Cheap socket set for vacation house?
- Thread starter Jacobson
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Madjik Man
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- Dec 3, 2015
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HF Pittsburgh is what I would buy.
scooby074
Well-known member
The new MIUSA Craftsman would be perfect if you can find one.
$7
3/8 in., 1/4 in. Drive SAE and Metric Socket Set, 40-Piece
Amazing deals on this 40Pc 1/4In, 3/8In Dr Sae/Metric Socket Set at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com
$15
SAE and Metric Socket Set, 51-Piece
Amazing deals on this 51Pc Sae/Met Socket Set at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Lowes usually has decent kobalt sets on sale for the holidays. A case with a full set of sockets ,wrenches, Allen keys, etc for about $100.
I have no problem buying some tools at HF, but a $15 socket set is going to piss you off when you need it
I have no problem buying some tools at HF, but a $15 socket set is going to piss you off when you need it
nadogail
Well-known member
IMHO, Harbor Freight socket sets are plenty good enough for the "Week End Warrior". Pittsburgh tools enabled me to earn a lot of pay checks over the years.
Junkdrawer Dog
Well-known member
Those $15 socket sets are filled with a bunch of tiny sockets that are only useful for working on watches or something. Buy a regular set that starts at 3/8" or 8mm thereabouts.
Pinemarten
Well-known member
That $15 Harbor Freight set would fit the bill. I would add some spark plug sockets. They will come in handy on a variety of lawn equipment and bikes/quads/jet-skis etc.
All of the cheap tools will be decent enough if they aren't the lowest tier. IMO the most important thing for a set like this is a good blow molded case that will keep it organized. I have crappier sockets I go for on a regular basis around the house because I can just grab the case and know I have everything.
four.cycle
Well-known member
tiny 1/4" SAE set (3/16" - 1/2") - look at KAL sets on Ebay (US made - actually damn good stuff) - it's a ***** item and there's a seller who's got a couple dozen of them dirt cheap. (I can't sell my own that cheap.)
3/8" drive SAE = you can find all the Thorsen/Giller you want on Ebay crazy cheap. You can't GIVE the stuff away, for some reason. I'm not even sure I want to list mine considering what I am seeing selling prices go for.
TEKTON is turning into a top-shelf line, but they're not as crazy cheap as they were before.
SAE is useless if you have to work on any cars built in the last 40 or 50 years.
3/8" drive SAE = you can find all the Thorsen/Giller you want on Ebay crazy cheap. You can't GIVE the stuff away, for some reason. I'm not even sure I want to list mine considering what I am seeing selling prices go for.
TEKTON is turning into a top-shelf line, but they're not as crazy cheap as they were before.
SAE is useless if you have to work on any cars built in the last 40 or 50 years.
But SAE is absolutely required if you're working on stuff in, on, or around the house.
Pinemarten
Well-known member
1980ish American stuff will have SAE. As will many BBQ's, hardware around the house, and lots of lawn equipment. A few SAE sockets in a metric/SAE set aren't going to bust the OP's budget. They will help do many things around the vacation house.
Hardly. SAE fasteners we’re used well into the 80s and 90s.
HF has a big Quinn set of 1/4,3/8 and 1/2 drive for $399. On sale this weekend with coupon it’s even less.
bob15
Well-known member
I guess you don't work on much around the home.......
Shhhh. You are giving away my snap on buying strategy.
four.cycle
Well-known member
bob15 said:
actually.... I do pretty much all of the work on this house... and I can pretty much count on one hand the number of times I've had to use a socket and ratchet to fix something on the house.
wrenches now and then, yeah... if I have to screw around with plumbing maybe .... but sockets?
what's in my house that I'm going to put a socket onto?
Pinemarten
Well-known member
Recessed nuts in furniture, hex head screws, tearing apart household devices. The GF's printer somehow ingested a sheet of Tyvek that was on the bottom of a stack of paper. Sockets were required in the disassembly prior to the surgical removal of the melted Tyvek.
Outdoor lawn tools like mowers, pressure washers and such will require sockets as well.
Outdoor lawn tools like mowers, pressure washers and such will require sockets as well.
mcj115
Well-known member
I would say wait a couple of months until the holidays....then pop on the best looking $100 set that you see. As other said look at the case....try to find a set with a pin hinge instead of the one that is blow molded into the case and will fail.
Pinemarten
Well-known member
I think that should have been $39.99. The most expensive Quinn set on HF's site is $199.00
things I'v used a socket on in my house, recently enough to remember: replaced a roller on the garage door, assembled a wheel barrow, assembled a grill, replaced a toilet seat, fixed loose bolts in a table. All of them, except the table, were SAE heads. most of them could have been done with a wrench, but it would have been harder and taken longer. The table would have a royal pain with a wrench, only enough access for a half flat turn, socket was easy.
Kscardsfan
Well-known member
Furniture, appliances, outdoor power equipment, air conditioners, pool pumps and filters, fencing hardware and gates….
If you have a vacation home $400 shouldn’t break the bank.
Master Technicians Tool Set, 428 Piece
Amazing deals on this 428Pc Master Technicians Toolset at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com
chris142
Well-known member
Shower valves in the wall. Mine take a 1-1/16 socket. I ground flats in the sides to use a wrench or channel locks on it.
Pinemarten
Well-known member
Ouch...............my search at HF was "Quinn socket set", and this didn't come up, but that should cover almost anything that might come up while at the vacation house!If you have a vacation home $400 shouldn’t break the bank.
Master Technicians Tool Set, 428 Piece
Amazing deals on this 428Pc Master Technicians Toolset at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
decableguy2000
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- Nov 4, 2012
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- 650
I picked up a nice Dewalt set at Farm and Fleet on clearance for less than a $100 for a Christmas gift for my eldest daughter. DWMT81535. Deals are out there, just have to shop around.
Wait, What? a GJ member that doesn't have enough tools already to make up a set for a vacation home?
are we sure he belongs here?
are we sure he belongs here?
RTM
Well-known member
Lag bolts, gate hardware, my stove, my heater.
The last boat and trailer I worked on both had lots of SAE fasteners.
tez929rr
Well-known member
I think a set like this would be good. Around the house I tend to use lots of tools besides sockets. Good screwdrivers (not bit sets) and hammers come in handy.
Craftsman Amazon Set
Craftsman Amazon Set
Attachments
Insane, had no idea HF is so cheap in the USA.$7
3/8 in., 1/4 in. Drive SAE and Metric Socket Set, 40-Piece
Amazing deals on this 40Pc 1/4In, 3/8In Dr Sae/Metric Socket Set at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
$15
SAE and Metric Socket Set, 51-Piece
Amazing deals on this 51Pc Sae/Met Socket Set at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
You can buy the same garbage on amazon/ebay/Ali-x . Harbor freight just makes it available at a storefront
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I never understood the "you can afford X so you can't complain about Y" mindset.
It's not like the guy is being too cheap to give his kids medical care or buy safe transportation. It's a tool set, nothing more.
I know it's always top secret, but whereabouts is your vacation home. I may have a mixed bag that may work as I continue to downsize.
Last edited:
He didn’t give a price range for what he was looking to buy. With a coupon that’s about $300. Not exactly SnapOn pricing for a very complete set of tools that are probably more than adequate and would cover just about anything you’d work on around the house.
Dakotadadv8
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- May 30, 2021
- Messages
- 1,482
For home SAE is helpful.