Recent content by Professional Tool User

The teeth on Irwin ones aren't that great. The Knipex Cobras are carefully engineered to use no more material than necessary.

Unless you are dealing with seized bolts, even the Milwaukee M12 fuel stubby gun will do the job 90% of the time for automotive applications. A mid torque Dewalt gun should be more than sufficient for your needs.

My first impressions of the Milwaukee made in USA pliers models after looking at them in store is that they seem to look cruder than the Channellock, Knipex, and Klein ones. I wouldn't bother with the USA made Milwaukee pliers unless they are significantly cheaper than the Klein or Knipex...

Those torx bits, especially the impact ones all eventually break. This is where the lifetime warranty will make a difference. I've never any problems with warrantying tools at Harbor Freight.

My favourite are the Wera kraftform handles.

I've turned in a broken Proto universal joint before and they replaced it.

I would only go with a Snap on or Mac tool cart/box if you could get a good deal on a used one. Otherwise, the Maximum tool cart from Canadian Tire should be good enough if you are starting out. Unless you want to go a cross border shopping trip, I wouldn't bother with getting the US General...

Basic tools at Canadian Tire and Princes Auto can be decent quality. Mastercraft tools at CT may be a bit sketchy but Maximum tools are generally decent. It took two years of impacting seized fasteners with my Snap on MG725 to break one of my Maximum impact sockets. Not bad for a cheap tool...

I would just donate my tools to people just getting started in the trades/DIYers or to a trade school in return for a tax receipt. Selling a large amount of tools isn't worth the hassle to me.

With all the quality control issues SK had under Ideal, I wouldn't buy any of the newer SK tools even if they were made in USA. The sad reality is that most of the tool and die experience is in Asia these days.

I have them but have yet to use them. The ratcheting end will likely eventually break under heavy use, so Canadian Tire's lifetime warranty may come in handy. This is one of the few Maximum tools that are made in Taiwan. If you go look up the Geawrench website there's a Gearwrench version of...

Maximum wrenches are made of decent steel. Wrenches generally don't get broken that often. If you want to be picky, you can give the Dewalt wrenches a try.

Small and medium enterprises in Taiwan collaborate when they can't handle a project on their own. I wouldn't be worried about them. Some of them actually have operations in China. Outsourcing to Vietnam makes sense from a human resources perspective. If I were to stereotype Vietnamese people...

You can't defend incompetence for what is supposed to be a mid to high end product. This just highlights how low vocational/trades training standards are in the US. This feels like Ideal all over again when it comes to their quality control issues with SK.

Proto in my experience is overpriced in Canada. I only bother with Proto if I can buy used. If you can't get a discount through work or otherwise, you may as well buy Snap on.