While making some pot rack hooks I became aware of how handy the pliers I was using were for the job and how often I had used them over the 15 or so years since I made them.
They began their life as one of the several styles of fence pliers and I picked a couple of them up in a flea market for a few bucks. I recalled someone telling me I should look for them and reforge the jaws into some more suitable shape for blacksmithing use.
The first step was to remove the rivet. Then, each jaw could be independently heated and forged to the desired shape. I made one pair with straight jaws and one with the tips angled about 90ยบ. I don’t recall if they needed oil quench heat treatment but I did quite a bit of that back in those days.
The most desirable features are the very strong jaw with no wiggle and the comfortable grip so they make a powerful precision tool.
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