channel lock pliers

[Bob S.]

Howdy,
Was reading the post below about channel lock pliers and wondering what line of work people are in that use pliers to such an extent that they wear them out. I know plumbers use them a lot and I cringe every time I see them come out of the back pocket and head towards a chrome fitting or pipe. I have had several sizes in my tool box for many years and they are probably the least used of all my tools. For 30 years the bulk of my work was automotive, then the past 20 years more home rehabs than anything else, and all that time the slip joint pliers just stayed in the tool box. Please tell me all of the uses you find for them as I gotta be missing something.
Thanks
Bob S.

 

[bison]

maybe try farming for a while,i bet you'll find plenty of uses for it.

 

[Pale Rider]

I use Channel Locks as an electrician to tighten rigid conduit and EMT fittings. They work well but after about 10 years or so I have found that the teeth on them become dull to the point that I have to squeeze the handles so much that it gives me a real case of tennis elbow. At that point I don't fight it, I just get another pair and retire what has otherwise been a faithful tool to the basement or car trunk tool box. I don't especially like it but it seems like a reasonable life expectancy given the amount of use I have gotten out of them. A few guys have the Diamond brand and they seem to prefer them. I may try a set myself next time I need a pair.

 

[bc]

I use them whenever I'm in the mood to strip nuts and bolts. When I'm really in the mood to strip nuts and bolts and crack my knuckles when they slip off or need released, I use my chinese vice grips. And this is usually after I have already buggered up the nuts and bolts with a chinese crescent wrench. And that's usually after I can't find, don't have, or am too lazy to go get the right size wrench or socket. My only saving grace is that usually I can't find or am too lazy to go get the channel locks. They just don't fit my hands right to get a good grip.

 

[Anonymous-0]

You have to be kidding? You never use them for home improvement? I spent a decade as a property manager and contractor fixing run down apartments mostly and used them all the time. General holding, tons of use for plumbing alot of electrical fittings and the countless times an odd shape would need to be gripped. Other than a hammer and screwdrivers they were the most used tool! I would not say it is the ideal tool for all situations it gets used in but it is the ideal tool for covering many tasks.



The German Knipex versions are better but channellocks are good tools. I like all of their line of pliers and cutters.

 

[kyplowboy]

My grandfather carried a 6" pair in his back pocket every day I was around him like many people carry Leathermans today. He pumped oil wells in the morning and farmed in the afternoon. I keep a pair on every tractor, in every truck, and a small pair in the tool box of my four wheeler. Here at my night job there are two pair in every building. I work as a water treatment plant operator and they come in pretty handy change'n PVC parts out. When you have a leak (or malfuction) in a chemical feed line you have to get it fixed right then and looking for a wrench to fit a 1/2, 3/4, 1, 1.5, or 2 inch pvc line takes up too much time. As far as I know there is no wrench that fits the union valves we have every where here that just don't snug up tight with your hands.

Dave

 

[Fawteen]

I keep a pair in my electrical "jump bag" at work. Industrial wiring in a fish cannery uses a lot of waterproof cable, conduit and fittings, both metal and plastic. Used mostly for loosening cable clamps and conduit clamp nuts.

Also handy when coupled with a little brute force and ignorance for removing the remnants of aluminum fittings that salt water has turned in to an amorphous lump of powdery white crap...

 

[MF Pain]

I hate cheap ones with a vengeance and then I discovered Knipex. Buy a set of their Cobra water pump pliers and I'll be surprised if you are not impressed. Great for poly pipe fittings, removing butchered nuts/sump plugs etc. Once set to size they don't change when put down like most others, also because of their design you don't have to squeeze them to keep pressure on - just pulling on one handle (the back one of course) keeps their grip on. I have two sizes and regard them as two of the best tools I own (and I've got a few!!) For fencing their Cobolt (Compact bolt cutters) and combination pliers are great tools that will last a lifetime or more.
Cheers
Bill

 

[keh]

Keep a pair in every tractor tool box also. Convenient for holding bolt while using the Crescent wrench on the nut, or vice versa. Really big ones can take off stubborn oil filters, assuming you can get to it. Never have used one enough to wear it out, don't have strong enough grip to break one.

Speaking of Crescent wrenches, sure hope they haven't gone to China.

KEH

 

[Doug Huffman]

I retired as a submarine reactor plant engineer. Slip joint pliers, with a specific exception, would get the user a reprimand and dismissal. So would adjustable wrenches.

I use a small and well worn pair around the house for things like garden-hose couplings.

 

[Steve in IN]

I use them on those spring wire hose clamps. I know they make a wrench for that, but why bother, if I can get it off with channel locks, I don't need to reinstall with channel locks. I've started replacing all of those with traditional hose clamps.

 

[schmuck]

They are like most tools. If they are used correctly, they are very handy and can save alot of time. And, like most tools, if they are misused in 5 minutes they can create several hours worth of repairs for a competent tradesman. The same people who misuse channel lock pliers are generally the same ones who use ratchets for hammers, screw drivers for pry bars, adjustable wrenches and vice grips in place of sockets and BIG hammers on anything that won't do what they want it to. God bless them. I've made a good living for many years following them around.

 

[TimV]

ROFL! Yup, you've pretty much stated the case on these, and while they certainly have their place in a tool box, they (like every other tool) can cause problems when they're used as if they were the ONLY tool in the toolbox. Old saying that's as true now as ever--"to the man that only owns a hammer, every problem looks like a nail".

The problem I usually face is that I can't find the no-good-ritezenfritzen product-of-an-unmentionable-act-involving-farm-animals that goobered up the nut buried waaaaay at the back of the engine because they were probably four or five owners back and wouldn't take credit for it if I COULD locate them!
By the way, I've had good service from a big pair of slip-joints that I picked up from the "manager's special" rack at one of those traveling tool shows, though I had to replace the nut holding them together with one that wasn't stripped. I figure in another 10 years of hard use I'll have got my $5.00 out of them. They work great as jar lid openers too!

 

[Dick L]

What type of work?
Mold setters in a plastic factory that used pipe in the molds that have to be removed. We use snap couplers on most molds now but in the past we used the Channel Lock 410 which lasts the longest in every day use. Years past one job setter would take out 50 or more pipes a day and put them back in another mold.
I just bought a new pair of 410 Channel Lock pliers. the best thing made for taking out studs because of the shape of the bottom jaw. It curves up and digs in real tight. It is called nutbuster pliers. Bought my first pair in 1960 and have never been without them.
picture

 

[Dick L]

I use tools as you discribe and there has never one person made a dime from me because of it.

 

[TopCat in NC]

I agree they are very useful in doing electrical work and I have dulled a few sets myself on rigid conduit as there isn't too many other tools for tightening pipe and couplings together, also channel locks are great when framing and pulling the curve out of a twisted stud before final nailing.
Have a great weekend y'all
Dan

 

[RobMD]

Good lord, you never use them? They are perhaps the most handy tools i've ever used. The entire channelock line sees thousands of uses.

They are perfect for tight spaces, grabbing things from an enclosure, holding things while welding, removing cotter pins and hairpins, rounded off bolts, nuts, and fittings, plastic piping, TONS AND TONS OF electrical work, etc.

They are NOT a last resource tool.

 

[RobMD]

That is pretty funny.

 

[TedD17]

I farm for a living and have a holster on my belt for my pliers and wear them everywhere. Probobly the best tool to carry around, I know i'm not a good example but for little things i can't pull out with my hands ect i tap with the pliers, saves 10 minutes walking into the shop or 30 minutes if your broke down in the field for something simple. They're my steel fingers when i need them.

 

[NEsota]

They can be really useful in applying pressure to the moveable v-belt driven pulley, when adjusting belt tension.

 

[Paul N Texas]

I use them a lot for rolling the flanges on frame rails of trucks etc in the body shop. I use them for a number of sheet metal repairs when I need a little pressure. If used properly, and NOT with brute force, they can be a VERY useful tool, as can be a crescent or adjustable wrench. As for the building trades, several have mentioned using them on conduit, as well as some plumbing. Here is another place for them, the crescent wrenches, and pipe wrenches (Mind you, I use the BIG ones in the body shop), with a lot of the lumber today, it will be twisted, or end up that way before using it. I use these items to pull the twist out of the 2x's while nailing them in place... Lots of good uses, but also bad times whn used wroung.

 

[Anonymous-0]

It is important to make sure you are holding the pliers properly. The teeth on both jaws are angled opposite. To grip correctly you must apply pressure (whether pushing or pulling) to the correct handle---the correct handle is the one for the bottom jaw. It is amazing how often I see people who do not properly orient the pliers the correct way. If you do it properly and the jaws are in decent shape it will "hold."