Teng Tools 6" Mega Bite Cable Cutters Review - MB444.6

These Teng cutters are a slightly heavier duty form of wire cutter. They are designed for cutting electrical cables to maximum diameter of 22mm whilst only requiring single handed operation.

Product specs;

• Titanium coated joints
• High carbon steel
• Vinyl coated handle
• Length - 160mm/6"
• Cutting capacity - 22mm diameter (Copper or Aluminium)
• Weight - 181g

Pro's 

• Sharp blades
• Perfect size for one handed use
• The vinyl coated handles are really grippy
• Great Value
• Cuts all sizes of common household cabling

Cons

• They take a bit of wearing in
• They wont cut steel reinforces cables

If I had to choose one pair of wire/cable cutters to use for the rest of my life it would be these.

Before becoming an engineer I had a brief delve into becoming a qualified electrician, absolutely everyone that I trained under has a pair of cutters similar to these as they are the most useful design.

This set of Teng cutters are manufactured from high carbon steel which is harder and tougher than tool steel or stainless steel which is normally used. As such, this provides the ability to hold a much harsher cutting edge than other similar products from cheaper manufacturers. The tool makes short work of any standard electric cables and even thin cooper, aluminium cables and even brass screws.

The above image shows a brief selection of cables which the tool has no problem cutting through or stripping the sheathing from, from left to right 0.5mm tinned copper / 3 x 1.5mm^2 general household wire / 2 x 4 core copper tinned stainless steel sheathed 7mm diameter.

Shown below is a closeup of the stainless sheathed cable detailing the smooth cut obtained without mashing the outer braiding. These cutters are also perfect for cutting coax cables.

As shown, the tool has twin crescent shaped cutting faces on the blades unlike a standard pair of snips. The crescent shape helps to trap the cable as it applies an equal cutting force around 80 percent of the wires circumference. This leaves no resultant force trying to eject the wire from between the cutting faces. This is opposed to standard edge cutters which due to the distribution of cutting load always have a resultant away from the hinge leading to the wire sliding away form the fulcrum of the cutters.

The crescent shape also has the benefit of squishing the wire less during cutting.

They are unable to cut steel cables and cutting steel screws will result in notched blades. If you are looking for a pair of cutters for this sort of application then I would suggest something more along the lines of these, Knipex Wire rope cutters 190 mm  

Although I am sure it wouldn't have been part of the original design specification the smaller of the two pairs of crescent blades are perfect for quick wire stripping with only a quick twist the cutters easily slice through any outer sheathing. Although not as good as a dedicated set of wire strippers because if your not careful you can simply cut through some of the strands they are lot better than using a Stanley blade or side cutters.

The only minor gripe I have had with this product since purchasing it (to replace an older notched pair) was that the middle separating cutting tooth offered a bit of interference upon closing but over time this has smoothed no end always leaving a clean crisp cut.

I also own a pair of the 10" cutters which I will review separately but as an everyday tool i would always recommend the 6" or 8" variation as a more useable sized tool.

Conclusion:

In all I would highly recommend these cutters to just about everyone, from the home DIY'er to the electricians and mechanics of this world. You will be surprised at the amount of uses that you find for them. They are available in a range of sizes as well as brands if you didn't feel like stretching to a Teng set I do know that the Irwin Visegrip Cable Cutters are available for an acceptable price and will be almost as good. I would suggest staying away from any unbranded versions though as they tend to be manufactured from lesser grade materials and have a habit of notching easily.

These are one of the most useful tools I own, I purchased mine from amazon Teng Tools 6" Cable Cutters (Mb444-6) Pliers - MB444-6