HF locking pliers

[d.mcfarland]

Anyone have the "old" vise-grip style and the "new" grip-on style of locking pliers from Harbor Freight? I'm looking to see if the new ones are an upgrade.

Or am I wrong here and only some styles are vise-grip and others are grip-on?

 

[Jwych]

If your going to "upgrade" why don't you buy the real thing?

 

[arz71]

I have Vise grip brand (all USA) and had them for years. Get the real ones, unless one has really good insurance for the ER.

 

[Showkey]

When your at the bottom of the barrel ( HF) any thing is an upgrade from there........

 

[ninjamunky85]

I have these ones from HF, they're good not great.

I've since upgraded to the Milwaukee ones, they're awesome, and keep the HF ones in the spare toolbox.

Btw Irwin vice grips are now made in china.

 

[d.mcfarland]

OK .. maybe I didn't phrase it correctly so I'll try again. Thanks everyone for offering suggestions on items no longer made here (vise grips are Chinese made now).


I'm asking if HF has sourced a new supplier for their locking pliers?

Old?: http://www.harborfreight.com/8-inch-long-nose-locking-pliers-39716.html

New?: http://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-curved-jaw-locking-pliers-39639.html

Anyone know anything about the different styles and/or how they compare?

 

[arz71]

When your at the bottom of the barrel ( HF) any thing is an upgrade from there........

I agree, they have a lifetime warranty one spends money in gas, vehicle wear/tear and their TIME (wasted on repeated trips on failed tools).

My time is worth more than saving $5.

You can get the made in USA Vise Grips of ebay and other sites. Still plenty of them available. Never had one fail, losing fingers or other injuries does not appeal to me over money.

 

[Kirbot]

I love American Vise Grips as much as the next guy... After having one HF pair (the basic, non red handle type) that was ****, they're all I use.

But come on...
If you need a trip to the ER, or take off a finger with a pair of pliers, that's your own damn fault...

 

[Parrothead]

I agree, they have a lifetime warranty one spends money in gas, vehicle wear/tear and their TIME (wasted on repeated trips on failed tools).

My time is worth more than saving $5.

You can get the made in USA Vise Grips of ebay and other sites. Still plenty of them available. Never had one fail, losing fingers or other injuries does not appeal to me over money.

I really like my USA brand vise grips, but I have about every brand under the sun. I have Peterson vise grips, Irwin USA vise grips, Kobalt, and HF too. The red ones pictured above from HF aren't bad at all, and while they're not the USA grips, they're certainly worth the cost of admission. And thats especially true when you're paying less than $4.50 a pair. I'ev never had them fail either.

 

[kctyphoon]

Maybe someone can step in and actually answer the OP's question..

 

[kage860]

I've had good luck with the 10" ones with grips:
http://www.harborfreight.com/10-inch-professional-curved-jaw-locking-pliers-94286.html
And I've bent the needle ones without the grips:
http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-needle-nose-locking-pliers-39715.html

Those are the only two HF I've used.

 

[Engine]

I have both types of these. I keep them near the welding table so I won't ruin my better Vise-Grips with slag or slips with the grinder.

The "old" style is a lot harder to open when clamped down tight than the "new" one is. On the "old", there is only enough length of the release handle exposed to let you get one finger on it, and you must use a lot of force on it to open the jaws. The "new" is designed like the original Vise-Grips. You can pull outward on the release with a few fingers or push with your knuckles if it's not too tight.

So, in my experience, the ones designed like the old Vise-Grips are the easiest to work with.

 

[stikman56]

I agree, they have a lifetime warranty one spends money in gas, vehicle wear/tear and their TIME (wasted on repeated trips on failed tools).

My time is worth more than saving $5.

You can get the made in USA Vise Grips of ebay and other sites. Still plenty of them available. Never had one fail, losing fingers or other injuries does not appeal to me over money.

Overall, they're junk, HOWEVER, I have used them at times when they will grip and remove something that my favorite pair of Irwin vise grips or anything else I had in my tool box for that matter, could not. Something to think about. Everything has it's place.

 

[monster1]

Maybe someone can step in and actually answer the OP's question..

I thought bashing someone's opinion was an answer in itself.

 

[stikman56]

If they're junk, how is it they do something your regular vise grips can't?

I have a whole set of these, I have used them, I paid attention when I did. Let's see, where should I start? The grips fall right off, the metal is weak, yeah, parts bend when you try to clamp them real tight, they fail to lock, the adjuster hangs up, the part the adjuster moves, well it jumps over the adjuster sometimes......do I need to go on here? The jaws have a grip that some others do not in certain situations. They have small splines where some others like the Irwin's I have are larger splines on the jaws and the geometry is most likely a tad bit different as well . AS I said, everything has it's place and even these POS locking pliers will once in a while remove something and surprise me. Otherwise I reach for them, not at all. This is my experience with them. They have this one use and only one use and not often for me. Maybe twice so far. You mileage may vary!

 

[retDAC]

Thanks for listing the bad points. So there is one rare sort of application where they work better than the good ones, yet normally they are frustratingly difficult, sometimes even impossible, to use.

How odd. Impressive you've identified a good use though.

 

[bobbycos]

OK .. maybe I didn't phrase it correctly so I'll try again. Thanks everyone for offering suggestions on items no longer made here (vise grips are Chinese made now).


I'm asking if HF has sourced a new supplier for their locking pliers?

Old?: http://www.harborfreight.com/8-inch-long-nose-locking-pliers-39716.html

New?: http://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-curved-jaw-locking-pliers-39639.html

Anyone know anything about the different styles and/or how they compare?

After clicking on the link what I see are two different styles of the item

What I don't see are the soft grip handles

And yes HF does change suppliers to keep the cost down

 

[d.mcfarland]

Yes, I'm comparing the plain locking pliers. One was a picture of the long nose and one of the regular nose, but the style of the release mechanism is the point of the pictures.

 

[theoldwizard1]

If you have the "old" ones, run a tap through the threaded hole and add a drop or 2 of oil. Makes a huge difference !

 

[Engine]

I wasn't sure which one you were calling "old" and which was "new." I think they have had both types for some time.

The one that I mentioned that has the release lever that is hard to open is on the right. The one on the left is the easier to work with, IMO. You may see it differently. In fact, the one on the right is practically useless, in my experience. In addition to being hard to push in, you have to move the lever nearly all the way in toward the other handle before it will start opening the jaws. As I said earlier, the one designed like the regular vise-grips works fine. A good, cheap imitation of the real thing.

 

[d.mcfarland]

Thank you for the response on the 2 styles, that's what I'm looking for!