Toolbox - Pliers

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Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Vise Grips.


Agree. Also needle nose, slip joint, and standard.
 
My favorite pliers are the Channellock "Professional" slip joint pliers as shown in the lower righthand corner in the drawer.

351u420.jpg
 
Must have:
*Real* Vise Grips... needle nose and curved jaw. Other brands are junk.
Slip joint
16.5" Channel Lock tongue & groove (there is no substitution for a BIG Channel Lock)
10" Channel Lock tongue & groove
Diagonal cutter
Needle nose
Long reach needle nose
Wire stripper with crimper... I probably have a dozen different wire cutters, strippers, and crimpers in my box.
 
I find that I use water pump style pliers a lot and have them from small to extra large, I don't really like the basic slip joint style very well. I like having smooth jawed pliers as well, I have one from Knipex They call a "Pliers Wrench" I find myself using a lot instead of a crescent. It's great for softish pipe fittings that I don't want to mar up while still giving me grip on the object a crescent can't.

http://knipex-tools.com/index.php?id=102...mp;groupID=1500

Can't get better than Knipex when it comes to pliers.
 
What makes these particular needlenose so good? Do they grip really well or...? I'm pretty selective about which tools i'll buy off the tool truck
 
I find that I like lineman pliers for a lot of stuff. They just have better grip and leverage it seems. But there is no one size fits all. For gripping something, Ill take the lineman pliers over a slip joint much of the time, but you certainly need at least a pair of slip joint, needlenose and "channel" pliers. From there you can get other stuff based upon pinches youre in...

Per the post above, skyactiv's set looks about right...


351u420.jpg
 
channel locks, vice grips, side cutters, diagonal cutters, some 16" needle nose in 90 and 45 degrees, hose clamp pliers, snap ring pliers
 
Originally Posted By: Ethan1
What makes these particular needlenose so good? Do they grip really well or...? I'm pretty selective about which tools i'll buy off the tool truck


The length of the handles mainly. Most nose pliers on the market have absurdly short handles that are too small for my hand to get a good squeeze on. The P92S handles fit my hand very well. The overall length of the pliers is 9 inches and large portion of that length is attributed to the handles. The overall quality is second to none. I have never found a better quality pair of nose pliers anywhere else on the earth. They are not made by Stanley; they are made by a company called KAL Tools. At the time I purchased mine, they were made in the USA and the part number was a little different because of the green grips. They no longer come with the green textured grips; they're only offered in the smooth red grips which are not quite as nice, but since the overall quality is the same, I can overlook that.

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Pliers walk away from my toolbox. Especially needle nose. I know over the last 15 years I've had at least a half dozen 'nice' pairs (craftsman, channel lock) disappear. I have had probably twice that in cheapos come up gone. The cheapos were tackle box pliers that became tool box pliers as the good ones were abducted. I was doing brakes the other week, and could not find a single pair. I stopped at the HF, bought a pair, went home, and as soon as I walked into the shop i saw my last good pair sitting on my workbench. They were laughing at me....
 
Lots of good recommendations in this thread, all I can add it buy the best pliers you can afford, cheap ones make working with them miserable.
Look at Klein (one of my favorites), NWS, Channellock, Knipex, Wiha. Don't forget inside/outside snap ring pliers and a good CV boot/Oetiker clamp pliers, this is a must if you do CV boots or anything that uses Oetiker style clamps.
 
Knipex.
They're German made and a step up from Channellock.
They cost more too.

Simply put, the Channellock are Chevrolets, and the Knipex are BMWs (but without the electrical issues).

There's nothing wrong with Channellock, they're a fantastic value, made in USA, and a lifetime warranty. I have over 20 tools made by Channellock.

I also have 3 made by Knipex and they're incredible.
 
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