FNG needs to buy some new tools!

[GrantC]

Been lurking around for a bit, and it looks like I may have found the crowd to answer my questions!

It's time to upgrade my piecemeal socket and combination wrench "sets." Most of my tools are 30+ years old, and as I've lost or damaged various pieces I've ended up with lots of non-matching replacements - some good quality, some Taiwanese garbage.

I need to buy socket sets in both 3/8 and 1/2, deep and standard, metric and SAE. I also need combination wrenches in both SAE and metric. (Ratchets aren't needed, as I have a bunch of them, all older Proto, Armstrong, Craftsman, SK, and Snap-On.)

Some background: I live on a farm, and do all of my own mechanic work, so they get used often and sometimes abused. I am used to quality tools in other areas of my life, and even if I never take them to their limits I enjoy using good tools. (Quality seems to make the work go faster!)

I have noted some deficiencies over the years, and perhaps it will give you some idea of what I'm looking for.

In sockets, things that bother me include "flutes" that are recessed so far into the socket that they can't get a good grip on a narrow (or damaged or recessed) nut; deep sockets where the hole through the socket is too small for the bolt itself to pass; flutes that aren't any deeper than a standard socket; 12-point sockets that wear quickly at the edges because the metal is too soft.

In wrenches, I've found open ends that aren't broached accurately (leading to rounded nuts) and shaft cross-sections that are too thin or sharp for my comfort (Snap-On, for example.)

I'm a big fan of buying quality once, rather than a lesser tool many times. Though I could afford to buy, say, Snap-On, I'd prefer to save money where I can as long as I can get the quality I want. In other words, I'll pay what it takes to get the quality I want, but no more than necessary.

I'm not brand conscious, as long as - again - it is of good quality. (The sockets and combo wrenches do not need to be the same brand, so feel free to suggest what you think would meet my needs.)

Suggest away!

 

[mrsleeve]

I am on a big S&K buying spree lately. So far I am really happy with them over my c-man stuff. But as far as a mexican socket set (cresent wrenches) goes, the all chrome snap on's are the all out best.

 

[nissan_crawler]

I am on a big S&K buying spree lately. So far I am really happy with them over my c-man stuff.

That does not work with this:

deep sockets where the hole through the socket is too small for the bolt itself to pass;

SK ***** for that. I sold all my SK stuff for craftsman and was much happier, and it fit on all of the fasteners, rather than only 80% like the sk did.

Dad used craftsman sockets for 40 years on the farm, and rarely had a broken one, and we did all of the maintenance also. Four months every winter was just wrenching, in large part.

Wrenches...Craftsman Pro's have proven themselves to me. I have a Snap-On set, they're no better than the Craftsman Pro, IMHO.

Snap-On 30/60 degree wrenches (I think they call them "4-way wrenches") come in handy on some things.

Impact sockets, we had some name brand, some cheap chinese ****. The cheap chinese **** held up just as well.

You might want to look into some service wrenches also for farm use. I use a GRIP brand set at work. They're good for the money. Martin is better, but about 6x as much, and not worth the price, IMHO. I wish we had had them at the farm.

 

[eschoendorff]

That does not work with this:



SK ***** for that. I sold all my SK stuff for craftsman and was much happier, and it fit on all of the fasteners, rather than only 80% like the sk did.

Dad used craftsman sockets for 40 years on the farm, and rarely had a broken one, and we did all of the maintenance also. Four months every winter was just wrenching, in large part.

Wrenches...Craftsman Pro's have proven themselves to me. I have a Snap-On set, they're no better than the Craftsman Pro, IMHO.

Snap-On 30/60 degree wrenches (I think they call them "4-way wrenches") come in handy on some things.

Impact sockets, we had some name brand, some cheap chinese ****. The cheap chinese **** held up just as well.

You might want to look into some service wrenches also for farm use. I use a GRIP brand set at work. They're good for the money. Martin is better, but about 6x as much, and not worth the price, IMHO. I wish we had had them at the farm.

I was going to post these same thoughts! I spent some $$$ buying S*K over the past few years and have honestly been more happy with my Craftsman stuff. Even the current Craftsman Pro wrenches are better IMHO. For the stuff you are working on, though, you may want to pony up the cash for teh Snap On flank drive plus wrenches. I have a few and they are real good.

Sockets... my Harbor freight Taiwanese specials have never failed me, and I have also been pretty happy with my Craftsmans. They seem to be just as good as my Proto, S*K Armstrong and other sockets.....

 

[83diesel]

In your shoes I would go with Craftsman socket sets, Proffesional Craftsman wrench set (have thick rounded handles), for impact sockets you can't beat the price of Grey Pneumatic sockets, they have the most complete line of impact sockets I have seen. For pump wrenches I would go with a cheaper brand, you are not going to put that much torque on a 4" long 1"+ size wrench. For 4 way angle wrenches in my opinion SO is the only one that makes a good one. Matco and Mac don't have the correct angles and the wrenches are too bulky to fit in tight places. Adjustable wrench I would get a Crescent or Craftsman, the SO's aren't any better.

I would stick with tools that will be easily purchased and warrantied. Being that you are on a farm I doubt a tool truck stops at your farm, so I would stay away from tool trucks. Their motto is if you don't buy over 100 dollars worth a month there is no warranty and service.

 

[MarkH]

We have used Wrights for years on the farm. The satin finish has stood up better than the polished ones for toolboxes on tractors, combines, and on the pickups. The polished look like turds in about 3 days. We still use and buy a large amount of C-man raised panel for this purpose.

For shop work, the more traditional automotive brands work well. We use again Wright, C-man usually pro, and a mix of truck brands depending on the shop and service. Where I am it is usually Cornwell.

The one problem I have had on some of our implements is that they were designed to be used with a chrome socket. We have had to go higher priced brands for impacts to get a slightly thinner socket to even use them vs the cheapos I usually see mentioned. I did crack a couple chromes before bitting the bullet. Then using a 3/4 impact on them with a reducer is abuse. Fertilizer had rusted things so much I did not expect the nut to come off, I was trying to break it and replace it. That was usually on older Deere and Wil-Rich cultivators.

 

[milkovich]

I would stay away from truck tools and get something you can warranty.

Unfortunately, that only leaves Cman... I'm not impressed with Rigid and Kobalt.

The only thing I've found that beats quality is using the right tool for the job. That said, when the right tool for the job is in town and not in your toolbox... i'ts nice to know you have a quality tool to abuse.

 

[64merc]

Assuming there is a Sears around you, in your case, I think I would get Craftsman sockets and Craftsman Pro wrenches. This will enable you to get easy warranty service just in case you "abuse" your tools a bit. If there isn't anything near by, I would order some SK stuff online, but make sure you shop around. There are major price differences between different sites.

 

[GrantC]

Thanks for the replies so far...

In my area, SK is slightly more available than Craftsman (big stocking SK dealer, small Sears store.) There is a Williams dealer that stocks a small selection. Anything else would require ordering, though I already deal with some industrial distributors (Enco, MSC, Rutland, etc.) where I can usually get Proto & Blackhawk.

From my seat-of-the-pants browsing, it looks like the Craftsman Pro combination wrenches are running about the same cost as SK in my area. Have others found that to be true?

Also, the Sears site is awfully skimpy on info; do Craftsman sockets have the same sort of "flank drive" configuration that everyone else has? How about their box-ends?

 

[Chris Adams]

On wrenches the SuperCombo wrenches from Williams would seem to be right up your alley.
They are super heavy duty, thick so no biting the hand during use and are a type of flank drive.

USA made sets are cheap on e-bay, one vendor selling tons of them with some sizes missing. You can then buy any that are missing from your sets at your local Williams dealer.
I have their shorty chrome, their standard chrome and their satin finish in the flank type configuration.

They are fine wrenches that can be had much cheaper than anything else of their quality.

 

[GrantC]

I should have made this clearer up front: I'm not as concerned with easy warranty replacement as I am with the overall quality of the tool. The nearest dealers for anything "good" (the aforementioned Sears & SK stores) are still a 90-minute round trip from here. If I break something, and can't wait for a replacement, I'm more likely to drive to the nearest NAPA (about 9 miles) and get something to "make do".

Again, I'm looking for the overall quality of the tool, with local support a secondary concern.

 

[oxycodone]

I've broken a few craftsman sockets and every craftsman ratchet I've ever had. I won't buy another cman ratchet.

The other thing that turns me off about craftsman is that they constantly skip sizes in their sets. Maybe most people don't need 13mm sockets, but I do.

That said, their professional line of wrenches are very nice, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy them. I like SK wrenches, others don't. Snap-on flank drive would be my top pick if budget isn't a big concern.

As far as sockets go, I don't have a problem with SK, but I don't work on anything big. The deep SK sockets may pose a problem for you on the farm... I'd go with one of the other truck brands for sockets.

Snap-on ratchets are great, nice and smooth, but SK ratchets are bulletproof. I have a SK and Proto ratchets in every drive, as well as some Snap-on, Matco and Mac ratchets. I like them all, but the SKs would be my pick for field use.

Enough rambling...
If I was in your position, I'd probably go with SK ratchets, Matco/Mac/Snap-on sockets, and Craftsman pro or SK wrenches.

 

[rlb1953]

It depends a lot on how you work, and what you expect to be working on.

I design air seeders, air carts and bale haulers. All the techs/fabricators I work with use either Mastercraft (Canadian Tire house brand, probably similar to Craftsman Pro) or Westward. Mind you, the prototype machines they work on are usually less than 2 years old, so nothing is too rusty yet.

On my dad's farm, smaller hand tools (1-1/4" and under) are mostly Westward, with some Craftsman and Mastercraft thrown in. Anything bigger is chinese. He is quite resourceful and takes his time, but his machinery is also older and easier to work on.

A friend of my was a mechanic for Case New Holland, doing mostly warranty repairs on combines and tractors. Nearly every tool he owns is Snap-On, and judging by the horror stories he would tell me about "stupid engineers", I can't say I blame him. Not only did he have to worry about down-time, but he needed his tools to fit in some really tight spaces. He works for Cummins now.

Since you are asking for opinions, If I were back on the farm, I'd probably keep C-man and Westward on the tractors, and name brands (I like Gray, but take your pick: SK, Proto, Mac etc) back at the shop.

roger

 

[GrantC]

I've been looking closer at Williams, and like what I see. I called the local dealer (an industrial supply house that I already do business with, which is 2 miles closer to me than either Sears or the SK shop) and it seems that they stock a lot more of the line than I'd thought.

While not "everything", they carry all of the sockets (metric, inch, short, tall, chrome, impact) and most of the wrenches, as well as some of the other tools. I'll run in there next week and check prices, but I'm seeing some real deals online.

Any reason NOT to go Williams?

 

[oxycodone]

Williams is good stuff. But like most mfgs these days, they have some Asian tools.

 

[64merc]

If the closest thing to me was a place that stocked Williams stuff, and price was not the main factor, than this is what I would go with.

 

[mrsleeve]

I will clear up my previous statement. I have every Cman pro wrench made minus the 5 really big ones. Yes they are very good but I just happen to like how the S&K has a thicker beam between the ends. I have had some pretty good deflection on the Cmans and never found that to be the case wiht my SK. Also SK offers so much more options for impact sockets thats why I have been going with them for that as well.

 

[Crossthread]

Me, I'd go snap-on rachets (or used Mac - I just like the Mac better for the feel), craftsman sockets, and snap-on combination wrenches.

 

[Merkava_4]

Any reason NOT to go Williams?

Have no fear, Williams are top drawer domestic tools.

If you're sensitive to the beam profile, Cornwell is your wrench; they have nice fully rounded edges like this ( ------ )

Where do you live? So far all we know is that you live on a farm somewhere.

 

[GrantC]

I'm in the wilds of Western Oregon.

Looks like Williams might be the "correct" choice for me.

 

[Spookrider]

Get all "Impact grade" 3/8 and 1/2 sockets.
I think I got my dad method fig out. Why he don't have any 3/8 chrome socket, he has all 3/8 impact but, no 3/8 impact gun but, only 3/8 rat.
He didn't get two sets of the same thing. He got one and used it for all.
And impact grade is heavy duty compair to the chrome stuff.

 

[wrenchr]

Been lurking around for a bit, and it looks like I may have found the crowd to answer my questions!

It's time to upgrade my piecemeal socket and combination wrench "sets." Most of my tools are 30+ years old, and as I've lost or damaged various pieces I've ended up with lots of non-matching replacements - some good quality, some Taiwanese garbage.

I need to buy socket sets in both 3/8 and 1/2, deep and standard, metric and SAE. I also need combination wrenches in both SAE and metric. (Ratchets aren't needed, as I have a bunch of them, all older Proto, Armstrong, Craftsman, SK, and Snap-On.)

Some background: I live on a farm, and do all of my own mechanic work, so they get used often and sometimes abused. I am used to quality tools in other areas of my life, and even if I never take them to their limits I enjoy using good tools. (Quality seems to make the work go faster!)

I have noted some deficiencies over the years, and perhaps it will give you some idea of what I'm looking for.

In sockets, things that bother me include "flutes" that are recessed so far into the socket that they can't get a good grip on a narrow (or damaged or recessed) nut; deep sockets where the hole through the socket is too small for the bolt itself to pass; flutes that aren't any deeper than a standard socket; 12-point sockets that wear quickly at the edges because the metal is too soft.

In wrenches, I've found open ends that aren't broached accurately (leading to rounded nuts) and shaft cross-sections that are too thin or sharp for my comfort (Snap-On, for example.)

I'm a big fan of buying quality once, rather than a lesser tool many times. Though I could afford to buy, say, Snap-On, I'd prefer to save money where I can as long as I can get the quality I want. In other words, I'll pay what it takes to get the quality I want, but no more than necessary.

I'm not brand conscious, as long as - again - it is of good quality. (The sockets and combo wrenches do not need to be the same brand, so feel free to suggest what you think would meet my needs.)

Suggest away!

FNG, I'm guessing you are Military or retired Military. Just a hunch I have.

 

[Merkava_4]

I never did figure out what FNG was abbreviated for.

 

[wrenchr]

F--king new guy

 

[bchee]

On wrenches the SuperCombo wrenches from Williams would seem to be right up your alley.
They are super heavy duty, thick so no biting the hand during use and are a type of flank drive.

USA made sets are cheap on e-bay, one vendor selling tons of them with some sizes missing. You can then buy any that are missing from your sets at your local Williams dealer.
I have their shorty chrome, their standard chrome and their satin finish in the flank type configuration.

They are fine wrenches that can be had much cheaper than anything else of their quality.

I agree on the Williams wrenches. I have both metric and standards sets, in both stubby and standard length. There are grooves in the open end (not the stubby ones), but no serrations like the flank drive plus. The handle is very comfortable. They are US made. I bought the sets on ebay, and used www.indsupply.com to fill in the missing ones. They were the cheapest place that I could find. The website is very bad, but shipping is very cheap (or free if you order from the site). You have to call or email to get quotes.

 

[wrenchr]

FNG is Military slang, Like "Here are the FNG's you asked for Sir".