Originally Posted by
Crankycrank
If you have some Channellock type pliers and some type of grinding tools/metal file you can make a very nice tool to service your headset and other notched type of nuts and lockrings. You may need to grind down the thickness of the jaws as well to better fit the lock rings.
DIY Lockring Pliers : 3 Steps (with Pictures) - Instructables
While that kind of plier would work on a crank lockring, the lockring on the headset is not set up the same way. The lockring has 3 notches at 120° to each other. The pliers work on lock rings that have notches 180° from each other.
To make matters worse, the hook spanner for the bottom bracket like the Park Tool HCW-5 is too large to work on the headset. The
Park HCW-17 might work. An
adjustable hook spanner is also a good choice although you need something that is on the smaller side.
But the best tool I ever found for the job was one
like the pedal/hook spanner in this tool kit. The tool is totally useless for removing pedals and the hook spanner is too small for the bottom bracket but it works wonderfully for the headset notched lock rings.