help a noob pick out his tools

[cambell]

hello all, first off let me just state that i am a weekend warrior, i dont wrench for a living but i might in the future. right now i have a decent size collection of tools, almost all craftsman/craftsman pro. i have a couple of harbor frieght tools that i had bought recently because my dad loves that store. i think the tools are junk and i kinda wish i hadn't spent the $80 i did on them. how do you guys feel about the craftsman stuff in a workplace setting? right now, if a tool breaks i would much rather just go down to my local sears than try to chase down a snap-on truck. let me also say that im not rich and i dont make much money so the price of craftsman tools are even alittle to much for me at times but i save and buy what i can when i can. my only complaint with craftsman is thier ratchets. i have the nice polished ones that i bought a few years ago and have already turned in for new ones because they started slipping. not to confidence inspiring, now every time i use them i get scaired im gonna break a knuckle. i am also looking for some good clicky torque wrenches in 3/8's and 1/2 drives. i have a craftsman micro torque and a husky/ blackhawk beam 1/2 in the tool box right now. i am also looking for advice on a good set of stubby combo wrenches. would you get them in ratcheting or standard, right now i do not own any ratcheting combo wrenches. is there a better brand of tools out there with similar prices to the craftsman line or do you think i should just stick with sears for now? i really dont have any interest in the truck brands because of the price and because i dont have a way to exchange them if i need too.
thnx for your advise

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Contrary to what many will have to say, you will do quite well with the Craftsman tools. They are not at all bad and for the weekend and evening work, you cannot go wrong. Many of the tools I have at home are Craftsman, in fact, most of them are. Some are 60+ years old, others are ten to 15 years old, they all work fine. I do everything to my vehicles, from oil changes to clutch changes, to timing belt changes. No one works on my autos except to change tires and align the front end. I work on my tractor and a couple of others, mostly minor stuff, but I don't encounter any problems using the Craftsman wrenches, sockets and everything else I have.

Personally I prefer Snap On for feel and fit, and much of what I have at work is SO, but then too, I have a mixed bag of stuff at work too.

Charles

 

[ImportTuner]

Sounds like you already know what you want and what you can afford; you can't beat Craftsman for price and quality (for now). Buy what you can afford and enjoy ...

BTW .. welcome to the board ...

 

[montee]

It sounds like you're on the right track. A fellow Tool-a-Holic told me once to "buy the best you can afford.." That has always been helpful in determining the kind of tools I buy. I have a mixed bag of tools Craftsman, Wiha (love the screwdrivers). I am in the middle of upgrading some of my tools to SK (specifically the ratchets and some specialty wrenches) in order to build up a portable kit (my wife and I love road trips). Anyhow, save up, look for good deals... craigslist and ebay are good sourcse for tools... Happy Wrenching!

 

[Danglerb]

Welcome to the forum.

I have the same bad habit, but you really shouldn't be wanging on a ratchet, thats what a breaker bar is for, or an impact wrench. Same for busting a knuckle, you need to assume the bolt is going to come loose, socket slip etc and apply the torque so that you aren't going to get hurt when it happens. I don't even bother to say S**t anymore when I am pushing on a wrench and it lets go. Gloves cut down on the expense of bandaids, but I draw the line at wearing a helmet.

Nice tools are addictive, if a truck shows up where you work, you will end up buying some, so why rush it. Buy what you need now, upgrade what doesn't suit you, and just go with the flow.

I like the GearWrench flex heads so far, but hold up a ratcheting wrench next to a normal box end and its easy to see that box end is going to fit in places the ratchet would never get into.

 

[joenero]

You'll learn the value of snap on or a truck brand over craftsman and what the pitfalls of buying off a truck can be. Many tools are sometimes rebadged, price jacked up, then sold off the truck. It's a pick and choose thing but you find things like screwdrivers, ratchets, sockets, etc to be much better and nearly indestructible compared to craftsman.

 

[cambell]

thnx guys for your suggestions and keep them comming. just need to say that i own a full set of breaker bars and use them to break free any stubborn bolts. i busted my knuckles while i was tightening bolts with the ratchet and im not talking major torque, just normal old bolts like 20 ft lbs max. i have broken all three drive sizes of my craftsman ratchets, i kinda miss the snapon ratchets we had when i was in mechanics school.

 

[Danglerb]

That might explain the rack of replacement ratchets next to the register in our Sears. I've never broken a ratchet, does something just wear out inside?

Ratchet seems like a very personal preference thing, and since you use it all the time you should get what you like. Lately I pick up every interesting one I see and play with the mechanism to see how it feels.

BTW no disrespect intended, I just didn't know what you might be doing. I tend to think, why do they make pipe if we aren't supposed to use it on the end of wrenches.

 

[cambell]

none taken, and thanks for your help. hey do you know if i bought some snap on ratchets if i could warranty them through the mail? HD apparently wont exchange husky tools much anymore around here. i had to call husky, which is now stanley apparently, and they sent me a replacement wrench. i was wondering if snap-on would do that. spending the big money on the S.O. ratchets would be worth it to me. when i was in school we broke one snap on ratchet in the two years i was there. we had six ratchets in total, two each drive size, shared between about 60 students. that was the only tool that was ever broken in the two years, everything was snap-on.

 

[martell06]

if you wrench more than once a year, i would recommend upgrading your craftsman ratchets- one of Craftsman's greatest weaknesses. I have the sockets and they are great. I'd say the best bang for you buck for nice ratchets that won't break the bank are Proto, which have a bit of a following here. I have um and i love them. you can pick them up for cheap on ebay if you are patient. There are tons of threads regarding tool brands, quality, etc. Use the search, there are weeks worth of reading. Snap on seems to take the cake for screwdriver and craftsman ranks quite low there too. snap on wins the line wrench contest too. just use search - it will answer 95% of your questions about quality and preference.

 

[strizzy]

For the most part I just wrench for fun and make a little money from it here and there.

I have picked different brands that I found I like best for each application. My sockets are all Craftsman (my little steal), combo wrenches are Craftsman Pro, gearwrenches (reversible and stubby) are all different brands- Husky, GearWrench, and HF (can’t tell a ******** difference), ratchets Snap On and Proto (just picked up another 1/2incher), plier set from Knipex with some Channellocks and others, for screwdrivers I have the all necessary Snap On ratcheting driver and several other key sizes and a full set of Craftsman Pros, and for pry bars Craftsman has their old sets for $20 and you can’t beat them. Everything else is just stuff I collected from cheap **** to truck stuff. Been doing a little shopping on eBay due to lots of free time and just picked up a new 5 piece CATERPILLAR vise grip set by Snap On for a fraction of the SO price.

As far as to get EITHER ratcheting or standard combo stubbies, I got ratcheting. My thought was its harder to put a large stress on a stubby so I got the gearwrench. Haven't had a clearance issue where I couldn't just used the open end, just whether or not my meat hook will fit in there.

I'm not one that needs everything to match and would rather pick and choose products I like best to have a well rounded collection.

 

[wilbilt]

Use what you have, and buy what you can. You will quickly find out what holds up and what doesn't.

I started with a mixture of tools I had, Craftsman, SK, Bonney, etc. Many of them were well-used before I got them. I ordered some other stuff from HF back when they had no retail stores.

The HF impact sockets and chisel bits did not last long. I replaced them with SO and MAC, along with other tools I needed. You will learn where you need to spend the money.

Keep in mind that "cheaper" tools today are of much higher quality than they were back then.

 

[eschoendorff]

I have spent a few years going through the same thing that the OP did. Do your research using the "search" function. Every manufacturer has its really strong points. Don't be afraid to try new tools if you can get them at the right price either...