- Tools & Workshop > - Photo: Stanley Sometimes called
electrician's pliers or engineer's pliers (the latter variety is
often sold without insulated handles), these are very versatile
steel tools. Linesman's pliers are descendants of nineteenth-
century tools called bell pliers, because they were used by bell
hangers for cutting and twisting the wires used to connect un-
electrified household bells. Like other pliers, they hinge at a
pivot point, so working the handles together or apart causes the
jaws to close or open. The jaws have shallow serrations for firm
gripping, especially of flat objects like sheet metal, which
explains their popularity among sheet-metal workers. An
electrician relies upon the jaws for twisting together wires
into a cone-shaped knot that is then protected by a plastic
insulator called a wire nut. Immediately behind the jaws are a
pair of side cutters, designed for cutting wire. Using them to
cut nails will dull them quickly. Though the pliers are sold in
various sizes, with lengths fr