JAWS

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Apr 16, 2017
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East Anglia
If you're a qualified, trainee, or retired electrician - Which country is it that your work will be / is / was aimed at?
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Got a few quid together to get myself some quality hand tools, Side cutters, pliers, wire strippers, etc etc and I am torn between these brands.

Knipex
Wiha
NWS
CK Tools

Anyone have any preference..

Cheers
 
Wiha and Bahco drivers. NWS for cutters.
 
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Knipex installation pliers and wiha drivers for me
 
Same for me, the Wiha drivers are excellent. So sturdy and take a beating. You know that moment when you look at the driver expecting it to be broken - nope, lived another day!
I needed some long nose pliers the other day, couldn’t justify £25 ish so I got two pairs of forge steel from Screwflix £11 and they are doing a nice job.
My shears are Boddington electrical, they are decent - have a gander at the website they been around for 35 years or so! Who knew!
Knipex installation pliers and wiha drivers for me
 
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I like Knipex, I've never had their screwdrivers though.
CK are OK but the cost is around the same as Knipex, and I'd rather have Knipex, they seem to stay sharper for longer.
I only tend to but CK as that's what all the wholesalers in my area stock.

Whia, Bacho and NWS are pretty good too, just as good as CK in my opinion.
Never tried Klein tools, ive heard they are good but they are really expensive.
 
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I use wiha drivers and they’re great. I have got a few NWS and CK cutters/pliers. I think the NWS just seem bulkier to me but quality is great from both.
Don’t think you can go wrong with any of those brands your looking at.
 
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The wera screwdrivers are not too bad, also very well priced in toolstation
 
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I have tried them all and have stuck with Wiha for drivers and cutters. They last the longest and i find them very comfortable. And i find them mid priced of the brands.
The slimfix drivers work best for me.

However its a very personal choice.
 
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I have Wiha screwdrivers for me and my mate, find them average. Same with Wera, CK. Irazola and Bahco I found well below average and break almost as soon as you look at them. I like Facom for screwdrivers.

Knipex for pliers, side cutters (if you use them), CK Cropper Cutters are brilliant.

Jokari (CK owned) for some of their cable strippers.
 
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don't like them. fiddlygetting the bits out of the handle, and for £3 more you get 14 bits instead of 6. includes a couple of torx, and +/-
 
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The lift up driver is easily broken. But if looked after it can be a very handy tool.
 
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knipex side cutters and pliers for me and irozola screwdrivers. have a second 5.5 slotted that I ground .5mm off the side so it fits the terminals on the mk sockets. use the right size driver for the screw and I haven't broken any in normal use
 
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Thanks everyone for your feedback took it all on board, bank balance £425 short this morning.
 
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What did you get, show the pics for @Pete999 poor fella is only allowed to win tools these days lol

I have some wera, the straights are ok, but Pz1 and 2 don’t keep their tips well, especially the brass coloured sets, I really like the Klein screwdrivers for the Pz, but find the CK straights are nicer sized for ceiling roses and light switches than any of the Klein straights.

Shears I use 8” Hellermann Tyton
Side cutters are knipex and Klein
Pliers are knipex and Klein
Pointers are Avit.

Never was keen on the CK cutting tools as others said, they don’t keep their edge the same as Knipex does.

I know a lad who went through 5 pairs of ck shears in the time I had a set of the HT ones 6 months later they were replaced as were worn to too loose feeling for me, but they were still as sharp as the day they were bought.

And they’re 65% of the cost of the CK.

It really is a case of trying out stuff and seeing what you like personally.

I have some cheap items in my toolbox because I like the way they feel in my hand or how they operate. And I’ve bought dearer items like the knipex 6 in 1 pliers that to me feel like one of those crappy multitools based on a leather-man, they are just not for me at all. Yet I know loads on here love them.

I don’t even know where I put the set I bought lol
 
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JAWS

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If you're a qualified, trainee, or retired electrician - Which country is it that your work will be / is / was aimed at?
United Kingdom
What type of forum member are you?
Trainee Electrician

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Best quality electrican tools.....
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