Tool Brands to watch for:

hemigremmy

hemigremmy

New Member
#61
#61
I may have posted this a long time ago but there is a few of these in Ohio that everything in the store is made in America. Prices on the tools are kinda high but I would rather pay for a quality tool once then to buy junk tools 3 or 4 times.
Made in America Store
 
markus

markus

Well-Known Member
#63
#63
:laugh: I just pissed snap-on off. woke up this morning to find that they went after me on ebay and had a listing shut down for a timing belt service tool I had listed. I guess They don't like when you resell something they still sell for half of what they list if for :shrug: said something about copyright, dont know what I did cause ebay just makes the listing totally disappear, I dont think I copy or pastes anything and the pictures of the tool were of my actual tool.
 
Clayon

Clayon

#64
#64
That's odd. There's lots of Snap On stuff on eBay for sale, and I'm pretty sure they still make it. Who knows I guess. :shrug:


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
toomanytoys

toomanytoys

Well-Known Member
#65
#65
Williams to me is the best old stuff. I have boxes of that stuff my uncle stole from the coal mine in the 70s.

Honestly, I am not a tool snob. However, my tool collection is made up of mainly wright, proto, snap on, mac stuff.

Now, I said I'm not a tool snob and my tool box is full of name brand good tools. However, my go to tool set is a 88 piece cresent brand tool set in a nice plastic travel case. Has 1/4 to 1/2" drive, metric and standard, deep wells and regular, screw drivers, allen wrenches, combo wrenches and a nice assortment of light duty torq bits, and other crap.

I use that for 99% of my work. I got it for a Christmas present from the coal mine in 2005, and I have used it forever. I actually broke the 1/2" ratchet, and 7/8" socket trying to get the bumper off my Ram. I looked it up online, filed a warranty claim and they sent me a new replacements.

For Christmas this year I got a nice 258 piece craftsman set. I have no had a chance to even use this.

For working on mini bikes, with the tiny hardware honestly you don't need expensive tools. If you want to throw away money buying high end tools to take a 3/8" bolt off a mini bike then that is up to you. Most automotive jobs don't require heavy duty tools, a harbor freight tool set will work fine.
 
Last edited:
markus

markus

Well-Known Member
#66
#66
Clayon said:
That's odd. There's lots of Snap On stuff on eBay for sale, and I'm pretty sure they still make it. Who knows I guess. :shrug:


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I relisted it and I copied from a sold listing just in case it happened again i could go back on them. I had it on craigs too though and a guy called at like 9:00pm last night frantically needing it for a t-belt job today and ran over and bought it, so now I'll never know :shrug: I never had problems before selling my snap on stuff.
 
MoTo-BunnY

MoTo-BunnY

Member
#67
#67
toomanytoys said:
For working on mini bikes, with the tiny hardware honestly you don't need expensive tools. If you want to throw away money buying high end tools to take a 3/8" bolt off a mini bike then that is up to you. Most automotive jobs don't require heavy duty tools, a harbor freight tool set will work fine.
Click to expand...
I will have to respectively disagree with that statement to an extent. You don't NEED the expensive tools but they sure make working on stuff a lot nicer and safer.

Having a cheap 10mm wrench jaws stretch under pressure and it suddenly changes to a 14mm, in a confined area of a car and you skin the heck out of your knuckles (or even break your hand) isn't worth the few bucks you saves buying the crap tools. Besides, I am buying my classic USA made tools at $1 here, $2 there at swap meets-hardly expensive by any measure!

Buying faddish electronics that cost hundreds and that are obsolete in 5-12 months, so you can walk around looking like a zombie all the time staring at your little phone screen, is wasting money. Buying high quality tools is an investment, at least it is for me as I make money with mine! Just finished up fixing a classic pinball last night and was loving my good tools every minute, especially those magnetic tip nut-drivers. :thumbsup:
 
Boomstick

Boomstick

New Member
#68
#68
I let people buy shiny, new Crapsman, and I pretty much take their old, dingy Blackhawk, MAC, etc. tools off of their hands for pretty much scrap price. Even free sometimes.

Hey, works for me.
 
Boomstick

Boomstick

New Member
#69
#69
MoTo-BunnY said:
I will have to respectively disagree with that statement to an extent. You don't NEED the expensive tools but they sure make working on stuff a lot nicer and safer.

Having a cheap 10mm wrench jaws stretch under pressure and it suddenly changes to a 14mm, in a confined area of a car and you skin the heck out of your knuckles (or even break your hand) isn't worth the few bucks you saves buying the crap tools. Besides, I am buying my classic USA made tools at $1 here, $2 there at swap meets-hardly expensive by any measure!

Buying faddish electronics that cost hundreds and that are obsolete in 5-12 months, so you can walk around looking like a zombie all the time staring at your little phone screen, is wasting money. Buying high quality tools is an investment, at least it is for me as I make money with mine! Just finished up fixing a classic pinball last night and was loving my good tools every minute, especially those magnetic tip nut-drivers. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

And I absolutely agree. Admittedly, you don't need to go out and buy the absolute BEST tool set made of billet unobtanium struck from Thor's hammer itself, but a good tool will last lifetimes if cared for & not abused.

Now on the other hand, yes. I have cheap, no-name tool sets (wrenches, sockets, etc.) that I use, break & throw away when I don't want to beat on my good stuff.

Cheap tools have a valuable place in the world. I don't feel bad about heating up a Harbor freight wrench & bending it to reach a really hard to reach nut. I would almost rather shoot myself in the leg rather than do the same to a good, vintage/antique tool.
 
toomanytoys

toomanytoys

Well-Known Member
#70
#70
MoTo-BunnY said:
I will have to respectively disagree with that statement to an extent. You don't NEED the expensive tools but they sure make working on stuff a lot nicer and safer.

Having a cheap 10mm wrench jaws stretch under pressure and it suddenly changes to a 14mm, in a confined area of a car and you skin the heck out of your knuckles (or even break your hand) isn't worth the few bucks you saves buying the crap tools. Besides, I am buying my classic USA made tools at $1 here, $2 there at swap meets-hardly expensive by any measure!

Buying faddish electronics that cost hundreds and that are obsolete in 5-12 months, so you can walk around looking like a zombie all the time staring at your little phone screen, is wasting money. Buying high quality tools is an investment, at least it is for me as I make money with mine! Just finished up fixing a classic pinball last night and was loving my good tools every minute, especially those magnetic tip nut-drivers. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
If a 10mm head bolt is so tight that your wrench breaks before the bolt breaks off you are doing something wrong.....just saying...
 
S1att3r

S1att3r

New Member
#71
#71
My tool set consist of 80% Snap-On, 15% Blue Point, and the other 5% random brands. But my favorite ratchet is actually Crescent brand. Pulled a rear end out of an Explorer using just that ratchet.
 
Clayon

Clayon

#72
#72
I agree with MotoBunny and Boomstick. I have bought cheap tools in the past when I was starting out because that's what I could afford. But then as I started doing more work I saved and started buying good quality tools, and there is a difference. Ever notice that cheap wrenches don't always fit the bolt head snugly? try a Snap On wrench on it, it will fit nicer. At the end of the day that means no rounding of corners, and that will make a difference, especially if the fastener is loosened/tightened a lot.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
S1att3r

S1att3r

New Member
#73
#73
Clayon said:
Ever notice that cheap wrenches don't always fit the bolt head snugly? try a Snap On wrench on it, it will fit nicer. At the end of the day that means no rounding of corners, and that will make a difference, especially if the fastener is loosened/tightened a lot.
Click to expand...
Ya I notice that a lot. Sometimes on drain plugs my Snap-On 15mm will be too big and the 14mm too small, so I use a cheap 14mm and it ends up working because its a bit over-sized.
 
MoTo-BunnY

MoTo-BunnY

Member
#74
#74
toomanytoys said:
If a 10mm head bolt is so tight that your wrench breaks before the bolt breaks off you are doing something wrong.....just saying...
Click to expand...
No, I'M not the one at fault, it is the previous owners that thought a 10mm bolt needed 70 ft-lbs of torque and with no anti-seize compound, 40 years ago in a rust-belt state..... :doah: In my 25+ years of turning a wrench, I've stretched a few cheapie wrenches so it's not really uncommon.... :shrug:

Ever work on an old rust belt vehicle? broken bolts all day long, no matter what you do, especially anything to do with the exhaust system...... I'm SO glad to be on the West coast now, nice rust free vintage vehicles used as daily drivers, all over the place that would be show cars in the Midwest! :biggrin:
 
Last edited:
MoTo-BunnY

MoTo-BunnY

Member
#75
#75
Clayon said:
I agree with MotoBunny and Boomstick. I have bought cheap tools in the past when I was starting out because that's what I could afford. But then as I started doing more work I saved and started buying good quality tools, and there is a difference. Ever notice that cheap wrenches don't always fit the bolt head snugly? try a Snap On wrench on it, it will fit nicer. At the end of the day that means no rounding of corners, and that will make a difference, especially if the fastener is loosened/tightened a lot.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Yep, I've noticed the "flexible" system of measurement on the cheapie wrenches too, lol.....I've had to use a metric wrench on a known SAE or a SAE on a metric to get a tight fit because of that! yikes We have an "open" shop with multiple users that come and go, where we have the cheap tools available openly (so if anything gets lost or walks away, no big deal...) and I get stuck using them sometimes if I'm too lazy to drag out my good tools, lol.

I especially dig the set of older Craftsman 6-point wrenches I have, for that purpose of getting a tight fit. The 6-points are MUCH harder to strip the head on a nut than a 12-point. Only bad thing is you can't always get them in there, if space is limited (like you can't quite get it on the nut without the handle hitting either way first).

I also swear by that old mechanic trick of tightening the fastener just a tad first to kinda break it free first, THEN loosening it. Usually works every time even on already rounded stuff (from a previous user). :thumbsup:
 
Last edited:
CarPlayLB

CarPlayLB

Well-Known Member
#76
#76
Was thinkin' 'bout you today Moto...went to the swap meet at lunch (it's OK if I skip quite a few meals!) and found some S-K brand combo wrenches...2 dolla, made me holla! They were the nice, smooth, shiny finish, heavy ones. I need them like I need another hole in my head, but 2 dolla? I had to get 'em!
 
MoTo-BunnY

MoTo-BunnY

Member
#77
#77
CarPlayLB said:
Was thinkin' 'bout you today Moto...went to the swap meet at lunch (it's OK if I skip quite a few meals!) and found some S-K brand combo wrenches...2 dolla, made me holla! They were the nice, smooth, shiny finish, heavy ones. I need them like I need another hole in my head, but 2 dolla? I had to get 'em!
Click to expand...
ha ha....cool! sounds like me, I totally don't need any more tools but they just call to me..... "Jana, take me hommmme!" lol At this rate, I'm going to end up on one of those hoarder intervention shows!! :eek:ut: The Krazy Tool Lady (tm) !!! at least it's more original than hoarding cats? :biggrin:
 
Boomstick

Boomstick

New Member
#79
#79
MoTo-BunnY said:
No, I'M not the one at fault, it is the previous owners that thought a 10mm bolt needed 70 ft-lbs of torque and with no anti-seize compound, 40 years ago in a rust-belt state..... :doah: In my 25+ years of turning a wrench, I've stretched a few cheapie wrenches so it's not really uncommon.... :shrug:

Ever work on an old rust belt vehicle? broken bolts all day long, no matter what you do, especially anything to do with the exhaust system...... I'm SO glad to be on the West coast now, nice rust free vintage vehicles used as daily drivers, all over the place that would be show cars in the Midwest! :biggrin:
Click to expand...

Lady, I live in the rust belt. LOL.

A brand new car in CT is pretty much dead within 5-6yrs. unless you scrub the undercarriage all of the damn time.
 
MoTo-BunnY

MoTo-BunnY

Member
#80
#80
Boomstick said:
Lady, I live in the rust belt. LOL.

A brand new car in CT is pretty much dead within 5-6yrs. unless you scrub the undercarriage all of the damn time.
Click to expand...
Yep, you have to have a separate "winter beater" car unless you are washing the underneth of your car after EVERY time you drive it!

Sent from my TI-99/4A using ARPANET Dial-Up V1.0
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top