I hadn’t considered that the lip style basically concentrates all the force onto one line which could lead to the tearing you describe. I guess that also points to the reason for preference of the teeth based pliers.
Another thing that confuses me is the prevalence of the lip-based pliers. This is just my very rookie observation, but I feel like I see a lot more lip-based pliers than teeth-based ones, to a significant degree. It’s possible that the lip-based one were just cheaper and thus purchased more, or that everyone used the teeth-based pliers until they wore out, making them much rarer now.
The reason I bring up the latter is because a lot of EA Berg tools are valuable now and give the impression that they are ‘rare’. I recently befriended a retired John Lobb shoemaker and he told me that the Berg tools, knives in particular, were the best and a favorite among makers but since they used them so much, they became rare after a while. So maybe it is a similar story for the teeth-based pliers? Although I also don’t see a lot of teeth-based pliers with worn out teeth.
Gav Nicola says that the lip-based pliers are the original design and that the teeth are a modern thing. I haven’t done any research on this but it does seem like most the lip-based pliers are older than the teeth ones I’ve seen.
Here are some pictures to show what I meant about the handle angle.
The actual angle of the handle in use will depend on the lasting allowance you have but I think it shows how something like the #1 would suck to use with your leg over the handle. Although with enough lasting allowance you can use it in your lap without a jack.
