Slip Joint Pliers & Accessories

Slip joint pliers are pliers whose pivot point or fulcrum can be moved to increase range of their jaws.

A lot of the slip joint pliers uses a mechanism that allows the sliding pivot point into one of several positions when the pliers are fully opened but some slip joint pliers have jaws wherein a portion of it can cut soft wire and nails. 

Slip joint pliers are one of the many varieties of the hand operated tool called pliers which functions are for holding and gripping small articles or for bending and cutting wire. The grooved jaws of the slip joint pliers and the pivot hole in one member is elongated for the purpose of being able to pivot in either two positions so that it can grasp objects of different sizes in the most effective way. 

Slip joint pliers have two sets of teeth: the fine and the coarse. The fine teeth which are found at the end of the jaws are used for fine work such as gripping small objects or nails delicately pressing or holding things together. The coarse teeth on the other hand are used to grip larger objects or to increase gripping pressure because of the leverage gained by gripping something at the back of the jaws. Coarse teeth are commonly used for gripping a nut or bolt.

Slip joint pliers actually have two types: one is the straight slip joint pliers and the second is the tongue and groove pliers. Straight slip joint pliers can be compared to common pliers also known as the lineman’s pliers because their jaws are in line with their handles. One side of the pliers usually has two holes that are connected by a slot for the pivot. When the pliers are fully opened, the pivot is fastened to the other side and shaped in a way that it can slide through the slot. The straight slip joint pliers are probably the most common type of slip joint pliers especially in the US. There are actually a variety of straight slip joints in the market which includes thin nose, thick nose, regular and multiple joint pliers which allow more than two pivot positions.

The tongue and groove pliers on the other hand have their jaws offset from their handles and have several positions at which the lower jaw can be positioned.

The design of the slip joint pliers allows the worker to apply greater leverage than if the hands or fingers alone were used to grasp an object. The handles were made to be longer than the jaws so that the handles can act as levers and are able to amplify the force applied to the object being gripped.

Pliers are essential for home repair and if you had to pick only one from the many varieties of pliers out there, the slip joint pliers is the most recommended. Slip joint pliers are very versatile and it can handle a variety of jobs ranging from tightening or loosening nuts to pulling small nails.