Grip-On Locking Pliers - First Impressions

[strnjss]

Well, after talking to you all about my fail-on-first-use Irwin Vice Grips (the front teeth of the jaws squished just turning a screw out of something),

The general consensus was to get some Grip-On's instead. So I ordered one from Amazon, the 121-10. Today I finally received it.

First thing I noticed is that it at least looks tougher than my Irwin. It's bigger, and slightly heavier.

Second thing I noticed, that the finish on the Grip-On leaves a lot to be desired. If I were basing quality on finish alone, the Irwin would win hands down.

The jaws of the Grip-On have that bad cast look. All pitted an uneven, with a slight line going down the centers.

Also, the handles themselves are all pitted and scratched up, while the Irwin's are perfect.

The test will be when I finally use them however. I won't mind the finish issues if it performs well. But given my experience with Irwin, I'm a little nervous to start damaging the thing on it's first day.

After a few weeks of use, I'll update you all.

 

[t100]

I do like their release leaver better than the Petterson's

 

[strnjss]

See, yours look in much better condition than mine! I guess I'll just have to get used to the fact that I always seem to get the reject tools.......

Yes, and I do like the release lever too

 

[Monte]

factory 2nd ?

 

[Vinko]

Mine don't look at all bad. I did notice in my review of the Snappy branded ones that the casting (I was surprised that the jaws were cast) had a slightly pitted look. It doesn't affect utility of product, but had they machined the casting, it would've looked better (and increased the price, I'm sure). They're my favorite pliers now, esp. the LP 7 SLIM from SO. A slim jawed No. 7. Nice pliers. The BP rebrands (in blue) are great too. I want to get a set of the red welding/sheet metal ones next.