Which Pliers You Need For The Job

Pliers can make your life much easier, but for them to help you must know the correct pair to grab.

Experienced tradesmen and fanatic DIY’ers know that using the correct type of plier goes a long way toward getting a job done. Pliers are important under grueling conditions and applications.

Pliers are a loose category for tools that pivot on a center point and squeeze something.

To use pliers effectively, it is important to know about the different parts of them and what they are made of.

The Pivot Points (fulcrum): the point where the squeeze is transferred from the handles to the jaws

Handles: often out of soft rubber, this is where you squeeze

Main jaws: the large part that is squeezed around something, and often have grips

Pipe grips: a specialized grip often used for holding round objects like a pipe with more grip

Cutters: angled edges that can be used to cut different types of wire

Common Types of Pliers

Needle Nose Pliers: These have a skinny head, and are good for specific tasks like twisting wire, and often have a cutting part to them to cut and strip wire and metal objects.

Slip Joint Pliers: These pliers have 2 or more ‘joints’ at the pivot point where it can expand to a larger or smaller opening head making them a versatile tool. Also, they usually have pipe grips which make them great for holding onto more round objects.

Tongue and Groove Pliers: These large pliers similar to slip joints can expand and contract to fit the size you require. They have a very large range of motion making them great for large joints like hoses, and plumbing pipes.

Locking Pliers: These pliers feature an adjustable head via turn wheel, and will ‘lock’ in place without requiring you to squeeze them. The customizability makes these a favorite for many especially if you are working on something with many of the same size heads so you can quickly clamp turn repeat without needing to adjust.

Wire Cutting Pliers: These have a sharp and angled head that is able to strip and cut wire, and many other things that scissors or a utility knife is not able to. However, do not use these to clamp or tighten things with or you risk dulling out the blade.

Others: If there is a need, there is a plier. Whether it be dentistry pliers for stringing together braces, fishing pliers to remove hooks from a fish’s mouth, and many others, you will find one. However, these basic pliers will be able to handle more than 90% of your needs.