Combination Pliers

[Sideways]

If one of your uses is wire stripping, LIDL have just been selling some just like these for £3-4.
There may be some left and they are great. 90% as good as the branded ones selling for £30+ at 10% of the cost.

 

[niall Y]

My enquiry. was mainly prompted by wishing to replace my missing pliers with something equivalent, or even better. A pair that were fairly "meaty", had a comfortable handle and could easily cut thin rod.

I already have other tools with which I can grip things and a number of tools with which I can cut, or snip things. But the convenience of a tool that can do both is handy.

I can see that the more one asks of a tool to be multifunctional, the more likely it is to perform some of those functions better than others. And, with pliers, the snipping bit may well be performed better by some form of mini, bolt-cutter. But, my workshop is already groaning at the seams with tools for various trades, and the more one adds to ones repertoire the more kit one amasses.

A friend, who was a plasterer, used to joke that he wanted to reduce the tools he used to just one - which was his worn float. The sharp edge of which, he found he could use for cutting scrim and plaster-board.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I think last times I counted my pliers, wrenches, stilsons, snips, side cutters and adjustables the total was top side of fifty.

 

[Sideways]

Can't do it !
Keep your combination pliers.
If I had to lose all the others, and most of my spanners and adjustables, I could get by with these three.

 

[MikeJhn]

Supposed to be for cutting brake and gear cables, but surprising the amount of use they get on other duties.

 

[niall Y]

If one of your uses is wire stripping, LIDL have just been selling some just like these for £3-4.
There may be some left and they are great. 90% as good as the branded ones selling for £30+ at 10% of the cost.
View attachment 186049

I still have a pair of wire strippers that I bought from Tandy's ( Radio Shack). back in the '70's They are the sort that grip the wire on one side of their jaws and cut and pull the coating off the end of the wire, with the other, when you squeeze the handles It is one of those clever mechanisms that are endlessly fascinating to watch in action.

Similarly, I have a vehicle jack, that fits into this class of mechanisms, which I purchased for my old land Rover. When you pump a lever , a supporting bracket purposefully climbs up a steel, girderlike, bar that has a series of holes up its length. And, at the click of a latch, it climbs, just as purposefully, down.

 

[Sideways]

And one last pic for Phil before I shut up.
Yes Bahco adjustables are excellent quality and value. I'm no plumber but when I do DIY I find the short / wide jaw Bahco's especially good because they handle 22 and 28mm plumbing fittings where there isn't a lot of room to swing a full size handle

On nuts and bolts where manufacturing tolerances are often not so good, if you can't get a ring spanner on it, better an adjustable pulled up tight than an open jaw spanner that is a sloppy fit.

 

[MikeJhn]

I still have a pair of wire strippers that I bought from Tandy's ( Radio Shack). back in the '70's They are the sort that grip the wire on one side of their jaws and cut and pull the coating off the end of the wire, with the other, when you squeeze the handles It is one of those clever mechanisms that are endlessly fascinating to watch in action.

Similarly, I have a vehicle jack, that fits into this class of mechanisms, which I purchased for my old land Rover. When you pump a lever , a supporting bracket purposefully climbs up a steel, girderlike, bar that has a series of holes up its length. And, at the click of a latch, it climbs, just as purposefully, down.

I have both of those as well, the Land Rover jack gets used for all sorts of things, none of them Land Rover though.

 

[niall Y]

I have both of those as well, the Land Rover jack gets used for all sorts of things, none of them Land Rover though.

The next job for my jack to be used for- is to lift off a five bar-gate.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

My most used Bahco is the one with the reversible jaw - it's angled and serrated on the other side so it grips round bar. Brilliant. I'm having a huge sort out at the moment so it's in a box somewhere.

 

[MikeJhn]

The next job for my jack to be used for- is to lift off a five bar-gate.

We have a New Forest Pony that seems to manage that without a jack and will push the 17.3hands old stallion out of the way when food is on offer.

 

[MikeJhn]

Don't think they have been mentioned, but I have a pair of Stilsons that I inherited from my Father about two foot (600mm) long and in a sort of rusty red not the bright red available today, invaluable for moving large objects, at a pinch make a good hammer.

 

[gmgmgm]

Don't think they have been mentioned, but I have a pair of Stilsons that I inherited from my Father about two foot (600mm) long and in a sort of rusty red not the bright red available today, invaluable for moving large objects, at a pinch make a good hammer.

I recently bought a 24" adjustable spanner (Amazon, unbranded) for a specific task of bending some metal. Lots of leverage, made it easy, much better than fitting some pipe on the end of a spanner. It's come in handy several times as a hammer, and it's amazing at adjusting those big hinges on farm gates or the big nuts on agri equipment.

(Also gets a reaction whenever I bring it out).

I think with that and my little 180mm Knipex I have most bases covered!

 

[Phil Pascoe]

quite interesting, although not exactly scientific -
https://www.google.com/search?q=cha...ate=ive&vld=cid:38add194,vid:1wRXenftyGk,st:0

The reversible jaw on the Klein is similar to the one on my Bahco spanner, although it would seem to be designed to work inthe opposite direction - there is no outer "spur" on mine - the Bahco is designed for the tube to roll into the jaws, whereas the Klein ones seem to be designed to try to stop the tube rolling out. He seemed to me to be using the thing upside down.

 

[Tom K]

I have a pair of these that are excellent -
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Channelloc...dafca123bcca83245526ef98448&th=1&gad_source=1
I'd have thought the grip would be stronger on them than the Knipex design.

Channelocks are regarded as the originals and spawned a million dodgy copies causing much of the poor reputation for the tool. The Knipex tools are excellent.

 

[MikeJhn]

Channelock is a brand name coined in 1934 (patented) and is not the original of the tongue and groove type plier, that can be traced back to 1899 when Vernon Graham Higgins patented the design without ridges in the jaws.

 

[Tom K]

Channelock is a brand name coined in 1934 (patented) and is not the original of the tongue and groove type plier, that can be traced back to 1899 when Vernon Graham Higgins patented the design without ridges in the jaws.

And yet half the world knows water pump pliers as Channelocks?

 

[imageel]

Slightly off-topic since they are not combination tools, however I would also recommend Lindstrom however I would beware many of the online sellers since AFAIKT they no longer manufacture box-jointed tools and to my mind this aside from the high quality of their steel was one of their strengths.
When I tried to by a set of similar for my daughter to use for her hobby jewellery making I found many online sellers mis-selling box jointed versions that were in fact not...
Another manufacturer not mentioned but who make quality pliers and cutters is Maun - who also make parallel jaw versions that are much used in the jewellery trade

 

[MikeJhn]

And yet half the world knows water pump pliers as Channelocks?

Until I read this thread, I had never heard of Channelocks always been water pump pliers to me.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I'd only heard of Channellock as mine are made by them, they were always water pump pliers to me as well.