brightspark
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yep I have a few sets there the bestLook out for the old original vice grips on Ebay or boot sales as you wont get better imho...every time i find a set i buy them
- Thread starter Am333rcr
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Hood
I am obsessed.
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- Carnoustie, Scotland
Hood
I am obsessed.
- Messages
- 17,460
- Location
- Carnoustie, Scotland
Here are the old Vise Grips that belonged to my Granddad, probably 1940's but that is just a guess.
Chrome almost gone and still work well enough, had to use them today to remove a Delrin knob I had foolishly test fitted onto the gate latch prior to fitting
Chrome almost gone and still work well enough, had to use them today to remove a Delrin knob I had foolishly test fitted onto the gate latch prior to fitting
Hood
I am obsessed.
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- Carnoustie, Scotland
Just been doing some reading and it seems they are newer than I thought. It says that it was 1957 when the release lever was added so they have to be at least that.
And a sad but predictable fact of todays business practices this was in the article.
"They are now known as Irwin Industrial Tools and are now a division of Newell Rubbermaid, Inc.
In 2008, the original Vise-Grip manufacturing plant in Dewitt, Nebraska, closed when the parent company moved production to China. Over 330 people from Dewitt (population 600) and surrounding communities were out of work."
And a sad but predictable fact of todays business practices this was in the article.
"They are now known as Irwin Industrial Tools and are now a division of Newell Rubbermaid, Inc.
In 2008, the original Vise-Grip manufacturing plant in Dewitt, Nebraska, closed when the parent company moved production to China. Over 330 people from Dewitt (population 600) and surrounding communities were out of work."
roofman
Purveyor of fine English buckets and mops
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They make very good earth clamps for welders
Hood
I am obsessed.
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Funny you should say that, this is from the articleThey make very good earth clamps for welders
"Builders of the Liberty cargo ships found them so useful – and the time pressures to finish ships so great – that welders simply welded the Vise-Grips into the hulls rather than removing them from the pieces they were holding together. At the time, the tool sold for $1.25."
Seems like Newell are renown for doing that.
Hood
I am obsessed.
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Sadly modern business is all about maximising profits and not giving a toss about people or communities or for that matter the quality of their products.
MetalMonkey
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New vise grips are not a patch on the older ones
Grip-on (Spain) are the best locking pliers you can buy today IMO. They are also OEM for a number of other brands (the wurth one pictured earlier in this thread is a grip-on), older Britool(newer ones are a different brand), Sykes and Snap-On.
The difference in quality between them and pretty much anything else is night and day.
Grip-on (Spain) are the best locking pliers you can buy today IMO. They are also OEM for a number of other brands (the wurth one pictured earlier in this thread is a grip-on), older Britool(newer ones are a different brand), Sykes and Snap-On.
The difference in quality between them and pretty much anything else is night and day.
Farside
Badly Welded Man
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Pretty much all I use them for now is clamping bits together that need welded.
Probably not the best tool for the job, but the small collection I have are mostly old ones that don't matter if they get blobby.
Memory jog...
The most useful set of Molies I ever had (still got) is in the bike toolkit. A 6" pair that did sterling duty as a replacement gearshift lever when the original popped off somewhere in Sussex.
Red'n'Black
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Last student house I lived in, the door handle on my room had gone AWOL and been replaced with a pair of mole grips.
I forget what brand mine are, must be 20+ years old. My first pair were Mole brand but one of the jaws got metal fatigue and sheared off.
Mostly get used for clamping parts for welding, tend to agree once a bolt head has rounded off the mole grips will just make it worse.
Ashley Burton
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Never used that type before! Wasn't sure if they were just a gimmick.
Might have to try some out
JohnH
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The small one is only 4" long. Its a dinky little thing, but for those difficult to get at fittings its spot on. I use the next size up, 7" quite a lot. Good for when you cant get a wall drive socket on.
winchman
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Sorry but you are now a Rivet counter! I think I have a boxed one tooAfter reading this thread it re-lit my vice grips fire and this is on its way from bay of pigsold school.
brightspark
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but did u really need themAfter reading this thread it re-lit my vice grips fire and this is on its way from bay of pigs
ive stopped buying a lot of tools at autojumble because i was buying them for peanuts so couldn't resist 
roofman
Purveyor of fine English buckets and mops
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Probably not but i can now put a wrecked pair in the van tool bag and keep the bessy to myself in the workshopbut did u really need them
