I think Cornwell is USA made, no?
I might just watch ebay for a deal for Snap on, otherwise the Capri and blackhawk wrenches both catch my eye if I can get a deal there too
Disappointed in GearWrench
- Thread starter f575gtc
- Start date
I think Cornwell is USA made, no?
I might just watch ebay for a deal for Snap on, otherwise the Capri and blackhawk wrenches both catch my eye if I can get a deal there too
Wamsutta
Well-known member
Not their ratcheting wrenches no.
Damn, they look rather amazing but I'm finding prices similar to snap-on. Any idea where to get them at a decent price? Id consider it possibly
Edit; Found these, but not reversible. Priced well tho!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0787QZ7PN/?tag=atomicindus08-20
And they're serviceable too! ****
Not sure what to tell you on price. Check Amazon.de, handtools-from-germany.com, etc...
Wamsutta
Well-known member
The Snap-on's would probably be longer and smoother operating.
I dunno about smoother, but certainly longer which Id like.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004ISZDCK/?tag=atomicindus08-20
Good price on that 10 piece set tho, I kinda wanna buy it...
Sorry, I didn't read the comments. I just wanted to pop in and say that Apex took all my returned ratcheting wrenches and replaced them quickly. It went really smooth.
Ever since I've returned mine, I started taking better care of all my wrenches (the ratcheting ends) by giving them an occasional soak in lube. I've had really good luck, doing so. I wrote a post about it, on my website, a while ago. Here's the link if you're interested: https://tools365.net/lubricating-ratcheting-wrenches/
Ever since I've returned mine, I started taking better care of all my wrenches (the ratcheting ends) by giving them an occasional soak in lube. I've had really good luck, doing so. I wrote a post about it, on my website, a while ago. Here's the link if you're interested: https://tools365.net/lubricating-ratcheting-wrenches/
Wamsutta
Well-known member
Not reversible, or offset, if that makes a difference. That 7UR set I've seen for a little over $200 if you shop around if that'$ still in your ballpark. The Snap-ons are longer but smoother? IDK...
Look at how beautiful this thing is though.
Does that one have the "flippable" knife edge?
I have to admit, they are purdey. They outta be for $500
Wamsutta
Well-known member
Good price and 20 dollar expedited shipping. ****...might break down and buy this
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gedore-2...=item2cd134c00c:g:AKgAAOSwrBxasjTC:rk:20:pf:0
That is a decent price. Here's the set I was talking about...
https://www.amazon.de/Ring-Maulschl%C3%BCssel-Satz-umschaltbarer-Schraubenschl%C3%BCssel-Umschalt-Ratschenschl%C3%BCssel-Set-Schrauben/dp/B004T4SE6K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1546237597&sr=8-1&keywords=gedore+ratcheting+ring
8-19mm, no skips, in a metal box
I like no skips, but I kinda like the trays, anyone whos doing nice plastic trays gets my vote
The metal box looks nice, but its not exactly what I want in my wrench drawer Fedwrench
ALLIANCE MEMBER
You would be wrong. The SK X frame and the Proto I beam ratcheting wrenches are both made in the USA.
However, the Black Proto ratcheting wrenches and the fully polished smooth beam ratcheting wrenches are both made in Taiwan.
Stuart in MN
Well-known member
Well, the question remains - unless it's actually broken in two, or has some other obvious defect you can see through the plastic, I don't understand how you can tell the wrench is broken if it's never been out of the packaging.
I bought a bunch of GW ratcheting wrenches from Sears over the last few weeks (metric and SAE 7pc flex head sets and 20pc metric/SAE combo set). With discounts and coupons, the prices were extremely low ($2.47 per piece), but the quality isn't what I expected from a brand that seemed highly regarded here. I had to return one flex head set for a loose flex joint right away. The ratcheting mech isn't as nice as the single older GW ACE professional one I have. They did appear to be clearing them out, however, so maybe they've noticed that we've noticed.
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Serviceable is the best word for the Made in China versions. I have them in flex head and they work but provide no joy. If one breaks I'll probably replace it with a Tekton.
Their made in Taiwan stuff has some gems for the price like the 84t ratchets. The ratcheting wrench is the signature product and what made them a household name but Apex seems determined to value engineer them to death.
I hear that. I still feel like I got a bargain, but I feel sorry from anyone who paid anything close to full price on them.
Ign
Well-known member
And Taiwan as a whole has a culture of higher quality.
China *can* make stuff just as good, but you've typically gotta hold their feet to the fire and watch diligently for quality fade. The Chinese culture tends to encourage cutting costs, even if it means cutting quality.
I understand there's always an exception to the rule but 9 times out of 10 on an "identical" object the Taiwanese product will be of better quality ---- or at the very least QC is higher and defects less likely to slip through to the consumer.
I've said it a hundred times on this board but anyone REMOTELY interested should order up Poorly Made In China on Amazon. It's a QUICK read and gives excellent perspective on Chinese manufacturing.
In no way are the Chinese bad, evil or lazy. It just isn't that simple. Bad and evil are a matter of judgement. We might be taught that quality fade is bad but they're taught it is to be admired if profits increase. They don't look ahead to potentially lost customers, they look to profit TODAY.
And I'm glad to see a thread here where at least some are acknowledging GW is low-level. I've been saying for years they get a free pass on this board (inexplicably) and they are in a race to the bottom (very true)
If their tools work for you, that's ok. I just don't understand lumping them in with any other manufacturers save for maybe Craftsman and Companion....they're near the bottom of the ranks in both quality and QC (underscored by a pair of TWISTED CASTING hose pliers I have)
Rogers954
Well-known member
After seeing the recommendation for Williams i took a quick look and I’m not going to lie i have looked at getting there sockets but never thought about there ratcheting wrenches. I’m kind of in the market I’d like a new set as i really hate the old craftsman set that i have (can’t stand the way they engage always skipping and you have to sit there and giggle them constantly to get it to engage in tight spots) well after pulling this up i may just go this route, price is right and no skips. Now to see if they have a sae set to go along 
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jcbarry
Well-known member
Whenever someone paints Chinese tools with a broad brush, saying they are all garbage, I like to remind people that Milwaukee m18/m12 tools are Chinese. And almost everyone raves about them. Just proves China can make nice tools.
As far as Gearwrench goes, they have treated me well. My sockets and ratchets get used daily in a professional environment. I don't use my ratcheting wrenches every day, but they seem to hold up just fine when i use them. Granted they arent Snap On quality, but for the price they are more than adequate.
As far as Gearwrench goes, they have treated me well. My sockets and ratchets get used daily in a professional environment. I don't use my ratcheting wrenches every day, but they seem to hold up just fine when i use them. Granted they arent Snap On quality, but for the price they are more than adequate.
Rogers954
Well-known member
Sae set would set you back a little more, i never understood how you can get full set of metrics like 8-19 but when it comes to sae it’s always a smaller set.
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ihateminimumwage
Well-known member
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- Jan 26, 2012
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Check out Toolsdelivered.com for Williams, pretty much always the best price and fastest service.After seeing the recommendation for Williams i took a quick look and I’m not going to lie i have looked at getting there sockets but never thought about there ratcheting wrenches.
Those are the identical ratcheting wrenches sold as Blue Point off the Snappy truck. They're great.
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Rogers954
Well-known member
Check out Toolsdelivered.com for Williams, pretty much always the best price and fastest service.
Those are the identical ratcheting wrenches sold as Blue Point off the Snappy truck. They're great.
Good reminder that’s where i look at all the Williams stuff I’m interested in and that metric set is a bit cheaper on there [emoji106]
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Rogers954
Well-known member
If you guys had to choose one or the other what would you go with flex head or fixed wrenches?
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Alpine4x4
Well-known member
Check out Toolsdelivered.com for Williams, pretty much always the best price and fastest service.
Those are the identical ratcheting wrenches sold as Blue Point off the Snappy truck. They're great.
Yup, great tools. I have the Bluepoints and they have been wonderful. I'm in the market for some flex head and will mot likely be going Williams.
That's kind of a tough question - I love my locking flex ratchet wrenches, until I need to pull it out of some tight quarters and flip it over to reverse direction. Then I curse the fact that I didn't buy reversing fixed head. The other 50% of the time, I wished I had a flex head.
If I could only have one, it'd be the flex head. But for the relatively low cost, I made it easier on myself and have both styles up to 19mm and ¾" respectively.
That's interesting. In my experience Tekton quality is going up while Gearwrench quality is going down. Which Tekton products did you dislike?
Also note that there is a large amount of non-current production NOS Tekton available on Amazon and other sites that is not on the level of their new offerings.
I have several sets of both types. At least 6 different sets I can think of. If I could only have one I would probably go with the reversible non-flex head Gearwrench. The switching mechanism I like the most is the sliding bar type on my Crescent ones.
https://www.goapesonline.com/P/7663/33404CooperToolsFRR
https://www.goapesonline.com/P/7663/33404CooperToolsFRR
TTI is headquartered in Hong Kong. I suspect that makes it easier for them to keep tabs on their production facilities in China than Apex which is in the Carolinas IIRC.
Of course China can make good stuff. But unfortunately their reputation for QC decline over time is well earned. The reasons are outside the scope of this discussion. Without detailed information, I'll take Taiwan over China and that will be a safe bet the vast majority of the time.
The Tekton brand recently went way up in quality and price on their ratcheting wrenches. Earlier this year the local Meijer was clearancing the cheap ones and replacing them with the better ones. Holding them side by side there was a very obvious quality difference also reflected in the price.
vssjim
ALLIANCE MEMBER
For that cost go to Circle C supply and buy SK X frame set it will be cheaper and free freight
I love Circle C, they seem to always have really competitive prices on SK stuff and I've always received quick service from them. That is a good price on the X-Frame set, but they are a no go for me, the "SureGrip" teeth on the open end kill it (for me).
I mentioned it in my original post, the ratcheting end spins both ways, regardless of how it is oriented in the package, if you spin the ratcheting side in one direction it should click/ratchet and grab in the other direction, this one doesn't it spins freely in both directions when you spin the ratcheting mechanism with your fingers.
The package is one of those "try me" setups so you can touch the wrenches and spin them without actually opening and taking the wrenches out of their holding tray it also comes with.
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c39er
Well-known member
My original gear wrench flex hed sets were Tiawan.
They lasted about six years and three fo them had loose floppy heads.
had a major issue getting warranty replacements... bought them at Sears... they would do nothing,,,,called gear wrench they said use fastenall ..I did.. took 2 months... got new ones back... Chinese.. two months later the flex heads got loose again...garbage Chinese junk.
No more Chinese Gear Wrench for me.
They lasted about six years and three fo them had loose floppy heads.
had a major issue getting warranty replacements... bought them at Sears... they would do nothing,,,,called gear wrench they said use fastenall ..I did.. took 2 months... got new ones back... Chinese.. two months later the flex heads got loose again...garbage Chinese junk.
No more Chinese Gear Wrench for me.
They may be on the race to the bottom like other companies but I personally dont think so as they've not outsourced everything to China yet, and I don't think they're anywhere close to Craftsman or the likes. They're still a solid mid tier brand, with good prices and mid tier tools. Their sockets have features many companies still are skipping (Stamped/Necked down/Knurled) and their 84T ratchets are well built and very usable, plus still serviceable. QC issues hit every company, feel free to search this board for SK and all of their issues, I think this summer I saw a new QC complaint thread once a week. They have some products that are better than competitors, some worse, just like everyone.
I too have had no issue out of my Gearwrench tools, and I just bought probably 200-300 dollars more from them the past month, and all of them where made in Taiwan still. For the price, good stuff. Hell, there's numerous threads here bashing SKs QC repeatedly but that's none of my business
