Best “vise grip” or locking pliers with the easiest release?
- Thread starter Ozovio
- Start date
FACOM. The 500 series. Might be sold under USAG or Proto too. A step above everyone. Push button release. Proto, Knipex, even Walmart sell more traditional vice grips, with the release lever actuated in the correct direction. Used you can go with old craftsman.
Tekton's also open in the "correct direction". Otherwise there's nothing notable about them.
vssjim
ALLIANCE MEMBER
There are still a lot of Eagle Grip stock around from Jersey Discount Tool or Harry J Epstein's and others they are the best made locking pliers ever made and I have I think every brand sold and the Eagle Grips beat them all.
four.cycle
Well-known member
Eagle Grip from Harry Epstein
Tekton isn't up to par.
* The Malco "Eagle Grip" (in respect to the release mechanism) is pretty much what you would have found on the last iteration of the PETERSEN made "Vise Grip" (before Irwin.)
Tekton isn't up to par.
* The Malco "Eagle Grip" (in respect to the release mechanism) is pretty much what you would have found on the last iteration of the PETERSEN made "Vise Grip" (before Irwin.)
Chrome Vanadium Cody
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- Jul 25, 2021
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I have a bunch of the Facom 500 series I bought from a local store that was closing them out. Just ordered another from Ultimate Garage actually. Love em but they are different tools than regular vise grips. Holding or turning a stripped out fastener, or just straight up grip strength on something small: original Petersens or new Malcos all the way. Holding something of a large size and unusual shape: Facom 50(x) is your answer. Facom 500 series has amazing capacity and versatility but as you size up it very quickly doesn’t have the leverage to actually turn what you’re holding and is mainly just meant to let you hold an item steady.
four.cycle
Well-known member
^ Didn't I sent you a Malco and a Tekton? or did Blake get the Tekton?
Chrome Vanadium Cody
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Just the Malco for me! I love it, thank you!
four.cycle
Well-known member
Blake got the Tekton maybe. 
Wonder if he thought it was as crappy as I did. They were crazy cheap from an ebay seller.
Wonder if he thought it was as crappy as I did. They were crazy cheap from an ebay seller.
BlakeTheCarGuy
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Junk lol. The Eagle Grips great. Tekton vise grips just your average dollar store junk as I call it lol. That’s one thing from Tekton that needs to be addressed.Blake got the Tekton maybe.
I use the Facom 500s for everything but the very smallest tasks. For everything else they are fantastic.
Wamsutta
Well-known member
Look for the kind with the release lever that you pull up on like shown by the red arrow.
What have you found are the specific issues with the Tektons. I have a set of them. Haven't used the very much but they seem fine. What should I be on the look out for failure wise.
Seth
Ditchdigger
Well-known member
I am also curious why the hate for the Tekton. I bought a few dozen on a big sale about 5 years ago and genuinely prefer them to all the NOS Petersen vise grips I collected because GJ convinced me they were awesome.
I use them for general metal fab work, not rounded hardware extraction.
I use them for general metal fab work, not rounded hardware extraction.
BlakeTheCarGuy
ALLIANCE MEMBER
The jaws are like pot metal. Shrewd with the least amount of force or pressure.
I agree. I bought two of the Tekton grips about two years ago. I had some hardened nails in concrete that I was using the grips to hold and bend the nails until the nails broke off. The first nail I worked on wore a groove in the Tekton jaws. I did the next 20 or so nails with my old US made vise grips that had no damage.
In general I like Tekton’s stuff - but not the grips.
Ditchdigger
Well-known member
This made me curious.
NOS Petersen 10R Made in USA. From the 80's or early 90's VS Tekton PLK0010
Tsubosan made in Japan Rockwell hardness testing files.
The 55HRC file skates on the Petersen, it will almost take a cut on the Tekton. It might just be marking the plating on the surface.
The 60HRC file readily cuts both.
The Petersen feels very slightly harder by perhaps 1 unit on the HRC scale. I think a proper tester would be needed. The Tekton is certainly not "made from cheese" though
NOS Petersen 10R Made in USA. From the 80's or early 90's VS Tekton PLK0010
Tsubosan made in Japan Rockwell hardness testing files.
The 55HRC file skates on the Petersen, it will almost take a cut on the Tekton. It might just be marking the plating on the surface.
The 60HRC file readily cuts both.
The Petersen feels very slightly harder by perhaps 1 unit on the HRC scale. I think a proper tester would be needed. The Tekton is certainly not "made from cheese" though
Thank you for actually trying to collect some data. We need more of that around here.This made me curious.
NOS Petersen 10R Made in USA. From the 80's or early 90's VS Tekton PLK0010
Tsubosan made in Japan Rockwell hardness testing files.
The 55HRC file skates on the Petersen, it will almost take a cut on the Tekton. It might just be marking the plating on the surface.
The 60HRC file readily cuts both.
The Petersen feels very slightly harder by perhaps 1 unit on the HRC scale. I think a proper tester would be needed. The Tekton is certainly not "made from cheese" though
are you testing the jaw teeth? or some other part of the plier?
Thanks @Ditchdigger for some data. How old are your pliers? Mine are 2-3 years old. Also, I like your files. 
When we bought our new house it had an upper deck over a concrete patio. The patio was screened in, but the wood was rotted out so we had to replace it. The base wood was secured to the concrete slab with nails that had been power shot into the slab. I have no idea how hard those nails are, but they must be pretty reasonable to withstand a .22 or .38 and penetrate concrete. Anyway, to minimize the concrete scarring, I used vise grips to remove the upper part of the nails by gripping them and bending them until they broke off at the surface of the concrete. This was after the boards were removed and all I had was nails sticking up that were embedded into the concrete.
Here is the result: (the right one is the Tekton, the left is a US built Vise Grip)
And here are the piers from the side:
So while I can't deny the tests on your pliers, mine performed very differently. And frankly, they sucked. Perhaps Tekton had some bad batches, I can't say. I can tell you that I replaced the Tekton's with Knipex. And I still have the Tekton's as they still work for some stuff.
Oh and I should mention that the Vise Grips that I used to get the nails out are the exact ones you see here with no marks on the jaw.
When we bought our new house it had an upper deck over a concrete patio. The patio was screened in, but the wood was rotted out so we had to replace it. The base wood was secured to the concrete slab with nails that had been power shot into the slab. I have no idea how hard those nails are, but they must be pretty reasonable to withstand a .22 or .38 and penetrate concrete. Anyway, to minimize the concrete scarring, I used vise grips to remove the upper part of the nails by gripping them and bending them until they broke off at the surface of the concrete. This was after the boards were removed and all I had was nails sticking up that were embedded into the concrete.
Here is the result: (the right one is the Tekton, the left is a US built Vise Grip)
And here are the piers from the side:
So while I can't deny the tests on your pliers, mine performed very differently. And frankly, they sucked. Perhaps Tekton had some bad batches, I can't say. I can tell you that I replaced the Tekton's with Knipex. And I still have the Tekton's as they still work for some stuff.
Oh and I should mention that the Vise Grips that I used to get the nails out are the exact ones you see here with no marks on the jaw.
Beerhippie
Well-known member
The problem with user impressions is that they are single point examples. Maybe there was a bad batch when I bought mine, maybe they've changed the metallurgy since then, maybe his are much older than mine, etc.
I will note that I don't think that bad batch is a good excuse though as I think (this is an opinion
) that the manufacturer should have consistent results in what they are making. In general, if they are not consistent then I'm not interested.Beerhippie
Well-known member
Yes, but using the Rockwell files on a single example is the same. How many pliers to be statistically significant?The problem with user impressions is that they are single point examples. Maybe there was a bad batch when I bought mine, maybe they've changed the metallurgy since then, maybe his are much older than mine, etc.
I will note that I don't think that bad batch is a good excuse though as I think (this is an opinion
Sure, his is a single example just like mine.
And to be statistically significant it will take many more pliers than I want to buy.
^What could possibly deter you from buying more pliers? Where are your spending priorities if not for pliers? The plating needs to be removed to measure the underlying steel hardness I believe. There is also differences in how deep the hardening process goes. Traditional heating, induction, laser. Individual tools that skipped the hardening process seem to pop up. And what is the “best” hardness for the particular steel used. Beats me. I’m frequently just using them to replace the throttle handle on my mower. I find those $3 vice grips to be a marvel of modern manufacturing, logistics and distribution. I sure do like the FACOMs though not on my mower.
Ditchdigger
Well-known member
Jaw teeth. Sticking the file in the v groove so I have good contact on two faces.
jimbothecricket
Well-known member
So how do Grip-On and Bollman-Selzer compare to each other?
Bollman-Selzer makes the locking pliers for Knipex in Germany. Grip-On makes their pliers in Spain. Both have the release lever in the same configuration allowing the user to squeeze to release instead of pulling down like you do with traditional vise grips.
Bollman-Selzer makes the locking pliers for Knipex in Germany. Grip-On makes their pliers in Spain. Both have the release lever in the same configuration allowing the user to squeeze to release instead of pulling down like you do with traditional vise grips.
Wamsutta
Well-known member
Has anyone tried the Knipex locking pliers? They've got the correct release design.
When Cooper Tools owned Crescent back in the 1990's, those were the best locking pliers ever in my opinion.
When Cooper Tools owned Crescent back in the 1990's, those were the best locking pliers ever in my opinion.
Project Farm has done at least two locking plier tests. From memory, the tekton "standard" model did pretty terrible- the teeth just aren't sharp enough, or the tooth geometry is wrong, or something. The Tekton needle nose did pretty well. The hated by the vocal minority here Irwin Chinese vise grip did very well. I believe he tested Knipex, or at least one German name, and it did poorly. The Grip On did poorly, and it's had plenty of complaints here for soft jaw teeth before PF even existed.
Made by Bollman, not Knipex. Nothing special.
I didn’t bother. Unless a tool has a manufacturing defect I don’t bother. Even with Craftsman I’ve returned maybe one tool lifetime.
Does anyone know who makes Lang's locking pliers? They say they are made in Germany, don't quite look like the knipex's to my eye.
SKU : 106-10 - Locking Pliers - Parallel Jaw 10"
Manufacturing professional tools since 1932
www.langtools.com
$58 for a pair..... yikes. They dont look particularly special to me. For that kinda cash i would be all overDoes anyone know who makes Lang's locking pliers? They say they are made in Germany, don't quite look like the knipex's to my eye.
SKU : 106-10 - Locking Pliers - Parallel Jaw 10"
Manufacturing professional tools since 1932
2 pairs of Grip-on,
2 pairs of Milwaukees,
5 pairs of Bremen,
or one very shiny Eagle