Pliers

Pliers are a hand tool used to hold an object firmly, and to bend or compress materials, consisting of a pair of metal first class levers joined at a fulcrum set closer to one end, creating short jaws on one side of the fulcrum and long handles on the other side that give the user mechanical advantage to amplify grip strength. Pliers may descend from tongs used to handle hot metal in Bronze Age Europe, with bronze pliers likely appearing before 3000 BCE and no single inventor credited for what is an old, simple device whose uses expanded over time from horseshoes to fasteners to electronic components. Variants include diagonal pliers, built with stout blades that meet edge to edge rather than overlapping, for cutting, crimping pliers used in electrical work, and parallel pliers whose jaws close evenly along their whole length; modern pliers are typically made of steel alloy strengthened with vanadium or chromium, most carry insulated grips for protection against electric shock, and their jaw surfaces are often textured to reduce slipping.