Word has it that Milwaukee will be releasing about a dozen and a half new hand tools next month. The expanded hand tool lineup will include pliers (lineman’s, tongue & groove, combination), cutters (diagonal, ProPEX, tubing), and snips (straight, stubby straight, right, left, right-angle right, right-angle left). Multi-purpose combination wire strippers and long-nose pliers are in the mix as well.
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It is evident that Milwaukee seeks to apply their unspoken you need it we got it M12 cordless tool philosophy to their budding hand tool lineup. But will they succeed? There are already quite a few USA, European, and Asian hand tool manufacturers that dominate this highly competitive market, and electricians tend to be very particular about the brands of pliers they rely on.
Thus far some of Milwaukee’s new hand tools have already gained a bit of popularity, but there are many major established brands that they’re going up against, such as Irwin, Channellock, Greenlee, Klein, Knipex, and Stanley FatMax.
Milwaukee Hand Tools via Amazon
Milwaukee Pliers via Amazon
Update: We just heard back from Milwaukee that these tools will be available as of October 1st. They were designed here in the USA, and made by the highest quality suppliers in Taiwan.
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greg e
Not sure if i am a fan of Milwaukee’s design for the Pliers and wire strips. hmmm… is the C.O.O. known? Please don’t say from a land far far to the east.
Stuart
The same thought crossed my mind and I sent an email to Milwaukee asking them about this.
To be honest, I would be very, very surprised if any of these tools were made in the USA. my gut feeling tells me that they’re made somewhere in Asia. That doesn’t mean they’re bad, though. The one Milwaukee hand tool I’ve tried thus far – their Fastback knife, left me with a fairly positive impression.
From what I can surmise, neither Milwaukee nor Dewalt are going to be putting their names on sub-par hand tools, regardless of where they’re made.
Norm
I have the fastback knife and it works really well.
I also got the Milwaukee 48-22-2113, which is the first screwdriver I’ve seen with a slotted combined with a square bit (which I don’t know why is so popular in my field of work; Electrical). Yes in a lot of fittings the combo bit works really well. I have no use for the “wire stripper”, as I don’t normally deal with solid wire as much as a residential guy, either way I can’t see it replacing a hand set anyway. Really my only complaint, is what I have with all multi-bits, is the softer metal shaft when I really have to torque on hex head screws. They eventually strip out.
With that said, the wire strippers look promising, as they look to be a decent pair of needle-nose pliers as well.
I’m not sure if that tubing cutter ratchets or not, if so I’d be interested.
Other than that, I’ll stick to my knipex pliers.
Stuart
I agree about the wire stripper being promising. Milwaukee’s marketing dept. is calling it a 6-in-1, and it can be used as a wire stripper, small bolt cutter, wire cutter, small pliers, reaming, and “loop making”.
JeffD
After using a dedicated wire stripper, like the Beta 1142, I won’t go back to the all-in-one strippers.
Stuart
Funny you should mention the 1142 – I ordered one this morning. The way I see it, a multi-hole wire stripper may be better when moving from one sized wire wire to another, while an adjustable-sized one might be better for repetitive operations on the same wire size.
Bob A.
The built-in reamer on the wire strippers is an interesting idea, I think Klein should copy them if it’s not patented. Still, like the author mentioned I still like Klein for everything electrical and it would be hard to look at something else. I would definitely buy the PEX cutter though since I can never seem to get the cheap razor blade ones to cut square. It looks the the Milwaukee ones have a reinforced blade to help keep it straight.
Stuart
I believe that the reaming-head and handle features are being patented, or at least Milwaukee says they’re “patent pending”.
The PEX cutter blade does look to be more robust than some of the tubing cutters I’ve seen and used. The blades are user-replacement, but there’s no telling how readily available the blades will be.