The Klein Tools 63050 is a cable cutter rated for 4/0 aluminum, 2/0 soft copper, and 100-pair 24 AWG communications cable. The jaws are cable-gripping shear-type — the top jaw is a knife, the bottom jaw is a shear anvil, and the two close past each other instead of meeting tip-to-tip the way a standard diagonal cutter does. Cutting surfaces are through-hardened, not case-hardened. Beveled jaw tips mate precisely for a clean shear.
Through-hardening is the reason these cutters outlast bargain cable cutters. A case-hardened tool has a hard skin over softer core steel; once the skin wears off, the cutter deforms and eventually fails. Through-hardened steel is hard all the way through, so the jaws keep their profile after thousands of cuts. The shear-type action is the correct geometry for stranded and multi-strand cable — a standard diagonal cutter crushes the wires together and leaves a mashed end, while a shear cuts each strand cleanly. One-handed operation matters when the other hand is holding the cable against a duct, conduit, or pull-point. Compact enough for a tool pouch, which separates this cutter from the bench-top long-handle cable cutters an electrician keeps in the truck but rarely climbs a ladder with.
Aimed at electricians, low-voltage and telecom installers, and maintenance techs who cut stranded cable in tight spaces where a bench-top cutter won’t fit.
Per the Amazon listing, the 63050 is Made in USA with custom, U.S.-made tool steel. Klein Tools has been a family-owned American hand-tool manufacturer since 1857.
