Ok guys and gals, let’s have a nice little conversation about tool brands.

What is your favorite tool brands? List your 3 favorite! No this is not some marketing thing, just a way to converse amongst each other so we can get away from the typical topics here like “What torque specs are for the screw on the speaker grille?” or “How do I remove the steering wheel?” (You know, THAT guy that cannot search the topics for common answers).

Anyways, here are mine:

1) Snap-On
2) Mac Tools
3) Craftsman

Sometimes I go to Harbor Freight, but only if I can use those lovely coupons and free junk like the new LED lights (work better than original).

Matco is good, but I don’t have many Matco tools.

-Ed

Try a set of Stahlwille wrenches of any flavor, they feel so good in your hand. I've had all brands and have recently started acquiring them as I have been so impressed.

Shop around for pricing too as I can usually find them new for about 30-40% off of retail as opposed to Snap-On...

Believe me, I ain’t buying Snap-On brand new. Snap-On is still awesome if you own them, I do.

-Ed

Oh one more thing, how do you return Stahlwille tools? Ratchets look pretty good...


-Ed

I've always liked Snap-On sockets and Mac wrenches.

Most of my stuff was bought pre-marriage/family.

Anybody else here have a set of ancient Snap-On screw drivers with the magic, sweating, shrinking handles?

I just got rid of a set of sheet metal sockets that my father owned. Next to them he had Craftsman. Truth be told while I have some snap on, it depends on the job. My prediction is that harbor freight will emerge as reputable. My band saw is Taiwanese elephant brand, but I can make it work. Lately I have found myself slowed down because I know I have just the right tool for the job. In the old days the pliers in my hand would have been the right tool.

Yes, I've had many.
Brittle plastic hammer handles too.
If you do not have an operating shop it could be difficult to get warranty.
I purchased only SnapOn tools for twenty five years while working for others
and in my own business.
I'm retired now and find it is very 'hit or miss' to get warranty replacements.
Ask a local shop when the truck usually comes. Or ask for the name of the local dealer.
I love them but the cost is hard to justify for a hobbyest.
I'm glad I bought when I could write them off.

Craftsman is a great source for sockets and wrenches when working on a car that is not familiar.

Craftsman is like one of those brands that has sedimental value. Some of the new stuff is average, but the old stuff is pretty solid for the weekend guy.

I want one of those red Craftsman shirts I see the factory workers wear! They look solid

-Ed

Local Snap-on guy wouldn't exchange them, so I contacted the company directly. Sent me a brand new set of screwdrivers!

The local guy has to give you a tool off his truck that he paid for and then wait for reimbursement from the company. He does it for us since we buy thousands from him but there's no incentive to do it for a guy off the street. I bet when Rory was working in a shop, they were more responsive to him. The cost is a trade-off for a shop guy since they can get a tool right off the truck and pay over time. Our shop buys a lot of repo boxes from our Rep. He's already made his commission once so it's easy to wheel and deal for a good price.

The nice thing about Harbour Freight tools is the price lets you get what you need and then you can always upgrade the tools that are important to you. Sometimes the quality isn't as important as having a range with the right sizes to get the job done. I agree that the shop guys need the best to keep production moving.

My favorite tool is an ipad that I can place near my workspace and google almost any how to.

I got a set of Craftsman tools for Christmas when I was about 16 - I've added all kinds of brands to that set since, but I still love the feel of those original Craftsman tools - especially the ratchets and screw drivers. Craftsman definitely went south on quality after that, but it will be interesting to see what Lowes does with the brand. I picked up a Craftsman socket recently at Lowes in a pinch a couple of weeks ago, and the quality actually looks pretty good.

Me too. For me, the Craftsman lifetime warranty disappeared long ago because the few local stores carrying Craftsman either wouldn't do warranty exchanges, or would only exchange if it was a tool they carried in their meager selection - which they never did. Long gone are the days when I could take a worn out socket wrench to the local Sears and have them install a rebuild kit on the spot. So, a few years ago I needed to replace my worn out Craftsman socket set and purchased a large Kobalt set from Lowes with skepticism. I have been pleasantly surprised and impressed by Kobalt hand tools. Their quality is as good or better than the old Craftsman. Their air tools are a different story. Now that Kobalt is fading from Lowe's shelves and Craftsman is re-emerging, I hope the quality warrants the switch. I did buy a couple Craftsman screw drivers recently and they are high quality, but I had to buy the premium line.

Finally bought myself a decent set of screwdrivers.... WERA Brand, from Germany. I am sold for life and will never go back.

At those prices, you HAVE to keep them for life sheesh!

My screwdrivers get bent, burned, used in the yard as lawn darts, and forgotten in kitchen drawers. And for some reason the ratio of flat to phillips head can't ever stay equal. Until my kids and their friends stop being a drain on the tool economy, I can't justify the high quality tool costs. Wera does make some nice tools.

I know the local guy pretty well and I know the drill. Also bought his 2006 Giant Advanced several years ago, and he still wouldn't do it! Point was that the company does stand behind their tools, even ones bought in the seventies. Gonna go ride Kieth's old bike now, and I'd be real careful what I buy from Harbor Freight.

I'm not too hung up on brands-and as such can't pick 3-some personal favorites of mine are:
1) Wera screwdrivers
2) SK ratchets
3) Fluke multimeters (I know not a hand tool but...)
4) MAC hand tools in general
5) New Husky combination wrenches; these things are great!

That said, a buddy has a Harbor Freight ratchet set in his truck for on the go stuff and I used it the other day. Totally impressed by the apparent ratchet quality (for cost). I'd say maybe 80% feel of the Snap On one I was using at the same time and significantly better than any Craftsman in the last 10+ years.

Just bought a cheap ass used (like new) larger roll around and top box by Husky because the price suited my broke ass cheapness.
What a difference between buying quality and buying by price.
Have to remove the emblems.

Ok, buddy, I can’t let you knock on Craftsman being inferior to HF

Check out Craigslist for good rolling tool carts.




-Ed

My dad used to be the west coast rep for Kennedy toolboxes, so I have had those for years. I think Channel Lock and Vise Grip quality has gone down hill lately. Are they making them offshore?

My gramps gave me one of his Kennedy rolling tool carts @larmo63 . Pretty solid pieces I must say. I could use an upper chest to complete the cart.


-Ed

Knipex - best cutters and pliers made

I'm in one of those moods today.

My favorite Tool is the one that I see everyday in the mirror.

S&K also in my box
Craftsmen
Gear Wrench was a go to for a while but quality took a fall.
Beyond that I have Snap-On for some stuff, only bought 5 of them the rest where given to me, my father-in-law is an old school German Tool and Die guy, he made parts for Snap-On and they gave him the prototypes.

I am constantly upgrading tools, right now I am replacing most of my pliers as I get the dollars with Knipex. I also picked up a few Vampliers, very nice so far.

I have been buying lots of old tools lately, old stuff is always so much better.

Harbor Freight is in my garage, but it is for stuff the can take my fingers off, that 12" disc sander can do that in a millisecond. BTW, I just got an old belt sander made in the 50s that will likely replace that unit. It has only been a few years since that unit help me take an absent minded moment and make me a double amputee according to my medical records.

Over Mothers Day I went up north to visit my mom and to finally get going in the backyard shed to clean up my Dads tool and crap that he hoarded for the last 30 yrs. Purpose was to prepare for a garage sale and get the proceeds for my mom to buy one last whatever to remember Dad by. I took all of the tools and laid them out on the floor of their empty two car garage.
My god, never realized he had collected so many tools! A lot of everything. I called my brother and he and I went through the inventory and he and I took some tools that had special meaning to us. Next step was to have the Grandkids pick anything they wanted. I picked some wrenches and stuff that he and I used to work on our projects when we were together. We had an original splitting of our tools when I left for college.
I’ve got all the tools I need and want I could care less what brand they are.

I have a ton of the older (made in usa/lifetime warranty) craftsman stuff as well as a craftsman pro chest, and it's served me well. If I needed stuff going forward I'd look at Stahlwille for sure. I know Marco at TLG is a huge fan; seriously has a tattoo and all.

I do hit up HF for stuff like air tools I know I will only use a few times, so I have a few high quality pneumatic tools and a few cheapos.

I’ve had the same basic craftsman set i got when I bought my 914 over 25 years ago, the ratchets have been replaced several times, and broken sockets have been replaced. It’s still my go to set cause I know how each tool feels and how it’s going to fit. I’ve added many other pieces over the years, I got partial to craftsman pro cause they felt good in my hands and seemed to fit in some of the tighter spaces that the standard sets would not fit.

I’ve torn down and rebuilt my engine and suspension using a fully outfitted snap on garage with brand new tools. They were indeed nice, but only a few tools I really liked over the tools in my box. In my household (two very expensive girls, dogs and wife) my tool fund is the same bucket as my car and parts fund... I’d rather spend on car parts...

It’s also about simplicity. If a tool breaks, I want to replace it immediately, or if I need something new, there’s a Lowe’s within 5 min of my shop. Just a few weeks ago I took back 3 crappy craftsman ratchets and walked out with 3 new, functioning ones... it was no problem exchanging at Lowe’s with the closest model available from their stock.