Fit for purpose more important than country of origin?

[Nikolai_V]

Firstly, hi to everyone here from teh other side of the world, down here in New Zealand. i`ve been lurking on here for a while, looking for advice and technical hints, but this is the first post.

A common theme seems to be "buy USA made rather than japanese/german/italian/british/taiwanese etc..." which is a bit hard for us down here in NZ, and not actually seen as desirable. We have the ubiquitous Snap-On trucks (which I do buy from), but due to our geographical location and free trade policies we can pick and choose from the rest of teh worlds produuction and assemble a dream-team so to speak. Only having 4 million people here, our local manufacturing base is limited mainly to technology and support for primary industries, rather than tool making.

My question is this, how many of you pick the eyes out of the tool makers catalogs to get the best tools for the job, regardless of country of origin? (We have the same concerns with outsourcing to china, and most of their stuff isnt so good so disregard them...)

For instance, my box contains complete Koken 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 sets, deep, impact, universal the lot, which I was encouraged to buy over snap-on by technician friends of mine who work in the aerospace industry. (they do some awesome titanium sockets and wrenches with pentagonal drive...drool...), as well as Koken screwdrivers (but a Snappie ratcheting one - definitley the best).

I use hitachi and Metabo power tools, as they out perform DeWalt and have better backup. Mitsutoyo measuring equipment, stahlwille wrenches, Vise-grips, Bondhus hex keys etc.

Random auto tools like bleeder kits or bearing packers are just the generic Powerbuilt brand (taiwanese) as theyre not exactly under much stress.

Is this approach common over there? I mean dont get me wrong, a full snap-on kit is certainly pretty and good quality, but I ( and most other kiwis - including mechanics and aerospace guys) are put off by the cost and limited availablity. All the above mentioned brands (even the taiwanese stuff) offer lifetime warranties just like Snap-on in NZ at least.

I also have a garage filled with wierd machinery so need the full assortment for working on 2-stroke road race bikes, old range rovers and land rovers as well as our VW passat (torx ahoy), so thats metric/euro/BS/Whitworth.

Look forward to your replies.

[trovato]

Hi Nikolai, and welcome to the group. Yes, there are many of us who have a selection of tools from many manufacturers and countries of origin. Here in the United States, we have been seeing a lot of manufacturing leave the country in favor of lower cost options. There is a sense of loss here associated with this, and patriotism that makes many feel strongly about buying US made. But it is only the most wealthy of "amateur mechanics" among us who can afford to stock our shops with only Snap-On. I have some of everything. Some is US made. Some is made elsewhere and was selected because it is better. And sometimes it's a choice of having a cheaper import tool or not having that particular tool at all.

[eschoendorff]

Hey there Nikolai!

Yeah, many of us spout off about buying American and such, but I can also tell you that you would find a lot of non USA made tools in my garage. I even have a good amount of stuff from Harbor Freight. I try to buy USA when i can, but sometimes that isn't the best choice.

There are quite a few of us who are very passionate about buying USA goods, but if you pay attention, you will notice that a lot of the threads are softening up on goods from Taiwan. Hey, they make good quality stuff (mostly)! And, you can find some really crappy stuff coming out of USA manufacturers (Craftsman ratchets anyone???). My tool box has tools from as many different manufacturers as I could find, so that I have experience with as broad a spectrum as possible. i know taht there is not much love for the French here in the USA, but they make some really nice tools (FACOM)!

[nissan_crawler]

I buy what works well, and is a reasonable price. if it's american, that's a bonus, but I freely admit not all of my stuff is, and not all of it has an equal american replacement, either.

In my work box I have snap-on, craftsman, sk, gearwrench, mac, knipex, Chapman, Grip, (and I'm sure others I'm forgetting) for hand tools. I have Rockwell, IR, Aircat (replacing my IR stuff with aircat), jiffy, dotco, cleco, central pneumatic, and chicago pneumatic for air tools. I have starret, mitutoyo (I know I messed that up), and HF stuff for measuring. I have Fluke for electrical stuff.

I also buy many of my tools used. I let somebody else take the hit on price. I just bought a 1/4"-1" set of craftsman pros on ebay for $55. Store prices is $100. I saved $45 and don't give a damn if there's a few micro scratches in the chrome, it's a tool, and I'm going to scratch it also.

I've bought two snap on 4-way 30/60 3/8"-3/4" wrench sets for $90, retail for $240.

I just bought 6 Snap-On 2" crowfoots for $90 total, kept one, and am selling the rest for $30 each.

I've paid no more than $15 for each of my snap-on swivel sockets.

I bought a 1/2" snap on ratchet with sockets on ebay, sold the sockets and GAINED $5 while keeping the ratchet.

I bought a 3/8" snap on ratchet with sockets on ebay, sold the sockets, and ended up only paying $5 for the ratchet, which I then got $40 in trade in on it towards a new fine tooth 3/8".

I guess the moral of my story is that I prefer quality used tools over new poorer quality tools.

[64merc]

I also buy many of my tools used. I let somebody else take the hit on price.

I guess the moral of my story is that I prefer quality used tools over new poorer quality tools.

This is my strategy too :thumbup: There are also great deals to be had on old obsolete USA brands.

[Thumper]

Stahlwille wrenches are awesome. I have a set of metric offset boxends and love them !

[chrenan]

Hey, I lived in Dunedin for a year, on Baxter Street. That is an amazing place, I loved it there.

From a Canadian perpective, I'd say we are similar to the US in that we favour US made tools over the Chinese equivalent. I use Snap-On ratchets (vintage used) as I think the quality difference is noticeable in a ratchet. Most of my sockets are Mastercraft (Canadian equivalent to Craftsman) which are made in Taiwan. They are plenty good enough for the home guy. I have some Stahlwille and Hazet stuff as well, very nice, bought used of course. Most of my power tools are DeWalt, never had any problems with those.

So yes, a mixed bag just like you described.

I'd love to have some Gray Tools, they are a Canadian company that makes really nice stuff. However, their tools are very expensive new and rare enough that I've never been able to find them used at a good price.

[Stuey]

For what it's worth, I value any tool as long as it's made well.

More often than not though, Chinese manufactured tools are lower quality.

I definitely look at labels and prefer to purchase tools manufactured in the USA, Canada, England, Switzerland, Germany, Japan, and sometimes Taiwan.

[MarkH]

Time has changed my views. Please note this is a LONG term observation not just one made over a few years. My reason that leans more North American has become more of a stability of prices and quality. That may sound strange. It is based on the fact most imports start coming here since they are cheap and usually have some issues with quality. The cheap was very frequently driven more by imbalances in currency vs labor costs.

Going way back it happened with Japan, Germany, etc. 40 years ago I bought tools from those countries that were average quality but cheap, 30 years ago it was equal quality but not so cheap, today I can get them at superior quality but prices that make Snap On look cheap. So even with lifetime warrenties as they wear out they are dead soldiers.

I have been through this cycle with Japan, Korea, Italy, Germany, Great Britian, and others as currencies rationalized. As the image of Taiwan changes, the currency will have shifted that I will be paying more than for local production of the same thing. So as the quality gets up to the point where they are competitive, price due to changing currency and transport costs makes them financially impractical.

The frustration about China is that they are frequently a contract supplier and the company gave up its manufacturing so we will be stuck with the higher costs for made in China in a few years. China is even subcontracting since they cannot supply contracts at the negotiated prices. That is scarey since it is the manufacturing vs marketing change. The cheaper stuff will be made someplace else. So I have a support for companies continuing to be manufacturers also vs just marketers.

So there is more to it. In real dollars, Craftsmen are cheaper than before, the standard Wright, Proto, Williams, Craftsman Pro, Matco, Mac, Snap ON, Cornwell, have not changed much for years. I am still getting them warrantied in the same places vs an increasing number of dead soldier imports that replacements from that country have become priced beyond what I can pay. That has been worth more as industrial user of tools than I can state. It is nice not to have to go through the swings as each country becomes a cheap supplier and develops into an expensive one.