Beggars Would Ride
Dad's Pliers
I have known this pair of pliers since before I could remember. One piece of an extensive and well-kept tool collection that my dad carted from the USA to New Zealand in 1970, when he decided that was where he wanted to raise his family, I’m not sure if these pliers were his favorite; he wasn’t given to sentimentality and didn’t imbue tools or motorcycles with any mysticism or totemic value beyond practicality. But I remember them in his gnarled hands all the time; pulling fence staples, twisting safety wire, prying coked-up baffles out of ratty old two stroke exhausts. They lived in the top tray of a well-used old grey Craftsman tool box. The top tray of that box was reserved for the tools that got used the most. So, in spite of Fred Ferrentino being a stickler about using the correct tool for a job (and woe betide any kid dumb enough to use an adjustable wrench when a socket would fit the bolt, or pulling a flat-head screwdriver into duty as a drift or a pry lever), the top tray of that old toolbox invariably housed this pair of pliers, a 20oz ball-peen hammer, an assortment of files, a dental pick and a pry bar. And a tire patch kit.
These pliers were some of the first tools my dad ever let me lay my hands on, and I still clearly recall my shock and pain at the brutal pinched blood blister they raised the very first time I slipped while trying to grip something, clamping my finger in the bottom end of the jaws. There’s a blood blister on my right index finger right now, in exactly the same place as every other of the countless pinches I’ve given myself from these things during the past 55 or so years.
They are heavy, too heavy to get included in the backpack for any sort of ride mission. The plier head is hefty enough that the tool feels off-balance in my hands, and the slippery handles – I never recall there ever being plastic insulation – renders them tricky to use in wet weather and on hot days. But the jaws aren’t sloppy, even after all these years. The cutter still cuts, the gripper serrations still do their job, and the pliers are holding up well enough to be around when I die and hopefully get passed along to someone else. They are almost useless for almost any bicycle related application, but somehow they are always there, close to hand, so to speak. And they end up getting used, inappropriately, more often than not, with regard to bicycles.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!" Beware the ancient slippery handled pliers that will pinch your finger an infinite number of times...
“Crescent Tool Co. 3800-8. Jamestown, NY. Made in USA.” You can still get a Crescent 3800 8” lineman plier, for about $27. It’s made in Vietnam now, though. I inherited this one with some of my dad’s belongings after he died in 2012, and they have been living in the top tray of my tool box ever since.
There’s an irony at work here. My dad was concerned enough about being able to get “decent” tools down in New Zealand in 1970 that he boxed up and shipped his entire extensive tool collection to the Land Of The Long White Cloud. It was because of this tool, and others in my father’s tool set, that I think I developed my own tool fetish, and this is why I try to purchase tools that are of a quality that will hopefully see them last for generations. I moved back to the states in 1984, and somewhere between then and 2012 my dad either wore out or discarded almost all the tools I grew up with, replacing them with the cheapest possible pieces of shit that he could source from the local hardware store dollar bins. By the time I was back in New Zealand in 2012, he was pretending he didn’t have pancreatic cancer and was happily laying down the ugliest welds I have ever seen with a $100 inverter welder that looked like it had been stolen from a prison factory in North Korea. I hadn’t banked on my father’s widely known penchant for frugality overwhelming his tool quality sensibilities. When I pointed out to him that inheriting a shed full of pot-metal garbage he’d bought on sale (including not one, but TWO incredibly dodgy Chinese benchtop lathes he’d purchased in the grips of what he referred to as “chemo brain fog”) was the worst cancer consolation prize ever, he just laughed and said; “You know, it’s a poor workman who blames the tool.”
Touché, Fred. The pot metal tool bonanza, and the janky rolling toolbox that they were randomly filling, got donated to his Kiwi gearhead friends, who were left to figure out for themselves if they received a gift or a curse. But I kept these pliers, some of the only survivors of a lifetime spent building and fixing things.
I am an absolute high dollar nerd when it comes to the quality of my box end wrenches, my socket sets, my screwdrivers, my measuring tools, my seal drivers, my truing stands and spoke wrenches and tensiometers. I’m fickle and weird about tools. When it comes to adjustable wrenches (which everyone knows are almost always a poor substitute for whatever correct tool should be used in a given instance) I prefer Crescent or Klein brand spud wrenches because I like the way the slim conical handle feels compared to a “regular” adjustable wrench. For spoke wrenches, even though I built hundreds of wheels just fine with Park SW-0 wrenches over the years, I only want to use DT butterfly wrenches at home, and I may be one of the only people on earth who purchased DT’s over the top expensive truing stand for home use. I have knelt before the Snap-On shrine and emptied my wallet many, many times. Never let it be said that I am smart with money. But with pliers, it’s as if my dad is haunting me.
Wrenching on bicycles, something I have been doing since the mid-1980s, very rarely involves 8” lineman pilers. I’ve got snap-ring pliers, two different length needle-nose pliers, side cutters, end cutters, crimpers, cable cutters, and a few different variations on much smaller, more maneuverable, lineman pliers. None of them are of very good quality though. For whatever reason, pliers seem to fall into some blind spot in my tool-purchasing decision matrix, and therefore they end up getting bought randomly from the sale bin at Harbor Freight with an accompanying surge of hypocrisy-based shame.
"Wait, you just blew 1300+ words writing about a pair of pliers that have no practical relevance to working on mountain bikes aside from the fact that the handles can, in a pinch, be used to push tire beads past CushCore liners? Don't you have anything revelant to write about?"... Look, it was this or a lengthy piece of ebike trollbait. How about that new Levo SL, huh?
A couple years ago, Ryan Palmer turned me onto Knipex adjustable wrenches. He was mortified that I hadn’t heard of them, and after using his a few times, I was similarly aghast that I had lived so long without owning some. They are expensive and German, right up my alley. So, I found some online, and “only” needed to buy a little something extra to get my purchase price past the $75 free shipping threshold. Obviously this was my opportunity to up my plier game. But looking at dad’s pliers, sitting there in the top tray of the toolbox, almost invisible, still in perfect working order, just waiting to pinch a new blister on my right index finger, I couldn’t do it. I bought a Knipex 73-71-180 side cutter instead, a wire cutter so expensive when compared to the assorted Chinese junkshow in my toolkit that I am afraid to use the damn thing.
The frugal late-life ghost of my dad is probably muttering “what a dumbass.” Hopefully the ghost of the younger version of him is there as well, to talk the crochety old ghost down off his shoddily-made, bargain-bin, mail-order afterlife high horse. Meanwhile, I was installing some CushCore Plus inserts last week, and I couldn’t find that handy tool CushCore makes to help ram the tire bead down under the insert into the bed of the rim. Turns out the smooth handle of some 60 year old Crescent lineman pliers does the job juuuust fine. Thanks dad, they still got some miles in them.
Comments
TristanC
1 year, 1 month ago
This is one of the tool drawers at work in Germany. I have to stop myself from drooling every time I get to use it.
I also have to quash my perverse impulse to steal one of the sockets, so there's a single empty slot. Not the 10mm, I'm not a monster.
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ZigaK
1 year, 1 month ago
"I'm not a monster"
:))
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earle.b
1 year, 1 month ago
Hate to break it to you but KS Tools are a budget tool. Nice foam trays there, but it's not drool worthy tools.
Price out that same drawer in Hazet or Gedore and you'll see.
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TristanC
1 year, 1 month ago
Shush, let me live in my ignorance!
It's even more German to very nicely organize mid-tier tools.
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aztech
1 year, 1 month ago
There’s just something about old tools that fascinates. A few years ago when my girlfriend sold her family home, I was told to “take whatever you want from the workshop, the rest goes to the new owners”.
The result was a ridiculous amount of very old woodworking tools like planes, drawknives, clamps, carving tools, all of which were made in Sweden and owned by her grandfather. They’ve all been restored and sharpened now, and get used weekly in our workshop. Crazy to think that they’re 80-90 years old and will definitely outlive me.
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Lynx .
1 year, 1 month ago
Mike great piece, amazing how quality tools will last several lifetimes and oh yeah, I bet they make excellent 2nd hands for holding slippery gear cable ;-)
Damn you lucky guy, can't believe you posted that story with no pics though, that's unacceptable :-p
Here's a pic of my Dad's Mitre/Backsaw (guessing similarly about 50-60 years old) I inherited off my oldest brother when lockdown hit in '20 and I finally started back after my wood working passion from school. There was a piece missing from the handle, didn't have the exact wood, so replaced it with some green heart and was going to colour/die it to match, but then liked that it showed the repair and wasn't so "annoying" after all.
Also going to throw in a pic of some saws I got from a friend (where his Dads) and the custom purple heart handles I made for them :-)
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Velocipedestrian
1 year, 1 month ago
Showing the repair reminds me of Kintsugi. Also modern archival practice for restoring artworks - rather than trying to pretend it's the original.
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Velocipedestrian
1 year, 1 month ago
When my grandad died, my three uncles spent some quality hours in his workshop picking the eyes out of it. I had low expectations of any treasure coming my way, but once they declared satiation I found this beauty.
I happily binned the cheap adjustable junk version that never worked, rejoyced when grandads tool fit fork circlips perfectly, and know I'll be able to pass this along to the next generation of shed nerd with pride.
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fartymarty
1 year, 1 month ago
I have a full Sidchrome socket set sitting idly in my parents basement in NZ. Next time I visit that suckers coming on a plane ride with me back to the UK.
Mike - I think my old man has the exact same pliers in NZ. I'm so going to steal them next time i'm over. I have a pair of his Crestoloy side cutters I nicked from him and a pair of metal motorbike tyre levers - these are great with those tyres that just wont go on.
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Andeh
1 year, 1 month ago
It's funny how our fathers' tool obsessions / quirks shape us. I always remember my dad's work bench was a total mess. His tools were mostly an assortment of whatever cheap garbage he needed for the current project, because he could never find the one from the last one. We could count on finding steak knives in the toolbox because he was always too cheep to get a proper razor cutter. Flathead screwdrivers were used as chisels when the chisels couldn't be found in the mess. There were about a half dozen rolls of electrical tape in the various equally shitty toolboxes, which were constantly used in place of duct tape for some reason. It was kind of ironic because at work he was obsessed with only using good quality German made equipment, and constantly decried made in USA vehicles (only drove Toyotas). The only exceptions to the sea of crap that I recall were a Stihl chainsaw and Makita power tools (although he'd use them with the cheapest, crappiest saw blades and drill bits of course).
Now I am pretty obsessive about keeping my work bench and tool chest organized. Not to the extent of Kaizen foam cutouts, but everything has a logical place and I know where to find it. I'm a sucker for Wera hexes and Knipex. I care about getting the best quality grease and rim tape. I have dedicated shop scissors and a folding razor cutter. My skis get waxed with a dedicated iron, not the one from the laundry room. I drive a made in Detroit Ford pickup truck that is better made than my last Toyota pickup (which was actually made in Mexico).
I wonder if my son will appreciate my tools, or take after my father and use whatever cheap crap is on hand.
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mrbrett
1 year, 1 month ago
I got a few Crescent brand open end metric wrenches from my grandfather. Made in the USA, probably 60 years old or so by now. Some of these old tools (like the Channel lock side cutters from decades ago) have a lot of nostalgia in them.
My kids wanted to know why I was so happy to see them using the wrenches. In another 30 years they will get it.
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Deniz Merdano
1 year, 1 month ago
Bury me with my Knipex 86 03 250 and the WTB spoke wrench please..
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Perry Schebel
1 year, 1 month ago
while i like the idea of the knipex (from an aesthetic / design perspective), i struggle to come up with enough usage scenarios to justify (yet). what kind of applications do you typically use them for (in lieu of sockets & wrenches, i assume)?
also - first (ok maybe second) thought that came to mind when seeing the pic of the ancient pliers was "blood blister"
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Timer
1 year, 1 month ago
The nice thing about the Knipex is that you can just grab one tool and fit a wide range of nuts. Especially good when traveling. Its nicer and quicker to use than an adjustable wrench. Ive had situations where i would have had to switch constantly between multiple wrench sizes.
That it doubles as regular pliers in some cases is an added bonus.
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Deniz Merdano
1 year, 1 month ago
Oh man where do I even begin...
We named it the Duct Tape tool because it is super versatile. It is the perfect way to crimp cable ends! it just took out a stuck hitch pin from my car. It opens Fox forks for volume spacers. I can use it as a metal brake, grabbing straight pull spokes for trueing? I've even hit things with it. I love it, I need a smaller one for tighter areas. pry it from my dead cold hands... also my partner constantly gets reminded it costs $100 and that is important...
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Justin White
1 year, 1 month ago
It's the multiple sizes in one, better grip than any other adjustable, and the ratcheting action that can be had, that keeps me grabbing a Knipex instead of a bag of combos or sockets.
*(extra leverage from the camming action even beats a many open-ended wrenches when it comes to not rounding things)
*(easy to release pressure on the camming handle and go "backwards" with little resistance while staying on the fastener)
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Deniz Merdano
1 year, 1 month ago
Oh forgot the most important one, you can actually press in bearings with the knipex tool. it is the most excellent option as it always clamps parallel.
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Andy Eunson
1 year, 1 month ago
Look son, you have it backwards. You buy the Knipex and then look for things to use them on.
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Velocipedestrian
1 year, 1 month ago
My current silly favourite use - squashing the handle tip of the bike-cleaning toothbrush thin enough to fit between cassette sprockets.
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Pete Roggeman
1 year, 1 month ago
That sentiment could be used as a values statement for a high end tool brand.
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JT
1 year, 1 month ago
I have had that same WTB spoke wrench for a couple decades. The number of wheels it's built/trued and rides it has saved are innumerable.
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Offrhodes42
1 year, 1 month ago
My dad was a pharmacist. So, all 8 of us kids were able to get a mortar and pestle. Though, we only use them for decoration. The tools he left behind that I enjoy, and are completely scared of at the same time, are a table saw with no safety features and dims the lights in the rest of the house when it is turned on, a Craftsman Saws-All that is way to fun to use, and a small assortment of screwdrivers that will surely be passed on to my kids (but these do not scare me to use).
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Kos
1 year, 1 month ago
So cool. I own those pliers (and they are blister-mongers).
From my dad.
Who was an actual lineman in his earlier years.
And a grey Craftsman two-tier toolbox from my grandfather full of 1/2" sockets and a breaker bar -- I use the sockets frequently to remove fork top caps (chamfers ground off on grandpa's bench grinder).
I no longer find much need for the set of pristine feeler gages, or the spare points for a Ford V8......
Thanks, Mike!
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mrkdwrds
1 year, 1 month ago
My dad, although he hopefully has many years ahead of him, recently asked about what I’d want from his estate if he were to pass. I thought for a minute and told him that a few tools would mean the most; everything else is just stuff. My dad knew the guy that used to run Usag USA imports in the 80’s and the two things I remember him using all the time as a kid are a wood-handled mallet and a screwdriver set with removable bits that can be oriented either in-line with the handle or as a T-handle. Incredible how long good tools last and what a lasting memory they can create. Great article, Mike!
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SteveR
1 year, 1 month ago
Always a great read from you, Mike! This brings back memories of my dad, who imbued me with a love of both cycling and tools. After he died in 2013 my brothers and I packed up his overstuffed workshop and while we sold most of his well used metal and woodworking power tools, I ended up with a good collection of his hand tools, which connect me with him in a special way each time that I use them. Most recently- yesterday, when his old bench vise and pop riveter came into play while repairing my truck camper.
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Timer
1 year, 1 month ago
Interesting to hear that you didn't much care for the quality of your pliers. I feel there are few things quite as annoying as bad pliers. I can live with sub-standard hex wrenches, can usually deal with shoddy screwdrivers or c-list sockets and wouldn't notice if my hammer came from the bargain bin (maybe it actually does). But with pliers, i always go for Knipex or Wera and consider it money well spent.
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Mike Ferrentino
1 year, 1 month ago
If I could accurately predict how my blind spots form, I might do a better job of navigating around them. I absolutely adore good pliers, but for reasons that escape me, this is the area of my toolkit that is almost always profoundly lacking. And you are right. Shitty pliers are far shittier to use than shitty sockets (except for when the shitty socket splits while trying to undo an overtightened lug nut, or the shitty ratchet abruptly gives up the ghost) or shitty screwdrivers for the most part.
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Pete Roggeman
1 year, 1 month ago
Ohhh but shitty hex wrenches can cause really expensive headaches...
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earle.b
1 year, 1 month ago
A couple of my favourites to add to your collection.
Tsunoda, KBN-150 flush cutters (zip ties, it has a little gripper built in to pull the zip tie tight before you cut)
Knipex 95 61 190 wire rope cutters (cables)
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tashi
1 year, 1 month ago
I’m sorry, side cutters that pull the zip tie?
That’s entirely too much. I want.
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Stihlgoin
1 year, 1 month ago
Just bought those in the 4” size KBN-100S. I considered them a splurge until after the first cut zip tie. No more sharp edges. Perfectly smooth. I also have Tsunoda duck bill pliers and two different long nose pliers. Beautiful machining.
Knipex 4811J0 are perfect for brake master cylinder circlips.
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Andy Eunson
1 year, 1 month ago
I was smart enough not to "inherit" my dad’s small crescent wrench. It was that same grey colour. But I learned at age 13 or so how crappy that thing was. I was pushing with all my might, probably backwards, to undo an axle nut on my coaster bike. I saw the grub screw that held in the worm gear, that adjusted and held in place the lower jaw fall out followed by the worm gear, followed by the lower jaw all in a tiny fraction of a second and caused me to punch the sidewalk is was working on. Then in a fit of rage and pain I swore as best as a 13 year old can which came out as GAAAAAA! I then hucked the remnant into Mr Smith’s back yard into his tall grass. Then I had to climb Mr Smith’s fence to retrieve that POS. See, dad never owned a small enough screw driver to tighten the grub screw enough to stay in place longer than one use. And it never occurred to me to use my sisters nail polish as a replacement for locktite which I’d never heard of anyway.
Ultimately I bought my own set of pliers to give myself blood blisters with.
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Tjaard Breeuwer
1 year, 1 month ago
:-)
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Skooks
1 year, 1 month ago
Great story Mike. I just inherited some of my Dad's tools. Ive collected so much stuff that I really should get rid of some of it. I'll never part with my DT Swiss butterfly spoke wrench though. That's my favourite bike tool I've ever bought and it's a joy to use.
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tashi
1 year, 1 month ago
While I have a lot of nicer, and better tools, even for tying bar, from my carpentry days, my lineman’s pliers hold a special place in my heart for some reason.
Something about a finally finding the right version of a tool, and one that’ll never die, even if its purpose is to be misused half the time (mine make an excellent Electricians Hammer).
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Hawkinsdad
1 year, 1 month ago
Mike, thanks for another thoughtful piece imparted with appreciation for your father and the sardonic wisdom which exhibits your understanding of his contradictions. My only tools salvaged from my Dad's rather pathetic collection destroyed by me and my ADHD-gifted brothers are a shitty Crescent wrench and a plumb bob. While I, too, tend to appreciate better quality tools, I deeply cherish these mementos of my long-lost father. I hope my daughter will similarly cherish my collection one day, even of the shitty tools.
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Eastieboy
1 year, 1 month ago
@mikeferrentino - You are, and have always been the reason I write. Thank you for this.
It's amazing the things we hold onto that connect us to those important people we've lost along the way.
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cheapondirt
1 year, 1 month ago
My dad, whom I love and respect very much, has no good tools, and that's ok.
When I got into MTB around age 15, my first project beyond patching tubes was to install a chain guide. He didn't think I should take apart the cranks and BB because I might not be able to put it all back together. (And, reading between the lines with the advantage of hindsight, he didn't know how either).
But since then, he has explored mechanical projects, even replacing all the plumbing in his house with just a little help. More importantly though, he has learned not to underestimate the abilities of both himself and others.
And I think that's the tool I want to hang onto.
It's been pretty neat to have a front row seat into someone's character development in their 50's and 60's.
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XXX_er
1 year, 1 month ago
I have variuos tools from my father also my own tools also from wrenching computers and for the most part i just hope I don't have to use any of them
Corb Lund has a great song about tools and work " Hard on equipment " there is a vid
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Doug M.
1 year, 1 month ago
I have a dull pair of my grandfather's diagonal cutters that I use to crimp every cable end that goes through my home shop. The same grandfather helped assemble my first every bicycle so I'm forever indebted.
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mikesee
1 year, 1 month ago
Wasn't looking to take yours away, more hoping that there was some secret stash out there online that I could avail myself of.
I have one that I use on every wheelset as the tensions get close to max. Or for problem builds where the nipples seized ~10 years ago and need to be persuaded. That'n has been in constant use for 10+ years.
I have another wrapped in a velvet blanket, enveloped in a humidor, ensconced within a safe, stashed in a nuke-proof bunker in an off-site undisclosed location. You know, in case...
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12o11o
1 year, 1 month ago
I too had a late-stage Knipex discovery, but still love my old hand-me downs. I imagine the other tools endure passive aggressive/judgey remarks each night from the Knipex in their forced shared quarters.
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mikesee
1 year, 1 month ago
Wait, wait! The chromed DT butterfly wrench or the newer, less sharp, dare I say crappier anodized versions?!
If someone has a source for the former my wallet is wiiiiide open.
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Mike Ferrentino
1 year, 1 month ago
i have one of the older ones, i think it dates back to sometime in the 80s, since it was handed down to me at one of the first bike shops i worked at. i have lost it several times but it keeps turning back up. not for sale, sorry. i've got one of the newer ones as well, and while it isn't as good as the old one, i still prefer the way it feels to most others i've played with.
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Hayden.Cameron
1 year, 1 month ago
Cool article
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