Wire Cutting 101

[mete]

I was doing electrical work today with little stuff , 16 and 18 Ga .I was about to quit when I realized I needed one more piece .I grabbed the first piece I saw and cut .But it took a lot more force than anything I had cut today ?? Strange , I looked at the edge not sharp at all . I got home and found a magnet - the 'copper' wire was magnetic ! I had mixed a piece of Copperweld with the regular copper wire ! Copperweld is hard steel coated with copper which I use for antenna wire . Abrasive paper and a computer mouse took care of that quickly makes a nice convex edge.

 

[orthogonal1]

What knife?

The coated wire annoys me. You think it is copper or aluminum and your edge gets f@$ked up, makes one think the steel is bad for no reason.

 

[Tony8179]

I'm an electrician by trade and I have to say that I never use any of my knives to cut even the smallest AWG of wire. I will use a knife to sometimes strip larger wire (1/0, 2/0, 500 Kcmil, etc.), but a pair of lineman pliers, diagonal cutters, or wire strippers/cutters work best for cutting. Every job has a specific tool and cutting wires is not the job of a knife.