Odd Proto pliers
- Thread starter GrantCee
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Bolster
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[EDIT] Found them, see post below.
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Bruce Lancaster
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Good old days of craftsmanship...
Seems like all the plumbers around here are perfectly happy to install and service those nuts with a @#$%$@# pipe wrench!
I even have a Time-Life how to plumb book (one from that series that shows anyone touching a screwdriver properly prepared with Helmet, ear plugs, and goggles!) that shows this atrocity of a pipe wrench about to mangle a fitting ON THE COVER.
I was going to write the editor, but he probably can't read...grumble.
Seems like all the plumbers around here are perfectly happy to install and service those nuts with a @#$%$@# pipe wrench!
I even have a Time-Life how to plumb book (one from that series that shows anyone touching a screwdriver properly prepared with Helmet, ear plugs, and goggles!) that shows this atrocity of a pipe wrench about to mangle a fitting ON THE COVER.
I was going to write the editor, but he probably can't read...grumble.
Don't think so - chrome appears to cover the jaws.
I've tried using it on sink fittings, works very poorly (clearance issues.) Besides - Proto making plumbing tools?
The only thing I've been able to dream up is a tool for adjusting the preload on large bearings - they usually have flats, and the distance from flat to flat varies with the bearing size necessitating a wide adjustment range. They're also a low-torque application, and having tried this on a drain pipe I can tell you it's no good for high torque.
How's my logic??
HandyManny
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Yeah that's what they are supposed to be used for. Unfortunately I see a lot of so-called professional plumbers who think regular jaw water-pump pliers or a pipewrench should be used in chrome or brass nuts and fittings. For the stuff hidden under the sink cabinet or behind a wall, it doesn't matter. But for the exposed plumbing it just makes a fiished job look like ****. A pro should know better. I've installed and repaired sinks and toilets in my own home and in the homes of friends and family many times over the years and I always use smooth jaw pliers along with a Ridgid hex wrench, or adjustable wrench. Teeth jaw tongue and groove pliers work great for removal of old fittings and valves though, or to install stuff that's not exposed to view.
Tool Pants
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Lump
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I have a pair of Proto pliers of similar shape with smooth jaws too. As stated earlier, the chrome finish has not been damaged by milling away teeth. I think it came this way.
Bolster
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Ta Daa, I just wasn't looking in more recent catalogs, which is why I didn't recognize it earlier. Here it is from a 1962 catalog, part of their standard plier lineup.
248 Smooth Jaw Plier "for protecting soft metal and decorative finish nuts from damage or with milled pipe jaws."
248 Smooth Jaw Plier "for protecting soft metal and decorative finish nuts from damage or with milled pipe jaws."
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Lump
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Bolster gets the grand prize...again!