At the risk of starting a brouhaha, why would one pay the price for
Snap-on tools? Granted they are very well made, beautifully plated, etc.
But at 5 to 10 times the cost of other quality tools. This came to mind
after I bought a 3/4" combo wrench from a $0.25 box and looked up the
price after I returned home -$40-.
Stay calm.
Chuck P.
I know some devout Americans who talk about this, that, and the
other things that are supposed to be good for our country. But
when they go to the store, it's "ME FIRST!". You are so selfish
and greedy that saving a few pennies is all that matters. You
don't care that you're supporting Communist Chinese slave labor
and putting your fellow Americans out of work. All because our
leaders told you it's okay. They tell you that those Communist
Chinese dictators are good people, and you believe it because it
helps you feel better when supporting Communist Chinese slave
labor and putting your fellow countrymen out of work because you
have to save a few pennies when you go to the store. That goes for
misled/ignorant/greedy people in other democracies too. It might
also apply more to women than men. But the ruling class, our
government, or the one-way media would never let us know whether
feminism is the root problem. For some strange reason, the one-way
media never publishes poll results by gender.
And someday, when our government stomps on your face, it will say
"It's your fault, you could have chose to not support Communist
Chinese slave labor and put your fellow countrymen out of work,
but you are just a greedy bitch".
I hear you. A good number of the mechanics I see with roll-ons, etc have
them filled with craftsman -- which I never thought were all that cheap,
either. But certainly a fraction of Snap-on.
Snap-on is one of those companies that echo'd PT Barnum long long ago, and
which other companies are now starting properly grok, in The New Marketing,
or as I like to say, The Modern MindFuck.
Take an old product -- a wrench, a vacuum cleaner, vit C, or now plain ole
Niacin (vit B3) -- and put any goddamm spin on it you want, and you can
charge up to 100 TIMES the "commodity price".
Except now you call it Snap-on, Dyson Wind Technology, Anti-oxidant Ester C,
and most recently, Niaspan .
Yup, Abbott labs is taking plain ole goddamm time-release niacin, and making
it an Rx item at **100 x the per gram price**, and claiming all kinds of
shit that had Puritan Pride made those same claims for the ole vitamin,
they would be in court with the FTC and FDA for the next 10 years.
Marketers actually have a name for this type of marketing/ripoff, which
slips my mind -- sumpn like hyper-marketing or sumpn -- and boyoboy, are
they goddamm proud of it.
As proud as Starbucks, charging $5 for a 50c cup of middling coffee --
another one of the oh-riginals in this mega mindfuck marketing scheme/scam.
Except price gouging by a factor of 10 is just the beginning.
But Snap-on was one of the pioneers, who in the process did provide a little
grease/kiss behind the ear quality-wise, but just a little, to noblely
skilled mechanics, but who were/are obviously not economically savvy.
This mindfuck marketing is actually counted upon to deliver "economic
growth" -- I kid you not. With ZERO added value.
Don't bend over for the soap, at least not while yer credit card is out.
And don't buy from sites that refuse to post phone numbers. Support
Consumer Reports.
No brouhaha here, I never did pay the price. I could get Williams and
S-K off the peg. Now about the only US manufacturer left in retail is
Sears that's available locally. Not sure how getting Ace to retail
Craftsman is going to help Sears, though.
I think the attraction of Snap-On is that they were doing mechanic's
sets on time and they had those handy trucks that went to the shops
instead of the guys having to find their own tool sources. Most of
the tool distributors in the area closed at 5 and didn't have Saturday
hours, so employed mechanics didn't have a chance at any other makes
anyway. It was Sears, Snap-On or maybe MAC in some areas.
Stan
When I graduated from high school and started my apprenticeship in
1969 I didn't have much money. I bought a full set of Craftsman tools.
A classmate bought a full set of Snappies.
Before finishing our apprenticeship, over half of his "snap-off" tools
had been replaced under warranty. It was 5 years before I had my first
craftsman tool replaced.
42 years later I still have most of my originals.
Part of it is their service. They come to your place of work and
replace any problem children, but most things just don't break.
I originally got that same peace of mind from Searz until the late
'70s, when they totally went to shit and I had to make broken Crapsman
tool runs to Searz twice a week with bandaged frackin' hands. I no
longer shop there at all, for over 30 years now. Effem.
But Snap-On and Festool are just too pricy for my tastes.
--
The great thing about getting older is that
you don't lose all the other ages you've been.
-- Madeleine L'Engle
No brouhaha here, I never did pay the price. I could get Williams and
S-K off the peg.
===============================================
My fav loose tools are the few SK combo wrenches I have -- almost artful in
their contours, the plating seems like it's .060 thick....
I have seen a lot of hand tools, an of all, I like Snap-On and
Williams (which is also owned by Snap-on) the best.
They are not only high quality, but always the most pleasant to handle
on a daily basis.
Of course, I never buy new. "what are those metal things in the
bucket, do you know? I can take them for $10".
i
I buy snap on from the truck sometimes and pay full price - why? 1 -
they have the tool I need. 2. see 1 - they don't order it, they have
it. 3. they stand behind the tool. 4. the tool works. 5. see 4 - you
only have to destroy one bolt or one allen cap screw to understand why
you want the better tool. 6. I believe in buying quality and I don't
like to have to do something twice.
Notice that there is no anti-chinese rant in the above, no complaining
about the price, etc. Cheap tools have their place, so do good tools.
It helps to know the difference.
I've done some pretty hefty torquing with the Pittsburgh set from HF
while changing leaf spring bushings on my then 20 year old F-150.
The 22 piece sets cost less than a single combo wrench from Snap-On.
I'm satisfied with the lifetime-guaranteed Pittsburgh stuff.
1/4-7/8" and 6-19mm for $23.
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Plus, the highly polished chrome of Snap-On is hard as hell to work
with under greasy or oily conditions. Slippery as hell.
--
The great thing about getting older is that
you don't lose all the other ages you've been.
-- Madeleine L'Engle
They are great for aircraft, a similar one was Dixie. Minimalistic
which is good for awkward and tight places. I like the old ones like
Armstrong, Billings, Williums, ect. and don't have a set of anything,
its so bad that I have to find every last T bolt or clamp to do a
project. I was just commenting to someone using a machine that if I
was one tool short I wouldn't be able to clamp his work down. People
give me tools they can tell that they want to be together. Just take
it easy on the cheap ones, plus those can be modified. Kinda hard
hacking up a Snap on.
Is there a way to mail in a broken Snap on? I tryed once and gave up.
I've got a 1/4 ratchet that slips.
Metal things, got to remember that one.
SW
blah blah blah snipped
I laugh out loud at clowns like this. If they would have to strip nekkid
and examine where every piece of their clothing was made, they would violate
their own sacred rules. Then, let's go to their car. Oh, it's American
made, but with a lot of parts that weren't. And then there's the cheapie
butane lighters, doodad mirror hangers, pens, and all that junk inside the
car. Then let's move on to their house. Filled again with non-American
goods.
Now beat it, you troll.
Steve
They are great for aircraft, a similar one was Dixie.
(snippage)
SW
The absolute best wrenches ever made for airline work were Bonney. Sadly
out of business, and if you can find used ones, they're high.
Garrett Fulton
So, what is it that makes so good for aircraft?
They made some combination wrenches with very thin walls on the box end.
There's lot's of tight clearance locations on Boeings. Never had a wall
crack on them. Their hydraulic line wrenches would never spread open no
matter what torque you put on them. I guess it's a subjective thing, but I
always believed them to be the best for aircraft work.
Garrett Fulton
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