Hand Tools

hlpressley

hlpressley

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Indian Trail, NC
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Looking at purchasing some hand tools. Mainly want a decent setup to keep in the truck. Craftsman has always been my go to but lately I’ve heard they aren’t what they used to be. I know Lowe’s sells them now, which is a good thing I suppose? Is there something different that I should be looking at? Not looking to buy cheap, but don’t want to overpay strictly for a name.
 
I have a set of Husky (Home Depot brand) that has served me very, very well. Had a 10mm bit driver break and was nervous about taking it back, the manager busted open a whole new set for that one driver. Sent me on my way. No questions asked.
 
What are you planning t do with this decent set of tools in the truck? You’ll need different stuff if it’s to keep the truck running vs if it’s a farm truck vs if it’s you need to fix the occasional firearm when out.

I prefer to buy American, or German or Japanese. I buy some new and some used.
 
Knipex water pump pliers are one of the best multi task tools I own, they go with me anytime I don't know exactly what a road service will require.

Stanley acquired Craftsman, they may be a decent product again, I never thought they were great. Stanley branded stuff has always done me well, and Mac is one of my favorites they also own.

What experience I've had with Husky has been good, usually good sales on kits around the holidays.

I've used a lot of tools, don't know of any great values, I usually lean toward "industrial" lines now, Martin, Armstrong, and others of the sort great tools, less money than premier brands, but not available everywhere. I guess one potential deal is Napa, I've beat on a lot of Napa tools off service trucks and rarely seen them fail, if you have a friend with an account and your area has an aggressive commercial sale manager you can get screaming deals on some of them.
 
Always been a Craftsman guy, never had issues
Have some Husky items too, which are great.

Lifetime warranties on both
 
I broke down and went kobalt. I like craftsman, but up until recently there was never a place near by to warranty them out.

Even with Lowe’s picking them up, I didn’t go with them. Kobalt for me was the better choice since they are across the road from my work and I can pick up a single wrench or socket if I don’t have it.
 
Most of my stuff at home, which is primarily for working on motorsickles, is Proto; which I believe is also owned by Stanley.

I have some Kobalt stuff at home and work, and have had absolutely no problems with any of it. They have some of those cool pass-thru ratchet handles now, too, which used to be only available from Armstrong.
 
I buy good used either from Garage Journal (.com) or ebay. All american brand names, and the cost is not hugely different from the current chinese made stuff. Vintage Craftsman (US) is not expensive and are quite good ( I love their fine tooth ratchets with the quick release button).

Most if not all big box hand tools are Chinese . I won't buy 'em.
 
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Beef15 said:
Knipex water pump pliers are one of the best multi task tools I own, they go with me anytime I don't know exactly what a road service will require.

Stanley acquired Craftsman, they may be a decent product again, I never thought they were great. Stanley branded stuff has always done me well, and Mac is one of my favorites they also own.

What experience I've had with Husky has been good, usually good sales on kits around the holidays.

I've used a lot of tools, don't know of any great values, I usually lean toward "industrial" lines now, Martin, Armstrong, and others of the sort great tools, less money than premier brands, but not available everywhere. I guess one potential deal is Napa, I've beat on a lot of Napa tools off service trucks and rarely seen them fail, if you have a friend with an account and your area has an aggressive commercial sale manager you can get screaming deals on some of them.
Click to expand...
Coming from a 36 year mechanic. Most of my tools are SnapOn, because they saved me time, and are usually better made & designed. I wouldn't keep them as truck tools to bounce around and possibly get stolen.
For 15+ years my co-workers called my Knipex "magic pliers" because they'd get stuff apart that nothing else would. There are may less expensive copies now.
Napa, Proto, Craftsman, Stanley, Lufkin, Armstrong, Gear Wrench are all coming from Apex Tools and are very similar to each other. The warehouse in Apex, NC is an interesting place to wander around.
https://www.anixter.com/en_us/produ...es|code=GROUP_TS|level=G|parent=[CATEGORY_05]
My concern these days is what company is going to exist in 5-10 years to warranty that wrench.
 
For hand tools, I'm really picky. I got to lots of yard sales and pick up nice old stuff. I only buy American, German, Japanese, and maybe Spain since they took over Crescent production (for a while) with good results

Knipex and Channelock for pliers
Xcelite for precision pliers
Wiha for precision drivers
Old Proto for sockets and wrenches
Old Craftsman or Klein for larger drivers (for stabbing customers dogs, opening paintcans, etc)
Estwing for hammers
Vaughn for prybars, etc

Husky, Bostich, Kobalt, Craftsman, Crescent are, for the most part, Chinese garbage now. The lifetime guarantee works in their favor because they are so cheap to make, it costs them nothing to simply give you a free replacement.

KCToolCo has a great selection of German tools and excellent customer service. They can be a bit pricey, especially Knipex, but your great grandchildren will still be using them.

If you have employees and family that will be using these tools, I highly recommend going to Harbor Freight and making a "public" tool kit. I don't think there is a quicker way to piss me off than losing a set of 80 dollar pliers.
 
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I've been collecting Craftsman since I was a kid and have a really nice accumulation. Be cautious on what you buy, some vehicles have this strange mixture of SAE and metric and there is no telling which one you'll find....
 
JohnFreeman said:
Most if not all big box hand tools are Chinese . I won't buy 'em.
Click to expand...

It's a shame. It wasn't too many years ago that all the big-box brand sockets and extensions - Craftsman, NAPA, et al - were made by Danaher Tool Group (previously Easco Hand Tool) in Bessemer City, NC. Well, it was a Gastonia address, but 1/4 mile from the BC town limits. Now all moved to China.
 
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Pink_Vapor said:
Coming from a 36 year mechanic. Most of my tools are SnapOn, because they saved me time, and are usually better made & designed. I wouldn't keep them as truck tools to bounce around and possibly get stolen.
For 15+ years my co-workers called my Knipex "magic pliers" because they'd get stuff apart that nothing else would. There are may less expensive copies now.
Napa, Proto, Craftsman, Stanley, Lufkin, Armstrong, Gear Wrench are all coming from Apex Tools and are very similar to each other. The warehouse in Apex, NC is an interesting place to wander around.
https://www.anixter.com/en_us/products/Manufacturers/APEX-TOOL-GROUP/c/APEX TOOL GROUP?text=&op=&q=:relevance:allAnixterGroups:name=Tools+and+Supplies|code=GROUP_TS|level=G|parent=[CATEGORY_05]
My concern these days is what company is going to exist in 5-10 years to warranty that wrench.
Click to expand...

I like the feel of the matco ratchets better than the snap on. I snatch up plenty of matco ratchets while I was getting my student discount.

Maybe when this dealership moves me to a tech position I’ll be able to afford the tool truck tools lol.

From the peak in to the tool chest and boxes of the tech in our shop all of them spent the coinage on good impacts, and ratchets and the specialty tools you can’t find in stores. But what really surprised me was seeing the wrenches and sockets. They ranged from husky and craftsman to Stanley and kobalt
 
Apex is to tools as MTD is to lawn tractors--- buy established brand names, then switch production to china, and pimp the brand name while shipping crap.

If I want chinese crap, I'll buy at Harbor Freight, and not pay the pimps.
 
backwoodsshooter said:
I like the feel of the matco ratchets better than the snap on. I snatch up plenty of matco ratchets while I was getting my student discount.

Maybe when this dealership moves me to a tech position I’ll be able to afford the tool truck tools lol.

From the peak in to the tool chest and boxes of the tech in our shop all of them spent the coinage on good impacts, and ratchets and the specialty tools you can’t find in stores. But what really surprised me was seeing the wrenches and sockets. They ranged from husky and craftsman to Stanley and kobalt
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I started with SnapOn after a couple Craftmans were only rounding corners 25+ years ago, and stayed primarily with them. S&K's were great for the $, but they went the way of the Dodo.
I found IR air tools to outperform everyone elses, especially for the $.
 
hlpressley said:
Looking at purchasing some hand tools. Mainly want a decent setup to keep in the truck. Craftsman has always been my go to but lately I’ve heard they aren’t what they used to be. I know Lowe’s sells them now, which is a good thing I suppose? Is there something different that I should be looking at? Not looking to buy cheap, but don’t want to overpay strictly for a name.
Click to expand...
Anything Lowes sells has been specified with a large known name but made low quality to get the margins Lowes requires. I have a little of everything mentioned above. Most of mine are Proto and Craftsmen from many years passed. If I were buying today I would by Proto for wrenches and hand tools. For speciality tools they would be Milwaukee. Drills and special powered tools I only buy Ridgid with the lifetime warranty (if registered online).
 
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Pink_Vapor said:
I started with SnapOn after a couple Craftmans were only rounding corners 25+ years ago, and stayed primarily with them. S&K's were great for the $, but they went the way of the Dodo.
I found IR air tools to outperform everyone elses, especially for the $.
Click to expand...

Yea IR stuff is expensive but I read they are one of the best. My impacts are aircat and do a good job
 
I wouldn't go by brand name. Country of manufacture is a better indicator of quality - America, Germany, Japan or Taiwan produce better quality tools. China and India produce lower quality tools.

That's not to say that low cost/low quality tools don't have their place for very infrequent DIY use, but just be aware of what you're getting, and whether the task will be forgiving of a low quality tool - e.g., using a flare nut wrench made in India on a rusty brake line nut is probably not a good idea; while using even the cheapest wrench on battery terminal nuts will be fine.
 
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Stobie said:
It's a shame. It wasn't too many years ago that all the big-box brand sockets and extensions - Craftsman, NAPA, et al - were made by Danaher Tool Group (previously Easco Hand Tool) in Bessemer City, NC. Well, it was a Gastonia address, but 1/4 mile from the BC town limits. Now all moved to China.
Click to expand...


I didn't know the local connection. That is doubly sad.

I bought a hand sledge from Harbor Freight for a specific purpose. I was in a hurry and didn't look too closely when I bought it. When I got home, I discovered that those clever Chinese craftsmen "machined" (perhaps by scraping it against rocks) this so that no two surfaces are anywhere close to being in the plane they're supposed to be.

They apparently decided to make up for this error by drilling the handle hole about 1/2" off center .

It makes me laugh every time I use it.
 
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I love tools and supplies from Kimball Midwest. I also have a ton of Kobalt and old Craftsman with MAC Knipex and SnapOn mixed in


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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