Heads up if you have large nuts to turn

If you feel comfortable using a large import wrench that is great. I use 1-5/8", 2" and 3-1/2" on a daily basis and give me the good name wrenches like Williams, Matco, Mac and Proto. When I throw my 250lbs into that wrench, I want to know the wrench won't fail. I've bought those wrenches on ebay for $7-$50. That's cheap for a good wrench that I can trust.

Les

Nice heads up.

I recall buying a set of combinations wrenches from Harbor Freight a couple years ago, 1-1/2" to 2", for a grand total of only $30 (made in, where else, China). In appearance they rival the old Craftsman wrenches I've owned for about 40 years, but I didn't have anything large, so they fit right in. Like you, I figure at the price I can afford to sit on them endlessly, and have used one of them since the purchase, so I'm very pleased I bought them. They appear to be well heat treated, and properly sized to fit heads well. If it wasn't for some kind of bargain price on large wrenches, not many of us could justify owning them.

Harold

But if you need one once a year or so then these seem to be a good deal. I will go and check them out.

You forgot to toss in Snap-on. Who amongst us wouldn't like to own a compete set of their combination wrenches? I know if I used my wrenches on a daily basis, I sure as hell would.

Jim's point wasn't lost on me, though. For many of us, we don't use them daily, and may not use them at all. Can't speak for you, but I don't think I want to invest even $7 on a wrench that may never see the light of day once it gets placed in my rollaway, not when I can do the same thing for far less money, so the money I have left can go for a few more desired items. Not all of us have bottomless wallets. Paying the low price for the wrenches, that may just bail your ass out of a jam if you happen to need them, to me, makes a lot more sense. I know I have no regrets having bought the large set I spoke of. For the money, it's a far better buy than even Snap-on. So far they have done anything asked of them, which, for the most part, is to sit unused in the rollaway. How much quality do you need to do that?

Harold

Maybe you want to actually try them before you let them sitting in a drawer long enough for the warranty to expire. I have seen cheap large combo wrenches snap or (more often) deform when used. Apparently some of them appear to be built with an alliage between cardboard and chewing gum.

Please not that not all of the cheap wrenches are built so, some are o.k. Hence the advise to actually TRY them.

jerry snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com (jerry_tig2003) spluttered in news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com:

Oye~

I don't think I'd ever lean on a $3 1 3/8 wrench.

But thanks for the tip Maldeeb.

yes, but the 18 inch crescent wrech(adjustable open end wrench) i have will suffice for all those pot metal benders.. thanks anyway....

My set of Craftsman goes to 1 inch then "Made in China" to 1 ½.. I needed a 2 ½ inch combo to remove a ball joints on a buddy's car. It was Sunday so we couldn't buy one. So we made one with the trusty welder.

Used a 2 foot long piece of 1x1 inch box as the handle then welded two ½ x ½ x 2 inch long sq. stock pieces to the end. The strips were placed perpendicular to the "handle", one at the end and one 2 ½ inch from the end.

Kind'a cheesy but worked great for the one time use. And I charged my buddy an extra 6 pack to make the wrench. ;-)

Humanfuse

gee, tools from walmart made by the ta-i-wan corp. My first question is what size bolt will the 1-3/8 wrench fit:) and is that different than the bolt the 1-1/2 will fit. Al

I don't know about Wal Mart but Harbor Freight has a "Lifetime Warranty" on all hand tools. Exchange is done at any of their stores.

Too bad they don't have any 1 1/4. I could used a couple for removing/replacing gas regulators.

If I need a large wrench, I would gladly spend $25 at Sears to get the quality. I will NEVER try to cut corners and save a few bucks, because my experience and also observation is that cheap tools will invariably BREAK or otherwise not function properly.

One simple question - how much does it cost to ship a wrench all the way from China and market it ? And after all of that is taken out of your $3, how much of that $3 went toward manufacture ? If it is chrome-vanadium steel, the material would cost about 25 to 50 cents. And you still need a little margin for the retailers markup. After freight costs, material, energy, tooling, marketing and retailers markup - damn - you can do all that with $3 ??? Really ???

The Chinese are dumping tools on us below cost and it is very obvious. They do not even understand that this is considered a trade infraction, and it may well be intended as a move to destroy western manufacturing capabilities.

Take your Chinese crap and shove it.

Made by slave labor and prison inmates - In China. Hah !!

I posted a comment about a vise I saw in Menards about 3 years ago. It was marked somehow so that it was recognizable. I saw the exact same vise sitting there almost 3 years later, and last week I checked and that same vise is STILL sitting on the shelf collecting dust. No-one is buying these things. Most people are not that stupid. Chinese vises will shatter like glass when struck with a hammer.

I am amazed that they can retail new machine tools like lathes and milling machines for about $1/pound, including shipping from China. But how do you know that this is below their costs?

It's an exchange rate thing. You can take $10,000 to China and live like a king. You just can't take 'ol Glory with ya.

-Stan

Well said Critter. A lifetime warranty on a cheap wrench does me no good if it breaks in use and I fall and break my neck. I also hate putting a good wrench on a fastener that has been buggered up by someone else using an ill-fitting cheap tool on it previously. And using a cheater bar on a cheap wrench? No way.

Les

On Tue, 30 Dec 2003 04:00:13 GMT, "Critter" brought forth from the murky depths:

-snip-

Yeah, you'd much rather have Chinese/Indian stuff from Searz, huh? "Made by street urchins instead of inmates" is better. :-/

- Yea, though I walk through the valley of Minwax, I shall stain no Cherry.

I could live like a king here in the good ole' US for ten grand.....just not for very long.. ;-)

Jeremy '

A large part of the dollars valuation against any other currency is based on what types and level of quality of product that we bring to the world market.

At the rate we are going, you'd better buy all the Chinese wrenches you can now because before too long you wont be able to afford even the Chinese stuff.