On Tue, 16 Feb 2010 08:13:30 -0500, "Wild_Bill"
wrote:

Cotter pins, safety lockwire, steel fence wire and various other steel wire
products are routinely cut with hand tool diagonal cutters or wire cutters
that are not specifically made for copper or aluminum only.
Many quality wiring pliers/crimpers/strippers include screw cutters, that
cut steel screws without any damage to the tool.


I have a pair of twister pliers for lock wire. They are not actually
meant to be use to CUT the wire either, even though they have side
cutters incorporated into them. Any monkey knows how to flex fracture
wire that uses a medium that work hardens. That is the right way to
"cut" lock wire. In fact, one is supposed to use the side cutter to
simply score the wire a bit, and then the number of flexes is reduced to
just a few.