ICON Flush Cuts Beat Snap On? Appears so. Harbor Freight wins Flushness, Smoothness, & ties Hardness 

Youre the only unbiased snap on guy on youtube. Just keeping it real and honest. Some guys on the tube just cant accept the fact that times have changed and that you can get high quality tools with a good warranty at a fraction of the cost as a snap on tool. This is the case with some exceptions. The only justification for snap on really is to support USA made products. Otherwise, over priced and simply not worth the premium.

HF is really moving in the right direction. Their new Icon wire strippers, punch sets, pry bars, and quarter turn snap ring pliers are all made in USA🇺🇸

Currently setting up the kid with their own tool box of hand me downs and slowly upgrading mine with whatever ICON has available.

Can you make a shop tour video? I would love to see your tool collection and how you keep everything organized.

Those snap-ons have a hamon like a samurai sword from the heat treatment hardening quench...wow

Those small cheap snips are great for dealing with packaging zip ties. And we use them at work for snipping aluminum lashing wire. As far as not cutting completely through, it could be a measure to keep from sending tiny pieces sailing across the shop or into a place you really don’t want it.

Love the reviews, I actually don't have either or any of the cutters you showed on this video. I however do have a GodHand Blade One GH-PN-120 flush cutter. It sits in my snap on tool box at work. I figured once my GodHand flush cut goes dull or bad/break. I'll move onto the Icon Flush Cut. Having over $100,000 dollars in snap on tools, there's much more tools nowadays where your tools don't need to be Snap On tools. Still wrenching professionally daily. Thanks for the video!

That magnifying viewer you guess in this video is very cool.

I believe the ejection of the zip tie is for efficiency...when you're really good you can land them in a trash barrel , thus saving time 💰✌

OH, the snap-on has a stamped logo, totally worth the money!

Hello again, Doc Thank you for another Great Video 👍 Interesting study tonight. Again thank you 😊

I have them both and I honestly love my snap on, however the icon is also nice as well. I cut zip ties just about everyday and depending on what bag I take for the job at hand is what I use. You honestly can't beat the price for Icon!

How do they get away with copying all their designs exactly on every tool

It’s scummy for harbor freight to literally copy the snap on stuff, but honestly reading these comments made me realize it’s for the better. I only buy snap on not just for quality but because I’d rather support the original product not the copycat, but harbor freight doing stuff like this will potentially help snap on from ever getting too greedy with price

An actualy review and test instead of a bias opinion as to why the icon is crap cause its not snap on. I really enjoy the icon line of tools and will for sure he buying more

Great video

Great comparison Doc I do appreciate Harbor Freight and I purchase the majority of my tools there I can't justify Snap-on prices but if someone feels better buying from Snap-on more power to them

1:00 i like your sense of humour

Been using the icon set for a year and no issues whatsoever definitely worth the price.

Good video. I enjoyed it.

Great video and presentation. So they are both great tools. The only difference is the price. But for cutting zip ties the icon is just perfect. Only time can tell if the snap on is worth the price.

My Snap On pair doesn’t seem to have that gap and cuts about the same as my Icon pair. So maybe a little tighter QC from Snap On is in order on these. Another thing I’ve noticed with the Snap On (and possibly the Icon as well) is they are far less brittle than the traditional flush cutters like those Klein’s. I’ve bent the tips of my Snap On’s by contacting something I shouldn’t have, but they’ve never sheared off.

Yes it is feature somtimes when you cut something you do not want that part to drop into workspace it can be remowed by your hand

Nice vid. I might try cutting soft copper a few times, then see if either cutting edge haa residual divots. Then also look at the cut finish on the wire. (Wear safety glasses!) Maybe also try different wire sizes. If you have a third hand clamp for use with the microscope might show the wire edges more clearly.

I bought the icons last weak with the 25% off coupon.. so far, super sharp and effortless.

Just recently grabbed those Icon snips. They seem great. I replaced my Klein flush cutters with them. Lets see if they can hold up to the abuse to which I tend to subject those types of tools!

No Flying bits of zip tie and wires are the reason Knipex 78 13 125 ESD Electronics Cutter Super-Knips with lead catcher are the best.

I have both the snap on and the icons and the Kleins and i tend to grab my red mini klein and the icons a ton more then the snap on cutters because they seem to do better from my view

nice to see this equipment out again. in thinking about the making of these tools, I suspect it won't be the same closing cut I'd suspect tooling will drift during the making of the line and variation on both would be present under microscope. A fresh icon or a fresh snapon off the recent tool change could be diffrent than the 4000th unit by a lot. (or whenever the tooling changeovers are. )

The hip hop of tools. Everything is a sample from something else.

Yes please do more on metal hardness. I bought a pair of electrician pliers from HF, loved them but they turned to crap cutting copper wire after only 10 or so sockets.

I have both and prefer the icons over the snap on 💯

I use them for my fingernails, they're great. I like the knipex for my nails 💅 the most, but the Icon might be a better option for cutting wires and ties 👔

A great set of flush cut pliers are the Proto j206gxl

I've been searching for almost a year for a review of these snap-on flush cutters with the cushion throat clippings catcher. Please doc!

Fujiya, 3peaks, & godhands also make good snips.

Looks like they're perfect for cutting tough toe nails.

Do the same comparison with the Godhand, Tsunoda, and other precision cutters

What’s that light pad you were using for backlight?

Now Take a 125lb. Zip tie and now test the pressure it takes on the handles to make the cut. I would also like to see the same test after 10 years of use on each… lol

Not making a completeCut is handy when trying to Use them to Strip Wire Coatings 7:40

They are produce by the same manufacturer just labeled or branded for the company selling them with what tolerances they request. I would think I could be wrong. 😊

As a owner of both pairs reaching more for icon ones agree with video, but snapon got more pointy tips which is useful sometimes.

I bought some of the pistol-grip Icon pliers by mail, and the machining in the tip is off-center. I'll take them back as soon as my local store has them back in stock. So Icon seems to have some glitches in manufacturing. But I find the cheapo flush-cutters perfectly adequate for my needs, so I'm happy with the 4 for $10 kind.

I have a smaller pair of spring loaded SnapOn flush cut, and a larger pair, and neither cut quite as flush as the Icon.

If i am a Strapon rep i am starting to very nervous from what i am seeing from Harbor freight.They are upping there game and going right after the tool trucks.And we love it strapon has been robbing people for years

I like the rounded tip cutters alot better. Ive never liked flush cut at all.

Isn’t icon Taiwan and snap on USA? So how the same place ??

The thing is I try to say to anyone as unbiased as possible You can only re invent the wheel so many times with difference Basically a lot of various brands look very very VERY similar. In the end I’m willing to bet on average the vast majority of Taiwan made tools roll off the same manufacturing plant(s) as others with various minor difference As example The Carlyle, icon, and Milwaukee wrenches are all made in Taiwan and all feature the same open end jaw. Guess what….made by kabo… this is where the very very VERY similarities end. Same plant same open end jaw. 1. Different metal compositions even if only by 3% or smaller etc 2. Wrench length/body (Milwaukee has curved edges on the body where as icon has more of a rough almost squarish “corner” of the wrench body 3. Polish/finish/chrome etc But ultimately they are at their core the same in terms of function and location of origin In fact capri “wave form” is as it appears at face value the same open end as the three mentioned above

3:24.. that's from use...☝️

I love what harbor freight is doing with the icon line. I can go to my local harbor freight and get quality tools at a fair price. The snap on truck doesn’t come to my house. So if wanted to buy snap on. I’d have to buy online, then how would I warranty them if a tool broke? That’s what’s great about harbor freight

You can flush-cut zip-ties with almost anything - it's just a matter of technique and knowing the tool.

I think Icon using red for their tools is for a branding identifying trait, kind of like Honda's racing bike color is red.

What about the God hand

Being in the industry for well over a decade the only tools that i feel like inregret buying are all snap on stuff. Bc i bought them for convenience name value and financial incentive. Still have many harbor freight tools where i cthought holy crap how do they do this that cheap!?

Got’em all, old Xcelite still the best.

i bought a pair but theyre so stiff. i guess i need to break them in

Speaking of terminal crimpers, Snap-On makes some of the best (sta-kon style) crimpers available. The 9" long 29ACF... but they're pricy. I like them even over & above the Thomas & Betts classics. Also, for the record I've never been much of a Snap-On 'fanboy', but a smattering of their stuff just has no equal.

My work toolbox is 90% snap on. The box it's self is snap on. But at home. Its all h.f. and I been gettinf h.f. tools for work the last 6 months. Im done with the snap on prices.

I'll take the ICON

Flush cutters need to be CHEAP because they're consumables and there's little to no difference (except for the extremly cheap Chinese ones that usually come in packs of 5 and break on first use) between flush cutters! It's basically the one and only tool where you don't want to buy the crème de la crème. The Piergiacomis are excellent (rebranded as something like Hakko or whatever in the US). Buying a SnapOn is total waste. Same goes for Knipex or even some of the cheaper Japanese ones since you still get 2-3 Italian made for the price of 1 Tsunoda or whatever.

Not completely cutting through is intended for FOD control.

The Snap-on is forged and the icon is not and the cutting edge is heat treated on the snap on as well.

Does anyone consider that snapon may have done shady things in the past that make them deserve this? Seems a lot of that going around these days.

How does HF not get sued for trade dress?

I paid 15 $ for mine at hobo fraight

👍ℹ️

The Snap-On pliers are probably rejects from their Lindstrom factory.

I cut zip ties with a nail clipper.

No, ICON won't offer fluorescent green or fluorescent orange handles because they look cheap. JS

The difference in the cut is so minimal that it is irrelevant. The biggest difference of concern is the quality of the metal. Edge retention is obviously going to be better with the snapon. In the case of these particular cutters, they should be able to be taken apart to resharpen. They do not need to be built like a plier.

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Snap on has been such a disappointment. Every damn plier comes absolutely stuck or stiff. Someone needs to be fired over there.

Snap On takes another L

Who cares about the color of the handle. Green vs Red, does anybody care??

Knipex shits on both of them

Most Snap On fan boys are in depth up to their ears and are nowhere making the money to get out of it anytime soon.