Busting Pliers

[coc3]

i read an article in brookfield's mohs book that talked about an old time strongman who put some coins or a bolt, i can't remember in a set of pliers and with two hands busted one of the handles. i wonder if you could use one hand to break the handles or the bolt that holds the pliers together? that is some serious crushing power. does anybody know how much pressure that would take?

[Alawadhi]

Big steve did it one handed but against his legs. He said it's harder to close CoC#4 one hand with your leg braced. I am pretty sure others can do.

[greenBuddah]

It definately depends on the plier. I'd suppose any type to be quite difficult .. but some more and some im- or hardly possible. Like you can't just say .. I can break pliers, I can close grippers, I can bend nails, I can lift weight

[j.scribner]

I've handed a set of "heavy-duty" Chinese-made side-cutting pliers I bought for a couple of bucks at one of the "Dollar" stores to my workout partner Stew2, and he just crunched the handles in one squeeze. They've lasted a bit longer for me- I use them for gripping the ring welded to the top of my homemade 2" V-bar for lifts. Eventually the soft steel just folds and the handles give way. Obviously there a lot of difference in the cheap Chinese tool steel used in bargain tools, versus good quality American tool steel. I keep a couple of pairs of the cheapos in my gym bag just for plier-lifts, and keep my good tools on my bench at home where they belong.

John Scribner