Wrench set from Enco

Guys,

I need a set of wrenches. I don't want to spend too much but don't want crappy slippery wrenches ether. Does anyone tried "Enco" own brand wrenches? Are they any good?

Reply to
Alex
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Since almost everything with ENCO on it is near junk why would you think their wrenches to be different. Decent wrenches seem to be priced less then they were twenty years ago so what's the problem with buying Crescent, Stanley or one of the other low cost but name brand types? Sure they are made in China but at least they have some form of quality control. Leigh at MarMachine who prefers Proto wrenches bought at very steep discount from secondary sources and preferably not stolen.

Reply to
CATRUCKMAN

Reply to
joelblatt

I own S-K for my main workshop wrench set. They are backed up by a no-name import set. For metric wrenches, though, which I very rarely use but have to stock for the times I need them, I bought Harbor Freight's "Pittsburgh Professional" back when they were made in Taiwan. They have a full polish and seem to me to be very nice wrenches.

I am less of a tool snob than I used to be. When I was a kid, "Made in Japan" meant complete crap quality. Now it means very good quality. Any human can learn to make things well. China is dead serious about taking market share from everyone. Might as well learn to live with that.

GWE

Reply to
Grant Erwin

Wrenches made of inferior steel won't hold their sizes. I haven't used Enco wrenches, and don't intend to. Most of my hand tools were bought decades ago, and they're still better than many of the new products.

I dunno if they're still available, but Snap-On used to sell a very good economy-priced brand, named Par-X, and also industrial wrenches in black oxide. I have sets of inch and metric Par-X wrenches, which have held up very well. They're not highly polished (actually have some texture from forging), so they're not slippery, and they have comfortable, smooth, radiused edges in the grip area.

I believe the Par-X sets cost about the same, or slightly less than Craftsman, at the time.

I haven't used the Snap-On industrial black oxide tools, but they might be worthwhile to consider. Some advantages might be that they would be easily recognized as your own, and probably not as pretty/inviting to those that would steal tools.

Since I have nearly any hand tool that I might need, my present tool purchases are like some of the other comments regarding high quality old tools in good condition, from garage sale/flea market sources. Plomb, Bonney, Williams, S-K, Snap-On/Blue Point, Proto and some other brands are always worth some pocket money. A mirror finish is of very little interest to me. Triple chrome plating might be important to those that would leave their tools outdoors in a bucket.

WB metalwork> Guys,

Reply to
Wild Bill

I just want to second the comment about the pawn shops. Guys seem to hock their tools often. If you haven't shopped in a pawn shop at least once, you owe it to yourself to do it. I might be leary of power tools and electronics, but as the other poster said, you sure can get brand name hand tools there. AND!!!! they always have bunches of loose wrenches, sockets, etc. So, if you are looking to replace an individual wrench, etc, the pawn shop is one place to go.

Pete Stanaitis

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Alex wrote:

Reply to
spaco

No, they are junk.

I have both a 3/4" & a 1-1/8" that live on my Bridgeport so I don't have to go looking for a wrench to tighten/loosen a hold down or drawbar.

They are a loose fit both on the open & box ends, but have not broken in

5 years of use.

The box end is also not offset much but for a hold down it doesn't bother me, on a flat surface your knuckles would drag.

MikeB

Reply to
MiikeB

What about Harbor Freight wrenches. Has anyone had them fail under "normal" use? What about their lifetime warranty?

i
Reply to
Ignoramus30170

"Failing" is not the problem. "Fit" is the problem. I got a set of their comb wrenches, as a secondary set. The open ends are fine, but the box ends are a really sloppy fit. I'm about to cut those ends off so I don't accidentally use them.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Engelhardt

crappy slippery

The commercial snap-on tools don't come with the same warranty that the shiny ones do. I like the non chrome versions a lot better because they dont feel like an eel when you're working inside a big oily transmission on a big machine tool. I have an old set of craftsman from the sixties that I bought new, and a set of williams that I bought about the same time. Both are good sets. I have some snapon tools but the chrome costs too much so I only buy them when they are being sold alt yard sales or auctions cheap. I bought some Allen tools recently for a special job and they seemed pretty good. My basic feeling is a good used wrench is better than a new import.

John

Reply to
John

On Tue, 12 Dec 2006 22:37:42 +0000 (UTC), with neither quill nor qualm, Ignoramus30170 quickly quoth:

I picked up a nice set of those a month ago but haven't used them yet. I wanted a cheap set in case they become "missing" while I'm on a client site.

I should go out and crank down the leaf spring bolts on my F-150 sometime soon and see if they hold up to it without any dents in the

12-point walls.

--------------------------------------------------- I drive way too fast to worry about my cholesterol. ---------------------------------------------------

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Let us know. I have several HF wrench sets and so far they hold up fine, though I use them lightly (torque wise). I also have an interesting Armstrong long box wrench set from a garage sale. These, while perhaps better made and with more leverage, are not as convenient to use for simple tasks.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus30170

According to Wild Bill :

[ ... ]

Or to those who set the wrenches down outdoors in really sunny places like South Texas. Try to pick up a black wrench after a half hour in such conditions and you will suddenly see the benefit of the mirror finish. :-)

Enjoy, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

Full polish , wow , just what ya want in plain sight so you can prove you R a mecanic ....

I work , i dont impress , dont teach , dont talk ...

I want crome vanadium dog bone ( I beam) wrenches that fit my hand , dont slip out for grease .

None avail , anywhere on earth ......

For strength , they must be tapered , 12 pt , slight offset , no funny looking relief cut at corners . They come in various slight angle offsets and depths . Slugging types . ( i cut HF at about 5 inches on big and 4 inches on small wrenches , to use for slugging ) . It more convenient to put a pipe over end of a box end W thats short , than to wield a 15" HF combo W .

They're prob not strong , but HF open sockets are handy . I got 4 sets . Use the 3/4 and the 19mm to extend the grip ( sub as extensions ), which gives you 6 lengths to choose from ! I.E. If you need a 13mm , push it into a 3/4" and then push all that into the ratchet ...

BTW got Nikon S-4 digicam , TINY ! fits in small shirt pocket . has long lens and huge 2.5" LCD , uses all kinds of batteries and you can set the voltage inside , you could even make a wood block that looks like 2 AA's and a home made cable and theres a place for the cable to cleanly come out of the camera . Uses SD cards ,

The lens swivels from body , so if you dont like the way your finger shoots images , twist body and use thumb , or ,or , or . I found i could stabilize shooting better if i squeezed of shots by laying body down , look down at LCD and shot with first finger , or , or ...

Has panorama assist .

Has Digi-Voice-Recorder and additionally you can voice tag images . Recorder shuts off after 5 hours ... But theres no speaker connection , gotta use the built in ! You can switch : 1) icons or 2) text menus

$$$$$$$ 250 , but i got a free Epson photo-printer ..... I have Z-6 Minoltas , harder to use menus and draws a bit mo power from 4 AA's ( OTG works on Z-6 ) very hvy , bigger boat anchors , slightly faster lens 12 to 1 ZOOM wont work above 110 F , gotta open battery box and blow air in ... same 6 megPixel , very good images , has I.S. to nix blur . Its not getting better , buy a Digi-Cam now .

Oh yes , forgot ... My 77 JVC draws more power at 4 watts ,but its a videocam . It as 30GB HDD . It uses funky batteries that are a pain .

Thus i read the amps thru the ext power supply plug and it draws about same amps as a batt , so i'll just belt pack a HF 18VDC NiCad and buck the voltage down to 8VDC and run it in thru the wall wart port . it wont be expensive , $10 a HF batt . Overall , i guess the 30GB HDD draws less than the old tape drive videoCams . But i has a drop sensor , you program it and it will indicate if it got dropped . Its also exciting box , but expensive at $800 . It shoots hi quality stills and is

MUCH !! handier than the model "70" !!!!

for it has a 4 way out on the left side of LCD . that does lots of stuff . Also has 16:9 ( missing in 70 ) movie mode and it tranfers direct to DVD ,cause its MPG-2 !

I gotta get inside and slow down the ZOOM , its far too fast to make "pro" movies . I shoot a blimp at 4 miles in the sky and it came out perfect , You must use a mono-pod , but the shot came out PRO at extreme zoom . one JVC model has a ZOOM so big , you just gotta use it to believe me . its over double mine ! It will read the text at 100 yards . But it has stills only 1 megapixel , 77 , mine is > 2megpixel stills . You can blow up 2 megapixel to a 11 by 14 !! No Videocam will use anything but a HDD in future .

Grant Erw> I own S-K for my main workshop wrench set. They are backed up by a no-name

Reply to
werty

I coulndt agree more My primary sockets and wrenches are "Name brand offshore" Mastercraft and Craftsman. As are my Secondaries. I'm too young for there to have been less than Industrial grade North American made tools and many posters here have wrench sets older than me

IF i find myself asking too much of the offshores they will get replace by SK or Proto or Gray or similar but until i break them or until they cant hold a size i have no complaints.

I've had "Princess auto" import stuff last ONE twist before breaking. My Princess Auto breaker bar has been offered to a friend whose a warehouse manager as a "management tool" because of its dubious usefulness with fasteners =)

I've been gradually and slowly picking up govt and military surplus tools that usually are in good shape but dirty i got a Victor 100 torch without tips a solid file set and punches and a good lump of wrenches for $40 govt surplus just because they were dirty and disorganized dropped by my welding store and boom the torch has tips and quick connects and i'm off to the races

If you need ot buy new name brand offshore is a good bet. if you eat them alive then you can justify replacing the stuff you keep destroying with full out industrial tools. House brand importer slike HF Enco and princess auto have stuff thats usually of questionalbe quality but it DOES have its place For example i have a Phase II quick change holder for my lathe bought form Enco even if the toolpost is crap the toolholder attachments will move effectively to a "real" Aloris and the name brand holders alone will cost more than i paid for this setup. As a light Lathe user it meets my needs. (But homewoner grade and metal lathe are not two words used in tandem)

Pard> Alex wrote:

crappy slippery

Reply to
Brent

On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 03:39:56 +0000 (UTC), with neither quill nor qualm, Ignoramus30170 quickly quoth:

To save my old bod, I usually double up on wrenches when torquing my leaf spring bolts down. One combo on the bolt with another box wrench through the open end. It tests wrenches quite well. I have only one wrench with a single-jawed open end, and I think that was an Allied brand. I literally lost my pound of flesh and gallon of blood with Crapsman sockets and 1/2" drive ratchets in the late seventies. That's when I found that the cheapie Indian and Taiwanese stuff was as well or better made than Searz. (Though I have some older Craftsman tools which are still in use, I stopped purchasing them in the early

80s.)

It's raining like hell this week but maybe I can test 'em next week. Please remind me if I don't get back to you by next Weds.

-- Unfortunately, not only do scientists have an incentive to cry "crisis," so too do the environmental advocacy groups need crises. Without them, how could advocacy groups justify thier pleas for donations? Nearly every American gets bulk quantities of junk mail warning them of ozone depletion, topsoil erosion, resource depletion, diminishing biodiversity, and global warming. The money the advocacy groups collect is spent on lawyers, lobbying, propaganda, and the salaries and perquisites of the headquarers staffs. The media also have a strong incentive to report "crises"--they must sell newspapers and airtime after all. So there it is--an iron triangle of scientists pleading for research funds, interest groups who need crises to justify their existence, and a press that needs to sell papers. No wonder people are frightened. --Ronald Bailey in "EcoScam"

Reply to
Larry Jaques

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