Tools you wish you'd bought sooner...

[wolfracesonic]

RSpiston said:

AW10 said:

otolith said:

I wonder what the Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending (James Timpson) thinks about this? I suppose her falling on her sword sidesteps the question.

¿Que?

I was thinking the same. Friday night and back from the pub me thinks.....

NP&E is next door but one to ‘Homes & gardens’ so most likely: always check before hitting ‘submit’ folks

[M11rph]

Knipex are obviously the gold standard. As a homegamer I went with the Wiha 3 piece set below, "half" the price of the Knipex (£56 vs £102) and have proven indestructible for my uses. You can get them without the insulated grips, but these do give a nice purchase and are comfy to use. The price difference is enough to buy the Knipex Plier-Wrench linked above, one of the great tools imo.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wiha-38637-Engineering-As...

The Knipex equivalent... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-44948-Assembly-Mul...

[GeneralBanter]

There are great sets on eBay at a fraction of the cost of Knipex. I bought a set similar to this 5 years ago and it’s been hammered since and still all good, the pliers have even been caught by weld spatter I had to grind off to get them to open again.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/305751374819?mkcid=16&a...

Edited by GeneralBanter on Saturday 30th November 09:19

[steveo3002]

^ they dont comapre to knipex lol

[GeneralBanter]

steveo3002 said:

^ they dont comapre to knipex lol

True - they're good value!

[hidetheelephants]

paua said:

Huntsman said:

UpTheIron said:

Despite a stupidly well kitted out workshop I have an incredibly poor selection of cobbled together pliers, all of which are cheap, most of which are broken through use or untouched because they are ste.

Recommendations for a mid range set or individual selection for general house bashing and car fixing please!

Knipex

\
https://www.knipex.com/products/pipe-wrenches-and-...

Maun are made in the UK, they make better cutters than Knipex although the pliers are perhaps an acquired taste.

[donkmeister]

paua said:

Huntsman said:

UpTheIron said:

Despite a stupidly well kitted out workshop I have an incredibly poor selection of cobbled together pliers, all of which are cheap, most of which are broken through use or untouched because they are ste.

Recommendations for a mid range set or individual selection for general house bashing and car fixing please!

Knipex

\
https://www.knipex.com/products/pipe-wrenches-and-...

Also Knipex. I only own one pair of Knipex (a pliers wrench sits in my out-and-about toolkit) but given the quality of that I'm frequently looking at Knipex and hovering over the buy button.

Tip: amazon.de is sometimes a bit cheaper for German tools, I bought my one pair of Knipex there for about £10 less than any UK supplier.

Rothenberger pliers and adjustables are also very good, obviously they have a plumbing bias but I've used some tiny Rothenbergers that are very much like the Knipex mini Cobra pliers.

[wolfracesonic]

Wot, no show us yer pliers sub thread?

[GeneralBanter]

Great idea.



There’s 32 sets of pliers there if only I could find them all!

Edited by GeneralBanter on Saturday 30th November 13:09

[Watcher of the skies]

GeneralBanter said:

Great idea.



There’s 32 sets of pliers there if only I could find them all!

Edited by GeneralBanter on Saturday 30th November 13:09

Ah, Mr Demus. We've been expecting you.

[Ham_and_Jam]

I was looking for a new pair of adjustable pliers. The Knipex look very good and I’m tempted.

Quick question what’s the difference between the ‘slip’ and ‘lock button’ variants?

Which is more useful for a general toolbox.

[Promised Land]

wolfracesonic said:

Wot, no show us yer pliers sub thread?

Rather like the hammer collections previously, they’re not all pliers in your pic.

[Craigyboy143]

love this thread, I have bought so many things from recommendations on here.

im look to get a pass through set, it needs to go up to 24mm for suspension work.

ive seen a bacho one however, its £140 I don't mind paying that if its significantly better than others but it won't be used all that much as its a niche tool but also i don't want it rounding things

[Sway]

Dunno if it counts as a tool, but I'm saying it is, so it is...

High quality German double outlet garden tap. Let's me have both garden hose and my RODI water system connected full time, and easy for my other half to use with the proper quarter turn lever.



Not one single drop coming from where it shouldn't across either connector, which I think is a first for my entire 42 years of existence!

[SlimJim16v]

Craigyboy143 said:

im look to get a pass through set, it needs to go up to 24mm for suspension work.

ive seen a bacho one however, its £140 I don't mind paying that if its significantly better than others but it won't be used all that much as its a niche tool but also i don't want it rounding things

Most I've seen are by brands I've never heard of. There is a cheaper Bahco set with fewer extras but only £80, or this ex display at £48.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/176693025424

[JoshSm]

Sway said:

Dunno if it counts as a tool, but I'm saying it is, so it is...

High quality German double outlet garden tap. Let's me have both garden hose and my RODI water system connected full time, and easy for my other half to use with the proper quarter turn lever.



Not one single drop coming from where it shouldn't across either connector, which I think is a first for my entire 42 years of existence!

These are much easier & better than the old taps were.

I'd be careful hanging things directly off it, some of these have a tendency for snapping at the sharp transitions in the casting as the brass isnt hugely strong or thick.

The one I ended up with from a German source had more metal & softer transitions compared to some of the others on offer. I also went for a lockable one; no intention of locking it but it meant the handle hinged out of the way instead of just sticking out waiting to get snagged.

[Bonefish Blues]

JoshSm said:

These are much easier & better than the old taps were.

I'd be careful hanging things directly off it, some of these have a tendency for snapping at the sharp transitions in the casting as the brass isnt hugely strong or thick.

The one I ended up with from a German source had more metal & softer transitions compared to some of the others on offer. I also went for a lockable one; no intention of locking it but it meant the handle hinged out of the way instead of just sticking out waiting to get snagged.

This - happened in our cavity wall when an outside doggy tap socket sheared at a right angle. Fortunately I heard the running water and isolated it very quickly.

[Sway]

JoshSm said:

These are much easier & better than the old taps were.

I'd be careful hanging things directly off it, some of these have a tendency for snapping at the sharp transitions in the casting as the brass isnt hugely strong or thick.

The one I ended up with from a German source had more metal & softer transitions compared to some of the others on offer. I also went for a lockable one; no intention of locking it but it meant the handle hinged out of the way instead of just sticking out waiting to get snagged.

Cheers, the hose hanging off it weighs about a kilo, so I feel fairly confident it'll be OK.

But yes, infinitely better than the typical generic design.

[Jakg]

Craigyboy143 said:

im look to get a pass through set, it needs to go up to 24mm for suspension work.

Are they actually any good? I've always got away with using spark plug spanners or swan-neck spanners for top mount nuts.

[iguana]

UpTheIron said:

Despite a stupidly well kitted out workshop I have an incredibly poor selection of cobbled together pliers, all of which are cheap, most of which are broken through use or untouched because they are ste.

Recommendations for a mid range set or individual selection for general house bashing and car fixing please!

Same. I Just got a pretty cheap US Pro set for not much in the larger 200mm size.




I'd actually not long bought a set of Halfords advanced long nose pliers, but I found the skinny handles a bit of a pain, these are for me far better, not with the halfords advanced lifetime warranty tho.

Edited by iguana on Saturday 30th November 17:13