Pliers; How Many Is Too Many?
- Thread starter MisterEd
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I found all 3 of these hard to find Snap on/Blue Point pliers this year. After over 10 years of searching and not buying a pair off Ebay, I found these like new 35cp's today at a used tool store for next to nothing.
d42jeep
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I couldn’t ID these little longnoses even after they came out of the evaporust. 
Other side.
-Don
Other side.
-Don
They look like barcalo. Marking would be like top right of the rivet in the first pic. If you squint real hard you might catch a glimmer of something. I have 100% success rate of seeing something. Just nowhere near that when it comes to actually seeing the right thing lolI couldn’t ID these little longnoses even after they came out of the evaporust.
Other side.
-Don
Oregon Dave
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That cross-hatched grip pattern was pretty common as you know; quite often with transverse end lines, that yours don’t seem to have. Some brands that I’m aware of without the end lines are: Diamond, Indestro, Plomb, Proto, and Vaco; my Barcalo’s do have them.I couldn’t ID these little longnoses even after they came out of the evaporust.
Other side.
-Don
Outlawmws
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Don, did you check close on the inside of the handles? I've missed that spot way to many times.
I haven’t got one of those yet…. Kewl looking
Picked up a M Klein & Sons heat coil pliers today. Looks to be made in 1942.
Eric Brown
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Not sure about these. The seller called them seaming pliers. They are marked "GERMANY" and a word I can't figure out (second picture). They are about 9" long. The head is somewhat ball shaped with flat gripping areas about 1" across.
Received information from one of the companies:
www.garagejournal.com
Received information from one of the companies:
Pliers; How Many Is Too Many?
I'd like to know more about TORO pliers. I posted some that I have here -- https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/w-schollhorn-company-w-a-bernard.344360/page-4#post-9531571
www.garagejournal.com
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Mintgrun
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I see Adoration.
Eric Brown
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Looked more like it started with Jt, but I suppose it might be a German A.
Mintgrun
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The top of the A is Above the flAt side.
Based on that listing, Giesen & Forsthoff may have been the manufacturer of your pliers, but a quick search shows scissors and razors, not pliers.
Vintage Giesen & Forsthoff Solingen Germany Scissors Adoration 53 | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Vintage Giesen & Forsthoff Solingen Germany Scissors Adoration 53 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.ca
Based on that listing, Giesen & Forsthoff may have been the manufacturer of your pliers, but a quick search shows scissors and razors, not pliers.
Outlawmws
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Something to do with ringlets in hair back in the day?
Oregon Dave
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Mintgrun’s Adoration looks like a match to me.
Seaming Pliers? Typically are use for sheet metal state-side; maybe those are for fabric. One thing for certain; the ball end and open space between the ball end and pivot are for a German reason; very practical in application.
Eric Brown
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I agree with your Adoration. Now as to their use, I wonder if maybe these were heated, like a sad iron. Just a thought.The top of the A is Above the flAt side.
Vintage Giesen & Forsthoff Solingen Germany Scissors Adoration 53 | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Vintage Giesen & Forsthoff Solingen Germany Scissors Adoration 53 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!www.ebay.ca
Based on that listing, Giesen & Forsthoff may have been the manufacturer of your pliers, but a quick search shows scissors and razors, not pliers.
Here’s their current catalog.
Beerhippie
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Those are "bonking pliers" for when something or someone needs a sharp bonk on the noggin. The jaws can also be used to apply a nose-twist.
[insert Three Stooges meme]
[insert Three Stooges meme]
Eric Brown
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Thanks for the link. I sent an e-mail to them with pictures to see if they know anything about these pliers.
Eric Brown
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It would not surprise me. Give someone a hammer and everything looks like a nail?
Beerhippie
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Give someone a pair of bonking pliers and everything looks like a noggin needin' bonkin'--and a nose-twist.
Outlawmws
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Beerhippie
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Nothin' better than a pair of fire-heated, red-hot bonking pliers!
Eric Brown
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Thanks for the information. I will sleep better tonight knowing what they are for. Guess I'll have to turn the wood so I have a complete tool.
Looking at all those Witherby-marked pliers, I just had to have one. eBay obliged. I chose slip-joints because I have this grip pattern in longnose and regular dikes. I’ll keep an eye out for linesmans at the flea.
I think the last digit of Witherby model numbers, across multiple models, is the nominal length in inches.
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Oregon Dave
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Great photography, as we have become accustom to from you.
Looking at all those Witherby-marked pliers, I just had to have one. eBay obliged. I chose slip-joints because I have this grip pattern in longnose and regular dikes. I’ll keep an eye out for linesmans at the flea.
I think the last digit of Witherby model numbers, across multiple models, is the nominal length in inches.
I see the right side of the stamping is pretty light; but when you get time, is there possibly a letter ‘P’ after the 6 - would feel the world is in a more harmonious place if the plier length was pretty close to 6½”.
Will be curious if the lineman's pliers you find have a single transverse line at each end of the grip pattern.
Thanks - Again for all you share.
Especially like the pliers of your Grandfathers and the meat saw of your Grandmother’s. I have tools from my Dad, Grandfather, Uncles, and a Great Uncle - like having and using them; not for everyone, but is for me.
OAL is nearly 6-3/4”.
I know what you mean. I’ve looked, and my stamp is too light on that side to see. There is a ghost of something that could be a “9,” an “S,” or a “P.” I can’t see the “Y” of Witherby, nor the “D” of England, either. The “B” and the “N” preceding those letters are so faint, I might not recognize them if I didn’t know what they spelled.
There is a near-identical pair on eBay I also considered, with a better stamp that clearly has the “P.” I’m certain from comparing them that the stamps are identical.
But that seller did not remove the black vinyl tape nor photograph the grip pattern. I can see that it’s probably there, but not the condition. The grip pattern was the most important element to me.
Thank you for your other comments. I also
enjoy the sense of continuity from using my ancestral tools, even though they are not usually top quality.
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Are those 8”? And donyou think the model number reads 8112?I found these diagonals at an estate sale yesterday. No indication of manufacturer but made in Sheffield England. Perhaps one of our UK contributors will recognize them.
-Don
d42jeep
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The first digit is very poorly struck. I’ll have to measure them tomorrow 
-Don
-Don
four.cycle
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@LesserSon -
Is not that "Nested diamonds meets arrow fletching" (your term) handle pattern on your Witherby the same as on a couple pairs of those Globemaster (Sheffield) units I sent to you?
Is not that "Nested diamonds meets arrow fletching" (your term) handle pattern on your Witherby the same as on a couple pairs of those Globemaster (Sheffield) units I sent to you?
@LesserSon -
Is not that "Nested diamonds meets arrow fletching" (your term) handle pattern on your Witherby the same as on a couple pairs of those Globemaster (Sheffield) units I sent to you?
I am calling these “Globemaster,” though only the larger dikes have that unambiguously stamped on them. They all say “England,” and one says “Sheffield.” Some model numbers are visible. The grip pattern is what first caught my eye, combining fletching and nested diamonds. I have picked them up one at a time since then. Today I found the linesmans.
Here are the stamps, for the puzzle addicts:
The longnose are in the worst condition - utterly frozen when I got them. I beat them open and closed with liberal squirts of WD40 until they resumed their regular duties.
Yes! That’s why the ID @Oregon Dave gave to the heavy duty diagonal cutters posted by @d42jeep caught my attention.Thanks for sending me a fifth pair! Still no dupes. Alloy Artifacts had one pair shown on their Globemaster entry. I checked their guess of Footprint or Gordon as the Sheffield manufacturer, but none of what I’ve seen matches a grip pattern, nor, I think, the model numbers.
Maybe when Don measures them, he can also post a pic of the grip pattern.
d42jeep
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Thank you, Don! Those are great.
I see Alloy Artifacts has a write up on Witherby. They conclude that Witherby is NOT a manufacturer, but a USA-trademarked brand for handtools imported from England.
So not surprising to find that same grip pattern on unbranded, Globemaster, and Witherby tools. I think it’s a good bet they came from one Sheffield manufacturer of pliers, but we don’t have a positive ID yet.
I see Alloy Artifacts has a write up on Witherby. They conclude that Witherby is NOT a manufacturer, but a USA-trademarked brand for handtools imported from England.
So not surprising to find that same grip pattern on unbranded, Globemaster, and Witherby tools. I think it’s a good bet they came from one Sheffield manufacturer of pliers, but we don’t have a positive ID yet.
Oregon Dave
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We seem to share an interest in handle grip patterns; just found a new pattern for me at:
post #45 by Ayrhead
four.cycle
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^ correct. Witherby was an importer, not a manufacturer. I chased that one down on a "brad driver":
Witherby / Witherby Products / Witherby Tool Co., Trumbull, CT 1969 / Witherby Products Division, John H. Graham Co., 105 Duane St., New York, NY 1967 / importer of offshore-sourced hand tools / "One Hander" wrench, brad driver / https://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2017/07/vanished-tool-makers-witherby-england.html?m=1 /
Witherby / Witherby / "dog bone" wrench / https://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2024/02/witherby-dogbone-wrench.html / https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/gimmick-wrenches-tools.428536/page-5#post-10653097 /
I have ebay photos of Witherby-branded items from England, Germany, West Germany, Spain, Italy, and Japan. Note the address shown in the 1963 Witherby magazine ad is the same as that of John H. Graham & Co., New York, NY, another major importer of all manner of products.
Witherby / Witherby Products / Witherby Tool Co., Trumbull, CT 1969 / Witherby Products Division, John H. Graham Co., 105 Duane St., New York, NY 1967 / importer of offshore-sourced hand tools / "One Hander" wrench, brad driver / https://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2017/07/vanished-tool-makers-witherby-england.html?m=1 /
Witherby / Witherby / "dog bone" wrench / https://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2024/02/witherby-dogbone-wrench.html / https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/gimmick-wrenches-tools.428536/page-5#post-10653097 /
I have ebay photos of Witherby-branded items from England, Germany, West Germany, Spain, Italy, and Japan. Note the address shown in the 1963 Witherby magazine ad is the same as that of John H. Graham & Co., New York, NY, another major importer of all manner of products.
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Oregon Dave
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Went to the AA website you referenced; noticed the Witherby 1855 4.5 Inch Side-Cutting Pliers with the handle grip pattern looking very close to that used by Germany’s Harry P. Will Co./Hoppe & Harry P. Will.
four.cycle just posted: “I have ebay photos of Witherby-branded items from England, Germany, West Germany, Spain, Italy, and Japan. Note the address shown in the 1963 Witherby magazine ad is the same as that of John H. Graham & Co., New York, NY, another major importer of all manner of products.”
Have also been on a wild goose chase re: Witherby/Sheffield/England.
For me another suspicion of an end of WWII entrepreneurial maneuver; Marshall Plan sub-chapter - Maybe a way to re-pay U.S. loans; as a country, at that time, we certainly didn’t have a shortage of quality tool-makers.
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Debcrow
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A little late, but I just ran across this post. My pair does not have springs either that I can feel.
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Debcrow
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OK, here is one I am trying to ID. Just got it in a box of tools at a garage sale. Tried finding a similar on here and elsewhere with no luck.
The grip pattern reminds me of Proto. The U.S.A. in a hexagon seems to stir a memory of similar on a Diamond Calk tool I had except it was inside a stretched diamond shape.
What you see in the photo are the only markings. Next to the U.S.A. in hexagon is a small circle with a r in it for a registered trade mark I believe.
There is also a small 6 stamped there.
They do not look like high quality pliers.
Anyone know the maker? Thanks.
The grip pattern reminds me of Proto. The U.S.A. in a hexagon seems to stir a memory of similar on a Diamond Calk tool I had except it was inside a stretched diamond shape.
What you see in the photo are the only markings. Next to the U.S.A. in hexagon is a small circle with a r in it for a registered trade mark I believe.
There is also a small 6 stamped there.
They do not look like high quality pliers.
Anyone know the maker? Thanks.
I was trying to pump DATAMP dry of pliers handles (USA design patent class D8/58) and spotted this Barcalo grip pattern. Have not seen examples I can recall.
Now, if I can figure how to get the USPTO site to generate a list of D8/58 links, we’d have a real reference for looking up grip patterns.
EDIT - I figured it out, but the classes and subclasses evolved over time, so there isn’t a one-stop look-up for ornamental plier handle grip patterns.
Now, if I can figure how to get the USPTO site to generate a list of D8/58 links, we’d have a real reference for looking up grip patterns.
EDIT - I figured it out, but the classes and subclasses evolved over time, so there isn’t a one-stop look-up for ornamental plier handle grip patterns.
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