Best Pliers (TONGUE & GROOVE)? Knipex vs Fujiya, Irwin, Klein Tools, Channellock, Doyle

quite a few years ago i bought a really affordable pair of slip joint pliers and i regret buying them so today we'll be testing about 15 different brands the least expensive brand only costing 13 and the most expensive one costing 43. in the first test we'll see which pliers offer the most grip on the threads of a bolt then we'll see which pliers can gain a grip on high carbon steel we'll see which pliers do the best job gripping a three quarter inch bolt then we'll see how much damage happens to the pliers from an impact wrench forcing a bolt to spin for five seconds at a price of 13 the least expensive brand we'll be testing is made by husky all the pliers we'll be testing are 10 inches in length precision cut teeth for extra gripping power multi-groove system for more precise fit adjust the position of the pliers you simply push down this button and slide the handle the ski brand is made in china if working in hard to reach areas jaw width can be a problem and the husky is .39 inches in width the husky weighs 422 grams let's first test the gripping strength of the pliers using this test jig that i put together after i place the threaded portion of the bolt inside the jaws of the pliers i'll adjust the handle clamp bracket spacing to right at 2 inches at right at 2 inches the clamps will apply very close to 100 pounds of squeezing force i'll be using an electronic torque adapter to measure the grip with around 100 pounds of squeezing force on the handles the husky lost grip at 326 inch pounds at a price of 14 is this stanley bi-material groove joint pliers machine jaws help grip items securely and the stanley has seven different handle positions to slide the handles you just fully open them and then you can move the handles freely the stanley brand is made in china the jaw width is .41 millimeters and the pliers weigh 413 grams and the stanley locks grip at 279 inch pounds so the husky holds on to the lead at a price of 15 is a stanley fat max brand push lock quick jaw adjustment 17 locking positions by material cushion grips the stanley fat max is made in china close to 0.31 inches in width and by far the lightest yet at 342 grams the stanley fat max with the narrow jaws did the best yet finally losing grip at 390 inch pounds at a price of 16 is this hot mech brand automatic and quick adjustments for easy use forged and hardened chrome vanadium steel construction for durability slim and light duty profile allows for great use in confined areas the hot mech has 15 positions the hot mech brand is made in china the jaw width is .29 inches and the pliers weigh 361 grams the hot mech performed nearly as well as the stanley fat max losing grip at inch pounds also at a price of 16 is this erwin brand all-purpose jaw for gripping a variety of bolt shapes press and slide button adjust jaws two times faster than traditional groove joint pliers multi-groove ratcheting system for precise positioning the irwin brand is made in china the irwin's jaws are the widest yet at nearly a half an inch and the pliers weigh 413 grams the irwin which has jaws that are 20 percent wider than the other brands really did a great job digging into the bolt and finally let go at 867 inch pounds very impressive also the price of 16 is this channellock brand forged high carbon steel for ultimate strength the jaws for more points of contact on round stock and tubing strong 90 degree laser-hardened teeth for superior grip and longevity undercut tongue and groove won't slip seven jaw positions for the channel locks the channel lock brand is made in usa the jaw width is .39 inches and the pliers weigh 391 grams the channel lock pliers weren't able to get a good grip and let go at 190 inch pounds at a price of 20 dollars is this doyle brand which is sold at harbor frank 21 adjustable positions right angle induction hardened teeth for stronger grip and longer life fast push button jaw adjustment easy self-locking grip the door brand is made in taiwan the jaw width is .31 inches and the pliers weigh 352 grams the harbor freight doyle brand performed very well and moved into second place after an impressive 559 inch pounds at a price of 21 dollars is this fujia brand high quality pliers with great reliability handle designed to reduce workload press the handle to the bottom to release spring the fujia brand has seven adjustable positions the fujia brand is made in japan the jaw width is .37 inches and the pliers are really light at 317 grams just like the channel locks the fujia brand also struggled on the mild steel letting go at 184 inch pounds at a price of 22 dollars is this snr tools brand special chrome vanadium alloy quick release automatic adjustment grip heat treated and induction hardened the snr has 16 adjustable positions the snr brand is made in germany the jaw width is .28 inches and the pliers weigh 364 grams the snr did a better job than average at 415 inch pounds before finally letting go at a price of 25 dollars is this gearwrench brand 27 jaw positions for increased flexibility and improved gripping comfort v-jaw for gripping flat hexagonal and curved objects induction hardened gripping teeth the gearwrench brand is made in taiwan the jaw width is .31 inches and the pliers weigh 341 grams the gear wrench performed just about average losing grip at 356 inch pounds at a price of 33. is this klein tools brand narrow designed for easy work in smaller hard-to-reach spaces 10 adjustable positions specially designed jaw teeth provide multiple points of contact for maximum torque we're going to test that the klein tools brand is made in germany the klein tools has very narrow jaws at 0.28 inches and is pretty light at 332 grams the klein tools brand lost traction at 314 inch pounds so the irwin brand holds on to the lead also the price of 33 dollars is this gador brand made of chrome vanadium steel 15 settings push button at joint to adjust jaw according to your work piece the godor brand is made in austria just like the klein tools the good door is .28 inches and the pliers weigh 331 grams the godor brand did a very impressive job to move into second place by holding on until 644 inch pounds at a price of 36. is this laoa brand the whole body is made of sae 1060 through high frequency quenching the hardness is up to hrc 58 adjust y'all rapidly pressing push and sliding handle to control the size of opening clamping steadily without skidding 20 adjustable positions the laoa brand is made in taiwan the la-0a is the lightest yet at 307 grams the laoa just wasn't able to keep up with some of the less expensive brands letting go at 347 inch pounds and the most expensive brand we'll be testing at 43 dollars is made by canipex precision grade performance tools the number one choice of tradesmen worldwide comfortable in use and quality assured design 27 adjustable positions the canipex brand is made in germany the jaw width is .31 inches and the pliers weigh 373 grams and the canipex performed very well and moved into third place at 573 inch pounds before losing grip so the irwin brand with the widest jaws gained a very good grip on the mild steel and came out on top at 867 inch pounds the godor brand also performed very well at 644 inch pounds canipex 573 doyle 559 and snr 415 inch pounds an arrow jaw width allows pliers to access hard to reach areas and the hot mech snr klein tools and godor are the nearest at .28 inches the stanley fat max doyle gearwrench and canipex are nearly as narrow at 0.31 inches depending on the application tool weight might be a factor in your purchasing decision and the laoa pliers are the lightest at 307 grams the fujia pliers are nearly as light at 317 godor 331 klein tools 332 and gear wrench 340 grams i purchased a bunch of identical half-inch socket extensions for the next test and i'll only use a socket extension once to ensure a fair test well this test may seem pretty harmless trying to gain a grip on high carbon steel is going to be torture on the teeth of the pliers and the husky's teeth were just too soft to gain a good grip on the socket extension at only 32 inch pounds a quick look under the microscope and the socket extension caused some wear on the teeth just like the husky the stanley also struggled to gain traction at only 32 inch pounds the stanley experienced even more wear than the husky the stanley fat max with more narrow jaws than the husky and the stanley did by far the best yet at 99 inch panels before letting go the stanley fat max is on top and the husky extension is on the bottom the stanley fat max did a great job digging in and gaining a grip the stanley fat max held up really well with only some minor wear on the teeth the hot mech with narrow jaws lost traction at 40 inch pounds and moves into second position the hot mech experienced more tooth wear than the stanley fat max the irwin with the widest jaws in the showdown performed slightly better than a hot mech at 49 inch pounds even though the irwin performed better than three of the four previous brands the teeth experienced quite a bit of wear the channellock pliers performed nearly as well as the irwin pliers at 39 inch pounds after coming into contact with the socket extension the teeth aren't nearly as sharp and the doral moves into second place just behind stanley fat max at 68 inch pounds the teeth on the door held up really well and they're nearly as good as new the fujia pliers performed about average at 39 inch pounds before finally losing grip unfortunately there's a lot more visible wear with the fujia brand compared to the teeth on the doyle the snr pliers performed about the same as the fujia pliers letting go at 39 inch pounds just like the fajia the snr pliers experience more wear than the doyle brand the gear rinse really struggled to gain traction letting go at 36 inch pounds the teeth on the gear rinse pliers also experienced quite a bit of duling the klein tools pliers performed slightly better than average at 42 inch pounds before slipping the klein tools brand experienced about the same amount of wear as the fujia brand the godor brand performed even better than the klein tools making it to 46 inch pounds the teeth on the godor brand held up really well and looked nearly as good as new the la-08 performed the same as the godor brand losing grip at 46 inch pounds unfortunately the socket extension really dulled the laoa teeth definitely more wear than average and a connepex brand really crushed the competition at 257 inch pounds before the torque adapter began begging for mercy the tooth hardness and geometry of the canipix pliers are very impressive of all the brands that teeth on the knives did by far the best and still look as good as new so the connepex came in on top at 257 inch pounds more than doubling the performance of the second place finisher the stanley fat max was performed very well at 99 inch pounds for a budget price brand the harbor freight doyle did very well at 68 irwin 49 in gador in laoa 46 inch pounds let's see how the pliers perform on a smooth portion of a three-quarter inch bolt that's harder than the bolt used in the first test but not quite as hard as the socket extension beginning with the husky brand and the husky is off to a great start at 630 inch pounds before finally losing grip unfortunately the stanley just couldn't get a good grip on the bolt losing grip at only 137 inch pounds the stanley fat max did a lot better than the stanley at 323 inch pounds the hot mech performed well at 592 inch pounds before letting go the irwin did a great job holding on to the threaded portion of the mild steel bolt in the earlier test but it struggled to maintain hold on the high carbon steel at 334 inch pounds the channel locks did slightly better than the erwin at 344 inch pounds before letting go the doyle continues to impress and takes the lead from husky at 1074 inch pounds before giving up the channel lock bolt is on the bottom and the door is on the top the door did a much better job at digging into the bolt to gain a grip during the socket extension test the teeth on the fujia brand experienced quite a bit of damage and it really struggled on this test at only 106 inch pounds the snr pliers struggled to maintain a grip and let go at only 269 inch pounds the gear rinse did slightly better than snr finally letting go at 283 inch pounds the klein tools pliers struggled to lock onto the bolt and it lost traction at 219 inch pounds the teeth on the godor brand survived the socket extension test just fine and the pliers continued to impress at one thousand two hundred eight inch pounds before losing grip very impressive the lao8 pliers experienced quite a bit of tooth damage from the socket extension test and the pliers let go at 267 inch pounds after the half inch extension test the knipex brand still looked as good as new and they continued to perform incredibly well in this task at 1 118 inch pounds so the godor brand came out on top at 1 208 inch pounds but the canipex did nearly as well at one thousand one hundred and eighteen the very affordable doyle brand did great at one thousand seventy four inch pounds husky 630 and hot mech 592. up next let's see how well the pliers hold up after they try to hold on to a bolt for five seconds while the impact wrench hammers away and the husky actually did a great job slowing the rotation of the bolt and the teeth on the husky experienced a moderate amount of damage and the bolt pretty much spun freely in the jaws of the stanley unfortunately the stanley just couldn't dig in and the teeth on the stanley experienced quite a bit of damage compared to the husky and the stanley fat max did quite a bit better than the stanley at holding back the bolt from spinning freely however there's quite a bit of damage to the teeth the hot neck did about the same as the stanley fat max at holding back the bolt unfortunately the teeth experienced quite a bit of damage the irwin struggled to hold back the bolt from spinning freely the teeth on the irwin experienced a little bit less wear than the hot neck pliers unfortunately the channel locks just couldn't do too much to slow down the impact wrench however the channel locks actually held up very well and the doyle brand did a terrific job of bringing the bolt to a complete stop after about a second the teeth in the doyle brown held up extremely well and the impact wrench was just way too much for the fajia brand and the bolt just spun freely however the teeth only experienced a moderate amount of damage the snr brand actually did a fairly good job of holding back the impact wrench at first but the bolt began to gain speed after a couple of seconds the teeth on the s and r experienced a moderate amount of damage the gearwrench actually began to perform better after the first couple of seconds as the teeth were able to sink into the bolt the teeth experienced about the same amount of damage as the s r pliers the klein tools pliers just weren't able to gain a good grip on the bolt however they actually held up pretty well with only minor damage and the godor brand locked under the bolt and just about went the entire five seconds before the bolt began to spin and the teeth on the godor brand held up better than average there just wasn't much the la-08 pliers were able to do to hold back the impact wrench and the bolt did quite a bit of damage to the teeth on the pliers the knives did a terrific job of holding back the impact wrench compared to the other brands the teeth on the connepex held up the best while assessing wear is highly subjective a score of zero indicates nowhere and a five indicates extreme the canipex brand came out on top at 0.5 but the channellock doyle and klein tools also performed very well at one the godor brand also did very well at 1.5 so which brand makes the best pliers in my opinion the canipex brand is by far the best however i really like the godor brand and if you're concerned about the budget the doyle brand is also a very good set of pliers all the videos on this channel are viewers suggested so if you have a video idea i hope you'll take time to leave a comment thanks so much for watching please take care and look forward to next time

Channel: Project Farm

Views: 1,318,012

Keywords: project farm, Pliers, best pliers, which pliers are best, pliers comparison, tongue and groove pliers, best tongue and groove pliers, tongue and groove plier comparison, knipex, knipex pliers, water pump pliers, irwin, irwin pliers, irwin pliers comparison, husky, husky pliers, husky plier review, husky plier comparison, harbor freight doyle pliers, harbor freight doyle pliers review, harbor freight doyle pliers comparison, Stanley fatmax pliers, Stanley fatmax review

Id: qjDG4gaiRp8

Length: 14min 19sec (859 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 17 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/BaconPersuasion]

Time saver. Knipex wins

[u/adolfojp]

Complete noob question.

When is a straight jaw preferred over a v jaw? What applications is it better suited for?

[u/Fekillix]

He has an expensive Cobra model too, with the comfort grip and tether point. There are cheaper models available. You can also get a Cobra direct from Germany for just $22 before shipping.

That S&R plier definitively wasn't made in Germany though, it is identical to the Hautmec. Same Chinese factory, one just has "Germany" stamped on it.

[u/kewlo]

Watched the whole thing, it was a lot better than the last few tool tests. Everything was a lot more relevant to actual use. The only thing I'm questioning is the knipex/socket extension results. When your top result is 2.5x the second highest, and 5x the average, and the results from that specific tool are comparable to everything else in your other tests, some questions should be raised

[u/TheTimeBender]

Kind of interesting that Harbor Freight’s Doyle brand came in 3rd place. I guess their quality in some of their tools is coming up.

[u/i7-4790Que]

like I've said before, 95% of the Knipex hype here is around the Cobras and Pliers wrench. And that hype is entirely justified. Other stuff? Not so much, nobody here ever went unnecessarily crazy over their mediocre Vise Grips, but some people sure did want to pretend that it was the case just because Knipex was stamped on the side. It's not like Knipex had the gall to charge $80 (they were $23 at the time, IIRC) a pair for rebrand tools like SnapOn does either. Knipex is also subject to import tariffs and all that AFAIK, so it's not like they have home field advantage with their NA pricing anyways. Which is why they tend to be higher on average. In this particular case though they are definitely charging a fairly steep premium for their halo product.

Tests here aren't particularly practical, but they do attempt to demonstrate the durability of the jaws along with gripping strength relative to the width of the jaws pretty well. Irwins can potentially grip more on softer materials, but they need proportionally higher jaw width/surface area to do it, as an example.

The Knipex adjustment mechanism is what always set these a part in the first place. And it's a much better mechanism than the highly anitquated tongue and groove design. Best part is the Cobra adjustment you get which helps keep the handles as close together as possible. That way you can dial in a more exact clamping function that you can more easily hold with one hand while you use your other for something else.

Obviously they aren't the only ones with this same exact adjustment style anymore since the patent has expired. But they did invent it, it was a huge improvement on T&G as well as the older Alligator style and nobody has improved on it since. I've pinched my palms enough with the Channellock/T&G style anyways, so I'm over it.

[u/3p0int1415926535897]

I got the Gedore’s they’re ok. Pleased to see they hold up well. Groovelocks seem quite nice too, have the 20” ones for compression fittings & they do the job nicely for the price. The Channellocks he tested didn’t seem that great but everyone I know on the job site always uses the regular straight jawed ones I wish those were in the test instead.

[u/MikeyDaRooki]

I like his videos... But man does he throw so much info at you at once.

[u/Crcex86]

Guy will go down as the Mr Rodgers of tools