which brand tools?

[grantlacey11]

all you need to know is that craftsman is a lifetime warranty.

[recall]

Craftsman still makes/rebrands some good tools, but they are getting tougher to come by. For example, their Cobra pliers are rebranded Knipex, which are supposedly excellent (all Knipex pliers, for that matter). The professional line is generally good, but for the price you can sometimes find other interesting stuff.

For USA made tools, Wright, Williams (Snap-On), Armstrong, (owned by Danaher now, which makes Craftsman/Kobalt), and some Bahco (Snap-On) all have good reputation. Proto if you can find it, but that seems to be on the way out. S&K was once good, but their quality is apparently slipping and there have been some warranty issues (with employees going on strike). MAC/Matco are less common for the DIY wrencher. If you're in an area like me, finding anything beyond Craftsman/Kobalt/Husky and Harbor Freight is pretty much impossible outside of the truck brands, and good luck getting them to come around for an occasional sale.

For Asian stuff, Toptul is starting to gain some momentum, and Gearwrench makes quality. Even Stanley is pretty good at the price point they sell for. A lot of the old American brands are now made in Taiwan (Crescent, Irwin), but still make some good tools.

PB Swiss, Wiha, and Wera all make good screwdrivers and you can usually pick up some great deals on Amazon.

There's a cool tool subforum on http://www.garagejournal.com.

[gasgasrider]

More years ago than I care to remember the Snap On guy justified the higher price with the fact that when you're in the middle of an important job his tools won't break. I've got a 12" long half inch drive ratchet handle I've been literally using as a light duty hammer for 20 years. Still works great too. And today you can always pick up used stuff from ebay, craigslist and even the pawnshop. Then break it, if you can, and get a new replacement...

[der affe]

well, when you nut swingers that do not turn wrenches for a living, unhitch yourselves from SNAP-ON (not including you Luke) you will see that they are OVERPRICED and have been loosing quality for the last 5+ years. they no longer warrenty "no questions asked" (neither does CRAPSMAN either though). just try to warrrenty a "chrome non impact socket" with anyone. when they see the hammer marks at the tool end, you are SOL.

if you are looking into tool truck stuff, look for MATCO or MAC.

to put it into perspective, lets say SNAP-ON is 100% the best & 100% most expensive.

MATCO & MAC are 95% the best for 50% of the money.

while SNAP-ON has been slipping for years, no longer being 100% USA made tools (don't believe the HYPE) MATCO & MAC have brought their quality on MOST of their stuff up to almost the same level, not resting on their name and closing the gap.

i prefer mostly MATCO, i have MAC torque sockets which will still remove a 80% rounded nut or bolt, a few Snap-on tools that i can only get from them or blue point, 1 MAC tool cart, 2 Snap-on boxes, 1 Matco cart, a Matco welder (got it as a smoking deal used, it is actually made by Century), Knipex pliers, and an assortment of other brands. i have also been turning wrenches for 20+ years now. when i buy another box i will buy a MATCO, not a SNAP-ON and get 2 times the box for 1/2 the money.

90% of your air tools are made in China now and rebranded. there is only a 1 year warrenty on air tools, keep that in mind when pricing things out. you need a name brand impact (1/2-3/8), but for the home shade tree mechanic, most of the HF stuff will get you by. if HF still has IR tools, they are rebuilt, but a good valve for the $.

[mrsleeve]

S-K

http://www.sjdiscounttools.com/sk94549.html

I would normally agree with this, BUT SK is bankrupt, and one of their pants is shut down and now want 5 bucks to warranty a tool.

Sad too cuz I love SK and have been buying lots of their stuff in the last few years.

[Teaguer]

Craftsman sockets, ratchets and wrentches.
There's a sears in every town! / thread

[325ix]

I really like craftsman. Pretty good quality, good price and a lifetime warranty.

[4bangerfury]

My craftsman set has always gotten me out of trouble for a weekend/oh-shit-my-car-just-broke mechanic. I'd like to start upgrading to matco or even stahlwille(picked up a few things from them such as triple square sockets and other random sockets for those oddball fasteners in weird places only one tool can get to that german engineers like to use on their cars.)

[E-Thirty]

well, when you nut swingers that do not turn wrenches for a living, unhitch yourselves from SNAP-ON (not including you Luke) you will see that they are OVERPRICED and have been loosing quality for the last 5+ years. they no longer warrenty "no questions asked" (neither does CRAPSMAN either though). just try to warrrenty a "chrome non impact socket" with anyone. when they see the hammer marks at the tool end, you are SOL.

if you are looking into tool truck stuff, look for MATCO or MAC.

to put it into perspective, lets say SNAP-ON is 100% the best & 100% most expensive.

MATCO & MAC are 95% the best for 50% of the money.

while SNAP-ON has been slipping for years, no longer being 100% USA made tools (don't believe the HYPE) MATCO & MAC have brought their quality on MOST of their stuff up to almost the same level, not resting on their name and closing the gap.

i prefer mostly MATCO, i have MAC torque sockets which will still remove a 80% rounded nut or bolt, a few Snap-on tools that i can only get from them or blue point, 1 MAC tool cart, 2 Snap-on boxes, 1 Matco cart, a Matco welder (got it as a smoking deal used, it is actually made by Century), Knipex pliers, and an assortment of other brands. i have also been turning wrenches for 20+ years now. when i buy another box i will buy a MATCO, not a SNAP-ON and get 2 times the box for 1/2 the money.

90% of your air tools are made in China now and rebranded. there is only a 1 year warrenty on air tools, keep that in mind when pricing things out. you need a name brand impact (1/2-3/8), but for the home shade tree mechanic, most of the HF stuff will get you by. if HF still has IR tools, they are rebuilt, but a good valve for the $.

+1 Got a Matco box mixed with mostly Matco and some Crafstmen tools. I came into the game pretty late(4 years ago) and even professionally I couldn't justify the price of Snap-On when Matco can almost match their quality with much better prices.

[DÌEGØ]

Yesss matcotools!

[5Toes]

I would normally agree with this, BUT SK is bankrupt, and one of their pants is shut down and now want 5 bucks to warranty a tool.

Sad too cuz I love SK and have been buying lots of their stuff in the last few years.

Im buying my first set of tools soon.

Im thinking Bondhus T-Handle Hex Drivers
Wiha Screwdrivers and Nutdrivers - These screwdrivers - http://chadstoolbox.com/wiha30298sof...setslotph.aspx

And S-K ratchet, like the one listed.
Oh and just crappy Craftsmen box wrenches.
I priced it all at like $330
What do you say?

[b*saint]

So much Snapon stuff went to china and sold under its bluepoint name now. I paid up my Snapon bill and Im pretty much done buying there stuff unless I can't find a certain type of tool anywhere but snapon. Im sick of paying $120 for a ratchet. Mac tools is the way to go if you use your tools everyday and you want to pay $120 for a ratchet.

[der affe]

Im buying my first set of tools soon.

Im thinking Bondhus T-Handle Hex Drivers
Wiha Screwdrivers and Nutdrivers - These screwdrivers - http://chadstoolbox.com/wiha30298sof...setslotph.aspx

And S-K ratchet, like the one listed.
Oh and just crappy Craftsmen box wrenches.
I priced it all at like $330
What do you say?

don't buy the regular craftsman wrenches the lengths are too short for most work with the smaller sizes and the raised sections in the middle of the wrenches hurt the palm of your hand with a lot of use.

the pro line are better, but if you can swing it, spend the money on a MATCO or MAC set of wrenches.
they are designed for working on cars, not general uses. that means the heads are thinner and the lengths are longer for getting into tight spaces.

[James Crivellone]

most of the stuff I've been buying lately are Craftsman Professional, some regular Craftsman stuff, Snap-on, and Klein

[erik325i]

Craftsman. Lifetime warranty. Done.

Craftsman is fine for some stuff, but not not everything. I won't touch a Crapsman ratchet.
For the average garage wrencher, Craftsman sockets, pliers, and screwdrivers will work. Get a good quality wratchet. I like my Matco 3/8" drive ratchet. 11" handle, low profile head, and 60 tooth gears (they now make 88 tooth ones).

I have a lot of Mac tools. They are great quality while being cheaper than Snap-on.

For the home mechanic, the Craftsman warranty is great though since you won't have the luxury of the tool trucks coming by every week to warranty things for you. Whenever I need to cut/bend/weld/grind a tool, I try to do do it to one of my spare Craftsman wrenches, that way I can go warranty it later if I want to.