Best Brand Of Mechanics' Tools

I'm looking to replace at least part of my heterogenous collection of wrenches, sockets and other mechanic's tools with something better. I'm willing to spend the money to do it right, but I'm not sure what 'right' is.

Back in the 1960s Snap-On was a highly regarded brand of professional tools. But things change and I don't know about now.

What would you folks recommend as a brand of high-quality tools?

--RC

Reply to
Rick Cook
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Reply to
Steve Lusardi

cant go wrong with snap on

but what are you going to be using them for

are you turning wrenches for a living or is this for hobby?

is your hobby building concourse cars ?

craftsmen and cobalt as well as proto are all very reliable and well made tools ,

most of mine are snap on , but then I use mine to pay my mortgage

Reply to
williamhenry

Strictly a hobby and I haven't done much mechanic's work in 20 years or so. Hence the question.

--RC

Reply to
Rick Cook

craftsmen would probably treat you just fine , it is what I use at home

Reply to
williamhenry

Easy bang for the buck is Craftsman end wrenches on sale. Same with screwdrivers. I won't be buying anymore Craftsman sockets. Take a look at KD Tools for those, or for the whole works. That's the Danaher company, which makes a lot of recognixzable brands these days.

Matter of fact, KD has been doing special buy-ins to their distributors on various sets, big and small, which has most of us loaded up. You might check with your local parts store, see if they or their supplier stocks KD, and ask them to find you a real deal on one of the bigger sets.

||williamhenry wrote: || ||> cant go wrong with snap on ||>

||> but what are you going to be using them for ||>

||> are you turning wrenches for a living or is this for hobby? ||>

||> is your hobby building concourse cars ? ||>

||> craftsmen and cobalt as well as proto are all very reliable and well made ||> tools , ||>

||> most of mine are snap on , but then I use mine to pay my mortgage || ||Strictly a hobby and I haven't done much mechanic's work in 20 years or so. ||Hence the question. || ||--RC || ||

Texas Parts Guy

Reply to
Rex B

If you have a Home Depot nearby, Husky tools are a pretty good value for hobby work. Certainly cheaper than some of the other professional grades mentioned.

Reply to
Bryce

I went through this about a year ago when I wanted to buy some tools for my son. The short answer is that most mechanic's tools are made by Danaher or Stanley (you can check google for my list). At the time Kobalt tools were made by J.C. Williams and were good. Now they are made by Danaher and are not good. Cornwall still makes their own tools, last I heard. Cooper tools makes Crescent, which is what I bought the last time I bought tools. I like Crescent, though made in Taiwan they may be, and MSC is always running a sale on them.

Kevin Gallimore

Reply to
axolotl

In Canada, the Mastercraft Professional tools from Canadian Tire are pretty decent stuff. I made my living for 25 years with Craftsman tools - and I still have the majority of that first set - missing a few that got lost or pinched by apprentices and fellow workers. Had a few replaced under Warranty. I also liked the SK tools - and bought a fair amount of Herbrand over the years. I bought Snap-On when I had to. Also a smattering of Mac and Proto and the odd Husky - and KD for specialty tools.

Some years the usage was light - working on Toyotas etc, and other years it was heavy - buldozers, farm equipment, backhoes, ditchers, etc.

Reply to
nospam.clare.nce

On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 21:34:46 GMT, Rick Cook calmly ranted:

Nor have I, but the answer hasn't changed: ABC

Anything But Crapsman.

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- Nice perfume. Must you marinate in it? -

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Reply to
Larry Jaques

Heh heh. I completely agree.

Reply to
AL

On the aircraft at work, I've got all MAC or Snap-On. Their box end wrenches have the thin walls that you have to have in tight places. At home, (or hobby stuff, I guess it could also be called), got a lot of Craftsman wreches that come up on sale. In my opinion, they're fine for this application. What's the problem?

Garrett Fulton

Reply to
Garrett Fulton

On Wed, 15 Sep 2004 08:47:27 -0400, "Garrett Fulton" calmly ranted:

I started my professional career as an auto mechanic in 1974. By late in the decade, Craftsman had started turning into Crapsman. In the early 80's, nearly every tool I bought from Crapsman was faulty and I ended up at the Searz tool counter DAILY, with bandaged hands, with one broken tool or another. I then started buying MAC, Snap-On, Cornwall, and even HF tools. Cheap Chiwanese junk was better than Crapsman at the time. I literally lost a pound of flesh to those damned tools. Add a gallon of blood to the ticket and it was a costly mistake for me to have continued using the damned things as long as I did. Oh, I didn't mention that the counter people gave me crap about some of the tools, too. I had to escalate to Tool or Store managers about 1/4 of the time. Several of them tried to give me non-Crapsman tools in trade, so when they broke (as they always did) I wouldn't be able to ask for a replacement. Feh!

Anyway, I vowed "Never Again!".

But... Just 2 weeks ago my old 1/4" spinner handle split in half. It was in an early Craftsman 1/4" drive set. I grudgingly went to the local Searz counter and asked for a replacement. "OK, but we don't stock them. We'll call it in and they will mail the replacement to you." I agreed and left.

The next week brought a package to my door. When I opened it, I found a nice little Crapsman 1/4" drive ratchet, not a 1/4" drive screwdriver handle with a 1/4" female socket in the end, the main feature which made it an indispensable tool to me.

I called down to the local Searz store and told the girl the problem. She asked me to bring it in, so I did. Well, Searz doesn't make this particular handle any more. I asked for a refund of the ratchet's cost so I could purchase what I needed at competitor's store since several other companies still make them. They wouldn't go for that. So now I'm awaiting a response from Searz Corporate.

Is it any -wonder- I don't like Searz or Crapsman tools any more?

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- Nice perfume. Must you marinate in it? -

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Reply to
Larry Jaques

Yeah. You've had a run of bad luck with Craftsman and I can't say as I blame you. It's just not been my experience, though. The only Craftsman wrenches I've ever broken were ones I'd ground the ring down on a box-end to fit somewhere on a tight area on a turbine engine. Long time ago and I started with the MAC and Snap-On after that. Thinner.

Garrett

Reply to
Garrett Fulton

I was always a Craftsman fan until the last 10 years or so. I've broken more ratchet gears than I care to remember. I've had plating peel up on at least a dozen wrenches and form a razor sharp edge. Neve broke a box end wrench but I have some that are so thick that they will not fit in tight places. I have always perfered a ratchet with a lever to reverse rather a knob that takes two hands. No new Craftsman tool for me now, I buy from local hardware store and do better

Reply to
GMasterman

Slow learner, are you? ;-)

Do you get the Japanese brand "Kamasa" in the US? Over here, it's about the best buy one can get for home use: Kamasa tools are very good, and inexpensive. (Not cheap; there are no good cheap tools.)

Of course, there are times when "very good" isn't enough. I once bent a Kamasa socket wrench shaft (and bled some in the process) trying to loosen a recalcitrant nut in a difficult place. Got so angry, I walked straight to the nearest real tool merchant, slammed the damn thing down on the counter, and said "I want something that doesn't do that". He sold me a German (West German, back then) shaft made by Stahlwille, and explained that if I ever (no time limit) managed to damage it, I could take it to any Stahlwille retailer, anywhere, with no receipt, and I'd get it replaced, absolutely no questions asked.

I still have it, of course. Good as new, 20 years later. :-)

-tih

Reply to
Tom Ivar Helbekkmo

I bought my first Snap-on's in April, 1940. Got the long 1/2" drive ratchet, set of 15 scokets, and 2 extensions--total price $15 @ 50 cents down and 50 cents a week Added to it over the years, but still have and use the original.

Reply to
E. Walter Le Roy

I'll bet that in those days, that was a damm good start for a toolbox. Now look where we are.. inch, metric, deep, high impact, torx, hex, a bunch of

1/4" drive stuff, etc, etc...

Reply to
Jim Stewart

On Wed, 15 Sep 2004 18:41:04 +0200, Tom Ivar Helbekkmo calmly ranted:

I guess so. :( Actually, most of those trips back were to replace the same tools over and over: ratchets in all drive sizes, ratchet repair kits (once they got the gist of it),

6 and 12pt sockets in all drives, a few combo wrenches.

No, never heard of it. I have some very old eastern Indian wrenches which had held up better than the Crapsmans.

That's where my Snap-On purchases happened. I'm too much of a tightwad otherwise.

Yeah, well, that's what SEARZ said, too. Fat luck that brought me. A warranty is good only as long as it isn't needed. I think I'd be willing to trust the German toolmaker more. Sad, isn't it?

As tools _should_ be.

Reply to
Larry Jaques

I'm about to have the same problem. All my hand tools got ripped and have the check from the ins. co. I've been slowly collecting old tools at the swap meet. Got to get back to that free surface grinder. Its been so bad that I had to beg for tools so I didn't have to use channel locks on my lathe. I'll probably go through MSC for the general ones and Snap-on for the type of work that can't break at the far off job. Chrome is no big deal to me , it's getting enough so I do have one when I look for it. Plus grinding all the correct ones right again.

I can't remember ever buying a craftsman tool , but have destroyed a number of them. I looked for one once while exchanging little stuff and they didn't even have that size...

There have been many threads on this subject. I don't know of anything between cm and what you would get from a tool truck , yet.

Reply to
Sunworshipper

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