Thread: Best brand of tools for the price?

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Originally Posted by DennyW

And don't forget to buy the BFH.

my favorite tool!

I'm not a dog, I don't chase trucks!
I have plenty of Snap-on, Craftsman, a few Matco, I'm a mile and a half to Sears for 40 years, it always there, and I don't like the tool guys coming by and trying to get people to buy things they can't afford, seen it to many times. Ask your tool driver, he probably has a set of tools he's trying to get rid of, that someone bought and can't pay for.
Pat

Originally Posted by HemiTCoupe

I'm not a dog, I don't chase trucks!
I have plenty of Snap-on, Craftsman, a few Matco, I'm a mile and a half to Sears for 40 years, it always there, and I don't like the tool guys coming by and trying to get people to buy things they can't afford, seen it to many times. Ask your tool driver, he probably has a set of tools he's trying to get rid of, that someone bought and can't pay for.
Pat

I agree here...buy only what you can afford. Most trucks offer a line of credit to finance their tools and boxes, BEWARE. As is stated above there are many "repos" available for a reason. It is very easy to get in over your head if you don't keep your wits about you. When I was in the fab shops I made it a rule that if I had to borrow it more than about 3 times then it was something that I could use, but I didn't need it until I managed to put back enough to buy it outright. It is really complicating if you decide to leave an employer when you still owe the tool guy money.............

Originally Posted by HemiTCoupe

I'm not a dog, I don't chase trucks!
I have plenty of Snap-on, Craftsman, a few Matco, I'm a mile and a half to Sears for 40 years, it always there, and I don't like the tool guys coming by and trying to get people to buy things they can't afford, seen it to many times. Ask your tool driver, he probably has a set of tools he's trying to get rid of, that someone bought and can't pay for.
Pat

Yup, usually from some stupid kid who bought $15,000.00 worth of tools while he was going to the Vo-Tech school that Daddy paid for, then when he got out of school and actually got a job turning wrenches he discovered it was way too hard of work!!!! Never had a tool truck guy hold a gun to my head and force me to buy anything!!!! Same thing as saying it's Citi-Banks fault when some idiot runs up $20,000.00 worth of debt on his credit card then discovers he can't pay the bill?????

I agree with sticking to pro-quality tools,the guarantee can't be beat. Just don't go nuts trying to get it all at once off the tool truck. Check the yard sales,flea markets,classified ads and as Don said,pawn shops,you can end up with the good stuff for 10 cents on the dollar. There will be plenty of special items you have to get off the truck,save your money till then. Hank

I once got some brand new Klein (popular with electricians) pliers, diagonal cutters and allen wrenches for dirt cheap at a yard sale. lady said they weren't as good as the craftsman so would sell them to me for less! HA! My tool bags for electrical are all klein, I shudder thinking about how much those suckers cost retail.

flea markets can be good too. saw a big crescent adjustable wrench one time for a few bucks, didn't buy it cause didn't need it. in retrospect....

Red

I have a link somewhere that talks about who makes what. for instance Proto is same manufacturer as stanley, just a higher grade steel and heat treat due to the industry they are targeted at. Snap-on makes their own hand tools, and just cause I know how stubborn people can be, I just called them on the phone and confirmed. they use a different steel recipe and heat treat than crafstman, thus the thinner profile for same strength (that's from me, not the guy on the phone at snapon).

by the way, I ran the sanded down craftsman reject past the guy, yeah, he was laughing. I probably made his day.

I am guessing cornwell, who has been around for a long time, doesn't have much presence in my area, I have never seen a truck here, only north on the I5 corridor somewhere. but they are great people. I bought a complete 3/8" drive set off of ebay, missing the 10mm socket (replaced with taiwanese crap) I tried to get ahold of local distributor and couldn't. I called the company and explained, they sent me one in the mail no charge.

Craftsman are fine for home mechanics, I have a bunch. I think as a professional you really do need to be able to have them replaced without leaving work.

Red

have always found snap-on to be over-priced i stick with matco

Lowe's carries a tool line called KOBALT and I hear they are made by snapon. Dunno if that is true, but they look nice and I think they are priced quite competetively compared to craftsman. My brother in law is a bonafide wrench, and he swears that S/K makes the best ratchets hands down. I happen to have an S/K and when I reach for the cheater bar I make sure the S/K is on the recieving end, not the craftsman.

Speaking of craftsman, the finish quality of their tools has really gone down in the last ten years or so. I REALLY hate the anodized numbering on their sockets. Expose them to anything corrosive whatsoever and the numbers are gone forever. A few years ago, the wife bought me a small craftsman screwdriver set ( or some such set ) and they actually made her pay extra for the guarantee! Boy was I pissed! Told her to go and get a refund on the 'guarantee', and if they gave her any slack about it she would just return the whole set. Nearly swore off craftsman after that, but hey.. I have both a craftsman red, and wrinke brown finish tool box so what the hey. Their ratchets are definiely crap. I've had several work poorly straight out of the box, so to speak. Never had a problem with sockets or wrenches.

For screwdrivers, Klein do seem to hold up better.

You will have need for the occasional crimp... the best crimpers I have ever used are LOBSTER. Awesome crimpers, simply wonderful.

No craftsman is complete without a LEATHERMAN hanging on his belt. I currently have a leatherman CORE , which I believe is the replacement for the SUPERTOOL. Nice tool: stainless steel, quick release for the blades, but the design does pinch the hand a bit if you bear down on the pliers hard.

I think I can sum it up as such: your tools don't need to have one particular brand name. some brand names are better than others, such as Klein screwdrivers, strippers and cutters, S/K ratchets, etc.

It is nice to have the expensive tools, but who are you really trying to impress?

I have no idea where you guys are buying your tools at, but I've had the same Snap-on Dealer calling on me for 25 years. He's never forced me to buy a thing, but has always gone out of his way to get me just what I need for specialized tools and never given me a moments grief about replacing broken or defective tools. Better know exactly what you need when you go to Sears and by the Craftsman stuff cuz it's a cinch the brainless twit at the cash register is totally clueless on offering any sort of good advice!!!!!

Guess I'll stick to using a thread chaser on existing threads....Running a tap through tends to remove a bit of metal from the threads... I've got holders for my taps that are 3/8" drive and use a ratchet....

Well, Snap-on makes their own hand tools, lots of them in Kenosha, Wi.... Don't know about the others, mainly cuz I bought good hand tools the first time and have never seen a reason to change... I've got some Craftsman stuff around, mostly gifts from others so kind of obliged to keep them. I've bought a ton of Snap-on and Matco since I started, mainly cuz of the service provided by the tool trucks. I consider it as all part of the value of the tools. Service and trust sometimes gets a little lost in searching the malls, stores, and net for just the best price......

My latest trip to Sears about 2 weeks ago - and yes, I do have some Crapsman tools and do use them occasionally. I keep a ratchet in my metric box and a "spare" for when I can't find my S-K (I really dislike Snap-on ratchets)

Standard Ratchet - hold your hand over the reversing lever in a tight spot. The @#$$ POS goes into a neutral position. Adios knuckles - mine just healed. I got their 'best' for my "spare" and their cheapest for my metric box. Both seem better then their standard.

13/16 Combo wrench - after digging a piece of chrome out of my palm, retrieving the wrench from the middle of the yard where it landed, got a pretty new one - but it is shaped a bit different and doesn't appear to have the same chrome shedding sharp edges.

As far as chrome shedding - uhhhh - these are 2 of my Snap-ons, a 13/16 and 7/8. Others are similar or worse. I tried to exchange them with a local Snap-on truck dealer. His answer to me was - "I don't know who the f*** you are and where you bought them - EBay probably". He was right - he didn't know me and the Snap-on dealer I purchased them from died about 15 years ago, and he even knew that guys name. So, I keep them and use carefully. Not worth the grief.

I had the same experience with a SnapOn dealer. I had a 3/8 rachet that would slip when tightening a bolt, something worn inside. So I tracked down a SnapOn truck in the industrial area and the SnapOn guy told me he would not replace it. WHAT??? I THOUGHT SNAPON HAD A LIFETIME WARRANTY???????? After some arguing on my part he agreed to put a kit inside to fix it. He did, but it still slipped, so I tossed it out so I wouldn't be tempted to use it and bust my knuckles.

Conversely, I have never had Sears turn me away on any tool, even ones I have broken through overuse.

Don

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

I had the same experience with a SnapOn dealer. I had a 3/8 rachet that would slip when tightening a bolt, something worn inside. So I tracked down a SnapOn truck in the industrial area and the SnapOn guy told me he would not replace it. WHAT??? I THOUGHT SNAPON HAD A LIFETIME WARRANTY???????? After some arguing on my part he agreed to put a kit inside to fix it. He did, but it still slipped, so I tossed it out so I wouldn't be tempted to use it and bust my knuckles.

Conversely, I have never had Sears turn me away on any tool, even ones I have broken through overuse.

Don

I hear about a lot of complaints about snap on ratchets, my auto teacher
even warned me about them, because they slip.

they have a fine tooth gear set which is really smooth compared to others but
is weaker, because there isn't much for the ratchet stops to catch on. what this means is the $5 walmart special ratchet, COULD have a stronger gear set. I don't know because I have never had the chance to test a snap on ratchet like that. I'v broken 2 of the $5 cheepo's but I tried to use them w/ a 6' pipe as a breaker bar to get a lugnut loose, so they were a ubused. the lugnut was stuck bad.