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CAT tools

alinc100

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Joined
May 26, 2013
Messages
3,010
Location
Dearborn,MI
Figured I might as well join the club with some swivel metric 1/2 impact sockets (10mm to 19mm). I know I was never going to pay Snap On's price for these which would be about $1275. It was $557 Canadian including $10 shipping as I didn't feel like picking them up from the dealer.

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I don't know what shipping 5 lbs across the border would cost but with discounts my local CAT store is showing me a price of $192.41 OTD in USD.
 
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Steve_P

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Joined
Sep 15, 2010
Messages
5,181
I had suspected earlier that the Snap-on and Williams and cap were all the same flare wrench but looking at a set of Williams compared to a set of Snap-on they are slightly different, sizes are a little bit different and also which dimensions are on which wrench are a little bit different. I'm assuming that the Snap-on is standalone and the Williams and Cat Flare wrenches are the same. This is a little bit older sets of Snap-on that I was comparing to and the Williams are excellent wrenches but you can see that they aren't finished to as high of a level.

Unless something has recently changed, the Williams flarenut are totally different from SO. Williams are a matte chrome finish and Taiwan made; SO are fully polished and USA Made. The Williams are very good wrenches for the $ though, just totally different from SO.
 

mreisner

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Joined
Jun 25, 2019
Messages
900
Location
North of Detroit
Unless something has recently changed, the Williams flarenut are totally different from SO. Williams are a matte chrome finish and Taiwan made; SO are fully polished and USA Made. The Williams are very good wrenches for the $ though, just totally different from SO.
To complicate it even further there are Williams USA flare wrenches also. I'm still having difficulty posting pictures I do have a side-by-side picture of them and while similar they are definitely not the same wrench.
 

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kams1973

ALLIANCE MEMBER
Joined
Oct 3, 2010
Messages
1,572
Location
Amarillo, TX
I disagree on the top wrench being Williams. I've had alot of old Cat tools and that upper wrench is just like the Par-X/Blue Point wrenches Snap on sold from the 60's- 70's.
Snap on and Proto both made Cat hand tools. As far as I know the Cat tools made by Williams didn't occur until after Snap on purchased Williams. Vlchek, Billings and Armstrong made tools also, especially the tools that came in tool kits with the machinery.
I agree. The wrench looks more like the Par-X wrenches I own.
 

dcg1

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 10, 2014
Messages
136
I saw on another thread that the hose pick is now coming with a non Snap On handle(looks completely different). It used to come with a Snap On labeled handle.
Confirmed this was the case for me; I've updated my post.
Now made in Germany. Not the end of the world, seems like a fine tool, but I wouldn't have purchased if I knew.
Haven't been able to find any details on OEM; any ideas?

EDIT - Also, the metric hex socket set are gold, but the SAE are black. And despite what the CAT site says, the metric set does include a 6mm.
 

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Pinne

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Oct 8, 2024
Messages
334
EDIT - Also, the metric hex socket set are gold, but the SAE are black. And despite what the CAT site says, the metric set does include a 6mm.
That's the same as the Snap On ones. Weird about the product description, I ordered the 6mm separate and now have duplicates - their catalog is iffy.
 

CoThG

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 10, 2022
Messages
638
Location
Ohio
Confirmed this was the case for me; I've updated my post.
Now made in Germany. Not the end of the world, seems like a fine tool, but I wouldn't have purchased if I knew.
Haven't been able to find any details on OEM; any ideas?

EDIT - Also, the metric hex socket set are gold, but the SAE are black. And despite what the CAT site says, the metric set does include a 6mm.
That's how Snap-On differentiates metric from SAE hex sockets.
 

Nobody-named-Olli

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Joined
Jan 9, 2025
Messages
1,550
Location
North Rhine-Westphalia; Germany
Confirmed this was the case for me; I've updated my post.
Now made in Germany. Not the end of the world, seems like a fine tool, but I wouldn't have purchased if I knew.
Haven't been able to find any details on OEM; any ideas?

EDIT - Also, the metric hex socket set are gold, but the SAE are black. And despite what the CAT site says, the metric set does include a 6mm.

Handle looks like Athlet/ HKR.




Kind regards,
Olli
 

dcg1

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Joined
Oct 10, 2014
Messages
136

Nobody-named-Olli

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 9, 2025
Messages
1,550
Location
North Rhine-Westphalia; Germany
The Athlet screwdrivers are high quality, same goes for the handles.

So here is what I think: I think that HKR makes the handles and Athlet pushes their blades into said handles. These handles can be found on different brand’s screwdrivers here (all private label, it’s what HKR does), I was never able to confirm whether they make the whole driver, or if they only make and supply the handles. Allegedly, both companies (can) make (full/whole) screwdrivers in-house.

So it’s entirely possible that the handle is HKR/Athlet but the pick itself is from another German manufacturer - and someone then marries them.

This goes way back and is typical for the region. Company A makes a really good X and supplies X to B, C, D, (…). They then fit X to their products.

For a company like HKR, who specialize in private label, it’s not a big deal to set up custom colors & print, it’s not that you need hundreds of thousands of units to make that cost effective.

—-

On a different note, what I find interesting is that this is already the 2nd “CAT” tool shown here in relative short order of German origin, that replaced a former Snap-On product.

Kind regards,
Olli
 
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