If you started today buying all new tools
 

I saw a news article today that is a bit alarming, Sears is in really deep $$$$ trouble--the kind they don't think they are getting out of. Lets not talk about that. Lets talk about tools. Now this is not for you professional mechanics--I expect you guys to buy Mac and Snap-On. This is for the rest of us--the tinkerers, weekend warriors, part-time farmers, etc. If you had to go buy all new tools today, what would you buy. Until I read the Sears article, I would have said Craftsman for most stuff. Now that they may be disappearing, what would be comparable? Kobalt, Husky, Proto (should be a more pro quality but not top of the line). I've seen a few things at Harbor Freight that are decent, but I get into too many big, rusty fasteners for their stuff to work--maybe if I just worked on small stuff. I personally would probably go with Proto hand tools, and genuine Chanelock and Visegrips, pipe wrenches by Rigid (everybody needs a set of those up to 36" for the BIG bolts). I don't know if Wright is still around or how pricey their stuff is--used to be great quality though---I would research if I had to. Anyway, what would you buy?:bigthink:

I have a lot of S-K stuff. It's probably 35 years old. Haven't bought any tools in a while.

My first set which I bought 40 years ago was Craftsman. I still own and use them to this day. Even at that time the quality was not on par with the set my father and grandfather had. Today's Craftsman tools pale in comparison.

When I was wrenching professionally I started buying Snap On tools. What I did then and would do again if I had to do it all over was buy used and trade ins from the Snap On truck. My dealer always had tools that retiring mechanics sold back to him at fifty cents on that days price sheet. He sold them to me at that very same price to get them off his truck. Same Snap On quality and guaranty.
I recently sold all my Snap On tools on ebay. The starting bid was set at fifty cents on the current price sheet. I made tidy a profit. Moral of the story... Use your Snap On tools to make your living and when you retire sell them to a young mechanic. He saves money and you still make a profit.

That being said... I recently replaced the shute swivel on my QA36 snow thrower with parts from two HF 1/4 drive universals. Chucking them in a collet to bore out the square drive one was soft as butter and the other destroyed a HS steel drill bit. The second was labeled PRO series. Maybe HF PRO series tools are worth looking into.

Not to get off topic, buy you can buy those for nothing from Amazon.... why would you go to all that trouble for a $12 part?
https://www.amazon.com/Lovejoy-Unive.../dp/B004SR7G0S


John..... Yes, we all know I'm a professional. I have no idea what I would buy. I can't stand "cheap" tools. I'd probably still buy the best I could buy. FWIW, some of the HF stuff isn't bad. Some of the Kobalt stuff isn't bad. I don't honestly think Craftsman tools are going anywhere. If Sears dies out, it's their own fault for not keeping up with the times. Wal-Mart ran over them. They're an old company who didn't advance with the times. If they go under, someone will pick up the Craftsman name and keep selling them. I highly doubt that name will disappear. (I've been hearing that song and dance for nearly 10 years anyway.)

Guido, sorry.... I'm never selling my Snap-On stuff. My kids can sell it when I die, or fight over it. :biggrin2:

John,

I use Proto on a daily basis... mainly because that is what my Dad brought me up on. Wright is good stuff too.. I have some Wright ratchets that I really like.. Proto and Wright are still USA as far as I know... Getting really hard to find USA stuff anymore though! I like Snap on but it tends to be hard on the pocketbook.

As far as cheaper foreign stuff goes I really like the Gearwrench brand... It's the old KD name as far as I know.. I have two sets of mid length Gearwrench sockets that I use daily... Haven't been able to break them in two years now..

I have a bunch of old USA Craftsman tools also... but the new overseas Craftsman stuff is junk now!

Would like to hear what everybody else uses!:beerchug:

In all honesty I'm willing to bet 90% of my tool box is harbor freight stuff. Ratchets I have are snap on (bout them at auction for penny's on the dollar) some things you can cheap out on. Others it's just asking for trouble..

Right now I've got a modge podge of tools. Snap On, Matco, Craftsman to HF, and everything inbetween. Bought some of the HF long wrenches, and "had to" pipe up a couple of them, and by gosh, they never broke.:bigthink:
For the stuff I do, I can/could get by with about anything. But to me a lot of it is feel, and some just feel better than others. Grip better than some...
Oh, to answer your question. I guess each brand had it's place, so the "gooder" stuff for somethings, and cheaper tools for udder things.:biggrin2:

Never thought to look for a commercial solution. But $9 shipping?

Sadly, my son was never interested in working with tools.

I got a craftsman socket set for Christmas when I was 14, that was over 20 years ago. It would still be my only set had my little brother not lost a bunch of sockets. A couple years ago I bought the big kobalt set and have been very happy with it. My only gripe is the ratchet direction lever works in reverse to the craftsman ratchets that I'm used to. I often have it flipped the wrong way; solved that by picking up a couple more craftsman ratchets at a yardsale.

Bill

Flea markets, estate sales and garage sales. With having most of the necesarry tools (Snap-on, Mac, Matco, Craftsman, etc...), I go picking and find gems whether I need it or not. It's not as easy rummaging today as it was 20 or more years ago because more sellers are wise to the value of professional mechanic tools.