Most Expensive Hand Tool You've Bought

[osborn.ozzy]

pretty sure there is a thread about this already.
the most money I ever spent on a hand tool is probably my 1/4 inch matco ratchet. I have tools that are way more valuable but I did not pay full price for them or it was a gift. my 48 inch aluminum pipe wrench comes to mind but I paid hardly anything for it, some greenlee tools also come to mind.

 

[Sooosirius]

Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean you hooked your snappy 36 3/4 bar up to a CRANE? Have to hear this.

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Have done the same with mine or the shops 1" drive. Taking mounting bolts for telescope cylinder off of a 80 ton crane. Bolts torqued to 875ft/lbs with very little access to get any leverage on. Need to hook the crane on the bar for the bolts on the left that need to pull up and for the bolts on the right we have to sling an 800lb test weight to the bar and let it down slowly with a forklift.

 

[EvilWelder]

Used the excavators boom to "persuade" the gland nut on the track adjuster before......

 

[BullfrogJohnson]

Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean you hooked your snappy 36 3/4 bar up to a CRANE? Have to hear this.

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When I come across a bolt I cant get my impact on or my 6ft cheater pipe. I will wrap one of my lifting straps around the end of my 36" bar and hook it to the crane and mash the up button. Having an overhead bridge crane is very handy but leads to alot of broken tools.

 

[jcbarry]

Off the top of my head I think the most expensive hand tool I bought was a Snap On torque wrench. It is a 1/4" Dial torque wrench for setting rolling torque on outdrives and lower units. I believe it cost around $400.

 

[fireguy]

More then once, I could not afford good tools, I bought some POS stuff from the bargain table. Not only did hte tool break/wear out, but the work was also damaged. That cost me time and money for extra repairs and I still had to buy hte good tool before the job got done.

Now, if there is a choice, I buy the better tool. Quality tools last longer, perform better and do not injure myself or the work piece.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Mine would be a $1000.00 chain saw if that counts. After I left the logging industry and took up my photo/video hobby as a business I spent 10 times that on one camera. It wasn't uncommon to have $30,000.00 hanging off your body in that business. A $10,000.00 camera was considered the low side of average.

Man what are you shooting, a Hassleblad !

Even the top of the line Nikon (body) doesn't cost $10k !

 

[Crdmiller]

For me, like others, it's snap on 3/4 drive tooling. Breaker bar, flex head, ratchet head, short handle , torque wrench body etc.

The most expensive tool I own is my snap on 18.5:1 torque multiplier

Lots of guys use their cranes on 3/4 snappy stuff and things usually work out well.

IMHO the only reason to use the 1 inch hand tools/breaker bars is because they flex less than the 3/4 drive stuff, and snap on has a branded cheater bar for em. Read: Industrial shop use.

The new 15/16 inch handles for 3/4 drive heads (l872 series) make snap on 1 inch hand tooling much less desirable imho.

If i have the time I use a torque multiplier, if I dont, it's a 8 foot cheater bar.

Sometimes torque multipliers are impractical due to the reaction bar etc.
Then it's crane time.

The most common use for my torque multiplier is large differential pinion nuts ,3+ inch.

Could usually get them with just the 3/4 long handle and cheater but even the 15/16 setup flexes so much that I hit the floor with the handle before the nuts move.

Some guys just use the 1 inch impact on them, I think that's bad news for the bearings and r and p gears.

Since you need a torque multiplier anyway to torque the nuts to spec you may as well use it to take them apart.

Be safe out there.

 

[billymade]

SLF936 new off the truck; it was discontinued and I credit, so I got a break but expensive, compared to 90% of all my tools... which are USED! That ratchet; is definitely one of the things Snap-On makes; that is a must have (now only if it was a dual 80, the moment you get something a new version comes out... vicious cycle)!

 

[camarotoolman]

$500 on a Stanley #1 wood plane. Sold it for $1000 $1100 on a Rockwell table saw, but got 35 years of use from it.

 

[Johnny chaos]

3/8 snap-on techangle

 

[mrstrictlygm]

1/2" drive 50-250 Ft Lb Proto Torque wrench, Paid $250.00 for it then about a couple weeks later it goes on sale for $200.00 You win some, you lose some.

 

[racingtadpole]

These....

 

[sdguy55]

For me, like others, it's snap on 3/4 drive tooling. Breaker bar, flex head, ratchet head, short handle , torque wrench body etc.

The most expensive tool I own is my snap on 18.5:1 torque multiplier

Lots of guys use their cranes on 3/4 snappy stuff and things usually work out well.

IMHO the only reason to use the 1 inch hand tools/breaker bars is because they flex less than the 3/4 drive stuff, and snap on has a branded cheater bar for em. Read: Industrial shop use.

The new 15/16 inch handles for 3/4 drive heads (l872 series) make snap on 1 inch hand tooling much less desirable imho.

If i have the time I use a torque multiplier, if I dont, it's a 8 foot cheater bar.

Sometimes torque multipliers are impractical due to the reaction bar etc.
Then it's crane time.

The most common use for my torque multiplier is large differential pinion nuts ,3+ inch.

Could usually get them with just the 3/4 long handle and cheater but even the 15/16 setup flexes so much that I hit the floor with the handle before the nuts move.

Some guys just use the 1 inch impact on them, I think that's bad news for the bearings and r and p gears.

Since you need a torque multiplier anyway to torque the nuts to spec you may as well use it to take them apart.

Be safe out there.

I have the new 3/4 bar that you speak of. It was kind of weird the first time i used it that it actually did flex a little. I just figured the big ******* just wouldnt give at all. Next purchase will be the ratchet head and shorter bar for it

 

[Walterchang]

A fiber optic bore scope 5mm, cost about 400+. The worst part is that I bought it to replace my friends that I broke. He was gone on vacation and I used it without asking. I really felt like an ***. Now I have a broken bore scope.

 

[blacK20]

A fiber optic bore scope 5mm, cost about 400+. The worst part is that I bought it to replace my friends that I broke. He was gone on vacation and I used it without asking. I really felt like an ***. Now I have a broken bore scope.

Good on you for doing the right thing. I'd replace anything I break no matter what it costs.

 

[mecpman]

Id have to say either my tourque wrench or my impact both were around 400.00

 

[2oolhound]

Sorry guys, this stuff doesn't match most other posts and is not garage type tools so I deleted it because it is off topic.

 

[darkk]

My wife...