Eagle grip pliers
- Thread starter lincwelder225
- Start date
plinker
Well-known member
The Snap-on guy finally stopped after six months (long story there), Saw they had the pliers in stock so I bought the 10WR equivalent on impulse. Very nice overall, They may not get a green paint job for a while. The only gripe is the small checkered teeth seem a bit shallow, I didnt have a NOS set to compare with but the pre "global materials" 10WR's I use were similar, not really a big deal I suppose. Overall dimensions are pretty darn close between the two. The feel is a bit different with the S-O/Malco having nicer/smoother chrome.
The comedy part was the dealer essentially said that Snap-on had bought the old Vise grip plant and started making them there. Umm no. Kinda had to bite my tongue a little to keep from laughing. Rumors are obnoxious.
The comedy part was the dealer essentially said that Snap-on had bought the old Vise grip plant and started making them there. Umm no. Kinda had to bite my tongue a little to keep from laughing. Rumors are obnoxious.
anndel
Well-known member
Hmmm, my SO driver told me that Malco, the HAVC and some autobody repair tool compant bought the old Visr-Grip plant in DeWitt. Nebraska and will be making vise-grips there and SO is a big customer and may be dropping the Grip-on line. This was back in 2018.
JimH74
Well-known member
Has anyone compared the new Malco with Grip-On?
Farmall450
Well-known member
Fanboys love to spread them lol. If Snap-on ran them, I'm pretty sure they'd say Snap-on on them
dnschmidt
Well-known member
The Eagle Grip pliers are beautiful and flawlessly made. The question is are they $45 worth of flawlessly made when you can get completely serviceable Vise Grips from Brennen at Harbor Freight or Milwaukee at Home Depot. Personally, I bought a ton of TOPTUL vise grips for super cheap when I sold them so I'm covered for life with respect to Vise Grips. I have no idea how others use Vise Grips but I use them when welding and when I'm beating the **** out of something. Under either circumstance beautiful and flawlessly made will not last long. I simply don't know if there are enough of people out there willing to spend $45 to make this business model work long term. They are a work of art but does that matter when the welding spatter starts. I'm not convinced.
Fedwrench
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I'm with you Denny 
I pound, weld, and otherwise abuse vise grips. I've always viewed them as consumable. Tekton and Bremen are great to me. Those eagle grips might be just too pretty to use. 
I pound, weld, and otherwise abuse vise grips. I've always viewed them as consumable. Tekton and Bremen are great to me. Those eagle grips might be just too pretty to use. i got 7wr visegrip 75yr anniversary that too pretty to use, i'm going make a vise grip eagle grip and mole grip display in the office lol .
reality is 40 to 50 bucks chump change for professional use, I got loads of grips that will be rough use beaters and 3 or 4 new Malcos could be handy when really want those new sharp teeth and over engineered strength .
Is plenty of choice, Bremen Milwaukee and toptul offer good range of usable grips at third the cost, still pretty easy get decent used usa petersen, had a pair today .
Spoilt for choice is never a bad thing.
Hopefully Malco keeps it going, is a good effort and western manufacture is obviously higher than bowls of rice and corner cutting of the Irwin visegrips of today .
USA visegrip and UK molegrip companies and the home towns got screwed over for cheap foreign manufacture .
It not that Irwin and Stanley couldn't get better out of China but purely they wanted minimal costing for maximum profit and got no pride in what they doing ...
reality is 40 to 50 bucks chump change for professional use, I got loads of grips that will be rough use beaters and 3 or 4 new Malcos could be handy when really want those new sharp teeth and over engineered strength .
Is plenty of choice, Bremen Milwaukee and toptul offer good range of usable grips at third the cost, still pretty easy get decent used usa petersen, had a pair today .
Spoilt for choice is never a bad thing.
Hopefully Malco keeps it going, is a good effort and western manufacture is obviously higher than bowls of rice and corner cutting of the Irwin visegrips of today .
USA visegrip and UK molegrip companies and the home towns got screwed over for cheap foreign manufacture .
It not that Irwin and Stanley couldn't get better out of China but purely they wanted minimal costing for maximum profit and got no pride in what they doing ...
Walkers
Well-known member
I got my Eagle grip straight jaw in the mail. Very nice looking, but no teeth on the front, just smooth metal. I would hate for an eagle to have the grip of those pliers, it would forever be dropping small critters back to earth.
Indexmill
Well-known member
yes, really, the new Eagle Grips are too pretty to use/abuse. Even the box is gorgeous. I keep it on my desk and still enjoy looking at them.
Rosso
Well-known member
Hi folks,
Im in the UK and looking to buy several pairs of Eagle grips but where are you guys buying them with the cardboard box ? I would like to keep one set tucked away in the box but i only appear to find the ones in the plastic blister pack.
Thanks.
Im in the UK and looking to buy several pairs of Eagle grips but where are you guys buying them with the cardboard box ? I would like to keep one set tucked away in the box but i only appear to find the ones in the plastic blister pack.
Thanks.
Amazon
pizza
Well-known member
wrote a review on the eagle grips here:
www.garagejournal.com
i had said that there's some inconsistency of the jaw tip knurling (idk if it's actually knurling or not, can a machinist chime in? lol):
following up on that, i replaced via amazon the "poor/shallow" (basically smooth) LP7WC on the right that also had a small jaw alignment issue.
here's a shot of the replacement LP7WC vs the "ok" LP7WC in the middle of the above pic:
interesting how there's so much inconsistency on the knurl depth and width.
Show your new tool arrivals
Picked up a 44" us general local off of f/b market place for $360.oo
www.garagejournal.com
i had said that there's some inconsistency of the jaw tip knurling (idk if it's actually knurling or not, can a machinist chime in? lol):
poor teeth at jaw tip (good LP10WC, comparatively inferior LP7WC, and useless LP7WC on the right):
following up on that, i replaced via amazon the "poor/shallow" (basically smooth) LP7WC on the right that also had a small jaw alignment issue.
here's a shot of the replacement LP7WC vs the "ok" LP7WC in the middle of the above pic:
interesting how there's so much inconsistency on the knurl depth and width.
jeffmoss26
Well-known member
Looking at your photo I'd be willing to bet they're hand aligned for stamping so im not surprised there will be variations. Honestly either look functionally fine. Locking plier teeth are only pretty until the first use.
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Hotrod33809
Active member
Love the two pairs I've gotten off HJE. Found myself coming up with reasons to use them where regular pliers would probably work just fine, but that's not as fun
anndel
Well-known member
Awesome Malco, I also got a pair of gloves and a sticker in the mail. Mahalo Nui Loa! (Thank you very much!)
pizza
Well-known member
did you see the one in the previous pic labeled poor/shallow though? that is the one i replaced. just asking because you said "either" (implying two), but really there are pics of four pliers: three in the first pic, and two in the second ("LP7WC ok" appearing in both pics).
the poor/shallow one is basically smooth to the touch, so unless that operation is merely for cosmetics...
David99
Well-known member
I bought a set of eagle grips, they look awesome. I have too many originals to actually need them so they reside in the box next to the old ones for now. the old ones with “Craftsman” on them or any imports I may have had are used for welding clamps.