i like how this turned in to a my box is better then yours thread , but realy it comes donw this on stuff like benches and jacks and stands on benches is it rated for a lot of weight while covered in trany fluid or oil will the top sag after a year of that , on jacks what does it weigh and how much will it lift and does it have the sticker on the side from ansi same with stands cause at home i feel ok crawling under a car with a 2 ton stand from hf but at work my boss may not and the liability is on him plus most things that are sold as pro grade its not a matter of being a better tool its a matter of the the quality control being more consistent same tool every time you grab a pack of welding tips for your mig do you buy the ones that are .035 every tip every time or take a chance 1 or 2 maybe wrong cause its cheaper
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For "Home Use" Vs "Pro Use"
- Thread starter Spudland_Dave
- Start date
Use, handling and moving them all affect the service life. Equally well the load it may carry.
Any box if loaded to the gills and moved about over rough floors 6 days a week has short service life. Add on a retarded monkey that slams the drawers, uses the top as a beater bench surface and subtract more life. The enviorment helps or hurts too, Dry desert heat, seaside salt air or a clean appliance repairman's shop VS a shop with caustic chemicals, maybe a sloppy bodyman's ownership.
The variables are endless.
Where I worked we had no closed shop area and dirt floors, we have frequent rains. I took my tools home every night. When I was lucky I worked in shops with rough cement floors.
Obviously one that is loaded more moderadtely, treated well and infrequently moved over a smooth floors will last a career in a shop or a lifetime in a home garage.
Any box if loaded to the gills and moved about over rough floors 6 days a week has short service life. Add on a retarded monkey that slams the drawers, uses the top as a beater bench surface and subtract more life. The enviorment helps or hurts too, Dry desert heat, seaside salt air or a clean appliance repairman's shop VS a shop with caustic chemicals, maybe a sloppy bodyman's ownership.
The variables are endless.
Where I worked we had no closed shop area and dirt floors, we have frequent rains. I took my tools home every night. When I was lucky I worked in shops with rough cement floors.
Obviously one that is loaded more moderadtely, treated well and infrequently moved over a smooth floors will last a career in a shop or a lifetime in a home garage.
57JoeFoMoPar
Well-known member
When I think of "pro use vs. home use", I don't necessarily think of where the tools or box physically are used, being a home or shop. I think of it more in the sense of "professional" use being severe duty and/or constant use. This makes sense to me since someone who is a professional typically uses their tools of the trade to earn a living, and as it is a job, they are used often. Conversely, when I think of "home" use, I don't necessarily think of the use as any less difficult, just less frequent.
For example: A professional auto shop may need a "professional" grade air compressor with extended life pumps, because there will be a steady stream of vehicles that need repair, so team of workers will constantly be running straight line sanders, paint guns, cut off tools, etc. While a home shop might be a hobbyist with a car that he is working on in his leisure, so the compressor may be running only limited hours on nights and weekends. A second example: a plumber may need a professional grade spanner wrench to install many sinks, since as a professional plumber that is his job. Whereas someone like myself would only need a home-owner grade spanner wrench to install 3 sinks, since that's all I have in my house.
My thought has always been to buy the tools that perform the best within a reasonable budget and taking performance and frequency of use into account. For a mechanic that is swinging a wrench 8 hours a day, I don't blame them for spending the money on Snap-On or Mac. But for the serious hobbyist, weekend warrior, or even skilled craftsman, good solid tools like Proto, USA Craftsman, S-K... will be sufficient. It comes down to what kind of expense can you justify for your ends
For example: A professional auto shop may need a "professional" grade air compressor with extended life pumps, because there will be a steady stream of vehicles that need repair, so team of workers will constantly be running straight line sanders, paint guns, cut off tools, etc. While a home shop might be a hobbyist with a car that he is working on in his leisure, so the compressor may be running only limited hours on nights and weekends. A second example: a plumber may need a professional grade spanner wrench to install many sinks, since as a professional plumber that is his job. Whereas someone like myself would only need a home-owner grade spanner wrench to install 3 sinks, since that's all I have in my house.
My thought has always been to buy the tools that perform the best within a reasonable budget and taking performance and frequency of use into account. For a mechanic that is swinging a wrench 8 hours a day, I don't blame them for spending the money on Snap-On or Mac. But for the serious hobbyist, weekend warrior, or even skilled craftsman, good solid tools like Proto, USA Craftsman, S-K... will be sufficient. It comes down to what kind of expense can you justify for your ends
justanengineer
Well-known member
I think it comes down to a matter of the hobbyist can afford to dink around for hours trying to make their tools work in the necessary manner, the pro needs things to work quickly with little effort.
Personally, I buy higher end domestic brands as theyre the best value for me and allow me to own some top quality tools relatively cheaply. If I ever need money or get tired of some of my tools I can easily sell them for at least what I paid, usually more. Sorry, but I cant do that with cheap tools, not to mention theyre frustrating as heck to use.
Personally, I buy higher end domestic brands as theyre the best value for me and allow me to own some top quality tools relatively cheaply. If I ever need money or get tired of some of my tools I can easily sell them for at least what I paid, usually more. Sorry, but I cant do that with cheap tools, not to mention theyre frustrating as heck to use.
Stokes_
Banned
Toolboxes,any toolbox from Sears,Lowes and Home Depot won't cut it for pro use.Only good for home use,will last 6 monthes to a year if you attempt to use for pro use.I had used tool carts,a cheapo and a Mac.It was time to upgrade and I went with a Matco 4S toolbox in outlaw black with chrome trim.Bottom box will be a year old in a couple weeks and my top chest will be a year old in Febuary.Been a great toolbox for work so far,the keys are the same.Used the same key combination for the top toolbox going off the key code for my bottom box.I keep the extra keys in my gunsafe at home just in case.
I disagree.
Ohmthis
Well-known member
My take on this is: home use=occasional use light duty, pro use=constant use heavy duty. A home owner doesn't need a high end tool where as a pro does. My example is cordless drills. Everyone just about has one. A home owner who even works a lot on projects can get by with a lower voltage, shorter running, maybe just one battery setup. A pro cannot afford to have that drill break, not have the power to use, or have dead batteries every other use. I have had an 18v dewalt for over ten years now that has had more than 20 hrs a week put on it. It still kicks azz and takes names. It has paid for itself hundreds of times over. I also have a 12v ryobi at the lake that only gets used once or twice a month. There is a value to me in both drills. VALUE is where the lines can be blurred. To a home owner there is more value in a lower cost lower quality still get the job done tool than an expensive get the same job done tool.
Well I've gone through 6 tool boxes in about 8 years, so let me say a few things. I used to work for a contractor and I have to tell you, the 26" & 40" boxes you see at HD & Lowe's that are paper thin, I bet there are just as many plumbers, electricians, and carpenters vans with those boxes as there are homeowners garages. The weight is a plus there, and since they are primarily organizing parts rather than heavy hand tools, they fit the bill well. They're locked in place so the casters don't need to be super high quality. They always get locked when you drive away so the drawers don't need a locking detent. Ever wonder why the 26" bottoms never had a drawer smaller than 3" tall? Plumbing fittings. small electrical boxes. etc; they weren't meant for hand tools.
Originally I had a roommate that had all the mechanics tools I needed and I wound up buying a workbench, vise, and a small 3 drawer box with some basic china tools; specifically it had things his box didn't, like spade bits and a laser level and such. All of these are all worn out, broken, or given away now; they were homeowner 'use it once get one job done' type stuff that I should have known better even at the time. That box got replaced by a Husky top & bottom, then later when the drawer slides started to wear out a cman bottom replaced the husky. Then I got the HF box and that's what I'm keeping. The husky & Cman have gone to my dad's and the infrequency of use there, especially for the bottom boxes they will continue to last years. To be honest, comparing new to new the Husky was a lot better.
The stainless Kobalt & Husky (if Husky still does them) are the 'homeowners' models. They're big and seem costly, and the wife is going to say 'no don't get any dirty tools you never fix anything the right way'. Then she sees it right after you get it home, take off all the stickers and there aren't any handprints on it yet, she'll allow it to stay. Just don't track mud on her carpets. Some you got a fridge or radio or whatever, they are for homeowners who only have a garage to escape from the wife and watch the game. If it was for any more than once per month use, you'd have a fridge outside the box because you need the storage space.
To me, a lot of unfair comparisons have been made in this thread; again i'm not a mechanic but coming from the home construction world, I would argue the 1.5 or 2.0 slim pack batteries are included in homeowner sets not because they are 'bad' or 'lesser' but because it's the cheapest battery they want to put the name on. I have seen plenty of guys who would rather wait a minute or 2 for the slim to finish charging than to get out the fat one for overhead or 'up high' work. I would almost go as far as to say the slim and the fat batteries are different tools for different uses; drywall screwgun gets a slim and the hammer drill or rotary hammer gets a fat and I would not flip those around unless there was no other option. But that's a totally different conversation.
Regardless of the battery, whether it is brushless, whether it is this or that feature, The only brand of power tools I would say are truly homeowner only use are Bostitch, Fatmax, and Porter-Cable. The reason being none of them offer a full range of tools for the same platform. If you only need a drill, one of the above will do it. Dewalt's 20V line is basically a step up, they do offer part but definitely not a full range like they did with the 18v. Kobalt and HF; both of those **** hard.
Ryobi is the perfect homeowner tool brand for power tools, unless you like the C3 since it's the same exact thing. You have more to choose from with Ryobi though, and they seem to update with newer models & better batteries than the C3 line. Outdoor power equipment for a homeowner, you can get all the things you need to take care of your 1/2 acre from either one also. Can't use it as hard as a Stihl but you don't need that B600 to blow 3 leaves off your 1 car driveway.
The real issue for GJ is, let's say you want to upgrade from the older USA craftsman what's the next step up? SK maybe? I don't know enough about it, nobody here sells it and it's too pricey to order some without seeing it in person first. Williams would probably fit in but that's only inexpensive compared to the truck brands. If you put Husky, Kobalt, and Cman in the same category of 'homeowner' there's a huge gap before you see Williams and SK. So the 'good stuff' from HF costs the same as those and is near/close enough to the SK/Williams in real world quality. It used to be for homeowners there was no Kobalt, no Husky, Cman was the low end back then but the low end is much much lower now than it used to be.
So really what happened was the high quality has always been there, and even if it has got better over time the baseline was still good enough. The middle has always been there even if it's a moving target. The only thing that's changed is the low end was introduced years ago and has been marketed ad nauseam since. Combine several economic factors and you have a big ol mess of what we have to choose to afford or cheap out on, whether at home or in a pro environment.
Originally I had a roommate that had all the mechanics tools I needed and I wound up buying a workbench, vise, and a small 3 drawer box with some basic china tools; specifically it had things his box didn't, like spade bits and a laser level and such. All of these are all worn out, broken, or given away now; they were homeowner 'use it once get one job done' type stuff that I should have known better even at the time. That box got replaced by a Husky top & bottom, then later when the drawer slides started to wear out a cman bottom replaced the husky. Then I got the HF box and that's what I'm keeping. The husky & Cman have gone to my dad's and the infrequency of use there, especially for the bottom boxes they will continue to last years. To be honest, comparing new to new the Husky was a lot better.
The stainless Kobalt & Husky (if Husky still does them) are the 'homeowners' models. They're big and seem costly, and the wife is going to say 'no don't get any dirty tools you never fix anything the right way'. Then she sees it right after you get it home, take off all the stickers and there aren't any handprints on it yet, she'll allow it to stay. Just don't track mud on her carpets. Some you got a fridge or radio or whatever, they are for homeowners who only have a garage to escape from the wife and watch the game. If it was for any more than once per month use, you'd have a fridge outside the box because you need the storage space.
To me, a lot of unfair comparisons have been made in this thread; again i'm not a mechanic but coming from the home construction world, I would argue the 1.5 or 2.0 slim pack batteries are included in homeowner sets not because they are 'bad' or 'lesser' but because it's the cheapest battery they want to put the name on. I have seen plenty of guys who would rather wait a minute or 2 for the slim to finish charging than to get out the fat one for overhead or 'up high' work. I would almost go as far as to say the slim and the fat batteries are different tools for different uses; drywall screwgun gets a slim and the hammer drill or rotary hammer gets a fat and I would not flip those around unless there was no other option. But that's a totally different conversation.
Regardless of the battery, whether it is brushless, whether it is this or that feature, The only brand of power tools I would say are truly homeowner only use are Bostitch, Fatmax, and Porter-Cable. The reason being none of them offer a full range of tools for the same platform. If you only need a drill, one of the above will do it. Dewalt's 20V line is basically a step up, they do offer part but definitely not a full range like they did with the 18v. Kobalt and HF; both of those **** hard.
Ryobi is the perfect homeowner tool brand for power tools, unless you like the C3 since it's the same exact thing. You have more to choose from with Ryobi though, and they seem to update with newer models & better batteries than the C3 line. Outdoor power equipment for a homeowner, you can get all the things you need to take care of your 1/2 acre from either one also. Can't use it as hard as a Stihl but you don't need that B600 to blow 3 leaves off your 1 car driveway.
The real issue for GJ is, let's say you want to upgrade from the older USA craftsman what's the next step up? SK maybe? I don't know enough about it, nobody here sells it and it's too pricey to order some without seeing it in person first. Williams would probably fit in but that's only inexpensive compared to the truck brands. If you put Husky, Kobalt, and Cman in the same category of 'homeowner' there's a huge gap before you see Williams and SK. So the 'good stuff' from HF costs the same as those and is near/close enough to the SK/Williams in real world quality. It used to be for homeowners there was no Kobalt, no Husky, Cman was the low end back then but the low end is much much lower now than it used to be.
So really what happened was the high quality has always been there, and even if it has got better over time the baseline was still good enough. The middle has always been there even if it's a moving target. The only thing that's changed is the low end was introduced years ago and has been marketed ad nauseam since. Combine several economic factors and you have a big ol mess of what we have to choose to afford or cheap out on, whether at home or in a pro environment.
Trey T
Well-known member
Home use - single person = unlikely tools/storage/work bench abused
Commercial/Industrial use - multi-persons = likely tools/storage/work bench is abused.
That's why you can get away with using 24-22guage storage cabinets (tool chest) and lower capacity hardwares at home; you're not gonna abuse it and it doesn't get used that much.
Commercial/Industrial use - multi-persons = likely tools/storage/work bench is abused.
That's why you can get away with using 24-22guage storage cabinets (tool chest) and lower capacity hardwares at home; you're not gonna abuse it and it doesn't get used that much.