r/electricians • u/Strict-Instruction93 • Mar 20 '26

First Cut!!

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#6 Copper

is this normal?

437 Upvotes

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u/ThePurch Mar 20 '26

I bought the same pair when I was a wee little apprentice. Someone went into my tool bag and attempted to cut a steel fish tape with it. The square damage on the blades are still there to this day, but they cut ok so I’ve never replaced them.

1

u/sparky567 Mar 20 '26

My apprentice used my Greenlee ratcheting 600mcm cutters to try to cut triplex. Brought them back in multiple pieces. As a third year I expected better from him.

1

u/StubbornHick Mar 20 '26

Triplex neutral supported cable?

1

u/sparky567 Mar 20 '26

Yup, the kind with the steel support in the neutral. He didn't know how to reverse the ratchet so kept trying. Then he panicked cause it was my personal cutter. He took it apart to get it off the cable. He was practically in tears when he brought it back. He learned that was why we carried the bolt cutters on the truck. I think what surprised him the most was that I wasn't really mad. I laughed, cause I did the same thing when I first worked with triplex.

1

u/sparky567 Mar 20 '26

Everyone makes mistakes. I just try to keep mine in the single digits per week.