Tool brands good and bad (NGC)

[BSABEN]

I would like to find a good set of "S" wrenches and a good set of screwdrivers. Don't want Harbor Freight but can't justify Snap-on. Preference for wrenches is a good fit but not "thick" in the area around what surrounds the nut/bolt. For screwdrivers a good fit and tip that lasts.
Any recommendations?

[AJ Huff]

Can't speak for S wrenches. I really like my SK screwdrivers and sockets. I have Allen brand combination wrenches and Gearwrenches. I like both.

-AJ

[Moparnut72]

The higher level screwdrivers are actually quite good. I have had two sets.  The first burned up in a fire, the second I still have. They first lasted several years the second is going on 5 and no sign of wear, chipping,  bending or other. I even use wrenches on the hexes on the shanks for added torque. I still have all my wrenches which survived the fire, shop burned down, all  older Craftsman. It was a very hot fire, melted most of my Harley.
kk

[Noguzznoglory]

I ordered a set of Vessel Brand JIS screwdrivers that I like. Not sure if they make standard screwdrivers.

Don’t skimp on the wrenches. I have removed a bolt with a snap on wrench that felt like it was going to round off with a craftsman. At least make sure what your buying is something similar to snap-on’s “flank drive”

[cliffrod]

High quality Spline drive wrenches, sockets and torque arms are hard to beat.  Much more versatile than a 6 or 12 point hex wrench, so they're a better value in terms of $$ and storage than having multiple sets.   I believe the Snap on Flank drive is a proprietary design works on the same principle as spline drive, using the flats instead of the corners the drive the rotation. 

If I was starting from scratch and didn't already have decades of accumulated tools, I would probably start over with spline drive everything.

[Moparnut72]

I should have added that today's Craftsman tools are a far cry from old ones.
Akk

[Murray]

Wiha for screwdrivers S wrenches I can't say I've played with much spline drives tend to be bulky around the nut and the kinda thing you really need to spend money on otherwise they are less than useless. I can say people like Stahwille and Hazet make good gear but depending on where you are they might make snapon look cheap. The other thing I find quiet handy is an offset ring spanner (offset box wrench) for tight acess although you know what you are trying to get to and may be entirely unsuitable.

Facom might be decent middle ground although last I heard Stanley brought them out and we all know which way that's going. Koken also do nice gear with price between but mainly sockets (may even be exclusively).

[Kev m]

I haven't checked in a while but when I last did Kobalt was selling some of the best of the non-professional-priced stuff. I'm very happy with a metric set of Kobalt wrenches I've had since they debuted.

When they first came about a couple decades ago I believe they were being produced by Snap-On and certainly have some similar design points and feel when I compare with the Snap-On in my box.

So if I had a current need they're the first place I'd check.

[s1120]

Tools are kinda like a oil thread...  Having worked in a shop, and home, and steps inbetween, one thing I can say is that they will all break, and they will all slip if your not paying attention..  My thought was always to get the tool that can be replaced when broken. Snap-on and Mac were common in the old dealer I worked in, because those were the trucks that came.  Frankly my stuff is mostly old Craftsman that ive had since school in the 80's. I gotta say most of my new stuff that I get, is Kobalt. The cheap tools these days are the best they have ever been. Might not be the best...  bit more then good enough for what I do now, and frankly I work on a lot of old, rusty, stuck stuff, and the last tool I broke was a snap-on flex head ratchet...  I do love that ratchet.. it is a great size/shape for a lot of hard to get stuff, but the gears are like glass in it, and it has been repaired countless times.

[Ncdan]

+1 on Kobalt. Good warranty and one would have to spend much more money to get a better quality.

[AJ Huff]

My thought was always to get the tool that can be replaced when broken.

Agreed! That's what made Craftsman so appealing once upon a time. I concur that Kobalt is the 21st century version. Decent combination of quality and price with warranty at a store near by.

-AJ

[s1120]

Agreed! That's what made Craftsman so appealing once upon a time. I concur that Kobalt is the 21st century version. Decent combination of quality and price with warranty at a store near by.

-AJ

Ya, I wont buy the new Craftsman..  Not that I think they are junk..  but granted not as good as they were...  But I dont see them as any better then the others, and they cost a lot more. Lowes sells them at about 1/3 more then Kobolt, and I like the feel of the Kolbolt better.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Ya, I wont buy the new Craftsman..  Not that I think they are junk..

I do.  They are apparently designed to pass warranty. Heavy, thick walled, big radii to a fault. I have a few of Dorcia's dad's 50s Craftsman wrenches. Snap on quality, really.
I, too, went with Cobalt when buying a few tools for SoCal use. They pass the quality/price test.

[wymple]

I don't see much user difference in anything that isn't at the bottom of the pricing scale.

[Noguzznoglory]

+1 on Kobalt. Good warranty and one would have to spend much more money to get a better quality.

I have some kobalt also and like the quality. Not sure if Lowe’s is still selling them since they got craftsman. They replaced a kobalt ratchet I had with a craftsman

[Wildroamer]

Wiha for screwdrivers...

^ This.

[berniebee]

I've worked on many motorcycles, bikes, cars, snowblowers, lawnmowers and generators over a period of 45 years.
 One of these days I'll need "S" wrenches, I guess.

[Don G]

Got a set of 1970' Craftsman S wrench's, never ever have been used, never found an application where they were needed. DonG

[s1120]

Got a set of 1970' Craftsman S wrench's, never ever have been used, never found an application where they were needed. DonG

I had some years ago also, and with all the cars, tractors, motorcycles, etc ive worked on there has never been a real need for them. I DO have quite a collection of ground, cut, welded, and/or bent wrenches on hand that have been VARY handy!!  And all started from some wrench  most of us would toss away.

[ken farr]

Check out Tekton.
Family owned.
U.S. made, mostly.
Outstanding warranty.
Great service.

kjf

[ozarquebus]

I had a cross-alley neighbor as a kid in the early 60s. Even then he said then 'new' Craftsman was no good compared to his huge horde of older Craftsman tools.

[larrys]

 have accumulated a sizable collection of the old Craftsman nickel plated socket sets. They are very good quality.
Larry

[philwarner]

I should have added that today's Craftsman tools are a far cry from old ones.
Akk

I worked for Mac in Ohio until 1980 when I took a job with Easco in Arkansas designing forge dies for craftsman tools.  In the early 90s Craftsman tools were still made in the USA in several locations, but in the mid 90s production began shifting to China. 

[Kiwi_Roy]

I worked for Mac in Ohio until 1980 when I took a job with Easco in Arkansas designing forge dies for craftsman tools.  In the early 90s Craftsman tools were still made in the USA in several locations, but in the mid 90s production began shifting to China.  At first just the Sears branded wrenches were Chinese, but now all Craftsman tools come from China, the country that has given us much more than poor tools lately.

If you think the Chinese tools we get are crap, you should see what the Chinese construction workers get to use on a daily basis.
Bits of rebar beaten into shape. I spent a lot of time in the last 10 years working in new petrochemical sites around the Beijing area.
,
Welding Cable
,
Ground Connection


It never ceased to amaze me how they could take a brand new plant and make it look 60 years old.
It wasn't really surprising when you ended up with something like this.
I watched while an Instrument mechanic threw away the seals and used layers of teflon tape in its place.


I got so used to seeing tools made from rebar I stopped taking pictures of them, we used to ship a toolbox from site to site for assembling our glass lined piping.
All the good tools they make are shipped overseas to us who can afford them.

[philwarner]

Interesting photos and story.  It is amazing what some countries see as normal.  When we bought a German screw press, the German techs told me that they had sold a press in India and when they arrived to set it up were told to install in an open field and while they were setting it up Indian workers were making bricks on site to build a building around it and some of the Indian workers lived in the packing crates the press parts had been shipped in.

[Two Checks]

Quote from: philwarner on December 02, 2020, 01:13:54 PM

I worked for Mac in Ohio until 1980 when I took a job with Easco in Arkansas designing forge dies for craftsman tools.  In the early 90s Craftsman tools were still made in the USA in several locations, but in the mid 90s production began shifting to China.  At first just the Sears branded wrenches were Chinese, but now all Craftsman tools come from China, the country that has given us much more than poor tools lately.

This is incorrect. Depending on the tool and where you buy it the source could be China, Taiwan or the US.

Also, the "industrial" line is built on the old Easco production line.

[sign216]

Quote from: philwarner on December 02, 2020, 01:13:54 PM

I worked for Mac in Ohio until 1980 when I took a job with Easco in Arkansas designing forge dies for craftsman tools.  In the early 90s Craftsman tools were still made in the USA in several locations, but in the mid 90s production began shifting to China.  At first just the Sears branded wrenches were Chinese, but now all Craftsman tools come from China, the country that has given us much more than poor tools lately.

This is incorrect. Depending on the tool and where you buy it the source could be China, Taiwan or the US.

Also, the "industrial" line is built on the old Easco production line.

Before Sears sold off Craftsman just a couple of years ago (the beginning of the end for Sears) some of their hand tools were still made in the US.  Maybe 20%.  A close exam would show it. 

When the Sears near me was closing, I (and every other guy) raided their tool dept for the good stuff.

[Knuckle Dragger]

There's much better value to be had in old wrenches & socketry when purchased second hand.  All the usual (USA made) suspects are usually well represented, plus you could also look out for the likes of Hazet, Facom, Felo, Heyco, Stahlwille, Dowidat, Gedore, Stahlwille & even older Japanese Minimax tools, all of which have earned well-deserved reputations.  These are but a rather small selection of the literal hundreds of former & present quality Euro tool manufacturers.

The alien brands are of course far more likely to have proper SI sizing as opposed to the more common indigenous SAE preponderance of your local manufacturers when shopping for second hand tools.

I personally use a combination of old Heyco & Stahlwille tools mostly on the bikes.  I also have a fairly comprehensive range of well-loved Sidchrome socket sets, spanners & wrenches, mainly because I'm a proud Aussie who loves old Australian made tools, & I believe in their famous "100 year Guarantee" against breakage, even if modern asian made Sidchromes are actually crap these days!

My preferred Shifters/Adjustables/Monkey Wrenches have always been the Sandvik/Bahco "ergo" range, preferably those of Swedish rather than French or Spanish make, simply because there's none better in my opinion.  Buy these new, as the jaws are likely to have been butchered if used by inexperienced or uncaring hands.

In regard to screwdrivers, I'd thoroughly recommend buying new, as the tips are realistically far more subject to wear & abuse than most other types of wrenches, spanners, sockets etc.  I have 2 particular favourites/recommendations here:  one is the Felo wooden & "Ergonic" range of soft-grip handled tools.  Both have properly shaped & extremely comfortable wide (i.e. thicker bulbous) handles, the latter of which are a tough but resilient & amazingly comfortable urethane soft-grip.

My other favourite is the wonderful range of Bahco branded ratcheting handles.  There's a few, each with particular merits.  A standard length pair have bit cassettes concealed within, with one also having an at times invaluable pair of LED bulbs for illumination.  There's also Pistol-Grip, Stubbie & T-handle ratchets, all ergonomically covered with a rubberised grip.  All are usefully & comfortably ovalised for extra purchase in the hand.  As a sparkie I habitually preferred my standard Bahco ratchets for all-day non-live work, & otherwise used Bahco-branded German Belzer & Spanish Irazola 1000V VDE insulated drivers.  I never really did like the more common Wera & Wiha solid screwdrivers that the majority of my colleagues used.

My favourite bits for the ratchet drivers (best fit & longest lifetime) are Wiha's diamond-coated torsion bits which I use interchangeably between ratchet handles & Drill/Drivers.

[Muzz]

I have two Stahlwille double ring spanners for 50 years now; still showroom quality. 12-14mm and 17-19mm so used often.  brilliant.

These days I don't need so much quality, even cheap stuff will outlast me!   However, band for the buck I find Powerbuilt and Gearwrench pretty good.  A tool that still performs averagely ok for a cheap price (Guzzi content)  I find Fuller does that pretty well.