Where do y'all buy tools?

OmenHonkey

I Want Fancy Words TOO !
Like some of the others I was an Auto Tech. I only bought and still only Buy Snap-on Tools. I have a lot of Money invested in them and I see them as an investment that one day my daughter will be able to liquidate if needed. If your interested join some of the yard sale groups on facebook. I see tools for sale on there all the time where some young kid thought he wanted to repair cars for a few months.
 

GoldDot40

Senior Member
Since this thread just got revived...I'll throw this out there. With Black Friday coming up...you can get some AWESOME deals on hand tools during these sales. A few years back, I scored an entire SAE and metric Gearwrench set at Sears for $20. Will be a good week to keep your eyes open for some bargains.
 

jrickman

Senior Member
I pulled wrenches on helicopters in the Marine Corps from 94-00, so I've seen them all break in a million ways. What little Snap-on stuff we had did break less often than the rest, but they still broke. Warranty don't mean nothing when the nearest guy driving a Snap-on truck is 5000 miles away with an ocean in between you. This experience taught me that it's better to "buy cheap twice" up front than to "buy cheap, buy twice" or to depend on a warranty. If I can get two sets of anything decent for the same price as one with a lifetime warranty, I'll take it!
 

Lukikus2

Senior Member
I have a brewsters mix from over the years that have survived and kept going. And I have broken every brand out there. Lol Any one know any one who makes undestructable 3/8 rachets?
 

Artfuldodger

Senior Member
Back in 1971 and 1972, I worked for UTICA TOOL MANUFACTURING COMPANY which was a Division of the Triangle Corporation in Orangeburg, South Carolina. It was a really large plant that was basically split in half with 1/2 being the PLIERS SIDE (and I do mean every type of pliers known to man) and the other side was the WRENCH SIDE (which included every type of wrench, sockets, extensions, hammers, screw drivers, circular saw blades, torque wrenches, "adjustable wrenches", tool boxes, and most any other type tool every imagined. My brother-in-law was the Foreman of the PLIERS SIDE of the plant and he had worked for UTICA TOOL COMPANY when they were located in Utica, New York. He relocated with the plant when they moved to South Carolina.

We manufactured Utica, Bonney, Herbrand, Channel-Lock, lots of special runs of JOHN DEERE tools and LOTS OF CRAFTSMAN TOOLS. The funny thing is that we would run maybe 50,000 parts for Bonney or Herbrand and then would just CHANGE OVER THE NAME STAMP TO CRAFTSMAN and run another 30,000-50,000 pieces. They were the EXACT SAME SPECIFICATION FROM THE TYPE OF STEEL, MANUFACTURING DETAILS SUCH AS CHROME PLATING OR BLACK OXIDE AND ALSO THE MEASUREMENTS, INCLUDING THE ALLOWABLE TOLERANCES AS WELL ETC.

The ONLY difference was the fact the you had to pay 3 times more for the price of Craftsman tools because they had a "lifetime replacement warranty" on a tool that "failed during normal use". The bottom line is that Craftsman got your money up front and laughed all the way to the bank because very rarely did a tool break during "normal working conditions" so they never had to replace very many tools at all in the grand scheme of things. They made out like BANDITS in the process by doing it this way.

I gave my boss a 30 day notice before I quit working there and the Company gave me the opportunity during my last month to pick out whatever tools that I wanted along with a big new toolbox to keep them in. All of this was FREE to me. Some of these tools are Bonney, Herbrand, Craftsman, and John Deere (which were super "glossy" because of a new refined chrome plating that had just been developed at the time).

I still remember when I left on my last day as the Plant Superintendent wrote me a "gate pass" for this entire bunch of tools including the tool box and I gave it to the Security Guards before saying farewell to all of them. I still have all of these tools and toolbox and I have continued using them since 1972. On several of these tools, I actually performed various operations in the manufacturing process of them. The good news is that I have never broken any of these tools since back in 1972 either and I use them every week in one way or another.

If I ever needed to buy a new tool now, you can bet it won't be a CRAFTSMAN because of what I have known since 1971-1972.

I've ran across a couple of guys in Augusta that worked in that plant as well. I enjoy looking through old tools in junk barns and flea markets. I don't believe I've ever seen any John Deere branded tools.
I found a Plomb socket the other day. My Dad bought me my first socket set in the mid 70's. It was a Herbrand set.

Plomb was challenged by Plumb and changed to Proto.
 

Artfuldodger

Senior Member
The OP was looking for a step up from entry level. I did find a list for entry level socket sets to include;
Tekton, Westward, Gearwrench, Craftsman, Crescent, SK(made in America), & Stanley.

Many of the Apex Tool Group tools are now made in China instead of Taiwan.
I do like the laser etched markings some companies use to identify the size. My vision is bad and I can't hardly read the markings on my sockets. I have them on plastic rails which suck because they don't stay put. The old school metal rails suck too.

I do like my Stanley/Armstrong/Blackhawk Rotator Ratchet. You can twist the handle either way to turn the socket after you get the nut loose. The head is bigger so it doesn't always fit on everything. I bought mine for $12.00 when Advance Auto changed to Gearwrench branded tools. Plastic handle will probably fall apart 30 years from now.

https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-89-9...pID=31GZUqeeJZL&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
 
Top