Lowe’s has a neat-looking Kobalt cutting tool – 8″ serrated molded grip scissors.
Kobalt calls these scissors, but the tool has more of an aviation snips-type geometry.
The Kobalt scissors are advertised as being suited for cutting a wide range of material, such as paper, fabric, canvas, rubber. leather, and steel sheets up to 0.8mm thick.
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The tool features a drop forged steel blade and full-length steel tang that extends into the handle.
There’s a jaw locking feature, suggesting the scissors have a spring-action handle.
Lowe’s lists the Kobalt scissors as a new product, but there are reviews going back to 2018.
I don’t recall seeing this Kobalt tool before, but the design reminds me of my much-loved MidWest Tool Knifti-Cut snips.
The user reviews seem positive, with customers reporting good experiences cutting things like vinyl lattice, dowel rods, thin steel cable, and plastic clamshell packaging.
Price: $12.98
Model 57373
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Newsdude55
I have these scissors and they work very well for my needs but what I have isn’t new. Bought them in 2018.
eddie sky
Get these for that &^%$!!! packaging you need to cut (aka anti-theft, pilfer clamshells). You know the ones…that cut more people and bleed seniors more than any saw or chisel!
I have a pair of Fiskars that are similar, otherwise I would pick these up as “openers”.
Jeremiah D
I usually use aviation snips.
Birdseed
I hate claim shell packaging!!! There’s a handful of things in life that when you see one of them you say curse words in your head (at least 😂) and clam shell packaging is one of them!
Jim
Right, like sell me a tool where that tool is required to open it’s package 😅
Koko The Talking Ape
I usually use cheap “trauma shears.”
Greg
Reminds me a lot of a pair of fiskars snips I got a long time ago… maybe at lowes at the time. Minus the fancy coating and spring action. Still going strong.
Fiskars 12-79266984 Titanium Nitride 8″ Industrial Shears
https://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-Titanium-Nitride-Shop-12-79266984/dp/B000SL44G2
David Z
I’ve posted about those here before. They’re great super-scissors. I keep a pair in my tool box and by my hobby stuff.
SteveP
Serrated? The smooth blade ones have been around a while – I have a pair that are at least a year old
Yadda
I have some Craftsman snips that are similar in size. I picked them up at an estate sale. Probably 20-30 years old.
JR Ramos
Is this pair appreciably improved over the ubiquitous shear clones that have been out under so many brand names for years? I can’t remember who the original one was….maybe Wiss if not something German. These look like they may be a little beefier but no mention of the steel used. If it’s one of the stainless steel flavors then the drop forging and beefiness doesn’t really help anything. But they look like a good pair and with nice grips and a concealed return spring. Price is great.
I went through a couple pairs of the clones – they really are handy for so many things. I got a slightly larger pair from Stedi and thus far they have been better quality and maintained sharpness even with soft coil wire cutting and some PVC tubing. Joint is very good and the spring stays in place. The 8″ are definitely better for most work than the usual 7″ imho. I looked at the most recent crop of Wiss branded ones and frankly they looked like the same import stuff at a higher price.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09XB2TF1Y/
MKY
Stuart –
“They’re described these as scissors, but…”
Fowler
They look really similar to the spring loaded scissors from HFT, although it looks like the quality might be significantly higher for $4 extra. https://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/saws-cutting-tools/scissors/8-1-4-quarter-inch-multipurpose-stainless-steel-scissors-97049.html
I like my pair from harbor freight, but the locking mechanism sucks and the handles could be nicer, both of which it looks like this improves on. It also looks like the blades may be thicker steel, which would be another welcome upgrade.
MM
These look very useful. They’re more heavy duty than the Fiskars Micro-Tip snips which I really like, but at the same time they are more compact than aviation snips or traditional tin snips.
Steve L
The Kobalt’s seem to be between a scissor and snips.
I will stay with Milwaukee’s Offset Jobsite Scissors. Serrated edge is razor sharp and slices thru just about anything.
https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/milwaukee-jobsite-scissors-review/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Will use aviation snips for anything too thick or tough for the Milwaukees.
Tim B.
Those seem useful… though honestly, I’ve always used a pair of straight aviation snips for this sort of thing!
Nick
As others have said, I’ve had a pair of these for at least 4+ years now. They’re great for cutting clamshell packaging. I don’t often use them, but when I do, they’re usually the best tool for that job.
fred
My favorite clamshell opener comes with spring-loaded offset blades:
https://www.amazon.com/ALLEX-Super-scissors-Stainless-Scissors/dp/B001M0E5YO?ref_=ast_sto_dp
The last pair I bought were $16.99 – but that was 2016
I think that they are still worth the $20.80 price amazon is now asking
Wayne R.
These are the best I have for clamshells too.
Frank D
Probably works a lot better than some of the other Cobalt Christmas time multi-function cutting and sawing tools that. They have like a three in one compact saw, but the blade comes loose regardless of the blade and what you try to cut.
Anybody ever tried to return them and get cash back???
fred
Doing a little sleuthing suggests that the item (UPC 920909573739) comes from Hangzhou Great Star
D3t
Those look just like the Wiss MPX snips (except the handle color, obviously) I’ve had for over 10 years.
Nathan
well I haven’t seen a set like that before. longer thin blade aviation snips is how I’d describe them. probably wouldn’t cut metal but I like the idea.
Nice to know it exists.
I’ve been using a few sets of cheapodepot serrated shears in the garage as needed and sheet metal shears when it gets bad. (like that double crimped clamshell crap)
Joatman
I have 3 pair of these. Ive bought them a couple years on sale for about $6./ pair.
Wayne R.
Until you’ve got a heavy duty tried-&-true classic style scissors in your hand, made by Wiss or Clauss, made of high-carbon industrial steel, I don’t think a person can really appreciate a pair considered “new”. Here are a couple of classics that really ring true to “real tool” status:
https://www.amazon.com/Wiss-1DSN-Industrial-Shears-Inlaid/dp/B000LDGMPS/
https://www.amazon.com/Clauss-11113-7-75-Inch-Straight-Serrated/dp/B000WG9O36/
Try ’em out, you won’t go back.
fred
We used to use Clauss #332 for cutting rosin paper and tar paper.
They were $37 in 2004 and were made in the USA (back then anyway)
https://www.gwjcompany.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=200
Similarly-sized Wiss shears seem to be better priced (Amazon says lowest price in 30 days) :
https://www.amazon.com/Wiss-Heavy-Industrial-Shears-Inlaid/dp/B005LBN8KM
Brent C
My go-to snips for coal shell packaging is the bessey d15s basically mini aviation snips.
BESSEY D15S-BE Straight Right Left Cut Compact Aviation Snip https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0057PW196
OldDominionDIYer
I recently built a greenhouse and needed something to cut the polycarbonite sheets and used these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTVY8GXK They worked great. The only complaint is the lock mechanism for holding them closed doesn’t work very well. They worked great for cutting the poly though.
Stuart
For PC sheets, why not use the score and snap method?