What do you cut wire with?

[DerekWhipple]

What is your preferred tool to cut fly tying wire? With wire rib, the helicopter technique usually works for me, but I haven't figured out what to do with brushes. I have a sacrificial pair of scissors, but it's still murder on them. Something that holds up, but is still small enough to cut close to the body would be best.

 

[Zak]

What is your preferred tool to cut fly tying wire? With wire rib, the helicopter technique usually works for me, but I haven't figured out what to do with brushes. I have a sacrificial pair of scissors, but it's still murder on them. Something that holds up, but is still small enough to cut close to the body would be best.

I either use an old pair of short Fiskars curved scissors that I bought at a hobby shop, or I use the very bottom part of the cutting on my good scissors, near the hinge.

One of these days, I'll get a small flush cutter tool.

 

[CRO]

diagonal wire cutters. should be able to find some small pair in a craft store.

 

[Draketake]

Flat edged fingernail clippers
cheap
strong

Work perfectly.

 

[troutpocket]

The first tying scissors I bought are my dedicated wire cutters. I put a little tape on the finger loop to remind me.

 

[G_Smolt]

A 4" end nipper. Works like a charm for everything I don't wanna use expensive scissors for.

 

[Sam Roffe]

I've used scissors. But I also am a electronic tech so I have 1/2 dozen side cutters laying around. The micro ones work great.

 

[RCF]

Flat edged fingernail clippers
cheap
strong

Work perfectly.

Bigger hands?
Toenail clippers

 

[Matt B]

 

[Matt B]

Srsly tho I have an old set of these cuticle nippers that I keep in the tying tools for clipping stubborn wire.

 

[skyriver]

Srsly tho I have an old set of these cuticle nippers that I keep in the tying tools for clipping stubborn wire.


View attachment 192371

Same. They do well on 100# fluoro as well. You know, when I'm casting wet socks for those stupid log fish.

 

[Russell]

Kline telecom scissors. They were made to cut smaller wire. Or the Kline flush cutters. Both work well with wire

https://share.google/uH9zreriTTCEVEvsT

https://share.google/zzJA1eJLqmxTOVJtp

 

[Paige]

We used to call them dykes, but apparently that is a derogatory and insensitive term now days

 

[fatbillybob]

diagonal wire cutters. should be able to find some small pair in a craft store.

and home depot and old school electronics stores that sell resistors and transistors

 

[clarkman]

Knipix High Leverage diagonal cutters are always in my musky boat box in case i need to cut a hook (haven't yet), but they work great for wire too.

 

[Norm Frechette]

 

[Brute]

Small diagonal cutters…next to a regular sized diagonals for comparison

 

[MELinOre]

Toenail clippers

That's what I use

 

[Jaydub]

On the fly, I either bend and break off the wire or use flush cutting wire cutters. Regular wire cutters can leave a short stub of wire, hence the flush cutters.

 

[rattlesnake]

Side cutters (tho I see maybe I’ve been calling them the wrong name cause others say diagonal cutters).

Still using the cutters but for brushes, one way is to wrap as much as you want, then kinda pull back some and pull the material out of the brush or trim it close. Then tie off on the wire. You can then bend the wire like folding it back over the fly and linking the wire and then helicopter. Even if helicopter doesn’t work, you’ll can get in there with the side cutters more easily.