hey ho from uk...

[ozaudio]

found this place while looking up what cornwell tools were like.. inaway i registered and thought id share some pictures of my few bits, now unlike you lot i only repair / service my own and friends cars so spending £10'000 in tools would be stupid

ok so my spanners are nearly all from carboots except the halfords pro ones, which is a set of flexi ratchet spanners. britool / facom / unior / bahco / draper expert plus a few other brands i forgot.





ratchets are halfords pro / beta / britool / bahco / TONE ( japan ) also a nice old britool 1/2 breaker bar and a halfords pro 3/8


pliers range in brands again, BDS / IRWIN / KNIPEX / ORIGONAL MOLE GRIPS / best find was from a carboot sale £1.50 for a set of knipex side cutters and some bluepoint adjustable snap ring pliers . just picked up a 3 set of cornwell long pliers / side cutters for £19.50 from ebay with a discount code



torx and hex are mostly halfords pro range simply because of the lifetime warranty, i can drive 1 mile to a halfords store and replace there and then, i also have some cheap US PRO / BERGEN 3/8 torx which ive had in the impact gun and didn't break so they seem fine for what i paid.


sockets.. 1/2 deep and shallow are us pro / Bergen 6 point... not broke one yet or destroyed a bolt/nut with these, cheap but robust for sure. halfords 3/8 deep and shallow in 12 point and then some 1/4 again in Bergen. i could make up another set of 3/8 with all the odd sockets, some very nice made in japan TONE sockets and a ratchet i found on a boot sale for £5. halfords pro E torx and some US PRO bolt extractors which have paid for them selfs already


my bottom draw is were my files / robuck and eclipse punches / hammers / breaker bars live.

i have a little 1/4 carolus socket set i picked up for a £5 from some lady clearing her shed after her husband passed, little nice locking flexhead ratchet with loads of bits inside, its made by gedore so good quality.







------- oh you have to be joking ive typed all this then tried adding pictures to be told i need 5 posts to post links, never mind ill post it inaway

 

[timmyisme22]

Just type a few more comments, tell some people they ****, and you'll be there in a split second!

Welcome to the club.

 

[ozaudio]

haha, not really a spammer tbh, im sure ill get my post count up shortly. the choice of tools you guys have over in the USA is insane.. over here i wanted more TEKTON stuff but we are really limited, i bought a set of 8" pliers from tekton a little while back, the cross cut teeth of them i really like. apart from blue point snap ring pliers and a trolly jack, that's were my snap on / blue point will end, i am no way willing to pay them prices.

 

[Dave455]

Welcome!

Don’t panic - while there are a few folks who have some awesome tool collections here, a big part of the forum is sharing information. Tool manufacturers who score well on quality versus price are probably the number one topic.

And I suspect the majority here hunt used tools to some degree. I certainly do!

 

[Dave455]

As you have noted, a lot of folks are in the U.S. and yes, the selection of tools is different there, especially those that represent good value!

In all honesty though, I think the choice of tools in the U.K is probably more varied than in the U.S. We can get most of the U.S. brands (albeit at high prices) but we can probably get a greater selection of European brands, and generally at prices our U.S. cousins can only dream of!

Enjoy...

 

[ozaudio]

Welcome!

Don’t panic - while there are a few folks who have some awesome tool collections here, a big part of the forum is sharing information. Tool manufacturers who score well on quality versus price are probably the number one topic.

And I suspect the majority here hunt used tools to some degree. I certainly do!

hi another uk user! i have no problem finding tools seconds hand, just ends up been something i already have, like right now i stuck a set of draper expert spanners on ebay for pennys because i already have about 6/7 of each spanner, i think i have around 13 or so 10mm spanners haha. problem is most people find a good tool and its in the USA, were in the UK so no good, although while im around i will see if there are any deals on any long ratchets

As you have noted, a lot of folks are in the U.S. and yes, the selection of tools is different there, especially those that represent good value!

In all honesty though, I think the choice of tools in the U.K is probably more varied than in the U.S. We can get most of the U.S. brands (albeit at high prices) but we can probably get a greater selection of European brands, and generally at prices our U.S. cousins can only dream of!

Enjoy...

facom / knipex / bahco / wera / wiha / ect .. i guess so

picked up a nice set of wiha allen keys for £2 on the market.

 

[ozaudio]

i don't want to make another thread so ill ask here, ive been reading reviews for a little while now and they are all 50/50 , the item its self isn't expensive but if it snaps while im using it i wont be best pleased. has anybody used these? amazon reviews and such are more than likely from people who tried using a 10kg hammer to hammer them in and that's why they have snapped!!

Teng Tools TMSE05S 5 Piece Screw Extractor Set

 

[Dave455]

hi another uk user! i have no problem finding tools seconds hand, just ends up been something i already have, like right now i stuck a set of draper expert spanners on ebay for pennys because i already have about 6/7 of each spanner, i think i have around 13 or so 10mm spanners haha. problem is most people find a good tool and its in the USA, were in the UK so no good, although while im around i will see if there are any deals on any long ratchets



facom / knipex / bahco / wera / wiha / ect .. i guess so

picked up a nice set of wiha allen keys for £2 on the market.

Yes, unfortunately at boot fairs the Taiwanese spanners are all too common. Every batch of stuff gets picked over and the Taiwanese usually gets left behind. While the newer Taiwanese tools are better than the old, that doesn’t generally turn up! I usually see one guy with boxes of Taiwanese sockets he can’t sell. Suspect they all end up as scrap.

I’m quite lucky as I have a couple of decent used tool dealers locally. They generally don’t even bother buying the rubbish, and the prices are fair for the rest. Got quite a bit that way!

eBay can work well too, especially if you can hunt for makers that are not so well known. Unfortunately, while there are awesome deals on older British tools - Britool (to an extent) Bedford, Gordon etc etc, most of these are Whitworth or A/F sizes, wheras most of what’s needed is metric!

The best new tool deals at the moment for us are the German makers. The prices are awesome for us. Have a look at the TBS Aachen website and look at the special deals on Stahlwille, or even Gedore. Also look at their Knipex prices!

 

[Dave455]

i don't want to make another thread so ill ask here, ive been reading reviews for a little while now and they are all 50/50 , the item its self isn't expensive but if it snaps while im using it i wont be best pleased. has anybody used these? amazon reviews and such are more than likely from people who tried using a 10kg hammer to hammer them in and that's why they have snapped!!

Teng Tools TMSE05S 5 Piece Screw Extractor Set

Haven’t used those, but generally I find that Teng score poorly on the quality/price ratio. You can generally get similar quality for less money, or better quality for the same money! Teng seem to spend far more on marketing than on the tools!

 

[ozaudio]

Haven’t used those, but generally I find that Teng score poorly on the quality/price ratio. You can generally get similar quality for less money, or better quality for the same money! Teng seem to spend far more on marketing than on the tools!

quite often ive read that teng just isn't what its hyped to be. im sure Irwin do some screw type extracters. ill check that website out cheers!

another brand you don't see used a lot it BETA, i have a beta ratchet and some of there spanners, or i had some and they seem decent.

 

[Ton ton]

I think you may have King **** brand of wrenches in the UK. They are tricky to find in the USA. Welcome to garage journal.

 

[Ton ton]

Put the UK in your location profile. That way you can connect with other UK people.

 

[mr.lemons]

Welcome.

Some UK members and tools in the 'Tools of the old world' thread if you haven't seen it.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28952

 

[MrNatural]

Hi and welcome.

Regarding Teng quality. I had to replace a head on a Vectra diesel - the replacement head bolts were T60 and I struggled with a three foot snap on breaker bar with all of my strength (210lbs and pretty strong) to reach the final tty setting. The Teng 1/2sd long T60 held up well. I would estimate that I was putting around 250-300 Nm into each of the 8 bolts. Really tough torx sockets.

Now having said that, a few months ago I had a solid T30 plug on a Isuzu timing chain tensioner. I snapped the tip off every 3/8sd T30 socket that I had with me, including Snap on HD Gold, MAC, Halfords. I tried two Teng 1/2 sd T30’s and snapped the head off them also.

It wasn’t a reverse thread so I guess someone had put red loctite on it. I did not have my 3/8 Stahlwilles with me or I would have tried them - good steel and the only set with 5/8” instead of 1/4” bits- I have a feeling they would have met the same fate...

 

[ozaudio]

do any of you UK guys who know makes sealey tools?

 

[ZRX61]

do any of you UK guys who know makes sealey tools?

Some of their stuff looks identical to Harbor Freight.

 

[Dave455]

do any of you UK guys who know makes sealey tools?

Generic Taiwanese or Chinese.

Sealey just import it and rebrand it.

If you want/need something and Sealey are the cheapest, go for it. If another brand can be had cheaper, go for that. It will be the same tool.

Just seen your pictures. Those Halfords Pro Torx screwdrivers are reasonably decent. I got a set of the regular drivers free with a gallon of oil once. I didn’t think they would be much good so gave ‘em to a mate. He’s hard on tools but they have taken the abuse well.

The Britool ratchet and breaker bar with the black “triangular” handles are the last of the British made. Not as good as the previous generations, but solid enough!

Those Tone ratchets were decent too. Made in Japan I think. Strangely, all I usually see by Tone are those ratchets! They must have been imported to the U.K. in big numbers!

 

[ozaudio]

those sockets came with the ratchet aswell which say made in japan, not sure if the same brand. i never really use that old britool ratchet, i tend to use the bahco as it has a lot more teeth. i only bought them halfords torx drivers at christmas as i needed to change my door lock in a seat leon cupra, did the job just fine. the red box next to them houses both long / short spline bits again from halfords, if you own a VAG based car youll have these.

best ratchet i have is a slim halfords one, funny story here..i took it back to halfords as it broke, inaway they replaced it and let me keep the old one as i really wanted to repair it rather than swap it as its nice and slim, i emailed gear wrench about buying some new internals and they sent me them for free! it was a boot sale find for £2 or something i think.


right now looking to buy some 1/4 deep sockets and a longer ratchet, might just go halfords on the sockets tbh. £10 for a set of 6 sided one

Laser Tools 6746 Flexi Head Ratchet 1/4 Drive 300mm Long 72 Teeth

 

[Rinspeed]

Welcome ozaudio.