The Circlip Pliers Thread: Show'em All!

[cosmik binturong]

i have a wide variety also; so far the knipex are the nicest

sure, but what brands are the others('xcept them greenish Snap-on) especially the big one with the double "ringing" on the front end?

good, really good snap ring pliers is an obsession of mine

it usually is when you get yourself a clip embedded in your body due to the use of a cheap(as in quality more than as in price), inadequate, pair of circlip pliers...

 

[cosmik binturong]

Here are mine.

Waldes Truarc on top. Left to right, Blue Point, HF Pittsburgh, SK (made in France by Facom), Seeger, Knipex, SK (ditto), and Hazet.

Not a fan of the the convertible style pliers. Here's a disclaimer: the HF pliers have their place at 1.99 on sale; they're very good for tearing into ratchets and other little stuff. Keep em in the drawer with my detent tool, superlube, and RLL...

thats quite an eclectic choice of pliers and brands too.

the SK were indeed cloned in the same Facom factory, you can also find them under numerous brands all around the world.

 

[zkling]

Waldes Truarc for me, why because that is all I could find at garage sales.

Top one (internal) I got this past weekend at a garage sale for $0.50. Have been needing an internal set and was actually going to get the sears set this week. They are in great condition, but missing the tip. Bottom set (external) I have had for years and used a lot. Also purchased them at a garage sale. Waldes Truarc, fixed tip. Work real good for the common sizes a home DIY guy like myself comes across.

Anyone know of a source for good quality/budget tips? Almost all the tip sets I find, it would just be cheaper to buy the entire kit with pliers and tips from sears for ~$1-3 more. Gone are the days that I used needle nose pliers.

 

[Gmonkee]

I can play a little.

The yellow handled one is an older Lisle convertable. Very nice light duty unit.
I still have all the original tips too.
The orange handled one is a Truper (Mex brand) Asain import. I really like how this one grabs the small holes. Very sure once its grabbing them.

 

[Midman914]

I can play a little.

The yellow handled one is an older Lisle convertable. Very nice light duty unit.
I still have all the original tips too.
The orange handled one is a Truper (Mex brand) Asain import. I really like how this one grabs the small holes. Very sure once its grabbing them.

I just picked up a pair of the yellow handle ones at a garage sale this past weekend for $2 with original tips, but mine are Craftsman. That is good to know, I was wondering who really made them. I thought it was strange that a Cman tool would have yellow handles. I'll post pics if I can ever get my thirteen year old to help me post some.

 

[zkling]

I thought it was strange that a Cman tool would have yellow handles.

They still offer them
http://www.sears.com/craftsman-snap-ring-pliers/p-00945358000P?prdNo=4&blockNo=4&blockType=G4

 

[Midman914]

They still offer them
http://www.sears.com/craftsman-snap-ring-pliers/p-00945358000P?prdNo=4&blockNo=4&blockType=G4

That's cool. I figured they were out of production. I wonder if you can get spare tips?

 

[zkling]

That's cool. I figured they were out of production. I wonder if you can get spare tips?

IDK, I'm wondering the same thing a few posts up. I have seen tip kits but it ends up being almost the same price as the complete kit and pliers sets.

Anyone know of a source for good quality/budget tips? Almost all the tip sets I find, it would just be cheaper to buy the entire kit with pliers and tips from sears for ~$1-3 more.

 

[padronanniversary]

When amazon was blowing these out at $3-$7 each had to get every size they had on sale

 

[soloz2]

When amazon was blowing these out at $3-$7 each had to get every size they had on sale

When was this and how did I miss it?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 4

 

[lbgradwell]

When was this and how did I miss it?

+1!

 

[padronanniversary]

It was about a year year and a half ago, prior to the hot deals section. It was when the beta stuff and what not was being blown out

 

[jmm]

thats quite an eclectic choice of pliers and brands too.

the SK were indeed cloned in the same Facom factory, you can also find them under numerous brands all around the world.

That rag tag, beat to **** bunch serves me very well (even the HF specials!). I didn't assemble that 'set' by design, however. The only ones I bought new were the Knipex, SK, Pittsburg, and Blue Point pliers. The others were handmedowns from the guys I worked with as they retired/bought new ones. The SKs are my favorites -- they are very nice tools.

I'm really curious about the new Wihas. I hear they're Asian made, but that's really not an issue for me, because the design is pretty unique: they have notches cut in the tips.

 

[1953mercury]

Have had these about 10yrs. All three do inside and outside,straight, offset, and right angle, are very sturdy, and handle pretty much everything I run across. The large ones also have a ratcheting lock in any position feature, which is handy. Mike

 

[zkling]

Update. If anyone is looking for replacement tips. Sears has a small assortment (8 IIRC) for $2.50. USA made. Cheapest I could find without extreme hassle.

 

[trout]

Very cool pliers. Sorry for not contributing but it is related and a pics. Anyone have any experience with this pliers from Lang Tools?

looks like another set of channel lock clones

 

[lbgradwell]

looks like another set of channel lock clones

The other way around, actually; Lang supplies Channellock.

 

[durallymax]

I kind of like the Knipex Precision series. Okay I like them a lot. Nothing pisses me off more than a crappy snap ring pliers. Like with anything, a purpose built tool will always do the job better than a multi tool. These things are forged tough and work great. They hurt the wallet severly though, but you get farm more for your money than on the snappy truck. I talked to him about snap ring pliers for awhile but couldn't bring myself to buying them. Very happy I settled on the Knipex.

 

[zkling]

I kind of like the Knipex Precision series. Okay I like them a lot.

WOW. How big are those pliers on the upper right? What do you use them for?

 

[ChevyEFI]

I have my one pair of snapring pliers set up so they function for all the size rings I regularly remove and install.

The red lockring pliers are only useful for narrow openings in lockrings. The jaws are well worn and they flex. The black ones are far and away more useful, stronger and wider opening.

 

[Outlander]

My only ability to contribute a 'show me your Blue Point' tool is this thread!

 

[cosmik binturong]

hey! even Blue Points are fine as long as they're circlip pliers!


here are some japanese Crab brand circlip pliers that i recently received from Alfajuj in Taiwan:

thnaks to you all and keep on posting pics of *your* tools!

 

[thesilverone]

Looks like the identical set to me !!

The OEM is actually Stride/Imperial. I have the same set labeled as Craftsman.

 

[durallymax]

WOW. How big are those pliers on the upper right? What do you use them for?

22" Cobras. For grabbing big stuff. I work on heavy equipment, they come in handy oftenThey also are the perfrct replacemt for pipe wrenchs.

 

[A_Pmech]

Interesting...

I have several pairs of snap ring pliers just like the Waldes pliers in design and mine are branded Milbar. The ratchet feature is very helpful.

Here are mine.

Waldes Truarc on top. Left to right, Blue Point, HF Pittsburgh, SK (made in France by Facom), Seeger, Knipex, SK (ditto), and Hazet.

Not a fan of the the convertible style pliers. Here's a disclaimer: the HF pliers have their place at 1.99 on sale; they're very good for tearing into ratchets and other little stuff. Keep em in the drawer with my detent tool, superlube, and RLL...

 

[cosmik binturong]

another made in Japan circlip plier, this time made by 3peaks and sold by, as you could have guessed it by the yellow colour of the handles, Stanley:

 

[node105]

my circlip pliers
Knipex precision, one pair of Milbar.

 

[mercucho]

 

[PrecisionTools]

 

[czgunner]

I was in a fastener supply shop for new Nissan 3.3 plenum bolts and saw they have the Proto line. I grabbed a pair of their bigger reversible snap ring pliers. Very nice!

 

[cosmik binturong]

wake-up guys! there's still other circlip pliers worthy of a few pics out there that haven't been posted yet!

two Würth-branded/Knipex-made ones before their one-way trip to sunny Norway:

and the special World Cup Crappy Pic Edition:

 

[jeremy v]

Here are mine. Everything is U.S. made except the 3 Knipex pliers. It might be hard to see, but the all metal one (without colored or riveted handles) is an older Snap-On that I found a couple weeks ago at a garage sale for $2. All it needed was a little hinge lubrication and now it is up and running again.

The Lang kit was purchased about a month ago, so I haven't used it yet to know how nice it is in action. All the tips look to be shaped and aligned correctly and of general good quality, so I don't expect to be disappointed.

Now that I have a full kit, all the interchangeable head snap ring pliers will most likely end up loaded with custom tips for specific tasks and then left that way. I make custom tips by grinding down nails etc. and screwing them into the pliers as needed. I have a couple small flat "duckbill" style tips (made by grinding down finishing nails) that come in handy a few times a year for releasing small c-type snap rings.

The Knipex snap ring pliers are my "ugly ducklings", because they almost never actually get used for snap rings. I originally purchased all 3 of them for use as straight, angled, and 90 degree round nose pliers. I planned on grinding off the snap ring tips, but I found they didn't get in the way so I left them just in case I ever needed them for actual snap rings. Round nose pliers are hard to find in any decent quality, and when you do find them they are straight only and quite expensive. 95% of the time I use them to make things like terminal screw loops in solid copper wire or for working with Tygon fuel lines on small engines. They can reach into tight areas and grab quite well without damaging the soft Tygon fuel line. I only reach for my larger and more bulky needle nosed pliers (with partially smoothed out teeth) if the fuel lines are really stuck.

 

[nicksnothereman]

Not a fan of the interchangeable head ones (the crappy pittsburgh ones), okay for external rings but internal you might lose an eye. I bought a pair of kd mini flip (int/ext) pliers a while back, much better...cheap too. For simple **** (ratchet circlips pretty much for the time being), I can do it without using hillbilly magic but it's much easier with ring pliers. Wilde is probably your best bet for cheap durable, I see their stuff pretty cheap.

 

[cosmik binturong]

jeremy v, that's a good idea to use the forged circlip pliers as round nose pliers!
your post also reminded me that i had a few more, hidden in drawers and an old tool bag, including a Snap-on SRP2A -bought second hand when i couldn't find my chromed Wilde- that looks indeed suspiciously like the Wilde:

and while looking for the Snappie, found a couple more, forgotten ones in circlip pliers land:

another classic Knipex 49 11 A2, "brother" to those already posted:

and an older Facom 177, probably from the seventies or even earlier:

it's official now, i have way too much circlip pliers!



edit: time to thin the herd or i'll be buried under them! two almost gone and a couple others nearing the door! feel free to help me reduce the inventory guys!

 

[ChevyEFI]

I have my one pair of snapring pliers set up so they function for all the size rings I regularly remove and install.

The red lockring pliers are only useful for narrow openings in lockrings. The jaws are well worn and they flex. The black ones are far and away more useful, stronger and wider opening.

http://imageshack.us/a/img208/4104/wbop.jpg

These should be good replacements for the replaceable tips pair I have. It's the three 0 degree pairs from the 5pc. SO forged set.

 

[Beenman]

My collection - Knipex, Stahlwille, Boker Germany (big one), Kennedy, Stanley....

View media item 41597

 

[2oolhound]

Here's my smorgasbord:



Just picked up this Made in Canada Proto from a friend for $2.





The PT (top centre) has a robust and versatile tip system:



The Westward are very similar to the Japanese Kamasa set:



I like these springs on this older Belzer:



This Waldes Truarc is actually quite nice for a pressed metal plier.

 

[Mohawk Dave]

ok, I've been looking at the KNIPEX 00 20 04 SB 8-Piece Precision Circlip Snap-Ring Pliers Set ($136 on Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005EXNT38/?tag=atomicindus08-20), and then adding to them with singles...http://www.knipex.com/index.php?id=1216&L=1&page=group_detail&parentID=1365&groupID=1457

So, let me get this straight, the difference of the "normal" Knipex compared to the "Precision" is normal has forged tips and the precision are tips that are inserted. Is that it?

My style is "Buy once, Cry once". Are the "Precision" a must have/worth the extra coin? They also don't make all combos in Precision....

Also, I do not use these daily/very much, so wearing them out would take a LONG time...IDK if that comes into play on the forged vs inserted tips.

Please advise. Thanks!

 

[Mohawk Dave]

ok, I've been looking at the KNIPEX 00 20 04 SB 8-Piece Precision Circlip Snap-Ring Pliers Set ($136 on Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/00-20-04-SB-Pr...ng+ring+pliers), and then adding to them with singles...http://www.knipex.com/index.php?id=1...5&groupID=1457

So, let me get this straight, the difference of the "normal" Knipex compared to the "Precision" is normal has forged tips and the precision are tips that are inserted. Is that it?

My style is "Buy once, Cry once". Are the "Precision" a must have/worth the extra coin? They also don't make all combos in Precision....

Also, I do not use these daily/very much, so wearing them out would take a LONG time...IDK if that comes into play on the forged vs inserted tips.

Please advise. Thanks!

 

[mofo62]

another made in Japan circlip plier, this time made by 3peaks and sold by, as you could have guessed it by the yellow colour of the handles, Stanley:

V!