First Icon Tool Purchase

[zeug]

I just bought my first Icon tool! Not because I have anything against Harbor Freight. I have just appreciated tools from some of the manufacturers a bit higher up the food chain. That was until I saw a post about the 8" Icon needle nose pliers for $18. I believe they are a copy of the Snap On style. I don't have the Snap On version, but assume the finish on the Icon is not up to SN standards.

That being said, these pliers are still quite good. The tips line up well and I really like the power you get from the extra material on the tips. The serration is a crosshatch and also quite good. I expect these will see some use. They were a bit stiffer than what I am used to and my favorite lube did nothing to ease that. I assume they will loosen up with use.

A comparison to my Knipex needle nose is below (Ignore that the Knipex are insulated) . They are definitely thicker in both dimensions, but for most uses, I think they will be fine. Grip is a shiny smooth texture, like they tried to do the Knipex texture on my cobras, but a bit slipperier.

 

[AA/FC]

Yes, the ICON looks like it was an attempt to directly copy the Snap on version. Other than the Snap on name missing on the ICON, it looks pretty damn close. Oh, and of course the "USA" stamp is missing, too!

They're not bad looking, especially for the price!

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

Those look nice. I have the Snap-on but I’ve had mine a lot longer than these have been out. They look nice and like the Snap-on. I have the Icon ParrotJaw pliers and they work excellent. I think you will be happy with these.

 

[zeug]

Oh, and of course the "USA" stamp is missing, too!

Packaging says designed in the USA and made in Taiwan. I guess that is better than China?

 

[KnurledNut]

@zeug
Any relation to the Youtuber Bzeug?

 

[zeug]

@zeug
Any relation to the Youtuber Bzeug?

Nope. Just looked him up. I used to have the domain zeugco.com because zeug.com was taken. Go figure. Zeug is German for Thing. So, Werkzeug is tool. Schreibzeug is a writing implement. etc...

 

[AA/FC]

Packaging says designed in the USA and made in Taiwan. I guess that is better than China?

Probably..... But my point was, the ICON direct copy of the SO tool was missing the "USA" stamp. That is all.

 

[Steve_P]

Packaging says designed in the USA and made in Taiwan. I guess that is better than China?

Designed by Snap On in the USA lol

 

[1982fxr]

So the fit and finish appears good, but strength and durability (especially of the cross hatching) remain unknown and the one thing attempted so far, to simply open and close them provided unsatisfactory results.

An attempt to remedy this issue with a proven lubricant failed. Man, I'm sold!

Just messing with ya.

 

[Uofime]

So the fit and finish appears good, but strength and durability (especially of the cross hatching) remain unknown and the one thing attempted so far, to simply open and close them provided unsatisfactory results.

An attempt to remedy this issue with a proven lubricant failed. Man, I'm sold!

Just messing with ya.

To be fair…. *said while extending pinky finger*
The genuine snap ons are also very stiff when new and lube does nothing for them either.

I do agree the most important detail on pliers is the hardness of the jaw surfaces, how well they grip and if that lasts.

Also gotta say I think I’d be grabbing the knipex pair you’re showing more often, they look handier. As ever horses for courses though.

 

[Shop-hound]

Valve lapping compound in the joint, spray some wd-40 and work em back and forth. Will loosen them right up.

That said, for longevity of the joint, how long the teeth will last depends a lot on the metal composition and hardening process. I’m shamelessly a snap on nut and in my opinion the best you can buy. Would be interested in how they last in pro use, But for value proposition, these look tough to beat!

Edit: Knipex needle nose were a big disappointment to me. Far too flexible and spring apart at the first sign of twisting abuse

 

[M635_Guy]

I've wound up with the Icon shorty hose pliers and the flush cutters. The flush cutters are outstanding. The hose pliers are also really good, but I don't notice the difference as much vs. the Pittsburgh and GearWrench hose pliers I have as I do the Icon flush cutters vs. others I have.

 

[Houdini5150]

I use the Icon flush cutters to cut up my zip ties. I picked up the needle nose the other day. I have not tested out the pliers yet. The handle grip is thick but not too soft. I picked up some Snap on slip joint pliers the other day and I like the softness of those grips.

 

[bwringer]

Nope. Just looked him up. I used to have the domain zeugco.com because zeug.com was taken. Go figure. Zeug is German for Thing. So, Werkzeug is tool. Schreibzeug is a writing implement. etc...

One of my favorite German words is "flugzeug", "fly-thing". You know, airplane.

And of course, "flugzeughafe", "fly-thing-harbor", AKA "airport".

German's a fun sort of Lego language sometimes...

...But for value proposition, these look tough to beat!

Edit: Knipex needle nose were a big disappointment to me. Far too flexible and spring apart at the first sign of twisting abuse

I have both the Knipex slim needle nose and these beefy, tough Icon pliers. They're very different tools for very different uses.

That style Knipex is optimized for reach in tight spaces, and very obviously can't take the abuse the Icons (or similar Snap-Ons) can. They will bend if you pinch too hard or try to twist much. The jaws will almost always spring back into shape like nothing happened, as long as you don't get ridiculous. It's a feature, not something to complain about.

Knipex makes beefier long-nose pliers if strength is what you're after at the expense of size. Although I don't think they have anything as tough as the Icon/SO design.

 

[Lt CHEG]

Knipex makes beefier long-nose pliers if strength is what you're after at the expense of size. Although I don't think they have anything as tough as the Icon/SO design.

In fairness, I don’t think the design should be referred to as Icon/SnapOn, when it’s pretty clear that the Icon is a blatant copy of the SnapOn design.

 

[zeug]

One of my favorite German words is "flugzeug", "fly-thing". You know, airplane.

And of course, "flugzeughafe", "fly-thing-harbor", AKA "airport".

German's a fun sort of Lego language sometimes...




I have both the Knipex slim needle nose and these beefy, tough Icon pliers. They're very different tools for very different uses.

That style Knipex is optimized for reach in tight spaces, and very obviously can't take the abuse the Icons (or similar Snap-Ons) can. They will bend if you pinch too hard or try to twist much. The jaws will almost always spring back into shape like nothing happened, as long as you don't get ridiculous. It's a feature, not something to complain about.

Knipex makes beefier long-nose pliers if strength is what you're after at the expense of size. Although I don't think they have anything as tough as the Icon/SO design.

Genau! German is very logical. This is why I believe German is easier to master than English which has so many idioms. My wife doesn't agree with me however.

Your description of the Knipex v Icon is accurate in my experience too. The Knipex have their place, but aren't designed to do what the Icons can as far as strength and clamping force. I believe they compliment each other. Glad to have them both. Only time will tell if the serrations last.

I also have the long reach Knipex and they are really spongy, but when you need them, you need them! I believe Snap On makes a version of this Icon style in long reach as well. Unfortunately Harbor Freight only has the 8" length.

 

[zeug]

I guess Knipex designed their needle nose to flex?

Knipex Needle Nose Flex

 

[AmericanMechanic]

The real Channellock USA made 8" needle nose pliers are $20. Why are people paying $18 for the Harbor Freight copy?

 

[Muddrick]

The real Channellock USA made 8" needle nose pliers are $20. Why are people paying $18 for the Harbor Freight copy?

I agree. I personally like smaller 6" needle nose pliers and I just picked up a pair of SK USA made 6" pliers for $20. I would suggest picking up some SK USA needle nose pliers while they are still available before purchasing Icon's.

 

[bubinga]

Packaging says designed in the USA and made in Taiwan. I guess that is better than China?

Taiwan is generally considered Superior to China yes!

 

[AA/FC]

I recently purchased a few Tekton needle nose pliers and they look very similar the SO Talon Grips. They're pretty damn nice actually! The pliers themselves open and close freely but with zero slop and the teeth design look and feel just like the SO Talon grips. They are VERY sharp teeth. I can easily hold a coin by the ridge on the edge like you see in the SO videos. Honestly, I think the ICON in post number one of this thread LOOK nice than these Tekton pliers, but these do work terrific. The Tekton pliers are also made in Taiwan....

 

[Walkers]

I just bought my first Icon tool!...

My condolences

 

[F-22]

Genau! German is very logical. This is why I believe German is easier to master than English which has so many idioms. My wife doesn't agree with me however.

In other way German is more complex with way more articles and a relatively complex system of grammatical cases. Modern English is extremely simplified in that sense.

 

[nadogail]

I have come to the personal opinion that Taiwan stuff is better quality than Mainland Chinese stuff.

 

[zeug]

In other way German is more complex with way more articles and a relatively complex system of grammatical cases. Modern English is extremely simplified in that sense.

Agreed. English might be one of the easiest languages to gain a moderate proficiency. German has a high learning curve ant first and turns many students off at the beginning. However German continues to follow rules for the most part and English gets vey idiomatic.

Growing up in a German household, I remember taking German in highschool thinking it would be a piece of cake. It turns out that if you don’t know what a past participle is in English, you probably don’t know it in German either.

 

[housewolf]

I have come to the personal opinion that Taiwan stuff is better quality than Mainland Chinese stuff.

I concur. During the 90s my dad made a living importing Taiwanese electronic parts to US and selling them wholesale. He always brought an empty suitcase with him to fill with “stuff” that was ridiculously cheap/goofy. I remember driving over to his house when he’d return just to see what he’d drug home this time

He said you could meet with a factory manager on a Tuesday with a part and pick up 2K replicas the next day. At the time he was paying ~ 1% of retail. I remember he had about a 3 cu ft box full of coin type batteries he said he paid $7 for!

He did say at the time he considered Taiwan to be similar to Japan after WWII. Quality being generally sub par and a lot of it was pure junk but the industry knew it, was very concerned and working hard to improve. It took Japan what… 30 years? My dad said that 30 years ago.

 

[nadogail]

Taiwan and Mainland China are very different in their economic and governmental policies.

I support doing business with those who have demonstrated their ability and willingness to be good neighbours to the countries that border them.

 

[Steve_P]

I guess Knipex designed their needle nose to flex?

Knipex Needle Nose Flex

No, they designed them for delicate use; not bending 5mm diameter cotter pins at the tips. Just look at the pics above how delicate Knipex is in comparison to SO.

What most here don't understand is that stiffness/strength increases by the cube root of the loaded members height in the direction of the load. So 1mm thickness is 1 cubed = 1. A 2 mm height cubed is 8. So a 2 mm tip is 8x stronger than 1mm, same material and heat treat.

Snap On doesn't know something that Knipex doesn't; I'm guessing Knipex sells more pliers in a few weeks than SO does in a year.

 

[F-22]

No, they designed them for delicate use; not bending 5mm diameter cotter pins at the tips. Just look at the pics above how delicate Knipex is in comparison to SO.

What most here don't understand is that stiffness/strength increases by the cube root of the loaded members height in the direction of the load. So 1mm thickness is 1 cubed = 1. A 2 mm height cubed is 8. So a 2 mm tip is 8x stronger than 1mm, same material and heat treat.

Snap On doesn't know something that Knipex doesn't; I'm guessing Knipex sells more pliers in a few weeks than SO does in a year.

It's all about what they're designed for. Tool culture is different in the US and in Europe. Knipex sells linesman pliers for the US market, but the most common plier in Europe is surely the combination plier type which are quite different to linesman style. Pros and cons to everything, and ideally everyone would have all the designs, but to supplement linesman pliers a good set of more chunky short needle nose pliers is very useful, while in Europe they better supplement the combination pliers if they are long and lean.

But nice thing about knipex is the sheer variety... Like, they even make a weird cross of all those pliers that's probably very useful in general (but I'm sure they sell far less of them solely due to the work culture - people go and buy combination pliers or linesman pliers if they feel like they need them, they won't research what is the most useful design for them cause it seems obvious).

 

[Davefr]

Knipex makes some fine pliers but the 26-200's are the most worthless pliers I've ever used. They don't do anything well. They're too flimsy for real work but still too fat for precision tasks. The serrations only grip in one axis and the cutters close slightly before the tips resulting in weak holding at the very tip. (as shown in #1). If I want a precision long/slim needle nose, I'll choose Swanstrom, etc and if I want a strong needle nose it'll be Klein, SO or even HF. (The beveled Talon grip tips of the SO make them get into some pretty tight spots for a large needle nose plier.)

 

[BreeStephany]

Outside of HF's black oxide impact sockets, I've always kind of steered away from HF up until recently.

I will admit that I am pretty impressed with the quality of their ICON tool line. Are they perfect? Likely not and I do believe that tool truck tools are superior, but with that said, from what I've seen so far, the quality is pretty close to "tool truck quality" and for a fraction of the price!

I generally don't turn wrenches for my job, so my mechanics tools don't see daily use. I generally can't justify "tool truck quality" when it comes to sockets, ratchets, tap and die sets, etc., so for me, ICON has been great to build my collection of sockets, wrenches, a great quality tap & die set, etc. without having to go in debt to build my collection!

So far, I'm pretty impressed with the ICON line, but I guess only time will tell.

Just my two cents.

 

[Davefr]

wrong thread

 

[soloz2]

I recently picked up my first Icon tools as well. I grabbed a 1/2” drive metric deep chrome socket set. No skips up to 22mm and I also picked up a set of large Metric combination wrenches. Gives me 20-24mm without skips to fill out my wrench set. I wanted to make sure I had some 22mm wrenches and sockets since my new Kubota likes to use 22mm bolts.