Question about Wave wire cutter

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v8_andrew_m

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Jul 30, 2006
Messages
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Hi, I've been a long time lurker of this forum (didn't need to post as archives are pretty useful...til now). As I'm volunteering in the building of houses in Sri Lanka in about 1 month, I bought myself multiplier tool, the Leatherman Wave. I got this off a discount, which is great. Though I wish I should have researched more and should have bought maybe the Swisstool RS, the Leatherman Surge, or the Leatherman Core (I didn't now about this forum until after I bought my Wave and started googling).

Anyway, my question is about the hard wire cutter in the Wave. Is this thing tough enough to cut higher grade chicken wire? What exactly constitutes "hard wire"?

Also, I might go for the Leatherman Core, seeing that "real" workmen use it as in the Plumber's perspective post and as soon as I find a buyer for my wave. My question is I noticed that the Core has a stranded wire cutter and a regular wire cutter. Why did they put two separate cutters? Shouldn't a regular wire cutter be able to cut stranded wires?

Thanks for reading my post.
 
IMHO, the Wave will handle what you need. Do you know if it is the newer 2004 Wave (has stubby bit driver) or the older style? The one thing that I DO like about the new leathermans is that they did beef up the jaws on the tools. I had a 2004 Wave that I gave to a friend once I got my Surge. I used the jaws hard, and he uses them even harder. No hold up problems there. However, the pre-2004 waves had weaker jaws that liked to twist.

The new Wave, Charge, Surge, and Core all have beefed up jaws with hard wire cutters (notch in the very back of the jaws to cut really tough things like fishhooks) and regular wire cutter that have been increased in size by something like 54% (or somewhere around there).

I think you might get a little more umph out of a Core or Surge as the handles are longer. However, any of the newer tools given enough pressure should effectively cut multiple grades of wire (well not welded steel rat wire;)).
I have used both my wave and my surge to cut steel banding on shipments at work with no problems. That wasn't even using the hard cutters.

I think you've got yourself a good all around tool there. The one drawback to the bigger Surge and Core is their size. While it's not bad, hauling around nearly a pound of steel on your belt can be felt.

Jake
 
V8.....Welcome to the forums!
You should be alright cutting most stuff with the Wave, just make sure up put the wire deep down where the notch is to cut the tougher stuff.

Kap
 
Steely_Gunz said:
The new Wave, Charge, Surge, and Core all have beefed up jaws with hard wire cutters (notch in the very back of the jaws to cut really tough things like fishhooks) and regular wire cutter that have been increased in size by something like 54% (or somewhere around there).
Click to expand...

The original Wave has a notch for hard-wire as well. As to why the notch is necessary, the only reason I can think of is that it helps to keep the wire from slipping out.
 
kapt kopter is right, your Wave will work okay. Also be sure to heed his advice about which portion of the wire cutters to use on different types of wire.

Soft electrical wire (usually copper, sometimes aluminum) needs to be "sheared" with the forward portion of the wire cutter. (see photo) Attempts to cut steel wire in this area will result in a notched cutting surface, which pretty much ruins this feature of your multi tool.

The hard wire cutter area is closer to the plier pivot, where you can apply more leverage. It is for any type of steel wire, including fish hooks, bailing wire, and fencing. This "hard wire notch" could be more aptly called a wire breaker than a wire cutter. The two opposing surfaces are blunt, and when the right amount of pressure is applied, the steel wire simply snaps apart.

Chargewirecutters.jpg
 
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