Milwaukee USA Pliers

[Submariner733]

Would like to share my recent experience with Milwaukee's USA made pliers.

My desire was to support Milwaukee, in that they created jobs in America and built a brand new plant in West Bend, Wisconsin. This comes at a time when Klein appears to be moving jobs offshore, evident at Lowe's where you will find COO South Korea and Mexico. Where Klein D213-8NE shows a prominent American flag on the front of the package, while on the back in small lettering "Made in Taiwan".

First caveat - the USA Milwaukee pliers are premium priced. Even with my Home Depot military discount the pliers were $35 to $40.

Second caveat - the "Smoothest Open & Close" (From the start with no break-in required) is a curse. Over three quarters of the pliers on the shelf had wobbly pivot joints. I purchased three pliers with solid pivots, but the lineman's and diagonal did not have smooth open and close, while the long nose did open smoothly.

MT558 Diagonal Cutters
* Solid Rivet. Not smooth opening.
* Cut just fine, mostly 12 and 14-AWG solid, nothing amazing.
* Unable to cleanly cut 18-AWG solid. Upon closer inspection discovered the blades do not cleanly meet, a gap of light can be seen.
* Returned as defective, not interested in a replacement pair.

MT555 Long Nose
* Solid Rivet. Nice smooth opening.
* Stout square-cut nose with aggressive crosshatch teeth.
* Prying, twisting, and bending all excellent.
* Unable to cleanly cut 18-AWG solid. Upon closer inspection discovered the cutting blades do not cleanly meet, a gap of light can be seen. Cutters are very much secondary on long nose, but if I pay a premium price, I expect good results in all aspects.
* Returned as defective, not interested in a replacement pair.
> Quite disappointed, in that I received good results with the long nose portion of these pliers. But I believe in trust, and I just do not have confidence after experiencing the evident QA failures.

MT550 Lineman's
* Solid Rivet. Not smooth opening.
* Overall nice pliers, but nothing amazing.
* "Best Leverage for Tough Cuts" is not evident. My Channellock 348, 8" Combination Pliers feel about the same when it comes to hand-grip force.
* Returned. Nothing about these pliers warrants the premium price tag.

 

[BrandonV]

Interesting. Your experience basically sums up similar reasons to why I've pretty much shunned buying Klein minus a few things.

 

[four.cycle]

^ Yes, interesting.
I was looking at the Milwaukee MT550C 9-inch lineman's pliers the other day while I was out Christmas shopping. I first saw them at McLendon's for $54. Pratt Electric wanted $46, but after one of the guys on the counter made the remark about "50-50", I went with
a Klein D213-9NECR (which is clearly stamped "USA" on the tool) and the incomparable Klein D203-8 (labeled "Product of USA finished by Klein Tools Mexico")(which I have no problem with, FTR).

I was unable to justify the price point on the Milwaukee lineman's pliers for an unknown, particularly in light of overwhelmingly favorable comments about the Klein model from a guy who knows.

(I had previous purchased the Klein needle-nose model for a buddy of mine and he was more than happy with them.)

Funny thing:
I own two or three pairs of old Indestro 2124A 7-inch lineman's pliers I've been abusing the hell out of for over 50 years, and they're still chopping 16-penny sinkers in half with no problem. Go figure.

(They work great for driving in staples when fixing barbed-wire fences, too!)

 

[Steve_P]

This venture made no sense to me- sell pliers at stores like Ace Hardware for more than what you can buy Knipex for online. Sounds like a solid business plan.

 

[dnschmidt]

Pliers = Knipex or NWS. What else does one need to know. Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot that I was suppose to sing the National Anthem and wave the America flag for Milwaukee because they're made in the USA. The time when made in the USA meant best in the world is long gone. Sad, but true.

 

[mikey03]

Yea man I had the same experience and I returned the pliers to Home Depot and gave up on it. Now it’s just snap on pliers for me with some knipex added in for some stuff

 

[KnurledNut]

Pliers = Knipex or NWS.

Dennis, you can have your cake and eat it too.

 

[Etchase]

Seems like a marketing gimmick to build a distribution warehouse, devote a tiny portion of it with less than 50 manufacturing jobs to produce less than 0.01% of your sales, and then drape the stars and stripes over the brand. They don’t seem to pay well either.

 

[Hakeem]

I, for one, appreciate the attempt to reshore tool production.

I have the six piece US screwdriver set and like it a lot. The screwdrivers are tough, they hold up to prying, punching out knockouts, and other sorts of abuse. My only complaint is the big Philips is a P3 not a P2. A big beefy P2 is very useful, a P3 not so much.

A coworker has the US linemans and has no complaints, I’ve borrowed them and they seem nice. Very smooth pivot, they cut well, and they’ve been holding up just fine. The pliers I’ve handled in the store have been very smooth with no discernible handle wobble. I was planning on trying them out next when my current pliers wear out.

 

[Hakeem]

Pliers = Knipex or NWS. What else does one need to know. Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot that I was suppose to sing the National Anthem and wave the America flag for Milwaukee because they're made in the USA. The time when made in the USA meant best in the world is long gone. Sad, but true.

Knipex makes a fine tool but Klein pliers are tougher. They’ll stand up to more abuse. Whether or not that is important depends on the application.

 

[dnschmidt]

Dennis, you can have your cake and eat it too.

All good. But do they have the Fantastico that is the question.

 

[Pinne]

I try to stick with what a brand does best - Milwaukee makes good power tools and I'm happy with all of mine.

Brands that specialize in pliers, and have a long history making them, should be capable of making a better product with more consistency. I'll stick with Knipex and Klein for most of them.

 

[darkzero]

I applaude their efforts, sort of, but I'm sorry I will never buy overpriced Milwaukee (or Dewalt) hand tools. When they announced USA made pliers I did not expect them to be great & it looks like they aren't even close.

I am happy with their power tools but not all that I've had, it's the only platform I currently own. I was a Dewalt user previously.

 

[Hannahranga]

Pliers = Knipex or NWS. What else does one need to know. Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot that I was suppose to sing the National Anthem and wave the America flag for Milwaukee because they're made in the USA. The time when made in the USA meant best in the world is long gone. Sad, but true.

Wiha and Marvel are also nice (Vietnam and Japan respectively) but that might be cos I'm a sucker for cross cuts

 

[Steve_P]

Wiha and Marvel are also nice (Vietnam and Japan respectively) but that might be cos I'm a sucker for cross cuts

The Wiha plier plant in Vietnam was recently essentially destroyed by a fire.

 

[BrandonV]

I definitely prefer Knipex, NWS, and Wiha, but I'll take Milwaukee over Klein any day. Klein consistently offshores production and their quality has declined. At least I can appreciate Milwaukee's effort to increase domestic production, though I’m not sure how it will turn out. So far, I’ve been happy with the USA-made tools I’ve bought from them.

Sad to hear about the Wiha fire.

Pliers seem to be tough for American companies to do these days. I've seen some real pieces of work from Snap-on.

 

[BrandonV]

I try to stick with what a brand does best - Milwaukee makes good power tools and I'm happy with all of mine.

I thought when Klein released the power tools it was going to just be rebranded DeWalt... nope... it's worse.

Good point about sticking with what works.

 

[Etchase]

Klein employees more manufacturing personnel than Milwaukee, don’t they? As far as foreign competition beating US companies I can’t think of anyone more successful than TTI.

 

[BrandonV]

Klein employees more manufacturing personnel than Milwaukee, don’t they? As far as foreign competition beating US companies I can’t think of anyone more successful than TTI.

In the U.S., I would certainly guess that's the case.

As much as I like Klein, I think their days of manufacturing tools here may be numbered. The push at Home Depot and now Lowe's to sell Klein tools to homeowners seems aimed at capturing that market, which, for the most part, doesn’t care much about a tool's country of origin.

If Klein sees enough demand from the homeowner segment, who probably wouldn't mind a shift in manufacturing location, they may go for it.

This is all conjecture, and I hope they stay in the U.S. as long as possible. However, the fact that they're moving away from pliers, which was their core competency, and focusing on a lot of other products that feel like there is no rhyme and reason to why they're making it, concerns me.

I recently had to return two Klein voltage testers (hopefully was going to be a Wiggy replacement) right out of the box because the probes wouldn’t stay in. Comparing an old Klein MC cutter to a new one I just picked up you can see and feel the shift. Pliers are still solid IMO for the most part and is pretty much the only thing I'll still buy from them.

 

[d.mcfarland]

The push at Home Depot and now Lowe's to sell Klein tools to homeowners seems aimed at capturing that market, which, for the most part, doesn’t care much about a tool's country of origin.

I think you are missing the point of retail sales. Traditionally, Klein was (meaning years ago) sold at places contractors shopped like speciality supply places, for example. Nothing to do with country of origin of the goods sold.

Contractors now are using big box stores like Home Depot and Lowe's. My guess for this shift is the closing of those small stores and the market share gain of the big box stores. Therefore, the tools need to be available at those places now.

In terms of retail sales in 2023, Home Depot was ranked 5th and Lowe's was 9th. So, not really capturing new market share as much as it is shifting to maintain market share.

The good (and bad for domestic manufacturers) part is that cheap tools are getting better every year and relative to inflation, they are getting more affordable. I try to buy domestically produced items myself in order to keep manufacturing capacity in the country. There will come a time when we need it.

 

[Mb4]

If you’re going to spend that kind of money, buy Knipex. If you want top dollar stuff, buy Knipex or SnapOn. Otherwise, buy Icon. Midgrade isn’t worth it in pliers

Have we reached peak Milwaukee? I love their power tools, but their branching out into other market segments makes me wonder whether/how long until their power tools become totally enshittified.

 

[four.cycle]

Pliers seem to be tough for American companies to do these days.

Wilde is still making a top-shelf product when it comes to their "flush fastener" slip joints and the angle-jawed groove-joint models (far and away better than anything with blue handles.)
ProAmerica's miniature stuff is respectable product, but unfortunately not on a par level with some of the Japan-made stuff.
The Klein 9-inch lineman's pliers are U.S. made and are excellent.
Their D203-8 needle-nose is now made in Mexico, but I'm not sure that's a negative in respect to overall product quality - fit and finish on these appears to be excellent.

Contractors now are using big box stores like Home Depot and Lowe's.

^ Definitely. Parking lot over in the "PRO" area at my closest HomeDepot is always jammed, and it's not Subaru wagons and Priuses.

 

[Toold_up]

I think you are missing the point of retail sales. Traditionally, Klein was (meaning years ago) sold at places contractors shopped like speciality supply places, for example. Nothing to do with country of origin of the goods sold.

Contractors now are using big box stores like Home Depot and Lowe's. My guess for this shift is the closing of those small stores and the market share gain of the big box stores. Therefore, the tools need to be available at those places now.

In terms of retail sales in 2023, Home Depot was ranked 5th and Lowe's was 9th. So, not really capturing new market share as much as it is shifting to maintain market share.

The good (and bad for domestic manufacturers) part is that cheap tools are getting better every year and relative to inflation, they are getting more affordable. I try to buy domestically produced items myself in order to keep manufacturing capacity in the country. There will come a time when we need it.

I used to be in the trades and everything the shop purchased was from local mom&pop supply shops. Lowes and Home Depot were new to town and started selling imported supplies for about what the contractor shop paid (@cost) for the good stuff. One guy was a military vet and Home Depot gave him a 10% discount, so any jobs he did the owner told him to buy materials from HD...

It wasn't long before the small mom and pop shops weren't the first stop when somebody needed something. Then once those shops weren't around the prices from the big box stores increased to what the good stuff used to cost... The big fish swallowed up all the smaller competition and now are the only fish in the pond (except for online shopping). Local economy is in the toilet in an already depressed region.

 

[lardy1]

I have the needle nose and I think they're very nice. Not nice enough that I would pay MSRP for them, though.

 

[Skyman]

Wilde is still making a top-shelf product when it comes to their "flush fastener" slip joints and the angle-jawed groove-joint models (far and away better than anything with blue handles.)

Another vote for the above-mentioned Wilde products. They are American made and very high quality, at very reasonable prices.

I have a LOT of pliers in all sorts of types and from numerous manufacturers. Some that are recently produced, including numerous styles of Knipex, and plenty that are "vintage."

The USA-made Wilde products I recently purchased are as good as the very best of the other brands I own, and better than all of the rest of them. I highly recommend checking them out. I would hate to see them abandon their domestic manufacturing.

 

[richfinn]

Do your research and stick to "GJ approved" tools

 

[Submariner733]

Most of my current pliers are Proto and rebranded Flush-Fastener Wilde, with a few Channellock filling in the gaps.

The Proto Lineman's and Diagonals are solid, but nothing to blow your skirt up. I have the Flush-Fastener groove joints in 7, 10, & 13 - all solid. The 10's have to stretch on 1-1/2 Slip-joint fittings and the 13's are much larger than Channellock 440's, so much so there are applications where I cannot use the 13's. I have the Wilde 10" Pump Pliers which are quite capable, I just do not like the nut fastener.

I find the duo of Proto Long Nose and Proto Duckbill outstanding.

I had been toying with the idea of replacing the Long Nose/ Duckbill duo with a single set of pliers. Snap-on has some nice Talon Grip, but would not feel comfortable using them at work. I prefer US tools, but have been considering Merry Y75-185 or Knipex Long Nose Combination after the Milwaukee long nose did not work out. With the Merry I question the aggressive teeth and possible damage to wiring insulation. With the Knipex, I do not want to say gimmicky, but something about them doesn't mesh with me.

 

[Steve_P]

I do not have any Wilde pliers but have some of their pry bars and nail sets. I've been very underwhelmed- as a DIYer. They seem to just use carbon/high carbon steel, like Channellock, and it doesn't hold up over time in comparison to Mayhew pry bars, Starrett punches, PB Swiss punches.... Yes, Wilde costs less, but sometimes YGWYPF. My Wilde nail sets show wear with just a few uses. The PB Swiss I purchased after have seen 10X the use and still look new. Same with the pry bar comparison between Mayhew and Wilde. So, I wouldn't expect Wilde to come close to lasting like Knipex or NWS.

 

[zendriver]

Do your research and stick to "GJ approved" tools

Harbor Freight?

 

[four.cycle]

So, I wouldn't expect Wilde to come close to lasting like Knipex or NWS.

Don't get Wilde's punches and prybars confused with their pliers.

^ I couldn't speak to Knipex or NWS because I don't own any Knipex or NWS, and the models I mentioned above are not something one would usually buy in either of those brands - slip-joint and angle-jawed groove joint buyers tend to go with more traditional "legacy" brands (Channellock, Wilde, Proto, Klein.)

I don't believe there is one manufacturer of pliers that is "the best" in respect to all models across the board - each of them excels at one or two models, but not all. That includes your Snap-on, Knipex, NWS, or whatever.

 

[richfinn]

Harbor Freight?