Buying Tools.

My cousin and I were having a conversation about tools made in the USA the other day and he made a pretty good point.

There's not a lot, anymore.

So, the topic of tool quality and where tools were made came up and that got me wondering. What do you guys look for in tools when you buy them?

Is it just the price? Is it the country of origin? Is it some middle ground somewhere? Do you care at all? I know personally, I will pay for quality. I like to buy the BEST tools I can afford, as they last longer, and they are good investments. What best means is always different. Where it's from is always different. It something is made in China but has a VERY good reputation, I may still purchase it. Whereas some things made in China you couldn't pay me enough money to use.

If a tool was made in the USA, would you be more drawn to it, just to help stimulate the economy, or support this country?

What are your thoughts?

Depends. Stuff that I use seldomly I usually just buy a cheap Harbor Freight one. I bought a hand held jigsaw for $10 to build my smoker. Thing was literally burning in my hand and was useless and thrown away by the time I'd finished building it.
Anything with intricate parts, gear wrenches, sockets, etc I buy the nicest I can find. I also still have a level of trust in Sears and Craftsmen tools as I worked for the company for like 4 or five years and saw some gnarly stuff replaced without question. I worked in home electronics though.

I am with grant, I buy good tools for things I will use over and over, cheap tools for the once or twice things.

I have good luck with craftsman, snap on, husky, Bosch, and Dewalt.

Pretty much what was said above, but I've found that Sears is getting cheaper and some of the Harbor Freight hand tools aren't bad and allegedly have a lifetime guarantee. I find myself as often as not buying whatever brand the Ace or True Value store I'm in at the time has on the shelf.

A lot of the bigger Harbor Freight stuff isn't much less money than the brand names...I've been looking for a wood thickness planer so I can buy (or make with my chainsaw mill) rough lumber and spend less cash than buying S4S wood.

Often times searching for good used stuff is the way to go.

Quote
fiasco
Pretty much what was said above, but I've found that Sears is getting cheaper and some of the Harbor Freight hand tools aren't bad and allegedly have a lifetime guarantee. I find myself as often as not buying whatever brand the Ace or True Value store I'm in at the time has on the shelf.

A lot of the bigger Harbor Freight stuff isn't much less money than the brand names...I've been looking for a wood thickness planer so I can buy (or make with my chainsaw mill) rough lumber and spend less cash than buying S4S wood.

Often times searching for good used stuff is the way to go.

Good point..
I have made a point with customers who I want to have OK tools --ya know, so they might actually use them---to take them to some places with LOTS of used stuff...
You pay 1/2 price for the Craftsman maybe, but miraculously get full guarantee if one breaks it.
But that's thinking ahead.

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

So having a good warranty, and standing behind it is important. I like that, I missed that point.

The biggest thing Craftsman has going for it is you can get it swapped out easily anywhere that's more civilized than Somalia. I like the feel and quality of the stuff that comes off the truck to the "pro" better, but it's a PITA to chase down a Snap-On (Mac, Matco, etc) truck if you're Joey Home Mechanic.

Quote
fiasco
The biggest thing Craftsman has going for it is you can get it swapped out easily anywhere that's more civilized than Somalia. I like the feel and quality of the stuff that comes off the truck to the "pro" better, but it's a PITA to chase down a Snap-On (Mac, Matco, etc) truck if you're Joey Home Mechanic.

Sure, but everybody has the preferences and fufilling those preferences is really aserious question of how much will it cost for say my preferences for a shallow in the shaft of a copmbo wrench and the angle of the typical combo wrench from Bacho or Stahlwille or Facom or Gedore vs the Raised ceter of the US junk.
In the end, big deal, and I work literally daily with my hand tools.

Bacho:





Svensk kvalität

Stahwille aus Der Bundesrepublik:


Echte Deutsch Qualität

Bought a LOT of Gedore for low cost durable stuff since so many of my tools wander off by themselves and crawl into nice warm toolboxes of freinds where they won't be disturbed as much:

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/22/2011 11:29PM by john vanlandingham.

My garage is all craftsman stuff, But I did purchase one of the Crescent sets from Costco, for junkyard trips, I'm impressed with the set, has a lifetime warranty, most of the tools you need, and you know when you are leaving something behind at the JY because it's not in its little slot. I plan on buying another set to go in the car if it ever gets done.

this one
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=crescent+tool+set&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=13359882178554045497&sa=X&ei=971TTrPiGeWGsALp4pWvBw&ved=0CHUQ8gIwAw

got it on sale for like 75-80 bux. I really like the ratchets, as they take half the normal rotation to get them to "click" for those tight spots, and have yet to break one

I have had quite the experience in this field.

For the home hobbiest, anything goes, really. Craftsman being a really good option.

But now, if you make a living with those tools, its a different story. Not only the Pro tools are better engineered for say tighter places, but also the materials they're made with. You dont want to have downtime because the tools let you down.

At my uncle's race shop when I was growing up all he ever had was Beta, Facom, and SK... soon after that companies like Craftsman(pro series) Matco etc started showing up in europe and at REALLY good prices with warranty it was hard to pass up. That was UNTIL that shit started failing and leaving the mechanics stranded in the middle of projects. They simple just didnt last long at all and for everday use, the expenssive stuff ended up being cheaper.

I am sending my family members to rally friend/co/driver/pal Scott McCarty from now on for all my gift needs as he's a full time mechanic (and a damn good one) and knows most of what I have and what I need and could get me pro quality tools. Was so bummed when Abbey mentioned she was going to get me a new cordless impact but didn't know where to start. A phone call to Scott would have solved that one!
I had a Harbor Freight 19 mm impact socket on a Subaru lugnut with a Harbor Freight cordless impact blow up on me the very first time I used it. Tolerances and metalurgy are the big ones there. I kept the rest of the set and have seen friends use them out of my box but I won't use them anymore. The 1/2 drive drill has powered through more hole saw cuts than anything on the other hand and has worked flawless for 4-5 years now and was about 30% of a comparable one. The 3/8 drive drill burnt out while replacing about 20 screws on the steps on our patio.

I've been helping my brother shop for tools since he's doing a "career change" and going to automotive repair school (getting ASE certified and all that). I'll readily admit that Snap-on, Mac, Matco, etc. are way better than the typical consumer level stuff (Craftsman, Husky, HF, etc.), but I can't help being shocked off my ass when a complete screw driver set is over $350 new, and upwards of $150 used. And to be honest, for those of us on a budget and aren't pros, it's darn near impossible to justify such an expenditure. And when it comes down to it, while it is nice and it is best to purchase high quality stuff, I think it's more important to have tools than not, even if that means buying lower end stuff that'll get the job done.

BTW, for anyone shopping for pro level tools used, we've actually found that eBay is as good or better than most local craigslist ads and places that sell used tools (i.e. pawn shops or used tool stores). This is especially true when a local deal might require driving 50+ miles round trip (which adds $7+ to the purchase for the cost of gas). My brother was able to get a complete, decent condition Snap-on combo screwdriver set (including a ratcheting) for under $100 shipped, and a set of 1/2" 8-19mm impact sockets for $80 shipped. Deals are there to be had!

Grant, what does Scott recommend for cordless impacts? I have a monster Milwaukee that's awesome and torqueriffic, but weighs about 16lbs. I have a smaller Bosch that's been a trooper, but doesn't have enough torque to properly do lugnuts. I'd like to find something small enough to carry in the car and has enough torque to do lugnuts.


On another note, for handtools I generally stick to Craftsman but for torque wrenches I bought Snap-On. I had a bunch of Craftsman and SK and others go bad. I mean, ratchet heads falling apart, going out of torque, that sort of thing.

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hoche
I'd like to find something small enough to carry in the car and has enough torque to do lugnuts.

I haz a brilliant idea!

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Oh, sure, purely mechanical and totally reliable.

What kind of modern rallyist are you?


(This is what I actually use, so neener.)