Draper 5 Piece Circlip Plier Set (165mm)
Part Number – 19753. Cost – £5 – £20
Background:
I have never had the need for a set of circlip pliers, I always used a set of needle nosed pliers that I filed down. They done the job, and I couldn’t justify the cost vs the amount of time I would use them. I took the brake booster of my car and everything was seized up. So I got the Haynes manual out, (I have done a review of it under book reviews), it told be about the piston and how it comes apart. Guess what was there, yep, a circlip, I managed to remove it but a real pig to get back on. So the time was right when Amazon had an offer on and these were cheap, I decided about time I had a set. Ok, these are Draper and not Snap On, I could have a set for internal and external, 45deg or 90deg and the list goes on. But, the amount of times I will use them versus the cost these were a perfect compromise, or were they?
What’s in the Box:
The package is the box, the instructions are on the back, you can see from the pictures its not comprehensive but adequate. There is no box which is major char of point for me, as there is a potential to lose the extra jaws.
The extra jaws, are all the same design of a black coated set of jaws with holes top and bottom of a central pin that cleverly turns them internal or external. The jaws consist of: Standard straight tips, fine straight tips, 45deg standard tips and 90deg standard tips.
Construction
The jaws are black coated steel and machined to a high standard. The tips are strong enough for the circlip they are intended for. They haven’t bent yet.
The handles are again coated matt black steel, they look flimsy but are surprisingly robust. There is a sprung wire between the handles that keep them apart. The spring is nicely weighted and won’t give you wrist ache after a few uses. The handles have pins top and bottom that will either make the pliers internal or external. The handles have a comfortable plastic coating with a ridged outside to stop hand slippage. The clever bit is the central pin, this is held in place by a spring on the underside of the handles and a lift and turn over 90deg lock at the other side. It’s simple and effective, you won’t lose the lock part, but you could loose the whole thing if your not careful. Once the pin is in place it won’t come out as the spring holds the lock in place.
Use:
The interchangeable jaws are easily replaced, by pressing the spring in, this takes the pressure of the lock pin. Slide the lock pin and lift up. Once the pin is all in line it can be pulled out. The jaws locate on either side of the handles depending on the opening of the jaws required, external on the upper pins and internal on the lower pins. Fitting different jaws is the reverse procedure.
The jaws are steady once located in place. There is a little movement but not enough to make undoing circlips an issue. They work, I used them to take off a clip and out back on. There is enough slight angle to hold the circlip on the tips when under tension.
Location of the pins for the jaws.
Results:
They either work or they don’t. They did work. The ends of the pliers are fairly bulky, and could make access into tight areas an issue. If that is the case then a slimmer dedicated pair would be more use. It looks like Draper have tried to address this by keeping things flat as possible.
How they will stand up to heavy use is open to debate, but there is something on the packaging that states “Fully Guaranteed”. What that guarantee actually means I don’t know as it doesn’t specifically say on the packaging. Draper have a good name for the middle market, so I wouldn’t expect them to argue to much.
Rating:
Very cut and dry, they work for the circlips I tried, so full marks. The fact there is no box and the potential to lose the other jaws is a very real possibility. I use a freezer bag tie to hold them together in the toolbox, not ideal but effective. The coating is not that thick, the handles have been used a few times, where the spring rubs on the handle it has come off. Cosmetics I know, but you do get what you pay for. These were a bargain, for me, they cover the multitude of sins I am going to encounter. For a professional, I would expect them to use dedicated set of pliers as they would feel more sturdy.
The cheaper they are the more likely they are to be a good buy. Shop around, you can get these at a real bargain price.
