I had to replace a lost Channel Lock slip groove pliers and went to Walmart and picked up a model 430. I used them to take off some nylock nuts and it nearly slipped out of joint. I took a look at them and noticed the nut and bolt was replaced by a rivet! Took them back and went to Lowes and got a Kobalt brand. MUCH better! Too bad Channel Lock went cheap.
Mike D.
Hi, As long as we keep buying junk, they will keep making them, I go to flea market, garage sale.etc. to pick up vintage real thing for less than the price of new junk.
The Kobalt functions very well, but the handles seem a little shorter than the Channel Locks. They do not slip and I do not see any reason to suspect hard use to affect them, much like the old Channel Locks.
A friend of mine brought over a set that are made in Germany. Red handles, Knipex brand, I believe. They seemed to work very well for removing some stuck motorcycle bolts, and were made well. I have no idea what they cost, and I imagine he had "borrowed" them. They had the smooth parallel jaws, not the serrated ones. When I saw the new Channel Locks, I thought it was a take off on them, which it looks like. But I guess the performance isn't as good.
Steve
You say they went cheap. They say:
"PermaLock® fastener eliminates nut and bolt failure"
Now, I'm not sure what a Permalock is, but I don't see you claiming they didn't work or they somehow failed. There's a shitload of structures being held together by rivets in this country, like the Empire State Bldg and the Golden Gate Bridge, and I don't hear anyone complaining about them "going cheap". How do we know the "nearly slipped" issue is not operator error? According to wiki, CLs are still made in the US. A more cost effective production method doesn't necessarily mean cheap. "Too bad" you can't come up with something more substantial than mere opinion.
nb
The problem with Kobalt pliers in general is they are too bulky, and yes short handles also so you can't get as much leverage. Less leverage so you don't break them and get a new pair for free.
That's what cheater pipes are for.
Well, he said "nearly slipped out of joint" which based on my mental image of a pair of slip joint pliers implies to me that the rivet either stretched or partially failed because the tongue was riding up on the groove such that it was close to jumping over to the next groove, which would count as a failure. My old school Channellocks only have 1/16" or less of play in that joint and the tongue is significantly taller than that. So in my book that counts as a failure. hopefully the hole is such a size that the rivet can be drilled out and replaced with a machine screw and Nyloc.
OR, you could use the right sized pliers. Maybe a pipe wrench? OR any other tool for the proper application. Sometimes that works.
Steve
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