Customer Reviews for Crescent Pivot Pro 8in. Compound Action Diagonal Cutting Pliers with Dual Material Grips

I bought these specifically for my carpenters cut bag. They have the features I wanted so I could pull some big tacks or staples and cut ties and clips, adjust the bend of metal ties or hangers etc. pinch and knock off some burrs, even on wood. I used to do a lot of communication and antenna work and these would not be my first choice for wiring because they are too stiff and slow for one handed fast work. They’re not instinctive enough for me. I’d rather have the Klein’s, CL or Milwaukee which will drop a handle losely into one - hand mode. These I just added to the show so I’ll update if needed in the future.

So easy on your hands

Very well build.

I am putting up a welded wire field fence and had to trim the ends. These pliers, with the increased leverage, made quick work of the project. The wire is not thick enough to require bulky bolt cutters but I needed more that the cutters I use for electrical projects.

I am a little conflicted on these pliers. I chose them to keep them in my daily tool bag. Turns out they are a little big and heavy for daily use. However, they are GREAT for the heavy duty jobs. I was using them to pull out staples that were securing 12/2 electric wiring. They worked great! Much better than the a normal pair of linesman pliers. As you can see by the pictures I included below, they are much bigger and little challenging to fit in your hand....especially if you have smaller hands. Also, they cut great too!!

I have had the 8" linesman pivot pro pliers for awhile and I am very satisfied with the performance. It has a good grip for stretching my H lead for my stain glass. And also cuts my Lead nicely. It's outstanding performance it's to recommend to buy this product and let all my friends know what a deal it is . Furthermore I enclosed a picture of your product in action. Wolfpack of leesburg ,florida

I got these 'pliers' to replace my 30-plus year old side cutter. I quoted the word 'pliers' because this item is a snip or side cutter, not pliers in the usual sense, though they do have a half inch-long serrated surface between the handles that can be used to grip something that is bigger than 1/8". The pliers are chunky and machined from forged steel. They are 7 3/4" long, 2" wide and 3/4" thick. At 400gms (14oz), this makes them 30% heavier than my side cutter at 300gms (10.6oz). For me that puts the pliers into an inconvenient weight category. Rather than the single pivot point of my side cutter which I've never oiled, these pliers have two pivots, two sliding joints, and multiple other points of friction which all had oil applied at the factory. Even after wiping off excess oil, oil continued to seep out at the pivots. Unless the pliers can be protected from dust, the combination of dust and oil will create a grinding paste which will shorten the life of the product. When compared to the side cutter, the plier's handles need to be opened much wider to accommodate the same size object at the deepest or most powerful point of the jaws. For a 10d nail, this amounts to 5 3/8" for the pliers, but only 3 1/2" for the side cutter. When set up like this, the pliers cut the nail using less strength, but my medium-sized hands cannot span the larger size, so this negates the power advantage of the pliers. Placing the nail at the half-way point in the jaws, the handles are at the same width as the side cutter, but then the required effort is also the same as the side cutter. The picture shows the two tools opened to cut 12-2 wire. I do not see any advantage in these pliers and will be keeping my trusty side cutter.

When I saw the design of these and the claim they took a lot less power to use they caught my interest. I'm not a young guy any more and I don't have the strength in my hands I used to. So I tire quicker and find some things harder than I used to. So every advantage I can get can help. I tried these out on some solid steel core direct burial electric fence leader wire. It's pretty tough stuff and I have to use both hands to cut it with the heavy blue handle pliers in the picture with these. (I used to be able to do it with one hand but not now) With these I easily cut it with one hand without even straining. The design makes a huge difference in how easily I can cut tough things like this. So these things are great. The heavily padded handles don't hurt either. Makes it that much easier on your hands. They maybe don't open as wide but they open plenty wide for anything I'll be cutting. Anything bigger and I'd need to use my bolt cutters. But these are great for the heavy stuff like this steel wire. And I can see them being great if you are doing electrical working cutting #10 copper all day. I love these things. Best set of pliers I've come across in a long time. The materials are of good quality. Like I said, you can't go wrong with these. This is one of the best new tools I've tried in a while.

Started using these cutters yesterday for some light wiring and couldn't be happier. Had to run a vent fan in the laundry room and these were great at completing the task. Beefy construction, grippy handles, and plenty of cutting power. Compared to my old yellow store brand cutters, there is no comparison. My old ones got the job done, but these got the job done with ease. Note that if you're in tight quarters, the handles do need to open further to open the jaws the same distance as normal cutters, due to the offset hinge. For most work this will be a non-issue though. You can see what I mean in the pics, but watch the vid for real proof.

I have a cheap pair of linesman pliers, but they are relatively small, and I wanted a slightly larger pair that offered more leverage. These Crescent pliers are a great size and are exactly what I was looking for, but the Pivot Pro design has a few flaws. First, the jaws of these pliers are nice and wide, so they grip well and are good for twisting and bending wire and metal. The jaws have a nice long cutting blade, so it's quick and easy to cut and have a large capacity. The Pivot Pro design does work well, providing more leverage and requiring less pressure to produce a tight grip on something or cut through wire. And the long handles allow you to apply quite a bit of force. So the unique joint does work well compared to normal pliers. However, there are two downsides to the Pivot Pro design. The first is that the jaws don't open quite as wide. You have to open the handles wider than a traditional jointed plier and you get slightly less jaw capacity. It's not a huge difference, but it's noticeable when you first use these pliers, particularly if you have smaller hands. Second, and more importantly, is the one real gripe I have about the Pivot Pro design: the joint is VERY stiff and the pliers will not open without pushing or pulling the handles apart. So with each wire you cut or each piece of new material you grip, you have to either use your fingers to push down on the lower handle to open the pliers, or use two hands to open them. If I had to do this dozens (or hundreds) of times in a row to cut wire, it would drive me nuts, and any hand fatigue that the Pivot Pro design reduces would be offset by the additional fatigue caused by having to open up the pliers again with every cut. The joint seems well machined with tight tolerances, so it doesn't feel like it will loosen up much over time, or it will take quite a bit of use before it does loosen up. If Crescent is able to loosen up the joint of these pliers to make them easier to open, they would be perfect. But other than that issue, they are great pliers and work very well. Crescent provides a lifetime warranty on their hand tools under the "Apex Tool Group" company.

This review is for the Crescent "Pivot Pro" 9 inch linesman pliers, model CCA20509, which I was granted a chance to check out. I should point out that I’m a home DIY, not a professional electrician. The Pivot Pro 9 inch is not made in the U.S., but does come with a 'Forever Guarantee". These pliers are heavier than I had expected them to be, very solid, made of forged, not cast, steel. The handles are covered with a rubberized material (see attached photo) that both cushion the grip and make it easier to hold the pliers with slippery hands. The big feature on the Crescent "Pivot Pro" line is the offset pivoting of the handles. On traditional linesman pliers there is a single pivot point but on these pliers the two handles slide on a pin-and-slot design. This is advertised as giving a 40% improvement on cutting effort. I don't have a force meter to test the exact amount, but I'm willing to concede these are considerably easier to use than my other pliers when cutting nails. The jaws have a cross-check pattern for gripping and twisting wire. They will grab and hold a piece of cardboard (I used the cardboard that they came with to test) but will not hold a piece of standard paper. For grabbing and holding the Crescent pliers are better than my other linesman pliers. (See attached photo). One consideration - my other linesman pliers fall open when one or the other of the handles is released; the Crescent do not. They have to be manually opened and given the size of the pliers two hands may be necessary to open up fully. Of course that depends upon the size of your hands, so YMMV. The pliers come well lubricated, but I added some silicone to the pivot point to see if that would loosen it up. It did not – see the attached photo of pliers staying open by themselves). Of course the pliers are new and may loosen up with use. I tried snipping a 6 penny nail (see photo below) and had no problem using a one handed grip to clip the nail into three pieces. Very little effort was required. Cutting an old extension cord was a snap. Given the price point, the "Forever" warranty, the functionality, and the inovative pivot design I'm rating these at five stars and retiring my old pliers to backup status. HTH Regards, Jim

These diagonal pliers advertise to cut 40% eaiser than regular pliers due to a "pivot" joint that gives you mechanical advantage. They live up to that claim. I've cut 12 gauge Romex wire with these, and compared to my old 8" diagonal pliers, the cutting is noticeably easier with these. So if you have some heaver gauge wire to cut through, you will likely be quite happy with these. The build quality on these also seems good. I have no concerns about them holding up well over time. These pliers are a keeper for me. The one potential downside to these (or any cutter that gives you mechanical cutting advantage) is that to make it easier to cut, you have to move the handles more for the same amount of jaw cutting (which is why the cutting is easier). If you are working in a tight location, that extra handle movement might be difficult or impossible to achieve. So if you are going to be cutting in tight spaces, you may prefer traditional pliers that have a "normal" handle movement.

Not only are these easier to cut with, due to the pivot action design, but the handles are extra comfortable. These are very well made and feel good in your hands. The size and the pivot gives you more force, whether it's to cut or while using the plier. 40% less effort to cut means a lot at the end of the day. The checkered jaw bites and holds for easy twisting of wires. These are a great tool to have in your tool bag.

As advertised, well made, quality and holds true to the Crescent Brand.

Horrible design, these pliers require the use of the hand holding the work piece to open the jaws. The pivoting mechanism creates far too much friction to allow the jaws to open using only one hand. I would not recommend buying these. I returned them and replaced them with Husky brand which work as they should.

I replaced my Irwin cutters with power-slot because I wore them out. Irwin discontinued that item. So I ordered the Crescent brand that has the same idea. They work but it takes more strength to cut the same size heavy gauge wire.

So far it's doing what I expected.

Love the extra compound pressure slide!

These cutting pliers work great. I bought my first pair several years ago and now have a set in every one of my work trucks sine they have held up well and my employees all like how they work. The pivot function does allow thicker material to be cut but the real benefit is decreased fatigue. On larger jobs it is really noticeable. A few pairs were stiff when new but have all broken in well after being used for a few days.

the cut is nice and strong, definitely helps add torque, but the jaw needs to be able to open just a little more. The rubber on the handle feels nice but time will tell if it stands up to a typical hard rubber like klein or southwire

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

good grip, tough, and long lasting. first pair still in use. this is the second pair. one pair for dirty jobs and second pair for clean jobs.

I have been using these to cut 3/32 stainless steel tig welding wire. They cut it with no problem, highly recommend these.

Best one I have used so far.

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

work with great ease

Rating provided by a verified purchaser