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Thread: "Good Enough" Shop/Auto Hand Tools

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
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    "Good Enough" Shop/Auto Hand Tools

    What do you guys/gals, that don't make your living with them, use for tools? I have 2 small sets of SK I've had since a teenager and a bunch of mixed cheep stuff now, but I'm hankering to add to my collection. I like nice things, but it's been a long time since I have looked into high end tools, and I about choked at the prices! I'm thinking about evil bay, or Craigslist for used stuff! Talking small tractor and equipment, big lawnmower, brake jobs etc.

  2. #2
    Boolit Buddy
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    I, too, have a mixture of good and ****. I think it really depends on what your're doing with the tools...ie, hard or frequent use, I'd get the good or medium level stuff. I don't think I'd ever buy the really cheap junk...I've had sockets pop on me, screw drivers snap or bend at the sight of a tough screw. I'm of the camp...buy once cry once
    Last edited by Pressman; 03-19-2018 at 08:18 PM.
    Domari Nolo

  3. #3
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Most of my stuff is Craftsman with only a few pieces of snap-on (and I mean few). I'm talking 10-50 year old Craftsman stuff

  4. #4
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    Not critical if "good enough" is the measure
    Harbor Freight would be fine for Joe six-pack

  5. #5
    Boolit Master



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    Mostly OLD craftsman in both inch and metric, some garage sale tools to grind on for a specific task.
    1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 drives mostly in sockets with a few larger ones for big stuff.
    Mike
    NRA Benefactor 2004 USAF RET 1971-95

  6. #6
    In Remembrance
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    My opinion even Joe six pack doesn't like busted knuckles or worse, life is to cheap for junk cheap tools, and I would rather hire it done than use some of them. I am a tool junky I guess, and have thousands and thousands of dollars worth of tool, even under hard use most of them last a lifetime. It has been many years since I have bought off a snap on or mac truck, but I still pick up stuff, off of craigslist, garage sales, estate sales and auctions, for pennies on the dollar.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master


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    I have a couple craftsman sets, before they were made in China, but I also have a few cheap tools. They're all made in China nowadays, and most have lifetime warranty so why pay more for tools I'll only use a few times?
    "Freedom is the sure possession of those alone who have the courage to defend it."
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  8. #8
    In Remembrance
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    Well, the very first time I needed a metrich tool, was to change the starter on a mustang tool, so since I, at the time had no plans of needing metric tools much I bought a cheap set of auto store wrenches. The very first bolt I put a wrench on the box end busted and I had to deal with a busted up hand for a couple of months, not to mention I then had to go buy a decent set of wrenches and change the starter with a busted up hand. That one instant taught me if you are going to use it at all, it is better to have something that will get the job done safely, as far as I am concerned it should be against the law to sell some of the junk a guy can buy called tools.

    I have several specialty tools that are not even available cheap, that I have bought with no intention of ever using again, if it can't be rented, sometimes you have no choice.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master


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    I buy best of breed and high value tools, not loyally/blindly/stupidly from one over-advertised, over-priced brand.

    I buy primary OTC (a Bosch brand now) and Lisle for auto specialty tools, and I still have some older US made KD Tools.

    My hardlines are, in order of quantity in my primary auto tool chest: SK, old US Craftsman, Allen (US Danaher era), BlackHawk, and a mix of older US brands (Bonney, S-O, New Britain, etc.), and a little bit of Taiwan stuff like Tekton. Gearwrench for ratcheting wrenches, but that's all for them. (I am less and less impressed with GW lately).

    Blackhawk locking pliers are Taiwan made but SOO much better than even the older US-made Peterson Vice Grips. I don't bother with the new imported Irwin Vise Grips.

    Bondhus for T handle Allen and Torx Keys, Vim for hex and other socket bits.

    Aircat, Astro and IR for air tools. (My Astro Nano 3/8 is awesome!)

    Primarily Sunex for 3/8 impact sockets, Kobalt/Williams (USA) for the rest. For 1/2 impact it's IR, Astro, and yes some HF and Stanley.

    Pliers I was buying a lot of ChannelLock but lately it's been Knipex. Their PliersWrench is awesome, I use it everywhere.

    On the electronics workbench I have a lot of Xuron US-made pliers and snips.

    Nupla for US made deadblow hammers, but there's another good US brand I want to try (forget the name right now).

    That's all I can think of for now.
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  10. #10
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    You can get some quality tools for some things. Harbor has one wrench set that cost less than forty bucks that will stay right with snap on or any other ones, only available in the extra long wrenches. I also have a few sets of their snubbies, not as good of quality, but they are too short to get enough torque on them to break them. The cheaper imported impact sockets will generally have one or two in a set that doesn't fit very well, but they are usable and hard to break, even with a good impact, they are thicker than good sockets, so in some applications can not even be used anyway. I still have a few sets I used to keep in trucks, I have since picked up enough good sets for good prices, that I have not carried them in a while.. The cheap 3/4 chrome sets actually stand up to an impact pretty well, they will break occasionally but not very often.

  11. #11
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    It depends on the application. For example, I have some really cheap screwdrivers but they are not used as screwdrivers, those are the ones that get ground down to fit specialty fasteners. I've also been known to modify a cheap socket or wrench as needed.

    Other than that, cheap hand tools are not worth the savings. As Starmac said back in post #6, nobody likes busted knuckles or worse.

    I've seen people spend more money buying three copies of a cheap tool when they could have spent the equivalent of the first two and had a tool that would last a lifetime. Not only does repeatedly purchasing cheap tools ultimately waste money, it can be frustrating and even dangerous.

    Then you get into the situation when you need a tool in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve or 100 miles from someone else. The one you have needs to work!

    OK, enough negative stuff, let's move to the positive.
    You don't need to spend a fortune to get good tools, you just need to know what constitutes a good tool.
    There are some excellent old tools out there and if you know what to look for they can be had for little money.

    Garage sales, consignment shops, sometimes pawn shops (be careful here on pricing), craigslist, ESTATE SALES ! - can all be a good source of high quality tools.

  12. #12
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    And just to toss out some names;

    Old Thorsen hand tools are pretty strong.
    Old SK tools are good
    Klein tools are good, particularly for electrical work
    Some of the Blackhawk branded stuff is good.
    Craftsman and Snap-On have good reputations.
    A lot of the OLD American stuff was pretty good and the pricing generally came down to the quality of the steel used.

    Almost every auto parts supplier sells some brand of hand tool. Some of those were cheap and some of those were very good. The quality often mirrored the customer base. If the store catered to consumers, the tools tended to be cheaper. If the store catered to professional mechanics, the quality was often much higher.

    And there are some specialty tools out there like Vise-Grips, Crescent wrenches, Channel-Lock, Etc. Often those are now made by some other company that purchased the name but the quality is still there. It is ALWAYS better to buy a pair of Vice-Grips that has the Vise-Grip name stamped on it rather than a set of locking priers that "looks" like Vise Grips and only has "Taiwan" stamped on it.

  13. #13
    Boolit Grand Master

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    I buy quality stuff. When I was working there was no place in my line of work for a cheap tool. It does not have to be SnapOn to be good but they are. Good that is. Garage sales, flee markets and pawn shops are good places to look. Estate sales and such are too.

  14. #14
    Boolit Master




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    I have majority Craftsman, some SK, Some Proto. I used to get a lot of my stuff from pawn shops. Lifetime warranty is lifetime warranty.
    You can miss fast & you can miss a lot, but only hits count.

  15. #15
    Boolit Master
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    I inherited my fathers Craftsman tool box and socket sets, open end and box end wrenches that he purchased new in 1948. I have augmented them with a conglomeration of tools since.....including a full set of Harbor Freight "stuff" to hang on the peg board in the garage for friends and neighbors to borrow.

  16. #16
    Boolit Grand Master

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    The good tools in my box are made to use. The cheap ones are to loan. Unlike the good stuff, the cheap ones always come home.
    Information not shared. is wasted.

  17. #17
    Boolit Master
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    Growing up on a big farm, with" hot rodders" in the family as well, we had a huge variety of tools. Some very high quality like snap on and SK, but many more where craftsman and a lot of lesser brands that just had sizes stamped on them. We seemed to get along just fin be repairing tractors, farm equipment, and trucks. I've recently been using some spline drive kobalt tools that I'm very impressed with for the price, and how well they hold especially! The tools I intend to spend the most on are high end ratchets, they seem most likely to bust knuckles, but if you are using a ratchet that hard, shouldn't you use a breaker bar? BTW,Taiwan seems to be putting out some very good mid range tools now days. Lot of good things to think about in these comments though.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master
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    I worked as a tech at a dealer, and broke more snap on tools than craftsman. Have 2 sets of the S&K socket/ratchet, 3/8 and 1/4 drive, never had an issue out of them. Snap on, you have to wait for the guy to come buy to replace anything, even harder if you do not work someplace they will come by. Place I worked the Mac and Matco guys went out of business so was months to get something replaced. Craftsman, sears is usually pretty easy to find. Snap on was better for those specialty sockets nobody else makes.

  19. #19
    Boolit Master
    metricmonkeywrench's Avatar
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    As a non-pro snap on, matco, mac and so on were out of my reach. My toolbox is a collection of everything but the backbone is predomanatly craftsman. Before the sale to Stanley their quality fell off and the local store does not have a decent selection anymore. My go to anymore is cobalt out of lowes which is lifetime warranty and easily available.

  20. #20
    Boolit Master
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    Most tools now days are made in China. Some are of better quality than others, but made in China none the less.
    I have quite a few Craftsman tools from the made in America days that are quite good. I have a few China Craftsman sockets and end wrenches that I don't think are any better than Harbor Freight tools. I have purchased a few Harbor tools thinking they were a one and done tool that have turned out to be surprising in quality. "Lifetime Warranty" tools doesn't mean your life time, as the company who stamps their name on them likely has changed hands, or quit making "that" tool. I bought a lifetime 1/4" socket set from Autozone to put in my junkyard scrounging tool box only to find they had discontinued that set when I broke the ratchet.
    I think the 159 piece "Mechanics tool set" from anywhere is mostly junk, but if you pick and choose sockets and wrenches from the same store you can get good enough tools.

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