Posted: 7/27/2012 4:56:30 PM EDT
| Tired of cheap tools. If you were to start all over what would you buy? Mainly for working on cars. |
| just for busy work on the weekend;you can't go wrong with CRAFTSMAN. Now if you want this to be the last set of tools you will ever own I like Snap On. The chrome is much better on the "Professional" than on the Sears. I haven't owned MAC in over 10 years, but they were cheaper $$ wise than SNAP ON. I'll tell you snap on tools will outlast and outshine anyone else. My brother left my wrenches outside in the driveway for 3 weeks while his mower was down and it looked as good as the day I bought it. Sears on the otherhand started to tarnish and rust. |
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Tired of cheap tools. If you were to start all over what would you buy? Mainly for working on cars. Working on cars for a living, or working on cars as like a side business for a few extra bucks here and there or to help your friends/family out, or as a hobby? For the guy tinkering with his stuff at home every now and then, you can't really go wrong with one of those sets of various sockets, wrenches, etc. sold by Sears, Home Depot, Lowes or the like. The professional/high grade tools, while nice, are a little overkill for this feller. For the guy who earns his living working on cars, that's a little different, and depending on just how serious this guy is on making a living, he might want to look into Snap-on, Matco, Mac, etc. When it comes to hand tools, they all do the same job, just some do it a little faster and easier. I own tools from damn near everyone, and some of them, I own multiples of. It all depends on what you're doing, what you're wanting to do, and how much are you willing to spend? |
I've been working on cars professionally for 10 years now. At work where my tools make me money, it's Snap-on and Matco, and Mac only. At home though, I use the big name companies "off brands" like Snap on's BluePoint, or Mac's new off brand Expert. They are still lifetime warranty but no where near as expensive as my work tools. I have only one set of Snap on tools at home and that's the Flank Drive wrenches. I'll never use any other wrench, worth every last penny. But as for everything else, I get what ever is cheap and has a warranty. 
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just for busy work on the weekend;you can't go wrong with CRAFTSMAN. Now if you want this to be the last set of tools you will ever own I like Snap On. The chrome is much better on the "Professional" than on the Sears. I haven't owned MAC in over 10 years, but they were cheaper $$ wise than SNAP ON. I'll tell you snap on tools will outlast and outshine anyone else. My brother left my wrenches outside in the driveway for 3 weeks while his mower was down and it looked as good as the day I bought it. Sears on the otherhand started to tarnish and rust. The older (20+ years) Craftsman stuff is decent, but anything made in the last 20 yrs is suspect. Their quality is nowhere near what it used to be. |
| Not sure if this is what you are after, but check out the Kobalt tools at Lowe's. The majority of the old stock is being clearanced out, and you can get very good deals right now. Plus, they have a lifetime warranty, and you can swap them out at Lowe's (similar to Craftsman tools and Sears). Best I can tell, they are all made in Taiwan, but still seem to be decent tools. They're 72 tooth 3/8" ratchet gets pretty good reviews on Garage Journal, and may be worth checking out. I picked up one of their 40pc 3/8" socket sets a couple of days ago for $24.97, and it includes standard and deep well SAE/metric sockets. |
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Not sure if this is what you are after, but check out the Kobalt tools at Lowe's. The majority of the old stock is being clearanced out, and you can get very good deals right now. Plus, they have a lifetime warranty, and you can swap them out at Lowe's (similar to Craftsman tools and Sears). Best I can tell, they are all made in Taiwan, but still seem to be decent tools. They're 72 tooth 3/8" ratchet gets pretty good reviews on Garage Journal, and may be worth checking out. I picked up one of their 40pc 3/8" socket sets a couple of days ago for $24.97, and it includes standard and deep well SAE/metric sockets. I used to be a Craftsman guy, but I really like the Kobalt line. |
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Not sure if this is what you are after, but check out the Kobalt tools at Lowe's. The majority of the old stock is being clearanced out, and you can get very good deals right now. Plus, they have a lifetime warranty, and you can swap them out at Lowe's (similar to Craftsman tools and Sears). Best I can tell, they are all made in Taiwan, but still seem to be decent tools. They're 72 tooth 3/8" ratchet gets pretty good reviews on Garage Journal, and may be worth checking out. I picked up one of their 40pc 3/8" socket sets a couple of days ago for $24.97, and it includes standard and deep well SAE/metric sockets. I used to be a Craftsman guy, but I really like the Kobalt line. I like SnapOn tools but I just can't justify the cost for working on my own stuff (not a professional mechanic any more). If I needed to buy some new sockets, I'd probably be buying the current line of socket sets from Kobalt. Craftsman doesn't make their own tools. They contract them out. That's why their socket sets can be really good....and then a few years later they can be really crappy. I'd recommend Kobalt as the best value for the money for a homeowner. |
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Yeah, Looks like I might go with kobalt or bluepoint.
Personally, I really see no reason to pay extra for Blue Point tools, especially considering they are also made in Taiwan. It would be one thing if you were paying extra for a USA tool, but in this case, you are not. Plus, warranty issues will be much easier to handle, as you can take them to any Lowe's in town. In fact, the sales lady informed me that if you register the tools through Kobalt, they will simply mail you replacements (no need to even go to town). |
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Not sure if this is what you are after, but check out the Kobalt tools at Lowe's. The majority of the old stock is being clearanced out, and you can get very good deals right now. Plus, they have a lifetime warranty, and you can swap them out at Lowe's (similar to Craftsman tools and Sears). Best I can tell, they are all made in Taiwan, but still seem to be decent tools. They're 72 tooth 3/8" ratchet gets pretty good reviews on Garage Journal, and may be worth checking out. I picked up one of their 40pc 3/8" socket sets a couple of days ago for $24.97, and it includes standard and deep well SAE/metric sockets. Some of their stuff used to be made in America, but over the past several years they've had more and more of it made in China and Taiwan. I have one of their American-made (Danaher) socket/ratchet sets that I keep in the back of the truck. It's so much better than the Craftsman stuff I've bought in the past 10 years, it's scary. I also have a couple sets of their contractor-grade screwdriver sets that were American-made, and bear a striking resemblance to Kleins. 
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| One decent line of sockets and wrenches they are priced a little more that Carftsman/Husky/Kobalt, but very close to SnapOn quality is Gray Pneumatic.Truthfully I like them better than Mac or Matco. Google them some online tool houses have very good price. I bought a lot of the sockets for my road box. The shop tools are all SnapOn. |
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Yeah, Looks like I might go with kobalt or bluepoint.
Personally, I really see no reason to pay extra for Blue Point tools, especially considering they are also made in Taiwan. It would be one thing if you were paying extra for a USA tool, but in this case, you are not. Plus, warranty issues will be much easier to handle, as you can take them to any Lowe's in town. In fact, the sales lady informed me that if you register the tools through Kobalt, they will simply mail you replacements (no need to even go to town). You make a very good point. If its between Blue Point and Kobalt I'd say Kobalt. I'll have to go check more of them out next time I'm at Lowes. |