[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Favorite hand tool brand? (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 6/18/2012 2:59:10 PM EDT
| Which do you prefer? And why? |
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Williams (industrial Snap-On), Wright, and Proto. In approximately that order.
ETA: That is for ratchets, sockets, and combo wrenches. Felo, Wera, and Wiha for screwdrivers. Knipex for pliers. Ridgid for pipe wrenches. Channel-lock for channel-locks and adjustable wrenches. |
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Mechanics tools ? I'd go SnapOn , but Mac,Matco or most any other AMERICAN made brand will work for most. I wouldnt buy Craftsman for anything anymore .
SnapOn's sockets and wrenches are by far the best quality . They'll twist a nut loose after it's been rounded off by a slightly worn out Craftsman , and that aint no exaggeration. Channelock or Klein for plier-type tools , and look for the slightly older ViseGrips that are US made , the new ones are chi-com-crap . Wiha for screwdrivers and hex wrenches . Wiha's allen wrenches are light years ahead of ANY others Nicholson files Cleveland taps and dies and twist drills . Starrett and/or Brown&Sharpe for precision measuring , with a close second place for Mitutoyo , and Metabo for right angle grinders . A Craftsman lunchbox set of tools is fine for the homeowner working on his 5 year old mini-van , but when your job entails wrenching and measuring for a living , invest in the best and only cry once . Dont be fooled by wiz-bang gimmicks and promises of lifetime warranties as you will only be spending a lifetime running back and forth to the store to get a new one , and that warranty wont help you fix the 'impossible-to-reach' bolt that the POS Kobalt rounded off . Avoid Harbor Freight like a herp-sored-whore unless your sure the failed tool wont matter down the road 
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Whatever is on sale at Menards.  you can buy the shitty menards wrenches from me, none of them are the size they are supposed to be..... its what I get for being poor, now I buy a craftsman wrench or two when I can. fuck shitty made in china tools. I think Craftsman is/is going made in China for a lot of their tools. Menards Toolshop brand is "cheap". Their "Masterforce" line or whatever it is called( some says made in china too), looks like it is made by the same company that made Craftsman when it was still made in the USA. |
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Uh, no love for Mac and WTF is Teng? 
Anyway, all of my stuff is Craftsman, because it used to be good value for the money, US made and lifetime warranty, but we all know what happened to that.   Yep.
I've had good luck with kobalt as of late though, so they are now my new go to brand for hand tools. |
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Poll failure. I gotta agree, I have different tools from different makers. I mean we can all agree that Snap-On, Matco, old US made Craftsman are some of the best tools, but not all of us can afford, find, and require such tools. I just got a set of J.H. Williams* (Snap On Industrial) screw drivers... Nice fricken' drivers, made in the US. I bought a Kobal philips head the other day and wasn't impressed, already dulled on some edges just changing indoor locks 
I don't think one brand makes every product the best... I mean Snap-On sells a flashlight, do we think it's better than Surefire, etc? Unlikely. *though you gotta pay attention, some of their stuff is made in China, their socket set is made in China and gets some fairly dismal reviews. |
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A Craftsman lunchbox set of tools is fine for the homeowner working on his 5 year old mini-van[/img] For a little while, so I kind of disagree... Start early, buy one nice, quality tool each time you can afford it and after a while you'll have a nice set of good quality tools that will last and won't be jacked up when you really need them. I mean the average person doesn't need a mechanics set of tools, you just need the basic stuff and I'd rather buy quality slowly than be stuck with a set of semi okay tools. I'm talking screw drivers and ratchets. BTW: I hate you for posting that list of mfg's 
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A Craftsman lunchbox set of tools is fine for the homeowner working on his 5 year old mini-van[/url] For a little while, so I kind of disagree... Start early, buy one nice, quality tool each time you can afford it and after a while you'll have a nice set of good quality tools that will last and won't be jacked up when you really need them. I mean the average person doesn't need a mechanics set of tools, you just need the basic stuff and I'd rather buy quality slowly than be stuck with a set of semi okay tools. I'm talking screw drivers and ratchets. BTW: I hate you for posting that list of mfg's
I started putting together my collection of tools when I was in high school, and just kept adding to it as the years went by. It wasn't until I moved out on my own that I started acquiring the more esoteric stuff. My theory is you get good basics - wrenches, screwdrivers, etc. and when a project calls for it, the esoteric, but buy decent quality. Eventually, you'll have a nice collection of quality tools. |
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Used to be Craftsman until I got a whiff of my toolbox...  Sorry––shitter was full. 
I prefer whatever is cheap at the pawn shops, garage sales, ebay, craigslist, etc. I'm cheap, but I have a good supply of every tool known to man.  If one wants to buy quality American made tools, then buying used is a good way to go. Pawnshopping and hitting the garage/yard sales can save alot of money. |
| I have a ton of craftsman tools and I still buy them here and there, but I buy a lot of Kobalt hand tools from Lowe's. They have a life time warranty and I can find a Lowe's in just about any major city I go to. I do however like the Husky allen wrenches from Home Depot better and when you warranty one they give you a whole new set. |
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Quoted: so why do you buy crapsman then? they have been making more and more of their tools in china for a while now. Their wrenches are the only think that they make thats not total crap and why buy craftsman when you could be buying gear wrenches?Quoted: Whatever is on sale at Menards. you can buy the shitty menards wrenches from me, none of them are the size they are supposed to be..... its what I get for being poor, now I buy a craftsman wrench or two when I can. fuck shitty made in china tools. |
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Quoted: Quoted: so why do you buy crapsman then? they have been making more and more of their tools in china for a while now. Their wrenches are the only think that they make thats not total crap and why buy craftsman when you could be buying gear wrenches?Quoted: Whatever is on sale at Menards. you can buy the shitty menards wrenches from me, none of them are the size they are supposed to be..... its what I get for being poor, now I buy a craftsman wrench or two when I can. fuck shitty made in china tools. I like the traditional wrench style and cant afford snapon. also the fact that I can walk in to any sears and get it replaced is nice. I have had to do that with an allen wrench once. |
