The Secret Genius of Locking Pliers

A simple tool packed to the gills with versatility.

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Few hand tools are as versatile as a pair of locking pliers. These tools come in a variety of sizes and configurations to do anything you need to do from grabbing the head of a stripped nut or bolt to turn it out, to holding two pieces of metal together so you can weld them.

A basic three-tool kit of locking pliers, consisting of a standard pair, a large curved jaw pair, and a needle nose type. For more than 35 years, I’ve been amazed at what you can accomplish with these three tools.

It’s not unusual to need to remove a nail somewhere where either you can’t get at it with a hammer or when the head has snapped off the nail and a hammer won’t pull it out. This is particularly true when removing nails fired by pneumatic nail guns, which are thin and easly break when you try to pull them. But the technique works with nearly any nail.

Lock the pliers very firmly onto the nail and lever back against the curved bottom jaw. This will extract the nail a little at a time.

Here I needed to remove a group of finish nails fired by a pneumatic nailer. The fasteners missed the framing lumber entirely. I used a pair of needle nose pliers to pull the nails out the back of the door jamb. I locked onto the nails, dug the tip of the pliers into the framing lumber and levered against the nose of the tool to pivot the nails out the back of the jamb.

You can team two or more locking pliers to make a vise. This comes in handy when working in the field and some work surface will have to serve as the clamping area, but it can be used to clamp something unusual in the home shop and you have a bench to serve as the clamp surface.

This two-pliers hack allows you to clamp something unusually shaped, or very long, particularly in the absence of a machinist vise. It’s sensible to ask why you would want to clamp a gigantic cold chisel to a bench top. In this case, it’s to file its cutting edges sharp and smooth

A locking plier can also augment a machinist vise. A small machinist vise is not adept at clamping curved or unusually shaped parts. Clamping the top handle of a locking plier in the vise serves as a workaround. With the locking pliers securely clamped, clamp a round or unusually shaped part in the plier jaws as you would normally. Now you can file, drill, or cut the part as needed.

And while we’re on the topic of cold chisels, there are times when you have to deliver a very heavy blow to one of these tools or do the same to a punch.

Clamp a locking plier to a cold chisel or a punch when you have to deliver a heavy blow with a large ball peen hammer or even a sledge. This keeps your hand safely out of the way. It can also help you hold the tool more accurately, such as in a corner where your hand would be in the way, preventing you from placing the chisel or punch exactly where you need it.

Locking pliers can serve very well when you need to keep a door, hatch or gate open. Clamp locking pliers to a garage door rail, a door jamb, to a hatch frame to keep the door, gate or hatch in position. Note, where there is a possibility of injury from such a setup, use more than one pair of pliers and adjust the tool to bite very firmly into the surface to which it’s clamped.

Roy Berendsohn has worked for more than 25 years at Popular Mechanics, where he has written on carpentry, masonry, painting, plumbing, electrical, woodworking, blacksmithing, welding, lawn care, chainsaw use, and outdoor power equipment. When he’s not working on his own house, he volunteers with Sovereign Grace Church doing home repair for families in rural, suburban and urban locations throughout central and southern New Jersey.

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