Vise Grips

ralph7

ralph7

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Was invented in 1924, had no idea they were nearly that old.
Maybe the most useful tool I own, can't even describe how many jams they have bailed me out of...
Locking pliers - Wikipedia

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Helpful tool when you need it. The new, made in China ones are not as good, I find that the metal in the jaws is too soft. You can find old/made in USA ones on Ebay. The old Peterson made Vice Grips are the best. I hear that the new Milwaukee ones are okay, but haven’t used them.
 
Rustyt1953 said:
I remember my dad using one as a window handle on a '58 Ford.
Click to expand...

I stopped what I thought was a drunk driver in the morning years ago. Turns out he was using vice grip pliers as a steering wheel! :eek: Needles to say the vehicle he was 'driving' ended up on the back of a tow truck before he killed somebody.
 
Eric300 said:
I stopped what I thought was a drunk driver in the morning years ago. Turns out he was using vice grip pliers as a steering wheel! :eek: Needles to say the vehicle he was 'driving' ended up on the back of a tow truck before he killed somebody.
Click to expand...


What kind car was it? Some BMW 3, 4 and 5 series had Quick Release Steering Wheels as an added security measure to prevent them from being stolen…


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
I found a two man Bobb sleigh (on skis, not rails) that the steering wheel had fallen off. We used Vise grips on it for about 8 years. It was fair going down hill, but was an absolute blast being towed by a quad runner or Gaitor!

The 6" needle nose version is in every emergency tool kit I ever assembled!

Ivan
 
My ex father-in-law had a Masters in food science and was in R&D at Cryovac. He used a set of Vice grips as an exclusive tool, every nut and bolt from lawn tractor, tiller, etc. All the nuts and bolt heads were rounded off. Give me proper SAE or metric sockets and wrenches any day. I did snap off a shift lever on my dirt bike and used vice grips on the stump to get me out of the woods back to the truck. Field expedient? Yes, but not an everyday tool. My 2 cents. .
 
Dad joined as an Air Force helo and jet mechanic around 1951 and me as a youngster a few years later would ask him about his tools he carried in canvas tool bag and watched him use some on the family car. He had a pair of vise grips and said they were illegal to use while working on aircraft. So later on, I would call my own vise grips "Precision instrument tool for ER work" He also stated that the jet mechanics while serving in Viet Nam '69, '70 weren't supposed to use sheet metal and pop rivets to repair damaged bullet holes in the F4s as the guidelines instructed but they did anyway. My son drew this pic a couple years ago and the way I remember dad going to work.
 

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Vice clamp, skin clamps, sheet clamps, duck bill, needle nose, they are all great types of
"Channel Lock" offerings that I have used in my 33 years in the field, as an Ironworker.

I even welded small two small sections of 1x1 angle to one,
to hold pipes sections together, when I had to weld up hand rails.
 
Rustyt1953 said:
I remember my dad using one as a window handle on a '58 Ford.
Click to expand...

I worked as a valet parking lot attendant in 1970's Phoenix AZ. One of the regulars drove a beat-up Ford pickup with Visegrips instead of a steering wheel!

Old Dime-A-Time was a grizzled old cowboy that spit his chew out the side window. The paint was eaten-away clear to the running board.

He tipped a dime everytime.
 
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dmar said:
Helpful tool when you need it. The new, made in China ones are not as good, I find that the metal in the jaws is too soft. You can find old/made in USA ones on Ebay. The old Peterson made Vice Grips are the best. I hear that the new Milwaukee ones are okay, but haven’t used them.
Click to expand...
A couple pf years ago, Malco took over the original factory in Nebraska and reintroduced them as Malco Eagle Grip, as per this article on the Toolguyd website:
...Vise-Grip locking pliers, invented by William Petersen, were produced in DeWitt, Nebraska until Irwin shut down the factory and moved production to China in 2008.

Fast forward a few years…

Malco, a tool brand that’s familiar to tradesmen, HVAC professionals and other demanding users, was set to reopen the former Vise-Grip factory. The plan was to start building a new line of Eagle Grip locking pliers, the first locking pliers to made in the USA in more than a decade.

I spoke with Malco’s Eric Peterson, Director of Sales & Marketing, about the new Eagle Grip tools, and I was thoroughly impressed...

​
I bought a pair, not so much because I really needed them (I subsequently found I had a pair of original Vice Grips) but because I wanted to support this effort.

Alas, it didn't last long. From the Malco website:
Eagle Grip® Update

Malco expanded to a new facility in DeWitt, Nebraska, in 2017, with the goal to produce the best American-made locking handle products on the market. We’re very proud to say we accomplished that goal with the introduction of the Eagle Grip line.

Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we have made the difficult decision to exit the locking handle tools business...

...we have not been able to make this a successful business for our company. Simply put, this platform and operation doesn’t fit our core competency and requires a different set of skills and experiences.​
That last sentence sounds contrived, but I guess there was just too much competition from "good enough" products in this area, whereas Malco's core business is professional tools for HVAC etc. where they have less competition.
 
My Dad gave me my first pair of Vise Grips when I was around 7 years old - I am serious.... AND I still have that pair today. I also have around a dozen pair more of all different shapes and sizes. I keep them in my tool boxes, my cars and when I rode, my motorcycle.

Sometimes when all else fails and a nut, screw or bolt just keeps slipping in a conventional wrench, nothing beats the Vise grips. They make great clamps as well.

A few years back the Vise Grip company (DBA Eagle Grip) was resurrected in the same plant they occupied by the original company. They were all beautifully made in America however because of the cost of labor and everything else here they just could not compete on price. Their quality and performance was outstanding!! That was a real shame, but one could purchase a similar (although inferior) pair for a fraction of the price. For those here who can afford it, are willing to pony up and want the best - there are still some for sale.


Eagle Grip | USA Made Locking Pliers and Clamps | Malco Products
 
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Right now I have a 6 inch pair as the knob on a window air conditioner. Works great.

My most far-fetched application was on an E.M. Skinner pipe organ.The Great manual 16 foot Diapason needed new leather in the chest. I found several small needle nose VGs; and when another pipe went South, pulling up the wire and securing it with the vice grips, stopped the deep bass cipher. Thank you, Mr. Petersen.
 
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