Alright so I was at Lowes the other day browsing their electrical tools section. I saw greenlee, channellock, ideal and knipex. I picked up some of the Knipex and was checking them out, reading the card, opening and closing the pliers, seeing the difference between the comfort grip and standard and how it felt in my hand as I applied pressure and gripped the pliers with medium-hard pressure with my hand and suddenly I noticed something...
The linemans pliers I picked up that did not have the comfort grip seemed to close more than I was expecting. For those of you not familiar with linemans pliers the tip of the pliers where the cross-hatched edges are is not supposed to touch. Only the cutting edge below that part is supposed to make contact. However, when I squeezed the handles together with one hand I noticed they almost made contact. That was not what I am used to after using both channellock and klein brand linemans in the past.
Upon closer examination I noticed that the cutting edges were not lined up properly. They actually OVERLAPPED when medium pressure was applied as I gripped the handles. Hmm, that was funny I thought... I have several Knipex tools and have been happy with them so far although I have not yet put them through heavy usage. One reason I ended up even looking into Knipex was in part because of this forum
Anyway, I proceeded to check out some other knipex pliers on the rack and I'd say about 1/2 of the cutters all had this problem! The cobras and bolt cutters seemed fine but the linemans and diagonal cutters often had issues. To me it is a concern when the cutting edges are not properly lined up. Especially when you consider the high cost of investment. When I say they are not lined up I MEAN IT - some of them actually overlapped when the handles were squeezed together and were slightly wobbly! So I tried the greenlee, ideal and channellock that were on the racks (without damaging their packaging too much
of course) . ALL of their cutters had no problem with alignment even as I squeezed the handles as hard as I possibly could. (even the cheap-o Chinese ones for $2.99 did not have this issue)
I seriously hope that this is not the norm and that store just happened to get a bad shipment, maybe a knock-off from china destined for HF, with uh.. the wrong markings and uh packaging and stuff...
but I will check the other local Lowes stores when I get a chance and see if its the same there too.
Here is how even an amateur can tell if his/her cutters are good or not. This works for any brand.
This first picture is of a pair of Knipex angled diagonal cutters I own. They appear to be fine now but I hope they don't start overlapping, wobbling and getting out of alignment after some real use. I already emailed Knipex about this issue and will not buy any more of their products until I get an explanation... I am sad to see this because I have heard a lot of good things about the brand and I like my pliers wrenches a lot...
Note that the one pictured is not one with an issue...(yet anyway)
Next is a picture from the rear:
Finally... this is how you can test if you are getting one with properly mated cutting edges while in the store...(works for most types of cutters) Close the handles and apply light pressure. Then use your thumb and index finger to grab the cutting edges as pictured. Then slowly increase pressure in the handle areas until you are squeezing as hard as you can. If you feel any movement in the cutting edge area as you force the handles together you know you got a lemon... remember: 1. Light pressure to join cutting edges 2. grip cutting edges with fingers 3.hard pressure as you grip and force handles together... DON'T cut your fingers off
Okay, some of you might find this **** but seriously... I made this post for 3 reasons:
1. To show that even "top quality" manufacturers apparently can have QC issues... it was not just one it was HALF of them in the store which were clearly defective.
2. To make it known that the general public has its eye out to keep blind loyalty to a minimum and a demand for quality up.
3. To give everyone here a little tip to make them aware and educated when shopping for this particular type of tool.
Even though the ones pictured do not have this problem, after seeing so many bad ones in the store I am afraid how long mine will last... (not saying they won't just saying it makes me nervous)
The linemans pliers I picked up that did not have the comfort grip seemed to close more than I was expecting. For those of you not familiar with linemans pliers the tip of the pliers where the cross-hatched edges are is not supposed to touch. Only the cutting edge below that part is supposed to make contact. However, when I squeezed the handles together with one hand I noticed they almost made contact. That was not what I am used to after using both channellock and klein brand linemans in the past.
Upon closer examination I noticed that the cutting edges were not lined up properly. They actually OVERLAPPED when medium pressure was applied as I gripped the handles. Hmm, that was funny I thought... I have several Knipex tools and have been happy with them so far although I have not yet put them through heavy usage. One reason I ended up even looking into Knipex was in part because of this forum
Anyway, I proceeded to check out some other knipex pliers on the rack and I'd say about 1/2 of the cutters all had this problem! The cobras and bolt cutters seemed fine but the linemans and diagonal cutters often had issues. To me it is a concern when the cutting edges are not properly lined up. Especially when you consider the high cost of investment. When I say they are not lined up I MEAN IT - some of them actually overlapped when the handles were squeezed together and were slightly wobbly! So I tried the greenlee, ideal and channellock that were on the racks (without damaging their packaging too much
of course) . ALL of their cutters had no problem with alignment even as I squeezed the handles as hard as I possibly could. (even the cheap-o Chinese ones for $2.99 did not have this issue)I seriously hope that this is not the norm and that store just happened to get a bad shipment, maybe a knock-off from china destined for HF, with uh.. the wrong markings and uh packaging and stuff...
but I will check the other local Lowes stores when I get a chance and see if its the same there too.Here is how even an amateur can tell if his/her cutters are good or not. This works for any brand.
This first picture is of a pair of Knipex angled diagonal cutters I own. They appear to be fine now but I hope they don't start overlapping, wobbling and getting out of alignment after some real use. I already emailed Knipex about this issue and will not buy any more of their products until I get an explanation... I am sad to see this because I have heard a lot of good things about the brand and I like my pliers wrenches a lot...
Note that the one pictured is not one with an issue...(yet anyway)
Next is a picture from the rear:
Finally... this is how you can test if you are getting one with properly mated cutting edges while in the store...(works for most types of cutters) Close the handles and apply light pressure. Then use your thumb and index finger to grab the cutting edges as pictured. Then slowly increase pressure in the handle areas until you are squeezing as hard as you can. If you feel any movement in the cutting edge area as you force the handles together you know you got a lemon... remember: 1. Light pressure to join cutting edges 2. grip cutting edges with fingers 3.hard pressure as you grip and force handles together... DON'T cut your fingers off
Okay, some of you might find this **** but seriously... I made this post for 3 reasons:
1. To show that even "top quality" manufacturers apparently can have QC issues... it was not just one it was HALF of them in the store which were clearly defective.
2. To make it known that the general public has its eye out to keep blind loyalty to a minimum and a demand for quality up.
3. To give everyone here a little tip to make them aware and educated when shopping for this particular type of tool.
Even though the ones pictured do not have this problem, after seeing so many bad ones in the store I am afraid how long mine will last... (not saying they won't just saying it makes me nervous)
Either way I used to have a pair of minibolt cutters from there and they were fine.
