Diagonal pliers  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to:
navigation, search Diagonal pliers with uninsulated handles.
Diagonal pliers (or wire cutters or diagonal cutting pliers or
diagonal cutters) are pliers intended for the cutting of wire
(they are generally not used to grab or turn anything). The
plane defined by the cutting edges of the jaws intersects the
joint rivet at an angle or "on a diagonal", hence the name.
Instead of using a shearing action as with scissors, diagonal
pliers cut by indenting and wedging the wire apart. The jaw
edges are ground to a symmetrical "V" shape, thus the two jaws
can be visualized to form the letter "X", as seen end-on when
fully occluded. The pliers are made of tempered steel, and
inductive heating and quenching are often used to selectively
harden the jaws.  Diags or Dikes (a portmanteau of "Diagonal
CutterS" is pronounced "dikes") – as in the phrase "a pair of
dikes" or "hand me those dikes" – is jargon used especially in
the electrical industry, to describe