Comments on: Cheap-Ass Tools: A Four-Piece Locking Pliers Set For $5

By: Teacher

Teacher — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 14:51:06 +0000

I bought a set like this at a Cummins junk sale. I bought them specifically for welding as I didn’t want to chance messing up my Irwins. The metal is a lot thinner than the original Vise Grips, but it is good enough for a welding job and I don’t get bent out of shape if I get splatter on them. They also make good loaners to the brother in law that has no clue how to take care of good tools and thinks anything is a hammer.

By: Eddie

Eddie — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 07:32:15 +0000

cheap vise grips have their place but sometimes you really NEED to the ones, especially when your safety is involved. Like when you use a mini vise grip in place of a busted clutch lever or a busted shift lever on your motorcycle in the middle of nowhere just to get you back to civilization.

By: james b brauer 66

james b brauer 66 — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 16:34:22 +0000

These would be a waste of gas driving to HF. I agree that the HF C-clamps are OK for some things, but any forces that aren’t in a plane with the handle and jaws are going to twist this thing apart. This based on personal experience.

By: Randy

Randy — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:50:49 +0000

Russ,
Check this page out for a tube butt welding jig.

http://www.streetrodderweb.com/tech/0610sr_hommemade_tools/

By: Russ Philipp

Russ Philipp — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 10:12:00 +0000

I own both a Good set of Irwin Vise Grips that I use constantly for welding. In a pinch I bought a cheap pair of locking C-Clamps with a 12″ throat to finish a job. I was extremely disappointed inn them. The tips did not line up together when closed, and when I applied some force to bring two pieces of metal together for welding, the Jaws twisted sideways on me. I think I will stick with the good ones for now. However I do like Tracy Lauricella’s idea of using the cheap ones for making custom tools. I currently have the need tool align and hold two pieces of tubing together while butt welding. I was going to build a bench top jig but am now considering using a cheap pair of locking pliers, modified appropriately as it will give me more flexibility during the welding.

By: Tracy Lauricella (TMIB_Seattle)

Tracy Lauricella (TMIB_Seattle) — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 19:42:17 +0000

The nice thing about a set this cheap is you can modify them without wincing.

You can weld different jaws on these for use at the forge, or with a couple of pieces of angle iron to make a corner clamp. You can cut one jaw off the welding clamp and tack weld it to the top of a metal welding table to use as a clamp for your workpiece.

I have a cheapo imitation vice grip that I used for a while as a window handle in my truck until I replaced it.

Yeah, they are pretty flimsy, but for $1.25 each you can do some abusive stuff to them that you wouldn’t want to do on a good tool. They may not survive it, but that’s the point.

I wouldn’t use them as daily use tools or for something really important; get a real set of vice-grips for that.

By: Steve Thompson

Steve Thompson — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 18:10:35 +0000

I bought this set and two of them ended up being a single-use tool for me (i.e. they broke the first time out). Your mileage may vary. I like HF for cheap clamps, but I’ve learned to stick with only the basics - wood handscrew clamps, C-clamps, and Pony-style pipe clamp ends. Anything more complicated (like quick-grip type clamps) and you’re better off putting that sparte change in a ar and saving up for the real deal. IMHO.

By: ba614

ba614 — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 17:46:18 +0000

That’s a good price on cheap-ass imitation vice-grips. I’ll stick to the real USA made Irwin Vice-Grips myself though.

The question I have is, How do you lose a big ole set of vice grips?