Your brand of hand tools

[okietreedude1]

Im interested in getting some new hand tools (ie: sockets, wrenches, etc) and was wondering what brands were preferred here and why? If they are not a major player, where do you get yours at? Major players would be Snap-on, Mac, and craftsman.

 

[Tree Frog]

Easier access to tool selection for me and if I go the cheep route something always tend to break so I get to buy them again. If you join the craftsman club they will tell you once a month how much they suckered you on the full price purchase.

If you have the money to spend I would recommend snap-on. The only reason is that they build the tool box for you. I got to order two $10,000 kits before and they came fully stocked, foam all cut, the works. Always on someone elses dime.

 

[ShoerFast]

Tools are tools,,,,

Okietreedude1
As for me, I think Snap-offs and the other name brands are a true rip!
Yes the service is nice, if your working somewhere on there route, but if your not, there not worth the extra price.
the abilities to hold better and strip less is just hype. The operator has more to do with it then anything.

Here is a picture of a day that things just didn't go well, its over 100 degrees out and about half the wrenches that fit were modified in one way or the other. We are (driver left, me right) about 5 feet into GE J-85 -5 jet engine.

 

[jimmyq]

Jet.
lifetime warranty, decent price.

 

[Trignog]

I can only share a bad experience, and that was allied brand I think, put out by Pep boys years ago, I acually broke a socket. Other than that , what ever works, right?

 

[skwerl]

Unless you're making a living with your wrenches, the Snap-Ons and Macs are pretty much out of the question (unless you just absolutely positively gotta have one or two small sets, like me). 20 years ago I went with about 75% Craftsman. If I were doing it today, I'd likely buy mostly Husky from Home Depot.

As crappy as everythnig else is that wears the Craftsman badge, it's hard to believe that their hand tools could still be the best value out there. Name one other category where that name signifies quality and value.

 

[kf_tree]

okietreedude1

i used to spin a wrench for a living, and i just started getting my tools out of storage. i'm going to be selling the stuff i have doubles and tripples of. i just need a week or two to get every thing together to see what i have. most of the stuff i'll be selling is either mac or s@k i also have some craftsman set's. if your interested let me know or i'll be putting them on ebay. since evey thing i'll be selling has a life time guarantee it doesn't really matter if it's used or not. most of my stuff is mac, when i was spinning a wrench the snap on guy was a :censored: so we didn't deal with him.

the pic is just my top box, i still have the bottom box and side cabinet.

 

[DirtTroll]

Wrenchs, ratchets, and extensions are Snap-on.

All sockets are craftsman.

Craftsman ratchets are junk.

 

[Davidsinatree]

Okie,
I have alot of craftsman tools and like them. The sears store is in my area and have never had trouble getting tools replaced if broken. I think I have only had to get some screw drivers replaced and that was because of me not using them properly. The sears store has awesome selection of tools.
I like craftsman....they get my vote.

PS. the fire rope I got from you is great stuff..I'll be placing a small order soon. I need some more atlas winter gloves.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I'm on the Craftsman bandwagon too, just because they are so easy to work with. The wrench breaks you go back and they replace no questions asked.

I sanpped a breaker bar 3 times in a weekend when I was a young idiot thinking he could do small block rebuilds. They just gave me a new one and asked for a signature on the form.

 

[2Coilinveins]

Good morning all! The sun is shining, there's an enormous cup of coffee in front of me, and here it is almost 10 am and I just woke up. Ahh yes, life is good.

Alot of my tool set has been built a wrench at a time by buying broken Craftsman stuff at garage sales for a quarter and returning it to Sears to get a $15 tool. I've broken a couple 1/2" breaker bars(used well above and beyond the call of duty) and a couple sockets(one was my fault, using a standard socket on an impact wrench), but never any wrenches. I wonder how the people I bought the original from managed to break them? I still do the occasional engine rebuild. Chevy or Dodge mostly.

 

[J_Ashley]

I have a little bit of everything. My stuff is mostly Matco and Craftsman. A lot of the stuff I started with was Crafstman, but I've found that the Matco stuff, albeit expensive, is of a much higher quality. Also, check out some of the less popular names such as Proto, Challenger, Blackhawk, S&K, KAL etc.

Ratchets- I'd suggest either Snap-On or Matco. A cheaper alternative would be the Craftsman Professional Tear-drop ratchets. Idon't like the standard, or the 60-tooth Professional Craftsman ratchets.

Sockets- I've broken several Craftsman sockets. Altough they have a gurantee, it's aggrrivating as well as dangerous. I'm slowly going to all Matco Impact sockets. Yes thats right, use Impact sockets with all my hand tools. If I had it to do over, I'd buy all impact sockets, and not a single Chrome socket.

Wrenches- It's kind of a toss-up. The Snap-On, Mac, Matco's go without question, but they're very expensive. Again, look at the Craftsman Professional (Full Polish) wrenches. They're longer, easier to clean, and more comfortable than the standard satin Craftsman wrenches.

Screwdrivers- Well, a screw-driver is a screwdriver. Just get one with a gurantee.

Pliers- I'd have to vote on Channellock or Knipex brands of pliers. You just can't go wrong with either, as they both seem to be bulletproof.

Hex-wrenches- Bondhus or Ekleind. I have both, and they seem to hold up very well to the abusive world of hex-wrenches.

A general rule of thumb. If you're going to depend upon, or use it frequently, spend the extra money to get a quality tool. You'll thank yourself down the road.

Justin

 

[SteveBullman]

teng here
good quality and not as expensive as snap on
cheap tools just suck

 

[computeruser]

SK and Craftsman make up most of my tools. If I know I'm going to need something I don't already own in advance of needing it, I often order SK. If I need it right now, or if it is on supersale, I swing by Sears because I can walk there from my house in ten minutes.

My tool failure rate has been somewhat higher with Craftsman tools than with SK, but the Craftsman easy return-replacement policy sure is nice. Craftsman "unusual" tools (i.e. not ratchets, sockets, wrenches) have been poor performers in a number of instances, but again the price/availability/10minutes from home mitigates my frustration somewhat.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

This should open some eyes:

http://bricklin.org/TechCentral/TCArticleWhotools.htm

 

[fpyontek]

Great link Tom. I guess its all about marketing.

Fred

 

[J_Ashley]

Tom you do bring up a good point. The biggest thing I've noticed is how the sam products are available in the MAC, Husky and Stanley names. I have a Husky top and bottom too chest, that's identicle to the MAC 'Economizer' series toolchests. I bought my chests at HomeDepot, for roughly half of what they'd sell for on the MAC truck. That very same tool box is available in the Proto name as well. MAC's 'micro-tough' 72 tooth ratchets are also availabe at Home Depot under the Husky name.

Don't assume however that all their products are the same. Don't expect a MAC knuckle-saver wrench set to show up at Home-Deopt.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

I've started to buy tools from Home Depot. At one time there were Sears stores all over. Now it's easier to find a HD or Lowes when a tool breaks.

 

[046]

Almost all Snap-on here. unless it's speciality tool like Fluke meters, Robinaire vacum pumps, little giant ladders, etc

here's a pic of a few of my snap-on wrenches. all metric in top pic, all sae in bottom pic

 

[J_Ashley]

That is a lot of money in wrenches...