Review on Fluke Insulated Heavy Duty High Leverage Diagonal Cutter, 1000V, 5067244 by Tim Wilson

These 1000V tools from Fluke are top quality. I have purchased a few from other manufacturer’s in the past and not always liked the ergonomics and feel of them. I do appreciate the opportunity to test these from Fluke because I have found them to be great to work with.Most high voltage insulated handles have the large guards at the transition end to prevent accidental metal contact. These are better designed IMO because I don’t feel like they are constantly getting in the way. Whether I am putting the tool away into the toolbox, into a pants pocket or tool belt they don’t make me dislike them as I sometimes have with others. Likewise when taking the tool out the knuckles aren’t grabbing onto other tools and pulling them out too.The handles are made of a very nice insulator. They are grippy, secure and slightly softening. With or without gloves I find I can use them with good dexterity. If they do get soiled with oil, grease or dirt you can wipe them off with a little soapy water and they clean right up. Do make sure you keep the metal parts oiled. They will rust easily if not. They come from the factory with a good amount of hinge oil but I would coat the entire metal area with a good quality oil. There is noting worse than going to your high dollar tool box to find that a little rain from the night before has wrecked everything because the truck cover leaked.These are smooth acting. I took them and opened and closed them about 20 times while exerting sidewinders and outer forces to loosen them up. As I did so I could feel the slight catch points near full open loosening up and finally disappearing altogether. Now they are silky smooth.If there is one minor thing that I would add to these is an end of the handle identifier. As all the tools in this line have the same looking handles it can be hard to tell what is what just by looking down at the handle tips. Kind of like marking screwdriver ends, have these handles marked would be a great selling feature for Fluke. This is nothing that a Sharpie can’t take care of, but you do have to keep remarking it over time and it doesn’t look as cool as a factory molded mark could look. Other than that minor wish list item I really can’t think of anything I don’t like about them. Made in Germany. High quality. High precision. Reasonable priced. A good value. 5 stars.