Bob Engelhardt wrote:
... a pair of Klein 9" side cutting
pliers. They seem very stiff to me. ...

Thanks to all who replied with suggestions. I went back and tried
another pair (which required cutting open the blister pack) and they
were just as stiff. So the choice was stiff or none and I did want them.

To eliminate the stiffness, I went with the "Ajax" solution. I used
some PB Blaster with the Ajax to get it into the joint. I worked it
awhile with some, but not much, improvement. To speed things up, I used
my drill press: I bent up a crank out of 1/4" rod, with a 2 1/2" offset
(plier handles have a 5" swing) and chucked it up; clamped one handle of
the pliers to the dp table & the other to a rod connected to the crank;
and turned it on! With the VFD at 5 Hz, the spindle speed is 30 rpm -
just right for working the pliers.

I didn't mean to leave it unattended, but I got distracted and did. An
hour later (30 rpm x 60 min = 1800 cycles), the stiffness was gone! Not
so completely that the handles will fall open, but enough to easily
allow 1-hand operation. Perfect.

Thanks again,
Bob