Broke……..🤬 (Snap on) Update 8/8/2023

[MWEric]

First time using these. Put about 10% grip strength on them. Bummer. Not generally a tool I’d expect to break.

 

[Maxcustody]

Wow that’s pretty crazy…….

 

[Blueshound_GJ]

Heckuva grip ya got there!

 

[Garcky]

First time using these. Put about 10% grip strength on them. Bummer. Not generally a tool I’d expect to break.

Ruh-Roh.....looks like a pretty weak design to me.

 

[yellowbox]

Somehow I doubt it

 

[-Stew-]

How aggressively are you jerkin it to develop that level of gription?

 

[f121]

That’s got to be a casting fault?

 

[Stobal]

Something something Horrible Freight something something Snap-Off. Rah Rah Tekton. USA! USA! I think that should cover most of the follow up posts Just trying to save some time.

 

[Garcky]

I can only say that nothing like that ever happened to my Channellocks!

 

[rsparks64]

You must have flexed.

 

[409425hp]

Twisting ???
I had a pair do the same thing
Have it to my snap on guy and he gave a brand new one

 

[TexMedium]

There are three fundamental Laws Of The Universe:

1. Machines break;
2. Systems fail;
3. People screw up.

God wrote them. Which brings us to Rule Number Four:
4. No ****** legal team ever changed Rules One, Two, and Three, above.

Those pliers are what warranties are for.

 

[Lassen Forge]

First time using these. Put about 10% grip strength on them. Bummer. Not generally a tool I’d expect to break.

I sure wouldn't expect them to cut loose either... bad casting / forging of the initial metal, as that break tells me it's like a stress fracture in the cast... I'm almost wondering if the stress fracture line wasn't already busted at the jaw end of the piece, and when it cut loose the rest of the crack went kerpaff as well....

 

[Spud McGee]

All's I'm gonna say I've I've been (ab)using my harbor freight ones for a decade and they haven't broken. And I didn't need to sign my paycheck over to the snap-on guy for 6 weeks.

 

[no704]

Casted in a Honda plant?

 

[gizardlizard]

That’s nuts man, wow

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

At least they have a lifetime warranty lol. I love Snap-on pliers but for that type I like Channellock brand best.

 

[MikeC55]

I think this was a counterfit... from Snap Off tools...

 

[Drill Sergeant Arc]

Improper heat treating?

 

[vwpieces]

I don't even see vise jaw marks on the handles

 

[unslow1]

That reminds me of an open end wrench I saw tested yesterday. At least they stand behind their warranties. I've only had a few tools break in my life but one of them was set of Duck bill pliers from Snap on. It broke right across the teeth. I have a lot of brands but Channellocks are by far my favorite.

 

[Dakotadadv8]

I must be doing something wrong never broke a hand tool over the last 30 years probably not working hard enough.

 

[housewolf]

I’m a (retired) plumber and have at least a dozen (maybe two dozen) pairs of channel locks. These are all “work tools” and not a “collection”. I do have a pair of SO and have to admit… they are the sorriest of the lot. I don’t know where they came from and the only reason they aren’t in the garbage is because they are “snap on”.

My personal preference are the Douglas yellow handle “pump pliers” but most of mine are Channellock brand.

That said; I also have a hobby race car so own a fair share of automotive tools as well. About a third of which are snap on and I’d gladly trade the remaining 2/3 for SO replacements.

 

[MWEric]

I wish I could say I was abusing the hell out of them, but I wasn’t. Just a defective pair.

 

[38Chevy454]

The front side with the flat fracture is the defect and first part that let go, the rear side with the angled fracture is the post failure break. The initial fracture was also in tension when you attempted to use them, and the second was combination of bending and tensile fracture.

I am retired metallurgical engineer, that metal had a defect. Just exchange for replacement.

 

[Spud McGee]

Just exchange for replacement.

Nonsense! He just needs a dab of JB weld on the ol' girl and she'll be right as rain.

 

[Farmall450]

That’s got to be a casting fault?

I guess I figured they'd be forged?

 

[Ricky Joe]

Even Snap-on can make a dud. I had a 13/16” impact socket break in half once. I never did find the half that flew across the shop, but the dealer warrantied it on the half I found. Not brought up to pressure when it broke.

 

[38Chevy454]

I guess I figured they'd be forged?

Yes that is forged.

 

[Walkers]

Ever pair that I ave broken (maybe 3) have been from twisting, and they snap easy from that.

 

[Spud McGee]

Yes that is forged.

The porous finish looks closer to cast than forged.
Maybe forged from powdered metal?

 

[Grokew]

Some snap on pliers are made by Channellock, like the CHN410, but does anyone knows who makes those with an AWP item number?

 

[Grokew]

That’s nuts man, wow

Possibly died while busting one

 

[Meursault74]

I can only say that nothing like that ever happened to my Channellocks!

and at 1/3 the price too. The SO is about $45, the CL426 is about $15.

 

[F-22]

I like how thought out the design of the Knipex cobras is in this regard.
Their fork-and-blade assembly takes a lot more design consideration, but it does spread the force and eliminates the turning torque that a simple plier design always has on the hinge pin. Allows them to be really lean but transmit way more force and causes less stress on all components.

I know Snap On makes pliers to the highest standards, but they use regular very old school designs. Some of them are pretty much identical to pliers sold a century ago. You can only get so far without design improvements. And also, it's incredibly hard to re-design such a basic tool as pliers without making them gimmicky, and knipex did a hell of a job with that. I know the alligator style is used by many more brands, but again - the force distribution in that fork-and-blade construction is really nice.


Even those Engineer or Vamplire pliers - yeah they do not use the absolute best steel or the best hardening (but for their price they're more than fine - at least for the original Engineer price, not the overpriced rebrand).
But if you look at the finish on them, I'd say they are a notch above Snap On. Yeah Snap On has wonderful forgings, but many the Engineer pliers have a ground finish all over the head. They impress me whenever I pick them up. The hinge joint is also as tight as it can be without binding (at least on my pair) and is really nice to use.


I'd always assume this style of a pin:

Will inevitably end up being more sloppy than this style:


Besides a much better force distribution, the Knipex also seems to use more material anyway.

 

[3baygarage]

Years ago I had an old Blue-Point USA made one with a crack down the front. Not sure who made BP then but I think it was subbed out production , the old style chrome pliers like every brand carried. Doesn’t seem like a common thing.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

That’s got to be a casting fault?

Those are forged, a heat treat step was somehow missed or messed up.

In manufacturing we like to say if something’s not wrong, something’s wrong.

 

[dogdog]

Can I say snap on snapped off.?

 

[Zeus36]

I worked on Navy drones and all the tools and boxes were Snap On. I called them Snap Off. I never broke a tool, but they were always getting broken tool reports with the bagged pieces of the tool turned into QA. (We had a tool check in the morning, one at lunch and then quitting time.) The Snap On driver hated to stop at our facility.

 

[b-boy]

There are three fundamental Laws Of The Universe:

1. Machines break;
2. Systems fail;
3. People screw up.

God wrote them. Which brings us to Rule Number Four:
4. No ****** legal team ever changed Rules One, Two, and Three, above.

Those pliers are what warranties are for.

Actually, these are the three fundamental laws of the universe:

• When you're fixing something, your wife will tell you you're doing it wrong (and too slowly), even though she has no idea of how to do it herself and doesn't know which end of a hammer to use.
• Your cat will puke in the exact path you take to the bathroom at 2AM, so you get to step in it.
• Your BIL will ask to borrow some money, and then never pay you back.