Switched from a crescent wrench to a Knipex pliers wrench for plumbing work

I used to round off every nut under the sink with a regular crescent wrench until last Thursday when I grabbed a pair of pliers wrenches at a garage sale in Austin for $15. Now I can grip a shower drain fitting without cussing or calling a plumber. Anyone else switch tools and wonder why you waited so long?

3 comments

3 Comments

rivershah1mo agoTop Commenter

That "round off every nut" part hit home man. I grabbed a set after destroying a shower valve with my grandpa's old adjustable and now I actually look forward to plumbing projects.

rivershah1mo agoTop Commenter

Dude the adjustable wrench is a trap for sure. I stripped a brass compression fitting on a toilet supply line once, water everywhere, had to call a plumber on a Sunday. That hurt. But after I got my first set of good combination wrenches I felt like I unlocked a cheat code for life. Now I keep a metric and standard set in my truck and one in the garage. Nothing worse than fighting a rounded off nut at 7am before work. It's like the tool equivalent of a bad cup of coffee.

lisa6717d ago

Bought a pair at a garage sale here in Austin too, @rivershah - mine were $15 and I thought I was wasting money til I used them on a stubborn kitchen sink strainer that had been loose for months. That thing popped right off without mangling the pipe threads underneath, and I actually said "holy crap" out loud when I realized I'd been fighting with adjustable wrenches for ten years for no reason. I still keep a crescent wrench around for oddball stuff, but now it's like the backup player on a youth soccer team - it barely sees any action unless someone gets hurt. The pliers wrench just feels more natural in your hand, like it was designed by someone who actually tried to fix a leaky faucet on a Tuesday night after work.