Diagonal pliers or wire cutters or diagonal cutting pliers, are
wire-cutting pliers (though they are not used to grab or tun anything, but are used to cut wire). They are sometimes called side cutting pliers or side cutters, although these terms are shared by other pliers designs and may lead to confusion. The plane defined by the cutting edges of the jaws intersects the joint rivet at an angle or "on a diagonal", hence the name. Instead of using a
shearing action as with
scissors, they cut by indenting and wedging the wire apart. The jaw edges are ground to a symmetrical "V" shape, thus the two jaws can be visualized to form the letter "X", as seen end-on when fully occluded. The pliers are made of tempered steel and inductive heating and quenching is often used to selectively harden the jaws.
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