The pliers are for crimping gas lines, if I have the scale right.
The type of gas lines on torches and oxy-acetylene bottles.
I bought a new crimper that had a steel block with two holes. Instead of pliers it had a wire handle that connected the two halves, like a long "u" shape. Instead of squeezing you would hit the top of the square block with a mallet, crimping the brass ferrule.
That doesn't ecplain those two points, though.
Chilly