Guide me to a socket set

[EJM02]

I need a socket set.

I'm pretty well covered in the 1/4 category and don't really have a need for a 1/2 drive set.

I'd like a nice 3/8 set both Metric and SAE, deep and shallow. 12 pt is enough, I'm not a professional and simply don't need the 6 pt for my application(s).

So here's the deal:... I have the ratchet already. My father In Law gave me an 88 tooth 3/8 SO ratchet for . (yes, I clearly married the right woman). What I need is the socket set to complete it. Right now I have a rather mix-matched set of sockets which is pretty much a 'get the job done' set but I want a full set. What I don't want is to pay the extra money for a ratchet in a set of sockets that I DO want! I am very much a "buy quality once instead of **** twice" kind of guy but holy man, I just can't afford Snap-On.

I'm not afraid of C-man but I can't find a set without paying more $ with the ratchet or ratchets in it.

I just want a bag of 3/8" USA made sockets that I can properly place in some Hansen socket organizers.

My requirements: Made in USA, that's it.. Throw me your opinions GJ'ers!

 

[chipper]

I'm not sure if there still made in USA but craftsman have tje build-a-sets where you can get only 3/8 check out your local sears

 

[CWP1616L]

My requirements: Made in USA, that's it..

In that case, Proto or Williams. Both brands can be purchased online easy.

 

[RedFordTruck]

Try Ace Hardware for craftsman. You might pay regular price, but with the exception of hex bit sockets, all of the sockets at my ace were USA.

They even had 11 piece 3/8'' drive 6pt SAE sets on sale for $8.95

 

[MechanicNamedJohn]

What is your price range? I just replaced my USA made CM sockets, they are less than a year old and in excellent shape. I am thinking about selling them.

 

[bw77]

What is your price range? I just replaced my USA made CM sockets, they are less than a year old and in excellent shape. I am thinking about selling them.

Just curious - why did you replace the cm sockets, and with what?

 

[montanafordman]

Look no further than here...

http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/p-6258-sk-hand-tool-94547-12.aspx

Great value, Sure its got a ratchet, and no its not as nice as your Snap-on but its a time tested and proven ratchet thats good for serious abuse - if you're gonna put a cheater on it, or hammer with it, use this not the snap on, or simply sell it and recoup some money there. You wanted standard, and deep SAE and metric in 3/8. This set has it all for a very decent price.

I'm a huge SK fan. And yes - USA made!

 

[MechanicNamedJohn]

Just curious - why did you replace the cm sockets, and with what?

Hold on... let me put my flame suit on.

I replaced them with GearWrench. To be brief and to the point; I am not happy with the CM chrome or quality.

 

[sk farmer]

Look no further than here...

http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/p-6258-sk-hand-tool-94547-12.aspx

Great value, Sure its got a ratchet, and no its not as nice as your Snap-on but its a time tested and proven ratchet thats good for serious abuse - if you're gonna put a cheater on it, or hammer with it, use this not the snap on, or simply sell it and recoup some money there. You wanted standard, and deep SAE and metric in 3/8. This set has it all for a very decent price.

I'm a huge SK fan. And yes - USA made!

this.^^^^^ you may even find you like the sk ratchet. they are bullet proof but i miss the older style deep sharp knurling.

 

[biscuit141]

I may be mistaken, but I don't think you can be a garage journal member and only have one 3/8" ratchet.

 

[PT Doc]

Hold on... let me put my flame suit on.

I replaced them with GearWrench. To be brief and to the point; I am not happy with the CM chrome or quality.

I bought the 300+ piece cm socket set and some of the chrome is less than ideal. Once I got over that life was good.

 

[Chuck122]

this.^^^^^ you may even find you like the sk ratchet. they are bullet proof but i miss the older style deep sharp knurling.

It will definitely grow on you, plus a second ratchet can often speed things up

 

[d.mcfarland]

SK or Craftsman USA. SK finish is going to be better, but the price is also higher.

 

[RCStocker]

I may be mistaken, but I don't think you can be a garage journal member and only have one 3/8" ratchet.

I was thinking the same thing. LOL
I had a full set of 1/2" drive tools when I was 10.

Just buy a set of Craftsman. The 154 piece set is at Costco for $99.99 and it has 174 pieces. They tossed in a set of SAE and Metric Carb wrenches to make it 174 piece set. I got the set a the swap meed several months back for $40 and I use it all the time. I have dozens of sets of tools. I am leaving this set on my sail boat. It is so handy. I have an out board, batteries and a mast thet take tools.

You can buy all kinds of Craftsman sets where the tolls are a dollar each in the set. Some of the larger sets get a little more but the 154 pices will serve you very well. Sears is selling it for $129.99 on sale. The same thing as Costco is seling for $99.99

 

[X1 Mike]

Hold on... let me put my flame suit on.

I replaced them with GearWrench. To be brief and to the point; I am not happy with the CM chrome or quality.

You are no stranger to the flame suit are you? You may want to think about changing your handle to AsbestosWearingMechanicNamedJohn.


Even though I recently bought a full polish thin profile ratchet off a fellow GJ'er on eBay I have been staying as far away from C-Man as possible.

 

[MechanicNamedJohn]

You are no stranger to the flame suit are you? You may want to think about changing your handle to AsbestosWearingMechanicNamedJohn.


Even though I recently bought a full polish thin profile ratchet off a fellow GJ'er on eBay I have been staying as far away from C-Man as possible.

LOL... I wonder if "they" will let me change my handle to that?

 

[jeffk14]

Hold on... let me put my flame suit on.

I replaced them with GearWrench. To be brief and to the point; I am not happy with the CM chrome or quality.

If you went from CM to GearWrench, that was an UPGRADE. Pure and simple. Regardless of COO!

 

[pipsters]

Sears/Danaher has the ability to sell some good looking sockets. Unfortunately I find about 20% if not more are bad, or start rusting within a year of ownership. It's a fairly high number. I bought the same socket set MechanicNamedJohn has and I was disappointed in a decent number of sockets. I switched them out, but most likely will be upgrading as well.

If Sears could get their quality control together they'd have a decent product. The laser etching is great.

I've had a bad SK experience, and unfortunately anything higher end is quite a bit more expensive. I think Gearwrench was an excellent choice.

 

[montanafordman]

I don't mean to drift from the OP's request for USA SOCKETS, but sadly many of the import ratchets are better than Cman ratchets (Cman USA or china). Its almost hard to find one worse IMO. Now back to USA made sockets...

 

[sberry]

If I really wanted to treat myself in this one area it might be SK but as for John, you deserve the flame, buy HF to dig yourself out of a hole and got to trade a cman for the chrome. wtf? Got a golden arm?

 

[John in OH]

As far as I know, the following sockets are made in USA and all of good quality: Wright, Williams, Proto, SK, Armstrong. They are all cheaper than SO, but more expensive than Cman. Better be careful to assure yourself that any Cmans you buy are still made in USA.

I'm personally a fan of Wright, but have no issues with any of the others listed.

 

[MechanicNamedJohn]

If I really wanted to treat myself in this one area it might be SK but as for John, you deserve the flame, buy HF to dig yourself out of a hole and got to trade a cman for the chrome. wtf? Got a golden arm?

I was never in a "hole." I just used HF to quickly get me to where I wanted to be. Now that I am here, the HF is going away, and Mac and SnapON are coming in. I didn't want to get too crazy on sockets, so I figured USA CM would be a good choice... wrong (IMO) the chrome ***** as well as fitment, the GW sockets are way better (IMO) the fitment is much tighter as well as the chrome.

At least it makes my OCD feel better, I just didn't like looking at the **** chrome on the CM sockets; it was such a distraction (I know I have a problem; that's another story.) In the end its what I want to do. I am very satisfied with the GW sockets, and they will look very nice in my new Macsimizer (if it ever gets here, again, that's another story also.)

 

[biscuit141]

Not to get off topic but John do you have a like to your garage upgrade thread? I ha net see. It in awhile and I am behind in your tool and shop upgrades.

 

[MechanicNamedJohn]

Not to get off topic but John do you have a like to your garage upgrade thread? I ha net see. It in awhile and I am behind in your tool and shop upgrades.

No not really, just the "HF Investment thread," and my YouTube account. I have been slacking on uploading my new tool pics. I am going to make a new video when the box gets here.

http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=67850

 

[texchappy]

All I bought was C'man until about 4 years ago. Got a couple of small set of C'man 'universal' stuff that was made in China and just horrible. That coupled with doubts of Sears future cropping up I decided to move on. Been buying Williams lately and have been very happy. I've been told (on the internet so it must be true) that USA Williams is Snap On industrial.

Been buying from toolsdelivered and they now clearly distinguish between USA and Taiwan COO.

 

[EJM02]

What does that mean - being 'industrial' to or with another company?

 

[campbell990]

I've been told (on the internet so it must be true) that USA Williams is Snap On industrial.

Been buying from toolsdelivered and they now clearly distinguish between USA and Taiwan COO.

When I bought a Williams B-52EHA (USA 3/8 ratchet) from tools direct it was shipped directly from Snap on Industrial.

 

[sberry]

I dont think I have ever "upgraded" a hand tool. I have bought one really faulty set of sockets and it was a super cheap deeps metric from HF, others here did the same.

Over near 40 yrs now, it seems strange to say that but have probably busted about 50 tools, come to a better estimate maybe up to 75. A half a dozen were adapters, a couple ujoints, all in all about 50 sockets maybe and this does not include the pos ratchet.

This is Sears **** from about 80 till early mid 90's and I got about twice as much as the biggest set they offered in the day. Maybe triple that in sockets and wrenches. I lost a few things, kind of minor in the grand scheme, so say maybe a thousand wrenches or sockets, not every one highly used but as some kind of guess I bet 5% or so with Sears. Really about 4% of those the first time used, really right out of the box. If they were good from there then great the rest of the way.

I wonder if the premiums stress test? Seems like it would be simple. What is the failure rate SK and Snap? I dont have enough to know, I got a few pieces but they are all well proved by the time I got them. Anyone ever have a snappy crack out of the box? I had 2 in a 3/4 set crack right out the gate that I can recall. I remember I bought a big set, I needed metrics badly and I am so proud to be able to finally have the right 15MM 1/2 and the fukker bust the first time I used it.

 

[sberry]

No one has ever answered that question,,, does snappy stress their sockets before they leave the factory?

 

[EJM02]

So, I'm looking at this. Looks like a good deal I just don't need all those extra extensions etc. But I guess more never hurt.. eh?

http://www.amazon.com/Williams-50607-79-Piece-8-Inch-Deluxe/dp/B001DNOQIU/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1366256064&sr=8-5&keywords=williams+tools

 

[CWP1616L]

So, I'm looking at this. Looks like a good deal I just don't need all those extra extensions etc. But I guess more never hurt.. eh?

http://www.amazon.com/Williams-50607-79-Piece-8-Inch-Deluxe/dp/B001DNOQIU/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1366256064&sr=8-5&keywords=williams+tools

Don't get that set. You specified USA made, that set is Taiwan.

 

[jake00]

Look no further than here...

http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/p-6258-sk-hand-tool-94547-12.aspx

Great value, Sure its got a ratchet, and no its not as nice as your Snap-on but its a time tested and proven ratchet thats good for serious abuse - if you're gonna put a cheater on it, or hammer with it, use this not the snap on, or simply sell it and recoup some money there. You wanted standard, and deep SAE and metric in 3/8. This set has it all for a very decent price.

I'm a huge SK fan. And yes - USA made!

Yes, I have this exact set at work and freaking love it

 

[Givl Reggin]

I can't find a set without ... the ratchet or ratchets in it.

What, you're just going to have ONE ratchet? What happens if the ratchet breaks in the middle of something... trust me, you'll want more than one ratchet.

 

[4sgrenHort]

I bought a set of Allan sockets USA made. I'm in northern Illinois and I got my set at Farm & Fleet. I haven't seen this brand sold at too many stores.

 

[greasemonkey44]

wright; they build them strong

 

[EJM02]

AH. I looked for that but couldn't find COO. How can you tell?

 

[north]

Go here and enter the product number. Click on the item that comes up and then download the catalog page. If it is U.S. made it will say made in the USA and also display an image that says USA, at the bottom right of the description I believe.

The type of ratchet in a set is also a tell tale. Ribbed handles are not USA.

Edit: regarding product number: a combination of letters and numbers = USA, numbers only = Taiwan or wherever.