Best locking pliers comparison
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neophyte
Well-known member
So were the Irwin’s Vise-Grips always this “not bad”, or has all the sh1t, piss, vomit, and rancid diarrhea, GarageJournal has dumped and rubbed over the brand for the past decade or two caused Irwin to actually focus on making their pliers somewhat decent and closer to the supposed quality of the original Peterson Vise-Grips?
Also, It’s nice to know the Malco Eagle-Grip pliers stand up quality wise, except the cutter performance.
Does anybody routinely use the cutters on locking pliers? I sort of figured the cutters were there “just in case”, or for moments were that was all you had at hand.
Lastly, I’m surprised the auto adjust pliers worked as well as they did.
I have a bunch, but just purchased them for quick clamping of soldering or welding jobs, were individually adjusting half a dozen or more individual pliers would get annoying.
I should probably point out, items being clamped together with the self adjusting pliers need to be tightly flush, since they auto adjust, and two items not completely flush like sheet metal will just cause the jaws to auto adjust to too wide an opening for a sturdy grip.
Also, It’s nice to know the Malco Eagle-Grip pliers stand up quality wise, except the cutter performance.
Does anybody routinely use the cutters on locking pliers? I sort of figured the cutters were there “just in case”, or for moments were that was all you had at hand.
Lastly, I’m surprised the auto adjust pliers worked as well as they did.
I have a bunch, but just purchased them for quick clamping of soldering or welding jobs, were individually adjusting half a dozen or more individual pliers would get annoying.
I should probably point out, items being clamped together with the self adjusting pliers need to be tightly flush, since they auto adjust, and two items not completely flush like sheet metal will just cause the jaws to auto adjust to too wide an opening for a sturdy grip.
Meursault74
Well-known member
Well I watched the video.
Before I found GJ and tool videos, I had purchased an assortment of Irwin "Vise Grips". Guess it was a fairly good choice. If I need any more in the future, I'll likely stick with that.
Before I found GJ and tool videos, I had purchased an assortment of Irwin "Vise Grips". Guess it was a fairly good choice. If I need any more in the future, I'll likely stick with that.
PF product choices, test results and comments are questionable opinion at best .
China Irwin while not worst are far from great, HF Bremen are better and potentially half the cost, Toptul had pretty decent locking pliers too .
I never really used locking pliers for cutter, I purely want locking pliers with good clamping pressure, and locking mechanism that stays locked when used hard, teeth that hold out well and good range of jaw styles .
China Irwin while not worst are far from great, HF Bremen are better and potentially half the cost, Toptul had pretty decent locking pliers too .
I never really used locking pliers for cutter, I purely want locking pliers with good clamping pressure, and locking mechanism that stays locked when used hard, teeth that hold out well and good range of jaw styles .
General Geoff
Well-known member
More reliable than marketing **** by the manufacturers and outspoken yet anonymous forum dwellers
KnurledNut
Well-known member
Any Vise-Grip test without a genuine Petersen as a control is incomplete.
better than manufacturer marketing for sure but falls short of real world use experience .
Peterson done well for me in 30 years professional use. and I still able buy decent condition used, I would never buy Irwin new. Milwaukee and bremen do well at their price points and ease of availability for all .
General Geoff
Well-known member
Eyewitness testimony is the least reliable form of evidence in a court of law. Human memory is objectively garbage. I would submit that recorded and compiled empirical tests are, in fact, better and more useful data than anecdotal real world experience.
People want novel items. China made tools are everywhere. So they are not enticing. If you get anything from Europe, it's cool. Most of the money went to the cool factor, not the tools themselves. I would like to have HF Breman included as well. The regular HF ones don't serve well as low bars. But the Irwin here is truly great in terms of price quality ratio.
I'll take my 30 years personal use experience over majority youtuber tests, PF is far from viable testing and of poor product brand grouped choices .
619DioFan
Well-known member
My collection of locking pliers are original usa vise grip and usa craftsman. most are over twenty years old. I am just a serious DIYer but use my tools hard. these locking pliers have always got the job done, I do have a collection of HF pittsburg locking but just use them for clamping metal for welding which they work fine for.
It’s a credible attempt to put some engineering finesse into a comparison. It obviously is flawed in trying to compare using the same adjuster screw torque, which isn’t reflective of actual use. Easy to see why it was done that way, but either figuring a way to put equal pressure on the jaws, or a more real-world case would be adjusting until equal force is needed on the handles to lock the pliers closed.
General Geoff
Well-known member
PF's test videos are not made for people who already own tools and are happy with them.
BlakeTheCarGuy
ALLIANCE MEMBER
In my opinion today nobody does it better than Malco. That’s why I bought the Snap-on version of the Malco. It used to be the Peterson/Irwin were the best now not the case as Irwin just shred the teeth. I’ve had my dealer warranty several pairs of the China Irwin ones. The worst ones I’ve found in todays time is Pittsburgh, Craftsman and Irwin. The best Malco/Snap-on, Bremen and Duralast. I think a lot of people on here would definitely agree with me on the Bremen. They do really well. And I use these professionally everyday.
American Locomotive
Well-known member
I have Malcos, Pittsburgh HF and used Irwins at work.
The Malcos are awesome, and grip like no other. My eagle grips saved us doing some suspension work the other day.
The Irwins I used at work were 2016 vintage. They were not good. The teeth flattened easily and they just never gripped that well. I'd rank them as "serviceable".
The HF Pittsburgh are garbage. They don't grip anything, and the link bar in the middle folds up whenever you put any clamping force on them.
The Malcos are awesome, and grip like no other. My eagle grips saved us doing some suspension work the other day.
The Irwins I used at work were 2016 vintage. They were not good. The teeth flattened easily and they just never gripped that well. I'd rank them as "serviceable".
The HF Pittsburgh are garbage. They don't grip anything, and the link bar in the middle folds up whenever you put any clamping force on them.
speed bump
Well-known member
Interesting test, everyone is going to throw out why not this or that but it's a YouTube video that is primarily designed to entertain. If you think he missed something buy and build a test setup and show us the results.
As far as old Peterson vice grips they haven't been made in 20+ years. Not even worth bringing up other than nostalgia.
As far as old Peterson vice grips they haven't been made in 20+ years. Not even worth bringing up other than nostalgia.
2ndGearRubber
Well-known member
My main use for cheapie locking pliers, was holding bags of chips/pretzels closed at work. They're not even worth while as welding leads, jaws just splay.
I thought tektons were okay, but I kept breaking the rivet on the release lever. Knipex are decent, grip on have soft teeth but work decent. Grip on doesn't like being on the back end of an impact. Malco is king. Gotta ask, isn't the "cutter" for welding wire and similar, not a ******** nail?
KnurledNut
Well-known member
I disagree.
VG was US made until 14 years ago.
There are more of them floating around out there than any other brand on the used market.
Malcos have only been available now for 10 months or so and are expensive.
More than that, they are very limited. 7's and 10's straight and curved, 11's c-clamp. Thats it.
(They are working on others like welding pliers and seamers but are N/A now.)
For the less common grips not available from anyone else, used Petersens are currently still king.
And for someone on a budget, picking up a pair used at a pawn shop or swap meet for $5 is still a very good option, and even in used form are likely better quality than alot of the new ones.
Please link your youtube channel where you post your testing based on superior selection and methodology.
PF's tests are generally pretty good to very good; including this one. Yes, his testing equipment doesn't look ****, but if you can do better, then instead of complaining that he *****, go ahead and do better. But people won't, that takes work, so they just complain, which is easy.
Without having a real testing lab, IMO he does a very good job ensuring an apples-to-apples comparison between the brands. His grinding wheel, circular saw blade, reciprocating saw blade.... tests are good. What more could he do to ensure the comparisons are equal without a million-dollar testing lab??? If you don't like the brands he picks, oh well, suggest that in the comments. He clearly can't test everything, so complaining about what brands he selects to test is irrelevant to the results that he gets for what's tested.
I was surprised how well the Irwin did. Most people here say the newer one's ****, but they clearly don't. And the Chinese Irwins are miles ahead of the Taiwan made Tekton; I was surprised how poorly Tekton did- they clearly dropped the ball on the tooth design. The Irwins just "****" to some here, because they're made in China. A Chinese product could be superior to a vintage USA one, but there is a vocal minority here that essentially says, "If it's made in China, it's automatically junk". I understand not wanting to buy Chinese for political reasons, so ok on that, but that doesn't mean it's all junk. Somehow when someone asks about a Chinese vise, "no, it's junk cast iron; it has to be vintage USA". But trusting your life to Chinese jack stands is somehow different than a vise- Chinese jack stands are perfectly ok, but not their vises, vise grips, etc. Got it.
Without having a real testing lab, IMO he does a very good job ensuring an apples-to-apples comparison between the brands. His grinding wheel, circular saw blade, reciprocating saw blade.... tests are good. What more could he do to ensure the comparisons are equal without a million-dollar testing lab??? If you don't like the brands he picks, oh well, suggest that in the comments. He clearly can't test everything, so complaining about what brands he selects to test is irrelevant to the results that he gets for what's tested.
I was surprised how well the Irwin did. Most people here say the newer one's ****, but they clearly don't. And the Chinese Irwins are miles ahead of the Taiwan made Tekton; I was surprised how poorly Tekton did- they clearly dropped the ball on the tooth design. The Irwins just "****" to some here, because they're made in China. A Chinese product could be superior to a vintage USA one, but there is a vocal minority here that essentially says, "If it's made in China, it's automatically junk". I understand not wanting to buy Chinese for political reasons, so ok on that, but that doesn't mean it's all junk. Somehow when someone asks about a Chinese vise, "no, it's junk cast iron; it has to be vintage USA". But trusting your life to Chinese jack stands is somehow different than a vise- Chinese jack stands are perfectly ok, but not their vises, vise grips, etc. Got it.
it's called life experience and that started couple decades before youtube.
The point is don't take half arsed testing on youtube channels over a bit of gumption and personal experience .
bsaint
Well-known member
I like my Facom ones the best.
I still use them daily, some are 30 to 40 years old, NOS still around and plenty like new can be picked up used in good order at swaps and yard sales for fraction cost of irwin or milwaukee. teeth held out pretty good on the old ones, Irwin china jaw teeth could be badly ruined in 1 or 2 jobs.
KnurledNut
Well-known member
The original Newell-Rubbermaid Irwins were made of some type of metallic butter.
Real world use proved this. It wasnt just people here.
I havent used any since the initial COO change. They were terrible.
I see a lot of used tools and the teeth on the early Irwins are often trashed.
Its very highly possible that NBI made improvements to reduce failure.
Its also highly possible that when SBD acquired them in 2017, they worked to improve quality/metallurgy since they had a bad reputation, possibly even changing manufacturer. Who knows.
At my grandfathers farm, the one tool everyone carried was a ViseGrip - always one with a wire cutter. We’d use 1/8” mild steel galvanized wire for a lot of things. Whether you were wiring some broken piece on an implement in place to limp it back to the shop, temporarily mending a barbed wire fence, or twisting a draw-wire to pull two pieces together, the wire cutters got a lot of use.
toolenthusiast
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2017
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Exactly. There are almost certainly people on this forum who own Buicks that were made in China. Our iPhones are made in China. Everyone’s automotive scan tool is made in China.
The approach you suggested doesn't work. When regular folks use locking pliers, how would they make sure to apply max pressure on the teeth? By turning the adjusting screws. That's the only way to do it. If the pressure on the jaws cannot be achieved by turning the adjustment screw, what are you going to do? It's also always a danger to strip the hex hole, so small torque on the hex hole with max biting force, combined, is the best design.
When I want a tight grip, I gradually adjust the screw until it is as tight as I can squeeze the handles and get it to snap shut. To be fair, adjusting the screw until the same closing force on the handle would be required.
The locking screw torque will have a different effect on each plier depending on the thread pitch and over center design of each. But that doesn’t matter, since most people don’t use the screw like that - they close the handle.
Tinner
Well-known member
Project Farce. The more you watch, the less you know.
isb cornbinder
Well-known member
I cannot be objective. I have 225 pair of Petersen Vise-Grips in many styles. So, now that you know where my preference is, I am not going to offer my opinion. I have posted pictures of my gripping collection.
JoeMcGov
Well-known member
Political issues aside:
We blame chinese manufacturers for the cheap junk made to the specs given by greedy American Corporations. They are capable of really high quality manufacturing.
garfunkle24
Well-known member
Watching Project Farm is a bit like when I used to watch tv shows about cars or video games when there were very few to choose from. You know they're kind of **** but at least covering the stuff you're interested in.
freudianfloyd
Well-known member
Best locking pliers are the Channellock Tog-L-Lok version. Why don't more manufacturers make their with the release lever on the outside where you can grip it easy? Also, if anybody has a set they would like to sell, let me know.
neophyte
Well-known member
The issue with this design might have been that the release lever was too exposed.Best locking pliers are the Channellock Tog-L-Lok version. Why don't more manufacturers make their with the release lever on the outside where you can grip it easy? Also, if anybody has a set they would like to sell, let me know.
I can easily see instances where someone spent a bunch on time bending something together to weld or rivet, and some of the locking pliers coming loose because the unlocking lever got bumped.
The same goes to a stubborn bolt. You lock the pliers on, trying to get a stubborn bolt off, the bolt twists in the hole, the lever hits an obstruction, and the locking pliers fall off.
That said, the current nice but really expensive Facom locking pliers have a lever in a similar place, as did the previous Facom design. The design isn’t the same, but is somewhat similar in placement.
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neophyte
Well-known member
Stanley improving the quality actually makes sense.
Stanley is highly concerned about “branding” and the Vise-Grip brand was likely considered valuable to them.
Stanley despite their reputation, does seem to be interested in quality, at least this seems to be shown in some of the other Project Farm tests.
Stanley is also large enough that they can large batches of steel of the correct alloy when needed, even from Chinese steel suppliers.
freudianfloyd
Well-known member
While that may be true, I have been using the tog-l-lok for decades and have never had an issue with them popping open. I do like the Facom you mentioned, I will have to check them out.
speed bump
Well-known member
The last couple years of the US production weren't that great either so we are talking about roughly 20 year old pliers. I have spent a lot of time in pawn shops and swap meets across the Rockies over the last 15 years and have bought all the Peterson vice grips in decent condition I have found which is like 10 pairs (passed on probably 100 in worn out condition). I gave up a couple years ago and just started buying Strong hand and Stanley. The strong hand are just as good a clamp and the Stanleys haven't let me down. Stanley is at Walmart and SH is at my LWS. No more hoping I'll find a pair of pliers in okay condition.