Out of all the big USA tool companies..why does Cornwell never get discussed here?

shanker · Feb 28, 2011

Just wondering, I recently bought a cornwell socket set and it replaced an equivelent craftsman set and is MUCH nicer than the craftsman...but for some reason I never really see cornwell brought up here much

mrholeshot · Feb 28, 2011

Cornwell, Bigfoot, lockness monster...... you know, lol

Actually I don't care for them. They have the worst chrome and crappiest sockets of any tool truck brand. Expensive on top of being inferior to many industrial brands. Opinions may vary

dsaabm · Feb 28, 2011

A lot of guys don't have dealers in their area, some refuse to believe the company exists, some have had bad experiences with them, also the lack of ability to order online hurts them.

I would love buy some cornwell tools, they just make it very difficult to do so.

trout · Feb 28, 2011

t100 · Feb 28, 2011

from a local CL ad:

nismomans13 · Feb 28, 2011

my cornwell dealer won't sell to me because i'm not based out of a shop :dunno:

his loss i suppose.

spongerich · Feb 28, 2011

I have a Cornwell 1/2 ratchet and it's incredibly good. The problem is that unless you're lucky enough to have easy access to a truck, they're impossible to buy new.

AZ_Catskinner · Feb 28, 2011

Cornwell dealers seem to be few and far between - I haven't seen a truck in at least 5 or 6 years.

I've got a couple of their angle wrenches (most useless thing on Earth, but they were on the *&%$ required list) and they look almost like Macs, but with crappier plating.

Unless it was a screaming deal for used stuff, I wouldn't buy any of their stuff again.

blown94conv · Feb 28, 2011

I have never been on a Cornwell truck, and yet there has been one 2 towns over. I never see him on the road. I have a set of Cornwall deep 1/4 metrics that I have never used, got them in a used box I bought. I don't like them, they just seem cheap looking.

toolnut · Feb 28, 2011

Tried to get a catalog many times - never heard or saw anything from Cornwell. I guess they don't need anymore customers?? :headscrat

I have a catalog from the early 90's.

Bull · Feb 28, 2011

There used to be much more discussion of that brand in earlier times. Vince/Autoace and Vance/Merkava both talked up the brand.

Aside from dealer scarcity, I have also read on here more than once that their dealers are not treated very well. I don't know. Hard to see how they can compete/make a profit in that industry when even guys on a tool forum find them to be an oddity.

Up And Down · Feb 28, 2011

Good luck finding a truck...I'm a poet and I didn't know it.

chewy7 · Feb 28, 2011

cornwallis? lol

archirelic · Feb 28, 2011

The biggest Cornwell presence I've seen here is a mechanics creeper with a Cornwell sticker on it!

poprockcrusher · Feb 28, 2011

seem to be resellers

have not had a truck here in 9 years

rt dak · Feb 28, 2011

I bought 2 sets of their SAE/metric flare nut wrenches off eBay awhile ago. They look nice but i've yet to use them. I bought a JR30 ratchet here, i've been using it the past few days and I love it. They don't really have anything else i'm lusting after though. I've also never seen a truck in my life.

DanCo · Feb 28, 2011

What's a Cornwell?

rhastings80 · Feb 28, 2011

I heard it is hard to get their tools replaced under warranty. I know its very easy with Mac and Snap On. The Cornwell socket set I have the chrome seems to peel off. Unless you have a local dealer only place I have found you can buy them is used or on Ebay.

chewy7 · Feb 28, 2011

sir' cornwellington

t100 · Feb 28, 2011

rhastings80 said:
I heard it is hard to get their tools replaced under warranty. I know its very easy with Mac and Snap On. The Cornwell socket set I have the chrome seems to peel off. Unless you have a local dealer only place I have found you can buy them is used or on Ebay.

Matco is not hard either. got the slides for my 2nd-hand tool box for little over a week and bunch of other tools.

nato · Feb 28, 2011

Because...it only took them until late, late, late LAST YEAR to FINALLY come out with a sub-par, fine tooth ratchet that's just....*bllllllllaaaahhhh*....to battle the competition.

I'll never fork out $$$ for C/W's hardline ever again. I've got one 19mm wrench that's about 2 years old (wanna trade????), some misc. 1/4" rigid & wobble extensions and three chrome metric socket sets. I've had all three COMPLETE socket sets warranted within the past 3 year due to insane chrome chipping. Bad batch of plating I was told by my dealer's D/M.....

The company as a whole, is boring. The only the credit I give them is being based out of little ol' Wadsworth (like 35 minutes from where I am).
Nothing sets them apart from the crowd nd if you see their prices on ANY chrome or impact socket sets, it'll put you in your grave!!!!
They charge Cadillac price tags on their hardline and I'm not totally sure as to why. I love me dealer though. He's an awesome guy! He brings in more interesting stuff from his 'Miscelleneous Dealer' catalog than he has in the C/W catalog ever. He deals a lot in tools that aren't out in open advertised I guess you could say.

jay50 · Feb 28, 2011

Corn-hole...er...I mean Cornwell is on life support.
Market share in the tool business keeps dropping.

I give them 2-3 years and they will be no more... :bounce:

Lotek · Feb 28, 2011

We have a Cornwell truck,they do exist, was talking to him last week, he said there are about 600 dealers nation wide. Shows up more reliably than Snappy, Matco doesn't seem to be interested in a dealership with 20 techs in it, so he does good business.

DrkMtnDew · Feb 28, 2011

i have the good fortune of having a truck in my area and i really like their tools. as mentioned some of the chrome isn't great but the tools are strong. i can't say enough how much i like using a cornwell ratchet, as long as swing clearance isn't an issue. and my dealer will go out of his way to deliever good customer service, although that may not always be the case. anyway...

mrshaun · Feb 28, 2011

well since the cornwell man went to work for MAC that should tell you something about the company as a whole.
lack of lifetime warranty on the boxes is not good for a pro tech.

nato · Feb 28, 2011

mrshaun said:
well since the cornwell man went to work for MAC that should tell you something about the company as a whole.
lack of lifetime warranty on the boxes is not good for a pro tech.

sounds like lose-lose to me; going from a dying company to a company that shucks it all day in the rice-patties :bounce:

jvitez · Feb 28, 2011

I do wonder how they stay in business. I never heard of them until I chanced across their name on a previous internet forum. I don't know if they even sell into Canada at all.

I do like obscurity though, so I'm happy to say I've got a couple of their ratchets, but only thanks to GJ. Several have posted here about peeling chrome. If Snap-On recommends on line purchasing in Canada primarily, unless you already have a dealer you use, why can't Cornwell? They'd have no dealers to take business away from.

Anyway, I think everyone should buy one or two Cornwell items just to keep the company going.

Jason Ga · Feb 28, 2011

I bought a ratchet from mepilotunot on here. I really like it, and he was great to deal with.

That said, I have never seen a Cornwell truck in person, and had only heard rumors of them before reading about them on this board.

4x4gearhead · Feb 28, 2011

In my area there is a cornwell distributor but he just seems to pick and choose where he comes. I have maybe 10 cornwell tools all random things no sets, I acquired them from friends/co workers. Not really impressed so much I have a 1/4" ratchet that seems to be ok but then again it takes a long time for me to warrant a 1/4" ratchet due to the light duty its used for. I guess there just isnt anything too special about them and thats why no one really mentions them.

Skin · Feb 28, 2011

Bull said:
There used to be much more discussion of that brand in earlier times. Vince/Autoace and Vance/Merkava both talked up the brand.

Aside from dealer scarcity, I have also read on here more than once that their dealers are not treated very well. I don't know. Hard to see how they can compete/make a profit in that industry when even guys on a tool forum find them to be an oddity.

Believe it or not there is at least one dealer just outside of Boston. I've seen his truck occasionally. Think he actually lives not too far away, either that or a resident gets a personal stop around lunch time every day.

Only saw a SO truck once and Matco/MAC never. Kinda *** backwards to everyone else.

srmofo · Feb 28, 2011

I luvs me some cornwell. Unfortunately I dont have a dealer anymore and the next closet guy is 45 minutes away. I started buying from him because he was the only guy that wasnt an arrogant *****.

Davefr · Feb 28, 2011

Cornwell makes some of the best ratchets out there. There is no better feel in your hand then a Cornwell ratchet.

I agree that they were late to the party with fine tooth but try a JR-72 and you'll never use another ratchet!!

Our local GJ dealer (ipilotunot) has been a pleasure to do business with but I can't see how corp. has critical mass in today's competitive environment.

Warranty has not been a problem for me. Mail it in and they send you a new tool without a bunch of advanced authorization or other B.S.

Without a viable dealer channel or online presence I don't see how they can remain in business.

Skin · Feb 28, 2011

I really like the looks of their ratchets. Soon as they get that JR72 ratcheting mechanism manufactured in the states and are allowed to put a USA stamp/etching on them i will buy one.

BQuicksilver · Feb 28, 2011

Sounds like they're just not reinvesting in the businessfor newer tools and better/online distribution. Even HF is redesining/recopying tools regularly.

mrbreezeet1 · Feb 28, 2011

Have never seen a Cornwell dealer in this area, Prior to this, have not seen one in the Pittsburgh airport area since 20 odd years ago.
My metric deep well impact set is Cornwell, but have broken 2 and had to replace with snap on.
Thanks,
Tony

PaulsGarage · Feb 28, 2011

I had never heard of them until a tech from Wisconsin moved out here and brought with him a large Cornwell box, a while later he accidentally started a car in gear and it ran right into that box. I was amazed, at first it looked like a total disaster but he removed and straightened the chrome drawer handles, pushed-out a few dented drawers and it worked and looked almost as good as new. Their boxes seem sturdy and up to the task.

That said, I've never used any of their hand tools and only recently saw a Cornwell truck here in town. If he stops by my shop I'll gladly check out what he has to offer but it will have to be pretty special for my to open my wallet.

Just my $.02 -Paul

sumner52000 · Feb 28, 2011

Was just on the cornwell truck today. Traded a broken wrench someone gave me for a new one. When i was in school the only two trucks that stopped by my shop were Cornwell and Snap on. I was always in class on tuesday when the snap on man stopped. I was always there on monday when the Cornwell truck rolled through. Plus Tony the Cornwell dealer was much more friendly than Mark the snap on. I like that most everything i bought was in a case that stores well and transports well. I guess these are the reasons i have a Cornwell box and other Cornwell tools. I have always gotten good service from the tools even ones that are not USA made. I also always know where and when i can find Tony. The Snap on dealer is hard to catch up with if you don't work at a shop.

Rickster · Feb 28, 2011

Cornwell is or now "was" one of the better kept secrets. Kinda like Armstrong was at one point. I have some of their chrome sockets and a few ratchets, I like them a lot. I know when I see an old-timer mechanics box at an estate sale theres a real good chance it'll have a lot of Cornwell sockets in it.

mtkst19 · Feb 28, 2011

cornwells hard line is pretty stout. it wont wont win any beauty pagents but it holds up well. Their ratchets have a nice feel in the hand.

actual cornwell tools i have are a set of 3/8 deep/shallow industrial finish sockets, tamper proof triple square sockets, maxster torx set, metric 4-19mm hex set, 1/2 drive ratchet, pry bar set, and have owned a 40 inch top bottom box that has been replaced by a 56-ish bottom box that i use in my home garage. the hex/torx/triple square are rebranded items.

i'd recommend any of the above items. yet i'd give caution on the torx set and the hex set. if you use it a lot, you would be better off w/ saving some money for the snappy sets. but the torx set is hard to beat for the money-- e torx, tamper proof and normal. i still use them daily but have a t-30 snappy i use for cam caps. as the s2 one doesn't seem to hold up well and i dont need a stripped cam cap.

edit--

warranty wise--never had an issue w/ getting stuff repaired. you can also order their items from their website.

LawnDart79 · Feb 28, 2011

We used to call them "******** Tools". :bounce:

I cannot comment on their quality as the only thing I ever bought off my dealer was a flask. :beer:

...oh, I take that back, I bought a stubby 19mm wrench from the ******** guy because I needed one on the day he was there. I used it to add to my Popular Mechanics stubby wrench set. :thumbup:

Needless to say, it looks slightly out of place, but no more so than the 16mm craftsman stubby I also have in the mix.

Out of all the big USA tool companies..why does Cornwell never get discussed here?

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