Removing old cable clips

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior

Soldato
Joined
4 Aug 2007
Posts
22,664
Location
Wilds of suffolk
I have loads of old cable clips on the outside of my house
Multiple sky installs over the years

I tried some normal pliers but don't seem to be able to grip them enough to pull them straight out, a wiggle will loosen them, but then the mortar seems to come off with the nail

If I use a claw hammer its the same, because it pulls at a slight angle it breaks the mortar

Anyone got any ideas? It looks a mess and really want to tidy it up before we add an aerial and yet more clips!
 
Old pair of sidecutters, pinch the base of the fixing nail in the cutting jaws and use the shape of the tool to lever it out against the wall
 
DXP55 said:
+1-- did it for a living
Click to expand...

Sorry you mean what adam said, assume so

I was thinking side cutters but dont actually own any so would need to buy some, well technically I do have some but they are small precise ones and would bend before the clips gave I am certain

Need to pickup some grout from screwfix so will take a look and grab a pair from there
 
Mcnumpty2323 said:
or mole grips/locking pliers
theyre great for all sorts of stuff :)
Click to expand...

The problem I found is that I just cannot get enough friction on the plastic bit, no matter how hard I squeeze they are slippery to some extent.
These nails are really grippy, they are ridged so bite well.
Will try the side cutters, they look like I imagined the tool i needed, the claw hammer works but the leverage point is too far away and that causes to much of an angle on the pull
 
Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
The problem I found is that I just cannot get enough friction on the plastic bit, no matter how hard I squeeze they are slippery to some extent.
These nails are really grippy, they are ridged so bite well.
Will try the side cutters, they look like I imagined the tool i needed, the claw hammer works but the leverage point is too far away and that causes to much of an angle on the pull
Click to expand...
mole grips will lock on no matter how slippy stuff is
they apply a lot more force than standard pliers
and dont need to keep squeezing once theyre locked

but if dxp55 did it for a living go with what he used

though picking up a cheap set of molegrips while getting sidecutters
is still a good idea they are so useful for multiple stuff around the
house for the car even the pc if you get the tiny long nosed ones
 
Would also have to agree with end cutters although I have never used them -They are much cheaper than side cutters.
 
you hold the tool parallel with the wall too, and use a piece of steel/wood to act as a fulcrum/provide controlled extraction/prevent damage,
pliers with a side cut too, near pivot. should work
 
I was wondering about end cutters, ordered the ones above seems rude not to at that price, will give them a go, hopefully can pull straight out without falling off the steps ;)

Will pickup some side cutters if the end cutters dont work

Funny I am never shy to buy some tools, just had open reach round to pull my fibre cable for FTTP, and they couldnt get it through, wanted to cut the top off the trunk, so I lent them a hacksaw (small one as they only had large) that was hard going so lent them the multi tool so they could cut the trunk off. They had boxes of kit but not things like that, really surprised.
Bad news is they still couldn't pull that cable so now its waiting for some subbies to dig a trench and replace the trunking. Go live not due until end of July anyways so no rush.
 
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