Thread: Snap On or Craftsman?

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Which do you prefer to use? I like Craftsman myself.

At work, Snap-on.

At home, Snap-on sockets,screwdrivers, and ratchets, Ingersoll air tools, Sharpe paint guns, Husky polished wrenches.

Just got the Husky wrenches last month, VERY NICE!

Snap-on are the cadillac of the tool world. I cannot afford a Caddy(just the motorLOL) I get whatever I can afford that is made in the USA and has a lifetime guarantee. There are a lot out there. Looka at you local parts house.

Craftsman, but hand tools only, not a big fan of there power tools

Craftsman hand tools, store is 1 mile from the house in case I break one.

Their Power tools suck, most are made by Ryobi in SC.

Air compressors are very over rated as well as most all electric tools they make.

Electric hand tools should be purchased and evaluated by AMP rating, not Hourse Power. Look at a Craftsman 7 1/4" circular saw. AMPS are 10 and under, they say it's 1.5 HP, a good Makita, Milwaukee, Porter Cable are 13. Most home owner type tools are rated in Horse Power at STALL! Why would I buy a tool that has a 1.5 HP rating at STALL? STALL means it STOPS!!!!!!!! 8.5 AMPS is about one HP, 13 AMP rated saws, etc. don't bother with stupid HP ratings because thats 13 AMPS under LOAD, not STALL.

Air Compressors should be bought for CFM numbers, NOT HP rating. Who cares if the thing has 50 HP but the CFM is 7.0?
A jitter-bug sander eats about 11 or 12 CFM, an 8 CFM compressor won't run it!

Craftsman for most of my hand tools but my wife recently got me a Stanley ratchet set and I am VERY impressed with their quality vs. Craftsman.

Power tools? Milwaukee (probably misspelled) a few black and deckers and a Makita or two. I stay away from DeWalt and Ryobi.

Abe

I also stay away from ryobi and Dewalt. Hunter Mtn where I work uses Dewalt cordless drills to drill the snow for the fencing but the chucks strip out and they do not stay tight. for air tools we use Dayton and one other company that I can not think of. Are compressor is a hommade one ( hot water tank and old compressor pump )

For everyones info, Dewalt is Black and Decker!

Are you serious, my faimly has used B&D for the longest of time and never had a problem but, we have always had problems with Dewalt. That's actually suprising.

I liked the older, 3 or 4 years ago, craftsman 3/8 ratchet handles. No sharp edges or anything, but the end of the handle was perfect to fit a half inch extension over to use as a cheater bar. The ratcheting was also light and fairly fine. The ratcheting on the new craftsman tools is too stiff and not very fine at all.

Oh yeah, I got a set of those gear ratchet sockets for Christmas, I was skeptical but they are actually kind of useful. I was at a hardware store and they had there own brand knock-off there on demonstration, but the ratchet was so stiff you could never use it for anything. These ones are actually very fine and very light which makes it so you don't need to stick your finger in there with the wrench to keep the bolt from turning backwards.

Sorry Matt,
It's true.
B&D brought out many tool lines in the past, they were aimed at many different markets. Remember the $14.00 3/8" drill from K-Mart? They have tried to penetrate the entire electric hand tool market over the years. B&D has had many different marketing tactics through the years. Some of them were really good tools, some REALLY sucked. They came out with a line of tools that had green plastic covers. Those really sucked! Some of the older all aluminum housed tools are collectable! I have an old Rockwell all aluminum 1/2" drill that will break your arm if you hang it up!
B&D ahs bought other smaller tool MFG's and kept the names to strengthen their market share.
Can you tell I was in the Power Tool business?
I worked for Porter Cable many years ago.
B&D was the enemy!
ps
I have a B&D 9" grinder that is over 40 years old and still running fine!

I'm poor. I can't even afford cheapy tools. Most of the time when I need an odd hand tool, I look in my Dad's toolbox. When I can't find it there I go out and buy a single Craftsman. So, basically all my tools are Craftsman, same for my Dad's. I'd love to have Snap-On, but I am lucky to afford a few Craftsman, so I go with Craftsman. As for power hand tools, don't go Craftsman label. They just suck. They farm out the Craftsman name to the lowest bidder for production. I would get something better than the Craftsman power hand tools, but we found a place that sells the ones that have been remanufactured, so we get those. Still work for a while.

Many Craftsman tools are made in China now.

True.

So are more and more of our everyday products.

Talk to the un-employed folks here in South Carolina about Fabrics.

But this is a HOTROD forum so I will shut up!

Originally posted by qat727
I'm poor. I can't even afford cheapy tools. Most of the time when I need an odd hand tool, I look in my Dad's toolbox. When I can't find it there I go out and buy a single Craftsman. So, basically all my tools are Craftsman, same for my Dad's. I'd love to have Snap-On, but I am lucky to afford a few Craftsman, so I go with Craftsman. As for power hand tools, don't go Craftsman label. They just suck. They farm out the Craftsman name to the lowest bidder for production. I would get something better than the Craftsman power hand tools, but we found a place that sells the ones that have been remanufactured, so we get those. Still work for a while.

If you are low on bucks head to a flea market or a scummy looking pawn shop. You can usually pick up good used tools pretty cheap. Sure they may not be as shiny as new ones but they work just as well.

Example: I just picked up a Rockwell jigsaw for $4 because the goofball at the pawn shop didn't know what he had. It's got a few marks from use but it's a very solid unit (should last the rest of my life) and works extremely well.

Abe