oldschoolcraft
Well-known member
A long time ago, before the internet, I used to do work on water pump motors and didn't know snap ring pliers existed. In retrospect, the main tech at the shop knew about that tool, but people kept stealing tools so we always would run the bare minimum and always used needle nose pliers and a flat head screwdriver to remove c-clips.
Even though I haven't done that job in years, I still encounter an occasional c-clip and wound up buying channellock snap ring plier kit with detachable tips. It's okay but not great.
I want to upgrade all of my tools in 2018 and in reviewing old threads here, it seems like Knipex and Snap On are the two best snap ring plier sets, with Knipex seeming to be the winner in many poster's eyes. Given that I don't work in a shop that tool truck guys stop by weekly, the lifetime warranty of SO doesn't appeal to me much. I think Knipex also offers a similar warranty and just as easy or hard for me to use with no weekly truck service.
Also, I love knipex pliers in general and this adds to my set of orange handled tools.
My main question is - is the 8 piece set complete or are there missing ones from it? And if so, does Knipex make them or is another brand necessary? I did some reading on sites other than Garage Journal and saw reference to many specialized versions of snap ring pliers that look like small pipe cutters with a wheel you turn to open and close the tips. I assume that falls under the category of "wait until you need it to buy it" whereas the 8 piece set is a good all around general purpose kit? Or is even the 8 piece set overkill?
My problem is I wind up finding c-clips on random things I take apart like a dial combination lock, so I don't know in advance what size I might need. And I don't know if there's more than 8 industry standard sizes. Also, I assume the knipex 8 piece set is really only 2 different sizes, but in straight, angled, and internal/external versions. So that might not be enough.
For the most part, external seems to have served my historical needs since it always seems to be a c-clip around a shaft I have good access to. But I haven't done much auto work.
Even though I haven't done that job in years, I still encounter an occasional c-clip and wound up buying channellock snap ring plier kit with detachable tips. It's okay but not great.
I want to upgrade all of my tools in 2018 and in reviewing old threads here, it seems like Knipex and Snap On are the two best snap ring plier sets, with Knipex seeming to be the winner in many poster's eyes. Given that I don't work in a shop that tool truck guys stop by weekly, the lifetime warranty of SO doesn't appeal to me much. I think Knipex also offers a similar warranty and just as easy or hard for me to use with no weekly truck service.
Also, I love knipex pliers in general and this adds to my set of orange handled tools.
My main question is - is the 8 piece set complete or are there missing ones from it? And if so, does Knipex make them or is another brand necessary? I did some reading on sites other than Garage Journal and saw reference to many specialized versions of snap ring pliers that look like small pipe cutters with a wheel you turn to open and close the tips. I assume that falls under the category of "wait until you need it to buy it" whereas the 8 piece set is a good all around general purpose kit? Or is even the 8 piece set overkill?
My problem is I wind up finding c-clips on random things I take apart like a dial combination lock, so I don't know in advance what size I might need. And I don't know if there's more than 8 industry standard sizes. Also, I assume the knipex 8 piece set is really only 2 different sizes, but in straight, angled, and internal/external versions. So that might not be enough.
For the most part, external seems to have served my historical needs since it always seems to be a c-clip around a shaft I have good access to. But I haven't done much auto work.