I'm not an electrician so I can't speak for those who are, but I am a mechanic. These little cutters are very, very sharp and will cut through ties like never before. Almost like butter. But I use them to remove tiny screws and nails from flat tires that a standard 8 inch wire cutter would be too big. They're small and narrow enough to get into hard-to-reach places between tire threads, although a downside to these cutters is that the steel is quite soft. After a few uses I noticed that the steel rubs or bends. Nothing special yet, but I can see they'll probably need a replacement. I hope not soon. But otherwise they are great and I would definitely recommend them. And they're really cheap.