Recent content by CHI_Tool&Die

I keep my handbook in there along with my work ID and a bunch of quick reference books. The extra lock I assumed was due to just how pricey the bibles have become. Mine was >$100 15 years ago. It fits perfect in there. Probably thinking of things like v blocks, Grindalls, end-mills, taps...

I’ve been toying with this idea for work. I just don’t use metric enough to warrant an entire set. So I’ve thought about using my SAE set and just adding what isn’t an equivalent in metric.

A lot of techs come out of high school or trade school with minimal-to-no tools and start at a shop where they are expected to have a bunch of stuff right away to do their jobs. So regardless of where that tech buys their tools, they are going to be in some debt just because they need a lot of...

SB&D companies also really **** with the phone lines. I have much better results communicating through email.

Yeah, HF has been creeping into the market pretty well recently. I’ve seen a ton of corporate machine repair techs rocking all Pittsburgh and Icon tools. When you are responsible for your tools and you’re carrying/traveling with them, the tool trucks just aren’t as relevant to you. Look...

Yeah man, maybe for mechanics they are a standard and especially because mechanics are everywhere on social media so Snappy gets even more exposure. But here in industrial land Snappy isn’t even a consideration.

The big thing you always hear people say is that Channellocks are not expensive and aren’t bad for the price. The thing is, Channellocks are not that cheap. They are roughly on par with a lot of other brands that finish their products a lot better. Channellock and Klein are two brands that...

Matco Thursday became Matco Wednesday cause I have a lot of stuff going on at work for the rest of the week. Grabbed a stubby 3/8” ratchet and also snagged some straight pry bars on promo. My driver said that the straights had been sitting on his truck for years and the plastic was covered in...

I daily several sets of the OptiGrip hex bit sockets from Matco. They fit very, very tight. It almost makes it a pain to use because I have to really push to set them and pull to get them out. But they have not damaged any fasteners. My biggest gripe is that the steel they use seems weaker...

My Channellocks cut well, better than my Kleins, but not as well as my NWS. I think they are often an overlooked brand for cutters. Knipex has been hit or miss. I like the electrical pliers with the shears but I find their normal diagonal cutters require a lot of effort from the user.

Interestingly enough, if you have had any chance to watch the couple of channels that do tool box tours of professional techs on YouTube, you would see that impact sockets and wrenches are the top two tools guys have a ton of variance on. It seems that it’s rather hard for any reputable...

The adjustable wrenches are very good. The screwdrivers are really nice too but they do rust pretty easily. I actually like the handles though I know a common complaint is that they get slippery when oily. As far as Channellock pliers, that was my first plier brand that I ever bought. I’ll...

You know, I was just thinking about how I’ve used my plier wrenches over the year and I’m kinda surprised how little I’ve used them over an adjustable wrench. Outside of some plumbing and yard work, I’ve really only used them to bend stuff. My adjustable wrenches see way more work.

Oh, for sure there was some kind of collection of data points for SBD to dictate what to do. It’s just crazy to see what they ended up going with. My assumption is techs today like longer lengths with fatter grips.

MAC’s new Max90 lineup is also pretty confusing. Not a lot of options available for guys that want the chrome handles and a lot of long options only for the comfort grips. I guess they figure it would be smarter to push long comfort handles over anything else.