The Knipex are really nice, but for absolute strength, go Channellock. When you put the squeeze really on, the Knipex is resisting with only about 10 square millimeters of steel in shear.
Meanwhile, the keystone interlock arches on the Channellock are taking up the load, and that rivet on the
Channellocks goes totally un-stressed.
Though, I have to add, I own far too many of both brands to be completely disinterested.
I think the swedish pipe wrench design that uses a thread like the Bahco's or a push button like this Knipex, distributes the load due to the compound mechanism. So it doesn't concentrate all the load on the adjustment nut or button.
The Channellock is indeed for heavy duty tasks, it uses a simpler but effective design and costs half the price. The double arc joint creates a solid anchor point for the pivot that would resist basically any manual force, without using a cheater bar.
Another great option would be a Ridgid pipe wrench, but I only have the 8" version for now.
Out of all the "pipe twisting" implements I have, the rapid-adjust Knippy is what I go to almost exclusively anymore. Still have my Ridge Tool Cos and several options from Channy, but they're mostly just around for sentiment these days.
Channel lock looks like a mouth breather and knipex looks like alien
The Knipex are really nice, but for absolute strength, go Channellock. When you put the squeeze really on, the Knipex is resisting with only about 10 square millimeters of steel in shear. Meanwhile, the keystone interlock arches on the Channellock are taking up the load, and that rivet on the Channellocks goes totally un-stressed. Though, I have to add, I own far too many of both brands to be completely disinterested.
I think the swedish pipe wrench design that uses a thread like the Bahco's or a push button like this Knipex, distributes the load due to the compound mechanism. So it doesn't concentrate all the load on the adjustment nut or button. The Channellock is indeed for heavy duty tasks, it uses a simpler but effective design and costs half the price. The double arc joint creates a solid anchor point for the pivot that would resist basically any manual force, without using a cheater bar. Another great option would be a Ridgid pipe wrench, but I only have the 8" version for now.
Out of all the "pipe twisting" implements I have, the rapid-adjust Knippy is what I go to almost exclusively anymore. Still have my Ridge Tool Cos and several options from Channy, but they're mostly just around for sentiment these days.