Laminated Steel Tools

[honcho]

I picked up these made in USA Crescent branded. "Dura Plyers" probably 15 years ago, likely on clearance at Sears. I have this unopened set in packaging that is deteriorating. The other set i bought resides in a household tool box that doesn't get much use. Yet, when i have used the Dura Plyers they work as intended. They seem to be physically lighter than an equivalent forged tool and the serrations are sharp and bite well. I doubt that the serrations would last long in regular use but they are useful, serviceable tools.

Probably the most commonly known laminated steel tool is the Craftsman "RoboGrip" pliers. Sears had several other laminated tools that I encountered over the years. My first set of ratcheting wrenches was a set of double box end laminated wrenches that i received as a gift from my boys many years ago.

Laminated steel tools must be cheaper to make than forged tools. Forged tools are likely stronger but if materials and strength for the work requirements are considered and matched, then laminated tools are, in my limited experience, good enough for many tasks. They're certainly not as sleek and good-looking as forged tools.

What other laminated steel tools have others encountered in the wild?

 

[i7083]

You brought back a memory.
When the Robogrips came out I was working in a manufacturing plant. We all carried Channellocks in our coverall pocket. The boss came out with some Robogrips and said "Here, see if you can tear these up". "OK". I went to remove the bung from a 55 gallon drum, just like I'd done many times with my old pliers. Oops. Two minutes...

 

[AEAdam]

Might be good for plumbers, helpful for homeowners removing a tight garden hose from the spigot. Otherwise pass.

 

[Hakeem]

An electrician I was working with the other day was, no joke, using a pair of Robogrips to assemble some commercial lighting. Alas I didn’t have my phone to take a photo.

 

[908Jim]

An electrician I was working with the other day was, no joke, using a pair of Robogrips to assemble some commercial lighting. Alas I didn’t have my phone to take a photo.

I think every 30+ year old member of GJ owns a pair and none of us have ever used them. Congrats!

 

[Firebrick43]

I picked up these made in USA Crescent branded. "Dura Plyers" probably 15 years ago, likely on clearance at Sears. I have this unopened set in packaging that is deteriorating. The other set i bought resides in a household tool box that doesn't get much use. Yet, when i have used the Dura Plyers they work as intended. They seem to be physically lighter than an equivalent forged tool and the serrations are sharp and bite well. I doubt that the serrations would last long in regular use but they are useful, serviceable tools.

Probably the most commonly known laminated steel tool is the Craftsman "RoboGrip" pliers. Sears had several other laminated tools that I encountered over the years. My first set of ratcheting wrenches was a set of double box end laminated wrenches that i received as a gift from my boys many years ago.

Laminated steel tools must be cheaper to make than forged tools. Forged tools are likely stronger but if materials and strength for the work requirements are considered and matched, then laminated tools are, in my limited experience, good enough for many tasks. They're certainly not as sleek and good-looking as forged tools.

What other laminated steel tools have others encountered in the wild?

Early ratcheting wrenches

 

[four.cycle]

Not a new idea at all.
Warren S. Bellows was issued a patent for a laminated wrench in 1909. There have been other manufacturers of these as well.
Coincidentally, an example of a laminated tie rod adjusting wrench was just posted on this site within the last 48 hours.

 

[driftpin]

Never bought RoboGrips, but in the 1970's I did buy a set of Craftsman laminated box-end ratcheting wrenches, 3 0r 4 SAE sizes, the top plate on either side was chrome, and the body of the wrenches had a hard black plastic strip around it. To reverse it, you just turn it over. I still have them, and while I rarely use them, they have done the work when I pulled them out.

 

[BCreekDave]

For a time, robogrips were the ultimate Christmas Birthday Fathers Day gift. I’ve still got my unused set that I just can’t part with because of this.

 

[Kscardsfan]

I actually do use my Robogrips with the original soft jaw covers for the light duty work on decorative/chrome/plated hardware plumbing etc. to not tear up the finish. And they work just as intended. Craftsman also had some laminated plier sets around that same 1999-2004 time frame that were absolute trash and did not last long at all. We had some in the high school welding lab that were promptly destroyed and warrantied out for forged conventional pliers. That said, a high school welding lab is probably the equivalent of the baggage gorilla commercials from the 70s and 80s in regards to abusing and overusing tools of any sort.

 

[Nutria]

Funny, from the title, I thought that you were headed towards laminated steel chisels and the like.

 

[jack stand]

I have a close to 40 yo laminated box end ratcheting wrench set from Harbor Freight. That was back when they were mail order.
I was recently married and had bought our first house so I know there prices were the same as today's "wtf it's worth a try" attitude that applies to a lot of their stuff.

 

[LXCam]

An electrician I was working with the other day was, no joke, using a pair of Robogrips to assemble some commercial lighting. Alas I didn’t have my phone to take a photo.

Klein used to make their own. I had some, what a gimmick.

 

[honcho]

here's a pic of my laminated craftsman ratcheting wrenches. I had forgotten how chunky they are and how that limits their utility. They were a gift from my boys in the late 80s/early 90s so they're not going anywhere soon.

 

[FigN⋅m]

In addition to the Robos & Ratchet Wrenches, I also have a set of laminated CM needlenose & reg. slip joint pliers.
They're obviously somewhat useless, but very early acquisitions from when I was starting out, so I'm keeping 'em!

 

[Citation]

Laminated construction isn't inherently a bad thing. The mechanical properties of rolled sheet are similar to forged metal. So if used correctly the laminated parts can be every bit as good as a forged part. That said, I suspect we often saw the laminated parts because the tooling was cheaper for a low volume tool. I believe a lot of the good specialty crimping tools I've seen are laminated (thought not the jaws themselves).

 

[bwringer]

here's a pic of my laminated craftsman ratcheting wrenches. I had forgotten how chunky they are and how that limits their utility. They were a gift from my boys in the late 80s/early 90s so they're not going anywhere soon.

Yeah, those were only useful if you had a fastener basically floating in space somehow with nothing anywhere near it. There are so many of these kinds of tools in the world.

Most of the "weird tool Christmas/Father's Day gift for Dad" stuff from Craftsman was worse than useless, but they sold tons of it. If I spotted something in the Christmas or Father's Day flyer that might actually be useful, I usually just bought it myself.

But of course anything you get from your kids, wife, Mom, etc. is automatically a keeper.

 

[Kscardsfan]

I have a close to 40 yo laminated box end ratcheting wrench set from Harbor Freight. That was back when they were mail order.
I was recently married and had bought our first house so I know there prices were the same as today's "wtf it's worth a try" attitude that applies to a lot of their stuff.

I'd like to see those.

 

[tak1313]

Craftsman is like the hand tool Ryobi of the 80's and 90's, coming out with all kinds of new/unique stuff. The only difference is that Ryobi stuff tends to actually work as intended.

 

[jack stand]

I'd like to see those.

They are unmarked other than the size. I replaced the bulky craftsman set that I thought were just amazing as a 20 something kid. They're still in my toolbox but the new generation... less than 40 years old are much more slender with a much shorter throw, and having an open end wrench on the other side that I find handy.

 

[Kscardsfan]

They are unmarked other than the size. I replaced the bulky craftsman set that I thought were just amazing as a 20 something kid. They're still in my toolbox but the new generation... less than 40 years old are much more slender and having an open end wrench on the other side that I find handy.

For some reason I was envisioning something like a combo wrench for these. I don't get why these are still made, but there must be enough of a market for them to keep them in production. I know HVAC and refrigeration guys seem to really like them more than others. I probably have a few of them bouncing around my boxes somewhere, but once I got some ratcheting combo wrenches I haven't bothered to even look for those.

 

[acer66]

I got a Craftsman from someone and use it sometimes especially if it is on top of the pile.

 

[JradM]

Kershaw has some lovely laminated steel blades.



It's weird how Robogrip was able to convince so many people it's laminated construction was a good thing. Maybe there's some application where that would actually be beneficial?

 

[Kscardsfan]

Kershaw has some lovely laminated steel blades.



It's weird how Robogrip was able to convince so many people it's laminated construction was a good thing. Maybe there's some application where that would actually be beneficial?

Low torque was its bread and butter. I have the jaw covers and use them a lot on chrome or plumbing work to hold stuff still. And it’s also been 30 years since they came out. We figured out a lot of stuff since then.

 

[bonneyman]

They are unmarked other than the size. I replaced the bulky craftsman set that I thought were just amazing as a 20 something kid. They're still in my toolbox but the new generation... less than 40 years old are much more slender with a much shorter throw, and having an open end wrench on the other side that I find handy.

Yeah, I have some ratcheting wrenches like those. They work in a surprising number of places. With no worries of breakage or stripping!