What do you guys use vise grips for these days?

[mikey03]

I used to run vice grips more often but honestly since I got better tools I dont use them that much anymore. I used to use the big round jaw ones for doing stuff like removing hard water locked on garden hoses but since I got Cobras I use those.

I used to use vise grips to squeeze down coolant hoses but since I got hose pincher pliers I use those.

Used to use vise grips to deal with worn down fasteners but now I use knipex Pliers Wrench or Twingrips.

I've used them to rip carpet nails out of concrete but now I use linesman pliers.

Honestly the only two things I used vise grips for in the last year was drum brake springs and to hold some small sheet of sheet metal I was drilling a hole in and wasnt near a bench vise.

are they honestly kind of obsolete these days? What do you use them for and which styles are most useful where other tools haven’t obsoleted them?

 

[Retired dozer fixer]

Can you say welding?

 

[AJHD]

I don't weld or fabricate/build anything, so my uses for vise grips has been minimal at best. I've only owned a few in my lifetime. Currently only have 1 and it's in my car.

I should really buy a few. Though I'm not paying for Eagle Grip/Snap On unfortunately.

 

[toolenthusiast]

Yeah, up to 100 pairs at a time for welding / drilling / fit-up. Any time you need something held together while you work with both hands. When you need to hold something really tightly but it’s not practical to put it in a vise. Whenever you’re working in the field and you don’t want to carry Cobras AND hose pinch pliers AND pliers wrench AND twingrips AND linesman pliers.

 

[kody1234]

I think that was the first tool i bought back in the day.I still have it.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Pinching, clamping, grabbing, hammering, twisting, welding, cutting off air, blood, fuel flow. They latch on and don't let go. A plus in my estimation. I bet they are my most used tool. I'm in that drawer most every day.

 

[DAWrench]

are they honestly kind of obsolete these days? What do you use them for and which styles are most useful where other tools haven’t obsoleted them?

Far from obsolete!! They have been around for a long time and will be around well into the future.

Like has been said as welding clamps or when you need a third hand. I consider them as a necessity in any tool box. I have had a pair as a handle on my shop air ball valve for years. Had a pair on dump truck window crank when I sold it

 

[jack stand]

It's easy to have half a dozen involved with a little fab/welding job not counting an equal amount of C clamps.

 

[Hakeem]

Changing drum brake shoes:

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

The needle nose ones work really good for those stupid sway bar end links that have the nut and Allen key slot. Hold the back with the vise grips and zip the front off with an impact and it makes the Allen key not needed. And I used some the other day for a TPMS sensor nut that had rounded off by someone before me. But I’ve used them several other times too. Don’t see them on the used market much anymore but far from extinct I’d say.

 

[richfinn]

I use mine mostly for making a good electrical ground when testing/jumpstarting vehicles with inaccessible batteries.

Also use them occasionally attached to a slide hammer for pulling casings off engines etc.

They can make a good temporary handle or clamp when welding or bonding stuff together.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Used the larger needle nose ones yesterday to hold washers and short pieces of tubing while I ground the roughness off.


They work great when you don't want to get your fingers close to an abrasive device.

 

[AA/FC]

What do you guys use vise grips for THESE DAYS?

I use them for the same reasons today that I used them for 20 or 30 years ago. Nothing has changed.

There are 1001 uses for vise grips (probably more) and I seem to find those uses on a regular basis.

As a general rule of thumb, I am a pliers junkie. I probably own close to 100 different pairs of pliers. All different shapes, sizes, brands, etc. (not including vise grips. I own close to 100 of those, too) You'd have to look high and low to find a certain pair of pliers that I don't already own. I still use vise grips on a regular basis (not including welding) and it's NOT because I don't own a better tool for the job. It's because the vise grip is the perfect tool for the job. Vise grips are far from obsolete. Honestly, and please don't take this the wrong way.... but if someone thinks vise grips are obsolete, they probably don't do much work with their hands in the first place. Saying vise grips are obsolete sounds like (to me, anyway) a person who works in an office 5 days a week and because their weekend hobby didn't require a vise grip for the last few months then somehow they must now be obsolete. lolol. Anyone who works with tools on a regular basis knows better. Again, that's just how I feel, I could be dead wrong....

 

[dchawk81]

I use vise grips to grip visily.

 

[Mr_B]

use them a lot for brake drum work, awkward hose spring band clamps, awkward clips, stubborn screws/pins, holding drop links for nut removal, brake lines when even snapon flare nut wrench let you down (5lw and 7lw can be great for this)
Far from obsolete, for sure you can find other tools use for your scenario but a variety of decent vise grips gives you lot of problem solving ability for small money .

 

[jack stand]

Then there's the pipe clamps.

 

[AEAdam]

I’m with you @mikey03!

Vise grips destroy anything you use them on. They are for rusted beyond belief agricultural equipment and welders. I’ve used mine recently for removing rusted nails in my barn and the SOBs pinched me!

I guess they are essential tools, but I hate using them and avoid them. I will not keep them in my automotive toolbox. When I really need them, I have to go somewhere filthy and dig thru a rusted toolbox to get them.

 

[KnurledNut]

I used to run vice grips more often but honestly since I got better tools I dont use them that much anymore. I used to use the big round jaw ones for doing stuff like removing hard water locked on garden hoses but since I got Cobras I use those.

I used to use vise grips to squeeze down coolant hoses but since I got hose pincher pliers I use those.

Used to use vise grips to deal with worn down fasteners but now I use knipex Pliers Wrench or Twingrips.

I've used them to rip carpet nails out of concrete but now I use linesman pliers.

Honestly the only two things I used vise grips for in the last year was drum brake springs and to hold some small sheet of sheet metal I was drilling a hole in and wasnt near a bench vise.

are they honestly kind of obsolete these days? What do you use them for and which styles are most useful where other tools haven’t obsoleted them?

You answered your own question.
One tool that does the job of many.

 

[AreBeeBee]

I sometimes wire-wheel small items and don't want to wire-wheel my fingers, even in gloves. For this I use the smallest curved jaw and smallest needle nose, depending on the shape of the item and where I'm locking onto it. I also have a slew of larger ones (all kinds) as general purpose clamps when it absolutely, positively must not let go.

 

[drmarkr]

I sometimes wire-wheel small items and don't want to wire-wheel my fingers, even in gloves. For this I use the smallest curved jaw and smallest needle nose, depending on the shape of the item and where I'm locking onto it. I also have a slew of larger ones (all kinds) as general purpose clamps when it absolutely, positively must not let go.

Gloves + wire wheel......? Risky.

Vice grips? Probably seven or eight pairs of various configurations in our box, used regularly for various needs, has already described above.

 

[AreBeeBee]

Gloves + wire wheel......? Risky.

Agree — which is what led me to the tiny vise-grips. (Besides they're cute.) And I use their bigger siblings to hold things anytime I don't want to use clamps made of flesh and bone.

 

[sk farmer]

I’m with you @mikey03!

Vise grips destroy anything you use them on. They are for rusted beyond belief agricultural equipment and welders. I’ve used mine recently for removing rusted nails in my barn and the SOBs pinched me!

I guess they are essential tools, but I hate using them and avoid them. I will not keep them in my automotive toolbox. When I really need them, I have to go somewhere filthy and dig thru a rusted toolbox to get them.

is that a dig on ag equipment and or farmers.? yes one runs into rusted fasteners on tillage equipment that has ground contact but that is a far cry from the fasteners seen under vehicles that have run on winter roads. have you ever even worked on farm equipment? much of it is far cleaner and has far less corrosion than other things. (throw fertilizer and manure handling equipment out of the mix, it's a whole different animal).

vice grips are no better or worse than other "similar" tools such as pipe vices, channellock's, pipe wrenches and 100 other types of pliers with teeth. in some respects they are better. they can be used with hand control to apply pressure by feel for a precise grip. they also have this little knob on the end than can adjusted to hold a piece of paper with hardly a mark or cranked down so that you need 2 hands, destroying what ever you are working on. its the users level of skill or knowledge that determines what it does.

i really find humor or offense in your last comment, not sure. you can't keep a pair of vice grips in your auto box as they are dirty, filthy and live in a rusty box. um i have many pair, the drawer they live in is just as clean as my other drawers, they are as clean as my other tools. it is not their fault if you don't clean them and store them in a rusty box.

a very different level of tool snobbery for sure but not altogether unlike those that think since they don't use or need sae tools they are useless and should be banished to dirty rusty box and pulled from all shelves and sets

 

[CoogarXR]

Just yesterday I used them to hold a sacrificial punch while I whaled on it with a drilling hammer. Much better than using my fingers.

Then I used another set to twist rusted screws out of wood I was salvaging.

Yep, still use them quite often.

 

[dchawk81]

I keep a pair in the truck for the 5th wheel handle as well as the trailer axle slide handle.

When it's cold and the grease is stiff, the 5th wheel doesn't always click into place when you pull to release it, and sometimes the tandem pins are stuck and the rocking back and forth pops the handle out of the slot.

Vise grips around either one when fully extended will hold them in place.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Mostly "genuine" Vice Grips, but I do have a couple of HF.

On the cheap HF ones, remove the adjusting screw and run a tap through the thread hole. Add a drop of oil. Makes a huge difference !

 

[rooster59]

Had 2 Hondas with stuck PCV valves. Thread in a lag bolt, clamp vise grip to bolt. Tap vise grip with hammer to ease it out. Welding repairs always need a few.

Vise grip, Scandinavian socket set (Channellock), bf screwdriver, hammer, wd40, wire, 90mph tape. Tractor tool box.

 

[mikey03]

Mostly "genuine" Vice Grips, but I do have a couple of HF.

On the cheap HF ones, remove the adjusting screw and run a tap through the thread hole. Add a drop of oil. Makes a huge difference !

A actual cutting tap or rethreading tool?

 

[Nobody-named-Olli]

I often use the needle nose vise grips to hold small parts while drilling, enlarging a hole, (…) for example. I don’t clamp them down on the parts, just use the adjusting screw to snug them up to the part. Works great, destroys nothing, saves fingers.

Kind regards,
Olli

 

[niget2002]

Mostly to pinch the tips of my fingers when I forget to move them before squeezing the handle.

 

[dchawk81]

Mostly to pinch the tips of my fingers when I forget to move them before squeezing the handle.

Can relate.

 

[finn]

Mostly welding clamps. I have a couple holding a garage door on the tracks until spring arrives and the snow melts so I can replace the door and tracks.

Also for holding small objects against the grinding wheel.

One pair came with the 36 Ford I bought several years ago. Made a good substitute for the missing door latch handles.

Knipex really aren’t appropriate substitutes for anything I can think of that I use vice grips for. Two totally different tools with different functions and uses.

Sort of like asking what you use for a screwdriver now that you have Cobras.

 

[dchawk81]

Mostly welding clamps. I have a couple holding a garage door on the tracks until spring arrives and the snow melts so I can replace the door and tracks.

One park came with the 36 Ford I bought several years ago. Made a good substitute for the missing door latch handles.

Knipex really aren’t appropriate substitutes for anything I can think of that I use vice grips for. Two totally different tools with different functions and uses.

Sort of like asking what you use for a screwdriver now that you have Cobras.

Oh speaking of garage doors. I have one clamped on the track as a lock.

 

[finn]

Oh speaking of garage doors. I have one clamped on the track as a lock.

I used them as a temporary solution to keep my tall door up until I retensioned the torsion spring 12 or 14’ in the air.

Try that with your Knipex.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I've seen them on the bottom of semi's clamping lines off and waiting on the DOT Inspector to find them.

 

[Chipm]

Also use them occasionally attached to a slide hammer.

I just bought a dedicated pair from HF specifically for my slide hammer. It will live in the aside hammer drawer with the screw already installed.

 

[dchawk81]

I've seen them on the bottom of semi's clamping lines off and waiting on the DOT Inspector to find them.

Snitches get stitches.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Snitches get stitches.

One of them was an overturned tractor trailer coming down the round exit ramp. . . He said he lost his brakes....

 

[theoldwizard1]

A actual cutting tap or rethreading tool?

I used a regular cutting tap. Got lots of swarf out !

 

[Old Man Roger]

The op’s question offends my soul.lol I have at least 3 drawers full of different size/type/brand/modified/redesigned/duplicate vise grips, and that doesn’t count the clamping styles that don’t fit in drawers. Have a good day sir.lol

 

[i84x]

Welding is probably the major use I have for them but also use them in cases where I'm doing a job on my own and have to hold things. Clamp air and water pipes with them. Clamp on to stuff to pull when you cant quite get enough hold with pliers.
I'll always have a home for at least one or two pairs in my tool bag.