Lineman's pliers (US English), Kleins (generic trademark, US usage), linesman pliers (Canadian English) and combination pliers (UK / US English), or simply pliers (since other versions are more commonly disambiguated with a prefix, such as "needle-nose", etc) are a type of pliers used by linemen, electrical contractors and other tradesmen primarily for gripping, twisting, bending and cutting wire, cable and small metalwork components. They owe their effectiveness to their plier design, which multiplies force through leverage.
Lineman's pliers are distinguished by a flat gripping surface at their snub nose. Combination pliers have a shorter flat surface plus a concave / curved gripping surface which is useful in light engineering to work with metal bar, etc. Both usually have a beveled cutting edge similar to that on Diagonal pliers in their craw, and each may include an additional gripping, crimping, or wire shearing (for a flat ended cut) device at the crux of the handle side of the pliers' joint.
Atramentizing is a corrosion protection process in which steel is coated with phosphate using a zinc phosphate solution at 90° C (194° F).
Technical Parameters:
| Length | 240 mm | Coating | Black atramentized | |
| Cutting capacity medium hard wire | Ø 4.6 mm | Weight | 0.435 kg | |
| Cutting capacity hard wire | Ø 3 mm | Handles | Plastic coated | |
| Head | Polished | Product code | 09 01 240 |
Advantages:
- High transmission ratio for easy cutting
- Requires 50 % less effort compared with conventional combination pliers thanks to optimised transmission ratio
- Solid construction for heaviest strain; universally applicable
- Ergonomically optimised handle shape for firm contact to the hand and fatigue reducing operation
- Particularly effective cross-hatched knurled gripping zone in the jaws - for strong gripping and pulling
- Additional gripping zone below the joint for powerful leverage and pressing performance
- With cutting edges for soft and hard wire
- Cutting edges additionally induction-hardened, cutting edge hardness approx. 64 HRC
- Vanadium electric steel, forged, multi stage oil-hardened
- Long cutting edges for cutting flat cables
- Cross-hatched, knurled gripping zone for firm gripping and pulling, e. g. for fence construction
- universal mandrel crimping area below the joint
- fish tape puller in the joint gap
- Long cutting edges for cutting flat cables
Wire Classification:
| Material example | Type of wire | Tensile strength | ||
| N/mm2 | kg/cm2 | |||
| 1 | Copper, plastics | soft | 220 | 2243 |
| 2 | Nail, wire pin | medium-hard | 750 | 7648 |
| 3 | Wire rope strand, steel wire | hard | 1800 | 18355 |
| 4 | Spring steel wire | piano wire | 2300 | 23454 |
technical change and errors excepted
