Stanley

[Canadian Charlie]

Has anyone any Stanley sockets? I just picked up a few and wanted everyone's opinion on them

[chevy302dz]

They work, I wouldn't abuse them much though. I keep a set in my trunk for emergency type situations. They are comparible to Home Depot's Husky line.

[Canadian Charlie]

On a 1 to 10 scale where do you rate them?

[chevy302dz]

6.5 better than the other import stuff. The sockets are good, the upper line of wrenches (full polish)are good, the ratchets work so so and the heads are too big. The pliers are kind of junky. You would ahead of the game getting Craftsman unless you found a real good deal on the Stanley stuff. I bought mine from Stanley's auction when it was still stocked with a decent amount of stuff.

[Canadian Charlie]

Chevy302DZ if you haven't noticed please have a look at my location. If there was a Sears around here I would get the Craftsmans. Most of my sockets are Grey (made in Canada) so to me Stanley is 100% better than the cheap china rubbish I see everywhere

Thanks

[chevy302dz]

No I didn't notice. Don't you have access to any of the European tool brands Stawhile, Hazet, Facom, etc. If not then go for the Stanley, like I said they are better than the other imports

[eschoendorff]

No I didn't notice. Don't you have access to any of the European tool brands Stawhile, Hazet, Facom, etc. If not then go for the Stanley, like I said they are better than the other imports


For the $$$ (at least here) Facom is light years ahead of Stanley. But Stanley just purchased Facom, so get the good stuff while you can.

[kartracer55]

My nieghboor got a set on clearance to keep in his car, he was using them one day and they looked good for an imported tool. Sockets are pretty thick, and the wrenches looked a bit crude, but better than HF id venture to guess.

Jim

[Thumper]

.....Stanley?........whooooo boyyyyyy........Don't get Jim wound up LOL.

[l_bilyk]

no fantastic but not bad
they started painting the insides of them now like they do on proto and blackhawk

[dink]

I dunno....they are Taiwan made I believe on the sockets...I might be wrong correct me if I am.....better then chinese not as good as standard american stuff

[l_bilyk]

I dunno....they are Taiwan made I believe on the sockets...I might be wrong correct me if I am.....better then chinese not as good as standard american stuff

I dunno man, I have a mastercraft socket set (made by stanley in taiwan for canadian tire) and i wouldnt say ther are ALOT worse than any proto socket I own
strictly from a quality standpoint, i don't think there is anything about a proto chrome socket that makes it worth about 5+ times as much as a stanley socket

[dink]

I would put quality comparison to Channellocks sockets

[l_bilyk]

channellock makes sockets now? whaa?

[eschoendorff]

channellock makes sockets now? whaa?

I've seen the big "Channellock" tool sets at Costco. They are Channellock branded. Typical Taiwanese fare.

Honestly, some of that stuff coming out of Taiwan is pretty decent. I was over at NAPA the other day and was looking at a set of 3/8 flex sockets that they had (branded "Evercraft"... the Taiwanese Napa tool brand). In all honesty, I like their contruction a little bit more than the comprable Craftsman. They just seemed like a nice set. Used hex screws instead of pins to hole the joints together. I don't know if this is necessarily better... but they reminded me a lot of some Proto pieces I have seen.

That being said, I am a supporter of USA goods, but I have to give the Taiwanese props when they have a decent product.

[z28toz06]

Has anyone had any experience with the new Stanley rotator ratchets? You can use it like a regular ratchet but you can also twist the handle and that turns the square drive that the socket sits on. The crazy thing ius no matter which direction you spin it, left or right, it keeps the socket going in the right direction until you reverse the ratchet direction on top.

http://www.stanleytools.com/default.asp?TYPE=PRODUCT&CATEGORY=SMT+RATCHET+PEAR+HEAD&PARTNUMBER=89-962

[Thumper]

I picked up a set of 1/4 drive ones at the local Big Lots for 2.99. Keep em in the truck.

[eschoendorff]

Has anyone had any experience with the new Stanley rotator ratchets? You can use it like a regular ratchet but you can also twist the handle and that turns the square drive that the socket sits on. The crazy thing ius no matter which direction you spin it, left or right, it keeps the socket going in the right direction until you reverse the ratchet direction on top.

http://www.stanleytools.com/default.asp?TYPE=PRODUCT&CATEGORY=SMT+RATCHET+PEAR+HEAD&PARTNUMBER=89-962

I've played with them, but I haven't bought one. I just can't think of any time when I would have needed that partcular feature. At one time Jim pointed out that the ratchet head is pretty big, limiting its usefulness in tight quarters.