Soft-Jaw pliers

[brightnorm]

Alternative to strap wrench, but pretty expensive.

SOFT-JAW PLIERS

Brightnorm

 

[LEDmodMan]

The Sears Robogrip pliers have soft plastic jaw covers that slip over them and work quite nicely. Not quite as large as what you're talking about though.

 

[LightChucker]

Speaking of strap wrenches, I bought a small strap wrench from Sears this week. It was $4.99. Be careful though, because there is another one right next to it for $9.99. They are both Craftsman brand. The only difference is that the more expensive one has a fancier handle. Sure wasn't worth twice the price to me.

But don't take my word for what something is worth. On more than one occassion, I have been known to pay more than $140 for a flashlight! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

Chuck

 

[tvodrd]

Milbar is/was the top of the line in safety wire-twisting pliers- I still have a set from the motorcycle days. Their current design is a POS compared to the ones they offered in the early '70s.

Larry

 

[KC2IXE]

Those are also know as AN pliers, as they are meant to tighten/loosen AN connectors

 

[Slick]

I have a pair of quality "sparkplug-boot pliers" that works great for building flashlight mods. The jaws are even curved to a tight radius (to fit sparkplug boots) but works perfectly for holdiong a luxeon pill to drill the wire holes.

If the bit ever breaks, I scar the pliers instead of going through a finger or thumb... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif

 

[ksbman]

I bought a set of these pliers when I first started working on aircraft.

They were a waste of money!

They only worked on cannon plugs (AN connectors) that were hand tight. If the plug was too tight, a time when you NEED to use these pliers, the jaws would just slip on the knurling on the cannon plug.

Everybody I know uses slip joint pliers instead. Of course, we don't have to worry about marring up the surface.

A strap wrench works better than soft jaw pliers do.

 

[KC2IXE]

[ QUOTE ]
ksbman said:
...snip...
Everybody I know uses slip joint pliers instead. Of course, we don't have to worry about marring up the surface.

...snip...


[/ QUOTE ]

I used to work at the MFG - we didn't have the option of using slipjoints, as if we scared them up, decas wouldn't take them.

Of course, except for final test (where we HAD to use the deliverable cables) we used a set of cable we kept at the workstation just for test. We had no problem using slip joint pliers on that set /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

It's been 10+ years since I left the electronics field. There are things I miss, and things I don't. Of course, I earn a heck of a lot more than I did then - The late 80s, early 90s were NOT a good time to be in the defense electronics business - I didn't see a salary increase 6 years! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[Otokoyama]

I got both versions of the Sears strap wrenches that ChuckDecker refers to, since I actually did need two to bust apart a galled fitting. Aside from the cost and "deluxe" tool-quality handle, they appear to be made of identical materials, probably provide identical capability, and in fact use the exact same strap.