Pro Tool Reviews: The Milwaukee M18 Force Logic 6T Linear Utility Crimper provides linemen with a fast and versatile way to crimp. It offers a slim grip and an enlarged trigger designed specifically for use with Class 3 gloves. The handle design also provides excellent balance as well as a 340° rotating head. Overall, this linear crimper looks like it fits in really well with the rest of the Milwaukee tool power utility industry lineup.
5 comments:
I found this article intriguing because I have no idea what a Utility Crimper is! I am trying to read more articles that will expand my knowledge of different production values/ tools. I also am a huge fan of the Milwaukee brand as it has been my high school technical director's favorite. It turns out a Linear Utility Crimper is for linemen to use for crimping electrical wires. I was intrigued by its many heads and how there are so many specific tools for specific scenarios of crimping. It just goes to show how little I know about the vast amount of tools out there. Especially with the Milwaukee brand, it was new to learn about tools outside of what would be used in a scene shop and for productions. I really like the 10-second summary it provided listing the advantages of the 6T generation. Even for someone like me who is very unfamiliar with the product, I was able to get a sense of its power, endurance, and versatility.
I keep finding myself writing comments about this type of tool box systems, I mean, they are becoming the new normal for tool boxes. At this point, it seems like almost every major tool company has some sort of modular tool box system. The first company I ever saw that really became "famous" for one was Milwaukee. In no way am I claiming they were the first, because I know they weren't, however, they took it to the next level by adding more components and options to choose from. At this point, off the top of my head I know that Craftsman, Milwaukee, Rigid, Dewalt, Bosch and Festool all have similar modular systems, and I am sure there are more. The Dewalt ToughSystem doesn't seem like a bad setup, however, I feel like they are just playing catchup with Milwaukee. They are just not interdicting the auto locking feature that Milwaukee has already had, and do not have nearly as many modules as them. Overall, seems like a good product that is just a little behind.
Milwaukee, over the last several years, has been getting more and more into designing and manufacturing tools that are extremely industry specific. While they are always working on improving their roots, tools like drills, impacts, and several saws, they have also made huge strides on these industry specific tools all at the same time. From plumbing to electrical and more, Milwaukee has it covered. This tool is no exception to Milwaukee quality standards. As ProTools made it pretty clear, this seems like a professional tool. This is just one addition to the linesman tools family Milwaukee has just made. Other tools they have recently released include a new canvas bucket, tool apron for inside a bucket truck, a tool caddy to be used on a lift, as well as new lineman type multi pliers, just to name a few I am always interested to read about Milwaukee's newest and greatest tool.
We talk constantly in rigging about getting a good crimp on nicopress sleeves, and have even talked about getting an automatic crimping tool for making cable. Since we more often than not make cable before it is attached to something, a tabletop swaging tool would probably be better suited for our operation. However, I would love to see one of these in our shop sometime in the near future. It helps inform our decisions as managers and technicians to compare manual and electric crimps, something we don't have much experience with. I also like that it includes a way to log compressions and collect data, something that is so hard to gauge without a lot of experience. Additionally, it could be used for demonstrations about breaking strength (@Lauren's potential class) and comparing that to hard numbers instead of a macroscopic go/no-go gauge. Additionally, the other features that are included could prove to be useful for a variety of scenery applications, like the cutting jaws. That, however, might make this a restricted tool like the bolt cutters...
Now, this is a tool that theatre wishes it could steal but probably never will be able to. This lineman tool is used to crimp power lines way up in the air. My initial thoughts are how useful that pre-crimp battery check would be because of the likelihood that the tool could have enough power to close halfway, and then get stuck on the cable with a half-closed sleeve. Additionally, the variation of jaws that you can get for this tool seems to make it really versatile for lineman on the job. While I wish I could use something like this in a theatrical setting whenever swaging cables are necessary. However, the cable standards that we follow in theatre specify that the tool brand must match the brand of the crimping sleeve in order to be safely rated. I would love to see more tools like this with sleeve companies coming out with compatible jaws to make this tool more widely used.
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