Advice on Master Sets

[chanceb23]

Hey everyone. I am new to the forum, I was looking for the introduction page but couldn't find it so I'll just jump right in.

I am looking at purchasing a master set of tools that also comes with a storage chest. I have living in an apartment and using the bare necessities that I could fit into a travel box and working on cars in my parking lot. I have finally purchased a house with a 2.5 car garage that will become a dedicated work shop (have a second 2 car garage to park our daily drivers. Now that I have the room I want to get a more extensive tool collection and a nice box on wheels to store them. Currently I am looking at the Sonic S8 box and tool combo or the Teng 491 pcs generic tool kit. I have a $2000 budget to buy everything. I am not a pro by any means and just wrench on cars and motorcycles in my spare time as well as fix and build everything around the house (why pay someone else to do what I can do right?) Is there other kits I should be looking at instead of these two? What are your suggestions on were I should start my collection?

 

[jd_1138]

Those 2 you mentioned would certainly be a great starter set -- either. Also, there are some SK 300 piece sets for about $2k but that doesn't come with a toolbox.

If you later upgrade your sets, you can gradually relegate the cheaper stuff to your shed or portable set.

 

[Mr_B]

Best place to start is not a kit .
Total waste of money generally for very little of the best tools for the dollar spent .
Pick up a cheap box like a HF 44" or something of the 18 or 19 gauge husky .
Start filling that with selectively picked middle range tools and you will have a lot of what you really need for very little overall cost .
Gearwrench socketry not bad for the cost and ratchets better than many at that price point. Some tekton okay.
Be more fussy on ratchets and wrenches and buy decent screwdrivers and pliers .
Making use of sales/coupons will make huge difference to cost and may influence brand you buy but don't buy purely on price but balance it with tool design and size coverage ect to get a nice useful set rather than finding you need buy more to fill in missing sizes or make up for less than great usefulness of the tools .

 

[sk farmer]

Best place to start is not a kit .
Total waste of money generally for very little of the best tools for the dollar spent .
Pick up a cheap box like a HF 44" or something of the 18 or 19 gauge husky .
Start filling that with selectively picked middle range tools and you will have a lot of what you really need for very little overall cost .
Gearwrench socketry not bad for the cost and ratchets better than many at that price point. Some tekton okay.
Be more fussy on ratchets and wrenches and buy decent screwdrivers and pliers .
Making use of sales/coupons will make huge difference to cost and may influence brand you buy but don't buy purely on price but balance it with tool design and size coverage ect to get a nice useful set rather than finding you need buy more to fill in missing sizes or make up for less than great usefulness of the tools .

this......

 

[Evan(CA)]

x3 on no kit

 

[M6erfan]

My advice is to skip the master sets.

Mr_B has offered good advice above. You can put together a far superior set for less money than what you're looking at.

 

[Tallpilot]

As these gentlemen have mentioned we can't in good conscience recommend any of the full sets. They simply include too many compromises. With your budget you can build a set of very high quality hand tools plus a few luxury items.

In Ohio you should be able to get a master force box from Menards. For the best price/quality ratio of higher end sockets I recommend Williams USA from Toolsdelivered.com but not their ratchets.

 

[M6erfan]

I'll add that you are in the rust belt, so you probably want to look at wrenches with ASD (but maybe not if you dont want to damage motorcycle fasteners). Williams USA make good wrenches (Supercombo) and are less damaging than other ASD types. Also, do you have any cordless tools yet? If not you should seriously consider 1/2" & 1/4" impact wrenches and a drill/driver. Milwaukee is coming out with their gen 3 tools, but these will eat into your budget.

 

[ReggieR]

Kits are ok but not master sets.. Pick a ratchet/socket brand you like and kit up with that stuff.Get them in the plastic cases.1/4, 3/8 1/2. Add to that basic stuff as you study reviews.Good set of screwdrivers like Protos. Good combo wrenches....take your pick.
Go get a bunch of Channellock and Knipex pliers to get going.....add on from there depending on the work you'll do

 

[Mr_B]

For screwdrivers i'm a huge fan of williams big hard handle set, toptul or premier hammer thru drivers.
hammer thru great for rusty hard working abuse and prices reasonable so killing odd driver get job done not tearful scenario .
Good wrenches are a must, cheap is worthless, some cheap sockets and pliers can be surprisingly good so don't overlook cheaper options if quality seems reasonable for your intended use.
I tend buy sockets on rail sets as blow moulded tend have a lot you don't want or ratchets of a poor spec, some blow moulded sets so cheap on sale it can be silly miss it plus cases make good organisers and in the case of the gearwrench sets the ratchets are pretty usable .
If you rustbelt I wouldn't be too concerned on battery tools, biggest game changers for rust is torch set and the air hammer and milwaukee don't do either of those lol .
2K could buy you hell of a lot and stuff likely last your lifetime if take time learn some better buys and work with upcoming sales .
Masterforce boxes are pretty nice but I would try keep box low value and buy based on great deal for sensible sized box you can grow into rather than perfect dream box, used is good option too if got anything local and dirt cheap .

 

[chanceb23]

I'll add that you are in the rust belt, so you probably want to look at wrenches with ASD (but maybe not if you dont want to damage motorcycle fasteners). Williams USA make good wrenches (Supercombo) and are less damaging than other ASD types. Also, do you have any cordless tools yet? If not you should seriously consider 1/2" & 1/4" impact wrenches and a drill/driver. Milwaukee is coming out with their gen 3 tools, but these will eat into your budget.

Yes I do have a few cordless power tools. I am still looking around for impact wrenchs. I have cordless driver/drill, small circular saw, and orbital sander.


I will do some shopping around especially menards and see what I can do to piece together my own personal set. My issue is I'm not sure where to begin when making my own collection. I appreciate all the help I am receiving. I can normally do everything I need to with a Phillips head screwdriver, 7,10,13 mm wrench and sockets and vice grips lol. Now I would like to be able to reach into a tool box and grab the right tool for the job instead of making due with what I got.

 

[jd_1138]

Yes I do have a few cordless power tools. I am still looking around for impact wrenchs. I have cordless driver/drill, small circular saw, and orbital sander.


I will do some shopping around especially menards and see what I can do to piece together my own personal set. My issue is I'm not sure where to begin when making my own collection. I appreciate all the help I am receiving. I can normally do everything I need to with a Phillips head screwdriver, 7,10,13 mm wrench and sockets and vice grips lol. Now I would like to be able to reach into a tool box and grab the right tool for the job instead of making due with what I got.

Yeah it's nice having all the various tools to make a job go easier. Shallow, deep, mid size sockets, extensions, plus stubby, regular, long wrenches. Having the right tool can shave hours off a job.

If you lack a lot of basics, a lower cost set can be a good deal depending on the price, brand, what it includes, etc.. Then like others have said, cherry pick the best bang for the buck.

 

[M6erfan]

What brand/system do you have now for your cordless? 12v? 18v?

You can get really good tools with your budget, but not every manufacturer makes the best everything.

-Screwdrivers; PB Swiss for slotted, Vessel for cross point
-Get a hand impact driver. I like the Ko-ken Attack driver
-Sockets; Hazet makes the best IMO and if you don't mind going to Amazon.de, you can get them fairly priced. Ko-ken are nice too. You can get Hazet 1/4" and 3/8" sets that cover you up to 22mm. Not sure if you want SAE. Hard to beat the Gearwrench sets though, buy the 3/8 set and get the 1/4" set free with BOGO deal.
-Ratchets, pick your poison. Tons to choose from out there.
-Wrenches; Williams USA, KTC, Stahlwille, etc... All excellent, Tekton are not bad and you can get 30 piece SAE/metric set for about $70.
-Pliers; get a Snap-on 3 piece set. Knipex PliersWrench in 7" & 10". Pair of Cobras or Channellocks
-Hammers; dead blow ball peen, soft rubber mallet
-Lady foot prybar set for drift/alignment/prying
-Pick set

HF 44" or Masterforce, or whatever floats your boat box

With the above, you are well under $2k with very good tools.

You're probably gonna get a lot of advice ranging from, all in on Snap-on, to garage sales and flea markets. Choose wisely. GL!

 

[Dingleburry]

When i started as an apprentice, i first bought stanley socket set, gear wrench 30 piece wrenches, husky screwdriver set, husky pliers set, some picks from princess auto, chiesls from sears and few hammers from home depot. Cheapest fluke DMM, And an international 28" 7 drawer. Then added when i needed something, and upgraded as i could. Your tool collection will grow fast. Im also not brand loyal. I buy whatever looks good/has good reviews. I got a few tools from many many brands. Ranging from powerfist to pb swiss.

 

[Mr_B]

the gearwrench master socket deal good way spend 100 bucks on fairly decent design sockets and ratchets that worth having as a home user .
http://www.tooldiscounter.com/ItemDisplay.cfm?lookup=KDT80550P#
Add to that with a 1/2" set and your socketry off to a good start .
Once got basic let your needs dictate what you buy or what truly too good a deal to be missed .

 

[sberry]

If I was tool poor and had to start over wouldn't hesitate on a master on super sale. Even Sears and add a few items individually after that don't rightly come in a lot of them. What a master does is get going quickly and eliminate a lot of skips, has a lot of the occasional needs or jewelry which a guy may need anyway.
I would go to HF and get a box and a breaker bar and then waltz over to Walmart and get some Channellock's, vise grips and razor knife or 2. Maybe a swipe at HF screwdrivers.
After that,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, might play hide and seek with improvement or extra as needed but that6 can be enough to get an engine out of most cars. Its cheap and fast
If you don't have any get it then become a collector later, use it to do work you have to do and it will allow some time to get by and to find out where the focus needs to be.

 

[sberry]

It would be different if some of these sets were expensive but non use, loss, cost makes it worth having just in case and some of the pieces can pay in a small event. A really good bender cost more back in the day than a 309 does 25 years later. It aint the greatest but can do most of the worlds hand tool work in some fashion.
I worked on a big truck the other day, could do most of the work with a handful of end wrenches a guy could do outside an extensive shop. I look under the hood of a Maserati a while back, could bout service it with a 25$ tool kit. 15 yr old mini van in the rust belt a little harder. When a guy gets an impact a lot of the hard work for chromes goes away.

 

[chanceb23]

What brand/system do you have now for your cordless? 12v? 18v?

You can get really good tools with your budget, but not every manufacturer makes the best everything.

-Screwdrivers; PB Swiss for slotted, Vessel for cross point
-Get a hand impact driver. I like the Ko-ken Attack driver
-Sockets; Hazet makes the best IMO and if you don't mind going to Amazon.de, you can get them fairly priced. Ko-ken are nice too. You can get Hazet 1/4" and 3/8" sets that cover you up to 22mm. Not sure if you want SAE. Hard to beat the Gearwrench sets though, buy the 3/8 set and get the 1/4" set free with BOGO deal.
-Ratchets, pick your poison. Tons to choose from out there.
-Wrenches; Williams USA, KTC, Stahlwille, etc... All excellent, Tekton are not bad and you can get 30 piece SAE/metric set for about $70.
-Pliers; get a Snap-on 3 piece set. Knipex PliersWrench in 7" & 10". Pair of Cobras or Channellocks
-Hammers; dead blow ball peen, soft rubber mallet
-Lady foot prybar set for drift/alignment/prying
-Pick set

HF 44" or Masterforce, or whatever floats your boat box

With the above, you are well under $2k with very good tools.

You're probably gonna get a lot of advice ranging from, all in on Snap-on, to garage sales and flea markets. Choose wisely. GL!

Thank you for the solid advice. It makes me feel a little more comfortable piecing my own set together. As for what I have now all my cordless are 20v Dewalt, I have a Stanley 1/4" and 3/8" socket kit, Stanley wrenches (6-17mm, never needed a SAE in my life), Masterforce screwdrivers and plies.

 

[Tallpilot]

While we are bashing sets go look at that Sonic S8. The organization scheme is awesome until you try to add something. Note that it only comes with 3 deep sockets. That’s ridiculous.

A master socket set is often not a bad deal to get every size covered then buy better for the most used sizes. Same with wrenches. Grab a smaller set of SuperCombos then Tekton for the rest. Don’t forget about Torx and Hex master sets. Capri is awesome for the money and will stand up to abuse. Add XZN if you want to work on Euro trash.

Check out Trusty Cook for hammers.

 

[Matt XYZ]

I agree with the posts above. Also, Teng and Sonic are overpriced to me. You can get equal quality for much less.

 

[sberry]

I use it some on air ratchets.

 

[sberry]

While we are bashing sets go look at that Sonic S8. The organization scheme is awesome until you try to add something. Note that it only comes with 3 deep sockets. That’s ridiculous.

A master socket set is often not a bad deal to get every size covered then buy better for the most used sizes. Same with wrenches. Grab a smaller set of SuperCombos then Tekton for the rest. Don’t forget about Torx and Hex master sets. Capri is awesome for the money and will stand up to abuse. Add XZN if you want to work on Euro trash.

Check out Trusty Cook for hammers.

This is about spot on. Sales at auto parts stores are often relatively competitive. The Napa and the ATD stuff works. I still use the dies from my first Duro flaring kit etc. I bought 12$ sale 3 pack 3/8 wobble extensions there a couple times and a couple 4 piece adjustables for 20$ a set to see how good they could be.
Back in the day the counter guys would be urged to push a few deals once in a while to move on shelf inventory. They would mention items that might be relevant. 50$ bit set, a 50$ snap ring set in a case, so handy bought 2.

 

[paulsomlo]

I know this may be considered sacrilege here on GJ, but...do you really need a box? I've got all my tools hanging on the wall in custom made wooden racks - I like having them in plain view and being able to just walk up and grab them. I could understand from a theft standpoint, being able to lock them up, but for a DIY'er, not sure the organizational advantage is that necessary. Consider that the box itself is overhead - it's never going to fix anything. And they do take up floor space. If you really want one, I agree with the other poster; go used.

Accumulate the tools as you need them - I bought a sears set back in 1985 and I hardly use the SAE stuff anymore. Starting again, I'd go all metric, and I might even skip chrome sockets and just go right to impact.

GJ search will be your friend - these "what should I buy" questions come up several times every week. No matter what tool your seeking advice on, there's a thread here that covers it. Have fun, enjoy the shopping experience.

 

[sberry]

My advice on this often pertains to those who might have little or nothing or even benefit from some redundancy. In this area its cheaper to have and not need than need and not have especially at this COST.
I still use wrenches from some of my first sets. Occasionally I bought better but usually more. Half a dozen times we would grab a handful of them as needed on the 1$ and 1.50 peg at farm stores or even a flea, or retool.
Could grab a couple at a time here and there to do some common jobs without distress. They worked their way in to general service. Some of the best return on investment I ever make was on a handful of Chinese combo wrenches. I got Sears and MIT and Olympia had 1000's of cycles and not all easy.

 

[sberry]

I could near get by in a home shop without a box. I actually like a composite mix of all the stuff I really need on top of a service cart.
Adjustables, pipe wrenches, clamps and hammers all on another work bench. I have a little icecube tray of metrics in that drawer for the occasional task I might get in that part of the shop, a golf cart or mower or occasional car but most is SAE and I have 3 other drawers with stuff I need "some" but this top is what does the work. Most all 1/2 impact sockets. Common combo, nut runners, drivers, adjustable and Channelok.
I need 3 new Stanly utility knives now. I bought 6 pairs of 440 Channels one time and still can feel if there is a pair out of circulation.
I had hired on somewhere back in the slumming days and the owner was impressing me with some nice equipment and asked my opin. I said it was great but I am gonna pull these workers on strike if you don't go to the Sears store and flea mkt. Needed hammers and clamps and adjustables and a socket/wrench set.
Air gun and impact sockets too. I have seen equipment dealers fall down with this, lots of assembly and no tools. Employed men. I was running a shop and every once in a while the owner would catch some tools I had charged to accounts and often had a hard time realizing it was a 1 minor or not so minor event we could fix without downtime by having a few wrenches on the truck. I said, I doubled our money on those tools today.
Another was,,, what,,, 300$??? The last guy charged me only 50. I said,,, well did it work,,, well no but he only charged 50.

 

[M6erfan]

My advice on this often pertains to those who might have little or nothing or even benefit from some redundancy. In this area its cheaper to have and not need than need and not have especially at this COST.
I still use wrenches from some of my first sets. Occasionally I bought better but usually more. Half a dozen times we would grab a handful of them as needed on the 1$ and 1.50 peg at farm stores or even a flea, or retool.
Could grab a couple at a time here and there to do some common jobs without distress. They worked their way in to general service. Some of the best return on investment I ever make was on a handful of Chinese combo wrenches. I got Sears and MIT and Olympia had 1000's of cycles and not all easy.

Yes Sberry, but not everyone needs (7) 9/16" wrenches, (11) 1/2" sockets, and (17) pairs of (the same type) pliers...

 

[M6erfan]

Thank you for the solid advice. It makes me feel a little more comfortable piecing my own set together. As for what I have now all my cordless are 20v Dewalt, I have a Stanley 1/4" and 3/8" socket kit, Stanley wrenches (6-17mm, never needed a SAE in my life), Masterforce screwdrivers and plies.

Non-one does, unless you have a lot of outdoor/yard/farm equipment. (Just kidding SAE fans!)

Glad my advice helped. If you can take a bit of time and don't mind shopping around, you can piece together a stellar kit with no trouble at all. If you dont see a need for SAE (restoring old American muscle/iron) then I'd even skip the bundled socket sets that include SAE, like the Gearwrench and Tekton sets. Splurge on great metric sockets like Hazet or Ko-ken. You can even build your own railed sets like 1/4" from 5/5.5mm-13/14mm and 8/10mm-22/24mm in 3/8 drive.

BTW, I forgot to mention torque wrenches. Not sure if you have those yet but you'll want/need them.

 

[Gmonkee]

I think for wrenches and basic sockets you are set. I have and used the same with great results.

Get the box you like and slowly add as needs grow. Make it a practical set to your needs.
I also use Stanley knives, pliers and hacksaws with a Stanley screwdriver set in home use. Other stuff is local brands or old used **** good enough for small weekend jobs I do.

I discovered I need more space for servicrs related tools and spares like painting, plumbing and electrical than the general use kit.

I work at an indy shop so most of my wheeled repairs are done there.

 

[sberry]

Yes Sberry, but not everyone needs (7) 9/16" wrenches, (11) 1/2" sockets, and (17) pairs of (the same type) pliers...

I agree but I was pointing out in some convoluted sense that a lot of the dupes were added after I got my feet under myself with an economical master and still use much/most of it today. If a guy already has most all he needs then he probably doesn't need a master. He is already a candidate for cherry pick dupes or upgrades.

I am about function and don't care if the wrenches match. As a collection even the cheap ones may have special differences that lean towards a specific need. I have,,,, "more" and "different" rather than "better" in most cases. I got about 10 flank drive
Snaps, they are great and have their place but didn't need every wrench up to that standard or even most of them and then as my other selection grew so did features. I used them some back in the day and little now. I am not going to sell them, they are part of a dependable collection. But I aint replacing other functioning tools with new ones either.

 

[jd_1138]

I'd also get SAE stuff since you have a house and you may run across some SAE sized fasteners in the house or on appliances, furniture, yard tractor, etc.. Even if the SAE stuff is cheap Craftsman or HF or bought used off CL or OfferUp cheap. I'd build the metric set first, though.

But SAE sets are so cheap, may as well grab a set just in case. I keep my SAE stuff in a totally different tool box.

 

[Professional Tool User]

I would be careful about buying big hand tool sets. Often hand tool sets come with a lot of useless stuff, size skips, and count screwdriver bits as pieces. And after you've spent all that money, chances are there are still other things you need to buy. No single tool manufacturer is good at making everything and inevitably some tools in the set will not be of the best quality/value. I also wouldn't tie up all your tool money in hand tools. Cordless and air tools make your life easier and I use my impact driver and impact guns far more than my screwdrivers and ratchets.

 

[connorm]

I've been rebuilding an engine and I started with a craftsman plastic box set. It has a lot of tools, was a gift but I believe it wasn't super expensive, but it doesn't have some stuff I'd like, and has some stuff I don't. Not a huge fan of the 12 point sockets, I rarely use them. Unfortunately all the 1/2" sockets are 12pt. I don't usually use the 1/2" ratchet, most anything big enough to necessitate 1/2" drive tools also needs a breaker bar or my massive kobalt flexhead ratchet. I also end up using my impact sockets a lot because they're deep and 6pt. I've bought a lot of tools that the kit didn't had, and some duplicates/better stuff than the kit had. Starting all over again I'd buy everything some small sets, and tools as I need them. But 2 years ago it was the coolest thing ever and I used it a lot for smaller projects.

 

[connorm]

Yes Sberry, but not everyone needs (7) 9/16" wrenches, (11) 1/2" sockets, and (17) pairs of (the same type) pliers...

In my experience you can have as many 10mm and 9/16 sockets as you want but you'll never be able to find one when you need it

 

[chanceb23]

A majority of my tools well be to work on cars. In my spare time I usually help friends build tuners. Right now I have a 93 Camaro Z28 and 1999 Eclipse GSX that I'm attempting to build on my own but keep finding I never have the tool or tools I need. That's why I was looking at a master set to make sure I had everyone hamd tool I need.

 

[sberry]

I would be careful about buying big hand tool sets. Often hand tool sets come with a lot of useless stuff, size skips, and count screwdriver bits as pieces. And after you've spent all that money, chances are there are still other things you need to buy. No single tool manufacturer is good at making everything and inevitably some tools in the set will not be of the best quality/value. I also wouldn't tie up all your tool money in hand tools. Cordless and air tools make your life easier and I use my impact driver and impact guns far more than my screwdrivers and ratchets.

I agree, need other stuff besides hand tools.

 

[Gmonkee]

A majority of my tools well be to work on cars. In my spare time I usually help friends build tuners. Right now I have a 93 Camaro Z28 and 1999 Eclipse GSX that I'm attempting to build on my own but keep finding I never have the tool or tools I need. That's why I was looking at a master set to make sure I had everyone hamd tool I need.

Take a hard look at what you are missing to do what you need to do. Every toolkit is lacking something for a small percentage of jobs one may attempt.

With experience 10% of your tools will do 90% of the work. That core set will be based upon a version on what you have now.

I borrow from shop stocks as need be but usually just to take tires off and that rare near totally inaccessible bolt.

My tote is far from any master set. It is well tuned to my manner and needs.

 

[sberry]

I agree about the 10 90 rule. I agree that the tools get tuned by most guys that use them seriously. I don't know how some do it, body men can be the worst and I have seen some sign guys with a pair of left snips and a bent screwdriver. Most box full of snapped trim parts.

 

[M6erfan]

In my experience you can have as many 10mm and 9/16 sockets as you want but you'll never be able to find one when you need it

Have you seen Sberry's organizing bins?

 

[chanceb23]

Alright guys thank you for all the responses. I appreciate it. I went a head and bought a Kobalt tool box last night. I went with a 26" since I am not going to have a lot of tools, at least to start. I also put together a list of tools from Tekton that I like as well as various tools from SK. MY "core" set will be a mix between these two brands and plan to fill in as needed with Kobalt or Masterforce. From my calculations I'll spend roughly $1200 on a parted together set.

 

[paulsomlo]

Any more, my tool purchases fall into two categories - the ones I need right now to finish the job, and the ones I put on my mental list that would have made the job easier. The latter, I can take my time to research and wait for a sale.