P.S.&W. CO. Pliers

[amecks]

These are real handy for bending sheet metal but I have no idea what they were made for. Probably Peck,Stow and Wilcox but Alloy Artifacts doesn't show pliers like this. The jaws are 3 1/2" wide. Inside the handle reads MADE IN U.S.A.  I wonder if they could be glass pliers because the jaws are parallel when they're (maybe) 3/32" to 1/8" open. I've had these for a long time.
Al.

[rusty]

They were made for really bending sheetmetal ;P

And other soft metals, they are great for copper.
PEXTO made them for years..decades even...

Newer ones have a slightly different backset adjustment (the screws) and sometimes interchangable jaws, but are functionally identical.

Those are the nicest example of the old style I have seen in a while :)

[mvwcnews]

Sheet metal working tools were the core of the P S & W business -- a sheet metal bending pliers with a depth stop would be very handy.
I have a 1960 hardware wholesaler's catalog that lists the PEXTO #793 Straightener & Seamer for $5.88.  Yours is just a couple decades older, but otherwise identical.
Regards, Stan Schulz

[oldgoaly]

yours still have the stops on them! I have a set that they broke the stops off. good tool!!!

[amecks]

Last night I remembered that I got these at a yard sale in Syracuse probably around 1994. There was an old gentleman (probably eighties) and I regretted not asking him whether they were his and what he used 'em for.
I am sorta glad they are for metalwork as I use them often for that purpose. Thanks. Al.

[Bill Houghton]

Great, very useful tools.  I've never seen any with depth stops like that.  I own two by a different maker, one with the hahdles straight out behind the jaws, t'other with the handles at an angle.

Somewhat to my surprise*, Irwin Tools has continued offering Vise-Grip-based versions of this tool: http://www.irwin.com/tools/locking-tools/the-original-locking-sheet-metal-tools.  And, of course, the pro tool companies for tin benders - Malco, Klein, and so on - still make them.

*And why would I be surprised?  Because the trend in the corporate takeovers of tool companies over the last 20 years has been the elimination of anything the new conglomerate can't sell thousands of at Home Desperate and the other big boxy stores; and these are pretty specialized tools for the homeowner doing a little work on the house.

[Branson]

Great, very useful tools.  I've never seen any with depth stops like that. <snip>
Somewhat to my surprise*, Irwin Tools has continued offering Vise-Grip-based versions of this tool: http://www.irwin.com/tools/locking-tools/the-original-locking-sheet-metal-tools. 

PS&W made these with and without the depth stops.  The pair I found a while back never had the stops.  Got a pair of the Vise-Grips, too.  Yes, very useful tools.  I have a third pair found at a Habitat for Humanity outlet for $2 -- off set jaws and 9 inch long handles.