Pliers are easy to dismiss and misplace. Eventually you need one. Or find another one at that sale . . .
Craftsman Water Pump Pliers, Non-Slip
Craftsman Water Pump Pliers, Non-Slip
Pliers; How Many Is Too Many?
- Thread starter MisterEd
- Start date
Well, as far as slip joints, enough is enough. I won’t bring another one home even if it has markings to indicate that Charles Bonney was mixing it up with Alphonse Plomb’s old lady, and that together one night they took a train to Kenosha with the drawings for Vacuum Grip tucked in her bodice.
d42jeep
Well-known member
I have too many. Here are some Crescent and Cee Tee pliers. 
-Don
-Don
Okey Dokey guess you had one heck of a day!
But I agree. Regular slip joints are fine for grabbing small objects that my fingers just can't hold anymore. But for anything else specialty pliers reign. I like Parrot head pliers, and the old Proto Wrenching pliers are great for clamping power. As long as I have some of those then one pair of every Knipex plier made would do it for me!
d42jeep
Well-known member
I have too many. Here are some Vlchek pliers. 
They 
-Don
They -Don
Craftsman 4735 Locking Ring Pliers “P” by Wilde
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d42jeep
Well-known member
I have too many. Did someone mention Klein?
-Don
-Don
Farmer J.
Well-known member
I still haven't seen enough pliers, yet.
four.cycle
Well-known member
I managed to get all of my ProAmerica pliers in one place...
.... haven't gotten to the others yet. Give me time...
.... haven't gotten to the others yet. Give me time...
Pliers are the one tool I have a hard time keeping corraled. They seem to stray away from the rest of the herd then show up in some weird lo cal patiently waiting to be returned to the corral. Rarely if ever are they all accounted for at the same time lol. Sneaky varmits
d42jeep
Well-known member
Those are purty!I managed to get all of my ProAmerica pliers in one place...
.... haven't gotten to the others yet. Give me time...
How about some Channellocks? I definitely have too many.
Found these today and (over) restored them.
-Don
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Nice collections.
You do realize this is the Garage Journal where the only answer to having too many is a too many is a few more than you have. Anything else will have people question ones credentials. Saying you have too many may have the GJ members at your door to arrange for an intervention.
You do realize this is the Garage Journal where the only answer to having too many is a too many is a few more than you have. Anything else will have people question ones credentials. Saying you have too many may have the GJ members at your door to arrange for an intervention.
Farmer J.
Well-known member
Recently bought some new old stock pliers, like the other ones i bought about 45 years ago.
A person needs a Channellock needle nose, a Channellock ****, and a Channellock water pump.
There are a few other brands and types that are useful.
Anything more is just ballast for the toolbox bottom drawer to keep the box from falling over.
There are a few other brands and types that are useful.
Anything more is just ballast for the toolbox bottom drawer to keep the box from falling over.
d42jeep
Well-known member
I just have to disagree with that. Here is the plier drawer in my user toolbox. 
on the other hand these are unmarked and unwanted.
-Don
on the other hand these are unmarked and unwanted.
-Don
pelletman
Well-known member
Is this a trick question?! Too much is never enough
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
^ This!
^ This!
^ This!
^ ...and this!
Although the Minimalist, Survivalist, 'Desert Island' approach partisans are always well-represented, such as the Knipex Cobra crew prowling every Adjustable vs Plier-Wrench
I don't disagree with the second part of this...
But my problem isn't misplacing so much as placing. Storing, to be more precise.
Users? No problem. I have a stack in the garage, a kit in each car, and some carry boxes or bags, all with needle nose and dykes, at least.
Collectibles are the headache. The issue isn't space. I'm generally not the kind of collector who desires to have more than one of the same brand and type of plier, unless there's a really good reason for it. The issue is orderliness. Pliers aren't the only hand tool that gives the scientific taxonomist, the librarian, and the curator in me fits, but they are one of the worst offenders. Each example I bring home is usually a dilemma, starting with the question, 'Do I store this by brand or by type?' Tough call sometimes. And no matter which way I go, it always leads to this very frustrating and cogently stated impossibility...
Because they are all over the dang place!
As most you probably know, I have entire collections of vintage Champion DeArment and vintage Wm. Schollhorn, both of which have now vastly outgrown this poorly planned Pegboard Wall of Fame in the Lugzsonian...
I don't yet have a display for the Waldes-Truarc collection.
Those collections are pretty straightforward.
If you want to find the Snap-on...
...or the Bonney...
...or the Winchester...
...etc etc, you gotta walk around a little.
Don't worry. I'm not going to do that for the Plomb, Fleet, Williams, Herbrand, etc, not to mention every kit that has miniature ignition pliers in it!
But I also have a bunch of miscellaneous brands that are stored in a drawer by type: combination slip-joints, linesman, and the infamous 'Other' category.
We'll save that drawer for a different day.
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Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
@MisterEd
Just a quick g'morning to let you know this is quickly becoming a Love/Hate Thing for me. I have not yet cleaned all of yesterday's flea market finds. I have not taken the dog for a walk. I really should be getting packages ready to mail to a couple GJ Not-Secret Santa trading buddies, not to mention to my far-flung kids. But I'm down the basement re-sorting and cataloging pliers, instead! On the plus side, I did find a few that were MIA, a few that needed some re-TLC, and a few that I will probably move somewhere else. So, damn you, and also thanks!
Just a quick g'morning to let you know this is quickly becoming a Love/Hate Thing for me. I have not yet cleaned all of yesterday's flea market finds. I have not taken the dog for a walk. I really should be getting packages ready to mail to a couple GJ Not-Secret Santa trading buddies, not to mention to my far-flung kids. But I'm down the basement re-sorting and cataloging pliers, instead! On the plus side, I did find a few that were MIA, a few that needed some re-TLC, and a few that I will probably move somewhere else. So, damn you, and also thanks!
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
As first reported on the Garage Sale sale thread, I found a pair of BHM pliers at the flea this morning.
Sticking to my usual MO, I was going to post them on the BHM thread, but I will post them here instead and maybe double tap it over there. I hate to get that dreaded three-posts-in-a-row crud on me, but this thread already drifted to page 2, every other general pliers thread that has ever been started here has withered and died, (it's not that pliers aren't popular, it's that they get posted on brand threads or the Bell System thread, etc), and I am committed to keeping this one going. Maybe it can reach DOE, DBE, and Hammer status.
Classic 6-1/2" combination slip-joints and wire cutter, light duty, thin nose, nickel-plated, with the BHM monograph behind the pivot.
The grips are neat, featuring the diamond shaped space in the middle of the knurling where the "BHM" monograph is forged on a different pair I have.
Not quite a bodice ripper (see post #3), but I was excited. I would've preferred to take them apart to clean, but it's peened on the flip side.
Sticking to my usual MO, I was going to post them on the BHM thread, but I will post them here instead and maybe double tap it over there. I hate to get that dreaded three-posts-in-a-row crud on me, but this thread already drifted to page 2, every other general pliers thread that has ever been started here has withered and died, (it's not that pliers aren't popular, it's that they get posted on brand threads or the Bell System thread, etc), and I am committed to keeping this one going. Maybe it can reach DOE, DBE, and Hammer status.
Classic 6-1/2" combination slip-joints and wire cutter, light duty, thin nose, nickel-plated, with the BHM monograph behind the pivot.
The grips are neat, featuring the diamond shaped space in the middle of the knurling where the "BHM" monograph is forged on a different pair I have.
Not quite a bodice ripper (see post #3
), but I was excited. I would've preferred to take them apart to clean, but it's peened on the flip side. 
d42jeep
Well-known member
Only one pair? That doesn’t qualify for too many. Lugz, I like the NB pliers.
-Don
-Don
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
Uh-oh. Either you're looking through that Pile O' Pliers drawer and seeing an NB I don't have, or an NB I don't know about! I'm kinda hoping it's the latter, because they are rare!
d42jeep
Well-known member
Oops! Bridgeport. I always get those confused.
-Don
-Don
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
Thanks. I was elated!
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
To quote Don's favorite line, "Did someone say..." slip-joints?
The thing about slip-joints - and I'm not yet even talking about angle or parrot head slip joints, or water pump pliers, some of which are also slip joints, just your average, every day, run-of-the-mill general utility slip-joints, is the deceptive variety.
Here is a dozen of mine.
Just look at all the variations in jaw width, jaw length, jaw shape, size of gripping surface at tip of jaws, shape of openings (which matters!), number of teeth (which matters!), and handle profiles, screwdriver tip handles or not. Not to mention grips. There are NO TWO pliers alike in that line-up - and that's not even counting the brand markings, despite the fact that some of them are from the same OEM!
Left to right, in alphabetical order, we have...(1) Asterisk logo (by PEXTO!), (2) very early Cronk (of Cronk & Carrier fame) with the widest head in the lot, (3) Fleet (made for Pendleton Tool Industries, Inc., in the former Vlchek plant), (4) H1106 (made by Vlchek, which you may also see with P/N PR206), with the gullwing handles, (5) J.P. Danielson (look how sleek they are! narrowest pliers across the head at the pivot and across the jaws, by far!), (6) Kraeuter (with the distinctive Nested V's), (7) very early E.C. Simmons "Oak Leaf" brand, with gullwing handles (made by Crescent), (8) PESCO by PEXTO, (9), Peck, Stow, & Wilcox early logo, (10) "Red Devil", (11) "Red Diamond" (also by PEXTO!), and (12) my favorite brand name ever, "Your Money's Worth", OEM unknown.
Some close-ups...
Some famous grips...
Top to bottom, Crescent, Kraeuter, and J.P. Danielson.
The thing about slip-joints - and I'm not yet even talking about angle or parrot head slip joints, or water pump pliers, some of which are also slip joints, just your average, every day, run-of-the-mill general utility slip-joints, is the deceptive variety.
Here is a dozen of mine.
Just look at all the variations in jaw width, jaw length, jaw shape, size of gripping surface at tip of jaws, shape of openings (which matters!), number of teeth (which matters!), and handle profiles, screwdriver tip handles or not. Not to mention grips. There are NO TWO pliers alike in that line-up - and that's not even counting the brand markings, despite the fact that some of them are from the same OEM!
Left to right, in alphabetical order, we have...(1) Asterisk logo (by PEXTO!), (2) very early Cronk (of Cronk & Carrier fame) with the widest head in the lot, (3) Fleet (made for Pendleton Tool Industries, Inc., in the former Vlchek plant), (4) H1106 (made by Vlchek, which you may also see with P/N PR206), with the gullwing handles, (5) J.P. Danielson (look how sleek they are! narrowest pliers across the head at the pivot and across the jaws, by far!), (6) Kraeuter (with the distinctive Nested V's), (7) very early E.C. Simmons "Oak Leaf" brand, with gullwing handles (made by Crescent), (8) PESCO by PEXTO, (9), Peck, Stow, & Wilcox early logo, (10) "Red Devil", (11) "Red Diamond" (also by PEXTO!), and (12) my favorite brand name ever, "Your Money's Worth", OEM unknown.
Some close-ups...
Some famous grips...
Top to bottom, Crescent, Kraeuter, and J.P. Danielson.
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toolmiser
Well-known member
This question is odd, as I just seen the same question, but about screwdrivers, and I thought it could apply to pliers. The answer might be who made them, how much do they cost, are they unique, how many do I already have????
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
And then there's OAL. All CeeTeeCo...
...but the dimpled grip on the smallest, possibly latent Smith & Hemenway pattern holdover, sets my OCD off!
.
...but the dimpled grip on the smallest, possibly latent Smith & Hemenway pattern holdover, sets my OCD off!
.
Farmer J.
Well-known member
Please "HELP, HELP".. Urgent..! Some of us are in dire trouble.. Send more pliers!Some of Y'all have a serious problemIt's ok to ask for help.
Glad to be of assistance, anytime.So, damn you, and also thanks!
d42jeep
Well-known member
Maybe Harrold but no guarantees.
-Don
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
Those say "Germany" to me.