OT: Hand Tools

[estilley]

What do you guys like?

Was in a Sears today browsing the tool section and felt like the place was going out of business.

At work I use some USA and non-USA Craftsman, Gearwrench, and Rock River (Fastenal house brand I think). They're all fine for light/medium duty auto work.

I'm starting to expand my home collection and wondering what all of you have in your cabinets.

Fire away!




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[Cicli]

Snap-On. Everything.

[estilley]

Snap-On. Everything.

Well that goes without saying!

If it were an option...

[unterhausen]

for wrenches, I'm pretty happy with the house brands at the borgs (Lowes and Home Depot). I have no idea about their screwdrivers, I get Wiha or Wera for that, wait for a decent price on Amazon. Same for hex wrenches.

Sears just sold the Craftsman name. I am going to go ahead and say that you are best off avoiding that brand for now

[AngryScientist]

depends on your budget and your needs.

i find the new offshore craftsman stuff pretty much crap. the quality is WAY down from the MUSA days.

personally, i have a mishmash of different stuff in the garage, a lot of which i took over from my dad, and is years old and still serviceable. Mac, Matco, SK, Snap On, Craftsman. they're all good.

the stuff i use most often, that is, the metric sockets, ratchet wrenches and screwdrivers - i buy the best i can. stuff that sees more occasional use, lesser tier tools are generally OK. i have some Husky, Stanley and Kobalt tools that all do their job just fine, but might not stand up to daily, professional use.

when i worked on a ship, and in the marine industry in general - no one buys expensive tools. they all wind up rusting out, falling in the bilge, overboard, or get taken home by someone, so nothing lasts long enough to wear out.

[estilley]

depends on your budget and your needs.

i find the new offshore craftsman stuff pretty much crap. the quality is WAY down from the MUSA days.

personally, i have a mishmash of different stuff in the garage, a lot of which i took over from my dad, and is years old and still serviceable. Mac, Matco, SK, Snap On, Craftsman. they're all good.

the stuff i use most often, that is, the metric sockets, ratchet wrenches and screwdrivers - i buy the best i can. stuff that sees more occasional use, lesser tier tools are generally OK. i have some Husky, Stanley and Kobalt tools that all do their job just fine, but might not stand up to daily, professional use.

when i worked on a ship, and in the marine industry in general - no one buys expensive tools. they all wind up rusting out, falling in the bilge, overboard, or get taken home by someone, so nothing lasts long enough to wear out.


Sounds like we have similar uses.

Finishing up grad school here in a couple years and will no longer have access to/be using the stuff daily in the workplace as I'll no doubt have moved to more of a design/desk job. Therefore the home stuff will really only be used for auto work, i.e. the metric sockets and wrenches.

Armstrong ratchets seem to be pretty good, although looks like they might be made overseas now too?

[Peter P.]

Sears Canada has already filed for bankruptcy protection. Sears America has downsized several times to avoid bankruptcy. Hence the tool section of Sears is sparse.

[Birddog]

I have a large selection of Gear Wrench and am quite happy with them. I also have a few Kobalt (Lowes). These are in addition to some 60 year old craftsman and S&K tools that I have had forever. I also have the basic electrician's assortment of Klein tools (needlenose and lineman's pliers along with some screwdrivers, nutdrivers, wire strippers etc. I have 3 sizes of Knipex slip joint pliers that are worth noting too.

[Jcgill]

I have a mix of snapon, kobalt and husky. I own older craftsman tools, but i will not buy anything else craftsman.... kobalt and husky are definitely superior now a days.

[Louis]

IMO when it comes to tools, one of the biggest decisions is whether or not you're going to go with "Made in USA" or not.

Edit: I try to go with MUSA when I can, but sometimes I need it asap and don't have the time to track down the American stuff, so I just buy whatever Lowes / HD / True Value happens to have on hand.

[FriarQuade]

Gear Wrench does a pretty good selection of tools and might be the best quality off shore made tools you can find. I'll add to the pile that Craftsmen has gone to ****. They did get bought by Stanley iirc so maybe the quality will go up or the price will come down.

Proto is worth a look, great stuff without the bling of the tool truck brands. I will say that ergonomics has a lot to do with my tool choices and sometimes that Trump's quality as well.

[lonoeightysix]

Wiha, wera, pb Swiss, vessel for bits and drivers

Gearwrench (Taiwan) for adequate sockets, wrenches, ratchets. Koken if I had the bucks.

Knipex for pliers and cutters. Xcelite for small cutters. IPS for soft jawed pliers.

Engineer (japan) for oddball stuff. Stripped screw pliers, HD scissors etc.

Bahco (Sweden?) makes some good stuff as well

[GScot]

Adding my endorsement for Wera and Wiha. Also think that Gearwrench is about as good as you get running to the parts store, Carquest has a wall of Gearwrench near me. Proto is great when you can find it/justify the price.

I'll add VIM
(http://www.vimtools.com/home.asp) They make some in USA but not all, I believe they are an OEM for many other brands as well. Particularly good with XZN E-Torx and other proprietary or oddball tools.

I've had pretty good luck with Sunex impact sockets. They even have some thin wall impact sockets which should mean they are made of quality steel. So far so good. Helpful getting into tight spots and the swivel sockets last OK also.

For power tools I like the Bosch that are made in Europe, same with Metabo. Makita still has good stuff if you don't buy the box store versions.

[Louis]

Adding my endorsement for Wera and Wiha. Also think that Gearwrench is about as good as you get running to the parts store, Carquest has a wall of Gearwrench near me. Proto is great when you can find it/justify the price.

GS, just out of curiosity, what bricks & mortar places have you been using around here?

[mtechnica]

I'm a robotics and automated equipment technician and use hand tools a lot. My needs and requirements could be different than automotive mechanics.

That said, I will relate my experience based on my opinions and what I've seen:

Ratchets: basically anything of reasonable quality will get the job done and last a pretty long time. Snap On are somewhat popular because they are fine tooth and serviceable. They are too expensive for what you get in my opinion, and I've heard multiple stories of Snap On ratchets needing to be repaired by Snap On, in the meanwhile there are craftsman and SK ratchets still chugging along on 30+ year old internals... I personally like SK, the 1/4" drive long handle SK is awesome and fine tooth. Their 3/8 drive ratchets are coarse tooth, however they are bomb-proof and the long handle SK 3/8 drive is a beast. For 1/2 drive the long handle SK is one of the best on the market as well. Of course there are lots of other options. Most of the old timers are using inexpensive stuff that they just take care of (20-30 year old craftsman ratchets that are still going strong). Newer craftsman is literal trash. Even harbor freight ratchets are better.

Sockets: I would recommend not cheaping out on sockets. There's nothing worse than rounding off a bolt, or slipping and busting your hand, or even snapping a socket under huge load, all because it was just a crappily toleranced and manufactured piece of crap. I use SK because they are decently well made and the sets come with the sizes I need. You can get better sockets than SK but sockets can get expensive quickly especially if you require metric and standard like I do, multiple drive sizes like I do, different depths, 6 and 12 point... My suggestion is to have a full set of 1/4 and a full set of 3/8 metric and standard with 6 point 3/8 drive and 12 point 1/4" drive. This will give you overlapping sizes with a 6 or 12 point option. 12 point sockets can be used on square fasteners or the ends of taps (Which are square), while 6 point cannot.

Wrenches: Non ratcheting open and box ends, feel free to cheap out on these in my experience. All of mine are ground down to be as small and slim as is reasonable. For ratchets, that's a bit of a can of worms because they all seem to work well enough from what I've seen but there are different styles. If you want the best available, wait for it, SK, again, is the best because of the x frame wrenches which, admittedly, are very expensive. They are also DELUXE to use compared to cheaper stuff and it's something you have to feel to understand. Look them up.

Screw Drivers Klein is good. Wiha is good for smaller ones. I use harbor freight screw drivers though because I pound them mercilessly and pry things with them for the sake of getting things done faster.

Allen/torx sockets wiha is good for allen sockets, these can get expensive but the cheaper ones will be adequate for most people. I don't tend to have a problem with cheap torx bits since they don't tend to round out, while the allen sockets do develop that problem. I use a 1/8" allen socket a lot and my wiha is twisted but has maintained its bite.

Allen wrenches The best way to make yourself miserable is to use cheap allen wrenches. My favorite set is... Pedros! Of all things... T-handles are also nice to have and come in a wide variety of prices and quality. The harbor freight ones are acceptable, however, and a lot of people I know have them. You just have to file down the tip if it starts to get rounded and slip ;)

Taps and Dies DO NOT CHEAP OUT ON THEM. Never needed them on a bike so far though.

Pliers People like knipex, however channellocks, while ghetto feeling, will always get the job done. They are STRONG and have good teeth. They will outlast you and everyone you love.

Loc Tite Use pink for fasteners on your bike, blue for bigger fasteners that might come loose. Get silver anti seize and use it on all of your bolts that don't have thread locker. The silver anti seize is a must on dissimilar metals, combinations of steel, stainless, and/or aluminum.

That's all I have off the top of my head.

[GScot]

GS, just out of curiosity, what bricks & mortar places have you been using around here?

To be honest I haven't looked around much. I have a Carquest that stocks a lot of Gearwrench and Lisle. Both fall into that good enough if I need it right now category.

[bfd]

I believe in buying good tools and try to buy American when I can. Most of my non-bike tools are Craftsman, but I have a friend who gets discount on Snap on, so I have a few pieces of those too.

However, I found that there are several American manufacturers who make excellent tools and sometimes subcontract for Snap On. These include Williams, Wright, Armstrong, Bondhaus, SK and many others.

One of the best places to get US-made tools is Harry Epstein. It is highly rated on tool forums like Garage Journal. I recently picked up an 8" 3/8 drive SK 90-tooth ratchet for $58. Very nice. I highly recommend looking here first:

https://www.harryepstein.com/

Good Luck!

[estilley]

Excellent info Mtechnica!


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[Tandem Rider]

Mtechnica pretty much nails it. I do large industrial HVAC and also abuse tools pretty hard. I would add Proto to the list for sockets and wrenches. American made seems to break less often.

[Steve in SLO]

What do you guys like?
Was in a Sears today browsing the tool section and felt like the place was going out of business.


I was in a Sears last week browsing the tool section and it WAS going out of business. Pretty sad.
I forgot to bring in my "lifetime warranty" screwdrivers for exchange.

[CaptStash]

when i worked on a ship, and in the marine industry in general - no one buys expensive tools. they all wind up rusting out, falling in the bilge, overboard, or get taken home by someone, so nothing lasts long enough to wear out.

That's interesting. I worked on the ships for 25 years and we always used the best tools. Different ship, different long splice.

I also had the mixed blessing of scrapping a few ships, and sent home more than box of tools. I have a full set of Proto open end wrenches going from 1/8" up to 2". I think it's interesting that nobody has mentioned Proto yet. For those that aren't familiar with the brand, it is the high end range from Stanley, and imho, every bit as good as Snapon.

I still have my first Craftsman ratchet set that I bought in 1972. It survived a trip to the bottom when I cleverly dropped the whole tool box into the drink working on my dad's boat. Both ratchet drivers still work just fine. It's too bad Craftsman as we knew the brand is gone. If you can find used old school Craftsman I'd grab it.

In woodworking land, I have lots of Stanley planes, Freud chisels and Disston hand saws. Everything else is quite the mishmash.

I don't have much patience for cheap tools. I did that for a bit and got tired of them being good enough, but not great. Now I try to buy great, and plan to keep it forever. Seems to be working.

CaptStash....

CaptStash....

[Louis]

My sister lives a stone's throw from Lie-Nielsen in Maine, and her neighbor used to work there, so we got a tour the last time I visited her. Very neat stuff, if you're into wood-working tools, but not cheap.

https://www.lie-nielsen.com/

https://www.lie-nielsen.com/static-file-transform/390/thumbnail%2Cw_500%2Ch_500%2Cm_a.jpg

https://www.lie-nielsen.com/static-file-transform/1748/thumbnail%2Cw_500%2Ch_500%2Cm_a.jpg

[xvxax]

I love snap on but it's extremely expensive. For non-snap on stuff I'm clinging to my usa made craftsman toolset. they're out there if you're looking. available still on ebay. new stuff is no longer usa made because of the buy out.

[weiwentg]

...

I still have my first Craftsman ratchet set that I bought in 1972. It survived a trip to the bottom when I cleverly dropped the whole tool box into the drink working on my dad's boat. Both ratchet drivers still work just fine. ...



The bottom of what, and how did it get back up? Presumably not the Atlantic ocean...

[oldpotatoe]

I'm a robotics and automated equipment technician and use hand tools a lot.

[QUOTE]Taps and Dies DO NOT CHEAP OUT ON THEM. Never needed them on a bike so far though.

Never needed a tap onna bike? Gads, I use them all the time. BUT yes, don't buy cheap taps..worse thing in the world to have one break whilst tapping something. :eek:

[Gsinill]

Knipex for pliers, Wiha and Wera for most of the rest.
Also have some Stahlwille, Gedore and Hazet.
Non-metric wrenches and sockets from HarborFreight since I don't use them very often.

[one60]

Chapman Manufacturing makes amazing quality bits and handles perfect for the home wrench. Yet somehow their prices are on par with stuff from Harbour Freight.


https://chapmanmfg.com/collections/all-tools/products/1313-standard-allen-hex-set

[redir]

Most of my stuff is woodworking tools. The Lie-Nielsen stuff is fantastic but I don't buy it because it's too expensive. It's kind of like talking about the cost of saving a few grams of weight on your 15 pound bike. At that level it's just weeny-ism. An old Stanley plane you buy on ebay and tune up properly is just as good ;)

I've had the same set of Craftsman tools for 27 years now, minus a few sockets that got lost and replaced. I wish the idiot hedge fund honcho Sears CEO actually cared more about the company and it's employees then his personal wealth, but alas, greed is good. Sears will shortly be a thing of the past.

[CaptStash]

The bottom of what, and how did it get back up? Presumably not the Atlantic ocean...

The bottom of the ocean. At least the ocean below the boat slip. All of ten feet deep. I dove on it and threw a hunk of line on the handle. Bathed the tools in WD40 and all was hunky-dory.
CaptStash....

[CaptStash]

My sister lives a stone's throw from Lie-Nielsen in Maine, and her neighbor used to work there, so we got a tour the last time I visited her. Very neat stuff, if you're into wood-working tools, but not cheap.

https://www.lie-nielsen.com/

https://www.lie-nielsen.com/static-file-transform/390/thumbnail%2Cw_500%2Ch_500%2Cm_a.jpg

https://www.lie-nielsen.com/static-file-transform/1748/thumbnail%2Cw_500%2Ch_500%2Cm_a.jpg

Pretty sure there are forum rules concerning pornography! :beer::banana:

[Ken Robb]

The S-K ratchets, sockets, open/box end wrenches that I bought in 1967 are still functionally like new. I have some Craftsman stuff too. None of it is newer than 25 years old. I don't think it's as pretty as my S-K but it all still works fine.

Our local Sears store is one of the ones being closed. There will still be two left in the county.

[unterhausen]

is Sears still replacing ratchet wrenches? I have two that don't grab. There may have been a time when they marketed good tools, but those days were ending in the '90s

[Ken Robb]

I read when Sears sold the Craftsman name that they would continue to replace damaged tools. Of course the replacements may not be as good as your old ones were when they were new but they will be functional for a while.