well i used my dad's before i got mine . proto , plumb , sk , craftsman , thornton , barcalo-buffalo , ect ..... . and their still in use today . no jap or chink tools here .
Is there an appriciable difference between big name tools?
- Thread starter harrisonm
- Start date
-
It was in a Car Craft Magazine...
GeorgeH
Well-Known Member
I inherited some of those names along with Bonney and Williams. I believe at one point Williams was making Snap-on, and I know they made the early Kobalt tools before they outsourced it.
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
Yep i have most of em as well. Snap on (love their flex head ratchets). Mac, SK, craftsman, matco, stanley proto etc. This stuff i make my living as a mechanic with. I am not a 1 tool manufacturer type of guy (tool snob). I only say tool snob because i work with people like that. They look down at your tools if you dont have all the same brand like they do.
I buy what fits my needs no matter who the manufacturer. My work tool box is an older Mac Tech 1000 i bought 20 years ago, that i made a stainless work bench top for. I have a smaller version of the same box in my home shop. BTW i have a set of craftsman wrenches my mom n dad got for me when i as 12. I still have them. They are labelled made in japan. Anybody doesnt believe me i can take a pic monday morning and post it.
Screwdrivers i have tried em all and prefer matco ones to anything else. Yes craftsman has the tool refund exchange deal, but the tips on their screw drivers wear right out. The only reason i have them in my home tool box, is because after i wear out the phillips tips i bring them back to sears, and they keep giving me new ones lol.
I do have some harbor freight wrenches and sockets. Mostly their impact sockets, and a harbor freight impact gun. This stuff is for home use. I bought a wrench set from them a number of years back that went from 3/8 to 1&1/2. They were shaped pretty close to my snap on wrenches in feel and everything. Chrome was ok, not great, but decent for home use and junkyard runs. These are actually really decent. I will prob get a metric set of these as well. I think they even copied snap ons flank drive on them too lol.
I personally feel if you make a living with your tools buy a good grade of them. If starting out making a living the store stuff is decent enough to start out with earning a living, and can be replaced with better tools as you start earning, and then transferred to your home tool box to be used for hobbiest use.
I buy what fits my needs no matter who the manufacturer. My work tool box is an older Mac Tech 1000 i bought 20 years ago, that i made a stainless work bench top for. I have a smaller version of the same box in my home shop. BTW i have a set of craftsman wrenches my mom n dad got for me when i as 12. I still have them. They are labelled made in japan. Anybody doesnt believe me i can take a pic monday morning and post it.
Screwdrivers i have tried em all and prefer matco ones to anything else. Yes craftsman has the tool refund exchange deal, but the tips on their screw drivers wear right out. The only reason i have them in my home tool box, is because after i wear out the phillips tips i bring them back to sears, and they keep giving me new ones lol.
I do have some harbor freight wrenches and sockets. Mostly their impact sockets, and a harbor freight impact gun. This stuff is for home use. I bought a wrench set from them a number of years back that went from 3/8 to 1&1/2. They were shaped pretty close to my snap on wrenches in feel and everything. Chrome was ok, not great, but decent for home use and junkyard runs. These are actually really decent. I will prob get a metric set of these as well. I think they even copied snap ons flank drive on them too lol.
I personally feel if you make a living with your tools buy a good grade of them. If starting out making a living the store stuff is decent enough to start out with earning a living, and can be replaced with better tools as you start earning, and then transferred to your home tool box to be used for hobbiest use.
Last edited:
Doesn't matter which of the high dollar tools you like and have. But I can tell you this, if it wasn't for the credit they extend they would all be out of business or at least down to one maybe two different suppliers. At a friends shop he has some young guns working for him that owe Snap On and Mac unbelievable amounts of money. Just one of the guys owes or $18,000.00! Another owes over 15,000.00. If they had to pay cash, every time the truck pulled up, they wouldn't owe nearly what they do!
It's too bad that the young guns need so manytools when they are just starting in the trade. Borrowing tools from the veterans only works a time or two before they need to buy their own. Many young guys have bought cheap tools just to get by but end up buying another set of quality tools later. Something that will last and you can get service on. I always tried to help the young guys manage their tool dollars. They can't buy it all at once (or can't afford to pay for it) . It's easy to get overwhelmed in the tool truck when you see all that you need or want. "what do you borrow from the other guys" I would often ask. The dollars you spend for a tool will be well spent there. You must get the "needs" covered first. Then you can work on the "wants" on your list.
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
Heres another thing. Craftsman will exchange broken tools no questions asked. As long as they have not suffered abuse thats visible. Sears also has normal hours and is in the same place every day. Tool truck broken tool, you have to wait for them to come back next week, or be lucky enough to have the tool with you while driving and see the tool truck stopped somewhere to get a warranty replacement.
That said even my harbor freight wrenches i have tortured and have not broken not one either, so some of it is just a name.
I use harbor freight straight and 90° air angle die grinders. Harbor freight screamers i call em because they are loud. $14.99 on sale without trigger safety. My harbor freight straight grinder i have had 20 years. My angle ones last about 3-4 years then the gears in the head take a ****. I oil em when i think about it whis is almost never lol.
I pull the air fitting off and pitch em in the scrap bucket. I had a friend at work who bought the tool truck air angle grinder. Lasted a year, kept having it warrantied. Lets see over $100 for one of those and it lasts a year. I get the 20% off coupons and have 4 spares sitting in my home tool box waiting for eventual use.
When my harbor freight ones at work start getting the death rattle i take em home, replaced w new harbor freight ones and use em at home till i finish em off.
That said even my harbor freight wrenches i have tortured and have not broken not one either, so some of it is just a name.
I use harbor freight straight and 90° air angle die grinders. Harbor freight screamers i call em because they are loud. $14.99 on sale without trigger safety. My harbor freight straight grinder i have had 20 years. My angle ones last about 3-4 years then the gears in the head take a ****. I oil em when i think about it whis is almost never lol.
I pull the air fitting off and pitch em in the scrap bucket. I had a friend at work who bought the tool truck air angle grinder. Lasted a year, kept having it warrantied. Lets see over $100 for one of those and it lasts a year. I get the 20% off coupons and have 4 spares sitting in my home tool box waiting for eventual use.
When my harbor freight ones at work start getting the death rattle i take em home, replaced w new harbor freight ones and use em at home till i finish em off.
Last edited:
At 62 Y.O., I still use that same philosophy, If I feel like it's a tool I need and will use in the future, I'll buy it. If not I'll rent it or borrow it. Especially if the likely hood of needing it in the future is not likely.
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
I am looking at a box store power steering pulley puller / installer only because i will be using it to rebuild the saginaw pump for my A body $16 at harbor freight, much less w coupon. Ya sure you get what you pay for, but i dont do power steering pumps, well ever. This will be a first, and probably a last.
No power steering pumps in aviation mtx. If i use it once and done, thats all it needs to work for. If i was in the auto servicing industry then yes i would be buying the $75 puller / installer w all the bells and whistles.
Last edited:
It took till just 2 months ago for me to own a high dollar tool box. And I didn't pay the ridiculous price the truck tool vendors ask. I traded a truck for it to a fellow that won it at a drag race event. Box lists for over $5600.00. Which I would never pay for a box. For years I had a Pencraft upper and lower tool box I bought new from JC Penny in 1974. This is the Matco I just traded for. Except mine is Limelight Green.
4S 2BAY 25"PWR TOOLBOX SVN 4225RP-SS | Matco Tools
4S 2BAY 25"PWR TOOLBOX SVN 4225RP-SS | Matco Tools
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
Wow thats a good deal. I bought my mac tech 1000 20 years ago for $1,800 new. Got my smaller mac home box for $300 used about 7 years ago.
Believe it or not check out some of the double drawer harbor freight ones. Roller bearing drawers, heavy duty steel construction about $500 and a little bigger than my 1000. If they had them 20 years ago, i prob would have bought one.
Last edited:
Yeah I was looking at buying a 56" HF box before this deal came along.
ramenth
Gratis persona
Thanks, Mike.
That's actually one of the things I was gonna point out.
To me, the brand of tool can be like the brand of car. A lot of it comes to brand preference and brand loyalty.
For me, a lot came down to treatment of customer. Working in various towns and dealing with various tool trucks, the dealer who treats me well is the one who gets my business.
The two MAC dealers were always friendly, even getting to know my business and catering tool sales to me, personally, as well as my business. They've never acted like it was a bother for me to walk on the tool truck and drop just $20 or warranty a broken tool whereas the couple of Snap On dealers I dealt with would get huffy if I didn't need anything that day or grabbed something cheap or needed something warrantied. If I wasn't willing to drop $200 or more that day or extended my credit out, then they acted like I wasn't worth the time.
The one Matco dealer would pull into the parking lot and not even get out of the truck.
Guess which brand earned my loyalty?
That being said, my little 20 year old MAC Economizer has flowed over into a MAC roll cart and several shelves of specialty tools in blow molded cases.
I've got MAC, Snap On (hey, the were on sale at the time), Craftsman, Matco, Cornwell, Duralast, NAPA, Gearwrench, Kobalt, Husky, OTC (preferred for my specialty tools), and on and on and on.
While it's nice that the dealers roll to my door, there is something to be said about parts store tools in that working in a shop, I can make a phone call and have it warrantied just as soon as the delivery driver can bring me a new one. I can also hit Lowe's, Home Depot, or Sears in the way home to pick up a warranty tool and have it back in my toolbox the next day, instead of having to wait until my tool dealer shows back up.
67Dart273
Well-Known Member
One BIG problem I've had with some "cheap" wrenches is many seem to like to have too much chamfer into the box end, or even the sockets. This gets to be a problem on things like converter bolts or others with shallow heads, or those "washered" body bolts which seem to have some taper to the hex. These cheapies slip off, sometimes with "blue flame" knuckle busted results!!
Funny you should mention this. In removing convertor bolts, especially Mopar. I use to bust a many a knuckle when boxed in wrenches slipped due to like you say to much to much chamfer . Old friend of mine and mentor many years ago taught me how to over come that. We took a 1/2" - 9/16"boxed end Craftsman wrench and ground the chamfer out of it. Didn't slip no more.
67Dart273
Well-Known Member
Been there done that LOL. I've modded bent welded shortened, or lengthened many tools But once you do that you can kiss the famous "lifetime warrantee" bye bye!! LOL
ramenth
Gratis persona
You, too, huh? A little heat, a slight bend and a Craftsman wrench becomes a starter wrench.
Got a Craftsman socket welded to a large nut ground down just a hair for reaching through axle tubes on modern 8.25 rears to make adjustments.
Someone (my dad's box, I think) is a couple of ling wrenches bent at 90° as distributor wrenches.
Funny thing about Craftsman, I've noticed they'll warranty just about anything.
Thats why i keep the junk tools handy,shortened,welded bent,ground down or repurposed.
I grab stuff i see at garage sales, simetimes end up with decent stuff. My 24" flex bar was 5 bucks, even though it was broken i replaced it on the snap on truck.
I grab stuff i see at garage sales, simetimes end up with decent stuff. My 24" flex bar was 5 bucks, even though it was broken i replaced it on the snap on truck.
If you have any age to you at all, you will remember the headers of old. Seems like the manufactures would build a set of headers with spark plug location and tube clearance as an after thought. In years past I have ground, welded, heated ,bent or make some bastard looking 13/16" tool just to change a damn spark plug. And try and do this between rounds on a hot engine!
-
