Are used Sioux air tools worth getting if condition seems decent?

[hotbox]

My HF angle air grinders are slowly giving up the ghost so i am on the hunt for a replacement air tool. Ive seen on some selling websites where Sioux air tools can be had in decent condition for far less than their retail price. Has anyone had experience buying one of these and if needed putting a rebuild kit in one with success?

Im going away from HF because although i have an 80 gallon ac some of my runs are long to where when i use a tool it can bog relatively easy. I am chalking this up to the tool and its efficency at which the HF tool uses air and that it probably isn't what it is with a sioux.

 

[liliysdad]

Used air tools are damned near free, might as well get the good ones.

 

[micromind]

I've had very good luck with Sioux air tools so I suspect the used ones would be good.

 

[fatfillup]

Souix is good stuff as is IR. And as Lilysdad said, used are cheap. I rarely sell air tools anymore

 

[Firebrick43]

The factory I worked had Souix drills, large and small running dingle berry hones 24 hours a day 7 days a week deburring oil galleys in large engine blocks. We did have automatic oilers before the quick connect.

They thrived and lasted forever. They tried some Milwaukee fuel drills due to ergo of not having a hose but they didn’t last but a few weeks.

 

[hotbox]

ok its unanimous....i will invest in some. with a rebuild kit u are still dollars ahead imho.

 

[dnschmidt]

Sioux, prior to Snap-On buying them, made some of the best power tools available from anybody anywhere. Their air tools looked crude but were built to last forever.

 

[The Cobbler]

good quality air tools are going to outlast the battery counterparts by a long shot... and for now parts seem to be available too.
I am just looking at an Ingersoll Rand Air sander that is loosing power. vanes are worn , that's all I see wrong. vanes are readily available , for under $20 this thing will be back to good as new I suspect

 

[woody 73]

Sioux tools are the kats meow.

OP what web sites are you looking at for these deals you spoke of?

 

[vssjim]

Sioux, prior to Snap-On buying them, made some of the best power tools available from anybody anywhere. Their air tools looked crude but were built to last forever.

Where I used to work was a Sioux tool warehouse we mainly stocked all the valve refacing equipment even kept a valve grinder in stock and all the seat equipment. We sold plenty of other tools air and electric and they were extremely high quality and lasted for ever with minimal care. Snap on bought them and in my opinion ruined them. What I remember is Sioux made the first 3/8 cordless impact and then I see a all black snap on version then Sioux is bought and moved to Murphy North Carolina and disbanded one the best US power tool companies ever.

 

[cvairwerks]

For air powered die grinders Dotco is tops and Sioux runs a close second. We ran thousands of Dotco die grinders, routers and drills at work. You can still get parts to overhaul Dotco tools that were made in the 1960's. Can't say that about most other manufacturers. I tried to get a part for an 8 year old ARO ROS unit and was no longer available, and ARO is a big name in the air tool world too.

 

[shoggoth80]

When I was a mechanic, I had a Sioux 1/2 gun. I liked it. Dunno how many hands it went through before I got it, and it never gave me any trouble. I would say go for it.

 

[hotbox]

sweet thanks for all the feedback.

 

[hotbox]

@woody 73 the places im looking are your typical FB and e*&y

 

[Steve_P]

Sioux is/was an industrial brand. They were made to be used all day in a factory setting and not to meet a price point to sell to consumers.

 

[hotbox]

I know some have posted here the quality went down once sioux was acquired by snap on. did it go down enough where i shouldn't look at the newer sioux tools or should i focus on acquiring a tool that was made pre snapon? Im not even sure how to determine if a tool was pre snap on or not tbh.

 

[Steve_P]

I have some SO die grinders and cut off tools from 10-15 years ago that I bought new on Ebay. They are very high quality and in no way comparable to the HF I had prior - and they shouldn't be as they cost 10-15X as much. SO doesn't sell **** as then they have to warranty it. I doubt that SO lessened the quality of the Siox tools in the buyout, but I don't know. SO sells for a premium price, designed to be used professionally....

People here get butthurt when companies are bought out, names changed, production moved to Taiwan...... I get it, but times change.

 

[jimindm]

Snap on did buy Sioux tools. The poster is right about them being aimed at the industrial side.

My SO dealer for years went to the industrial side of SO. He sold his franchise and worked directly for the company. He has been by several times, with trucks outfitted towards certain industries. The few I have seen is a mining, an airline, and manufacturing.

Other than tool storage, there is very few SO tools on the truck.

 

[hotbox]

ok thanks for the feedback gents.

 

[Jack_K]

I think there are two different grades?

"Service" vs industrial.