Width: 5″
- Height: 1″
- Length: 10.65″
- Weight: 0.75 lbs
- MSRP: $28.95
