Opinions on Mastercraft Maximum 400 piece socket set

[James_B]

The more I read on this site, the more I realize I have serious holes in my socket collection.

Most of my SAE sized sockets are 4 decade old Australian made 12 point Sidchromes. I'd never considered 1/2" drive 6 point sockets as being a must have, but the more I read, the more I understand their value. In my 1/2" drive collection. My 6 pointers are limited to my SAE + Metric impact sockets, the 7 metric sockets in my big size hub nut set, and the odd socket that I bought because a 12 point wouldn't do the job on that particular rounded off or rusted nut. As well, other than plug sockets, my impacts, and a couple of sized sockets I bought for very specific purposes, my deep socket collection is very lacking.

This morning, while searching for sets of shallow and deep 6 point sockets on Canadian Tire's web site, I noticed that they had their 400 piece Mastercraft Maximum set reduced from $699 (like who'd actually pay that) to $199. With their usual Friday to Thursday sales, I suspect that it's been on sale since last Friday and tomorrow it will be back up to the usual $699 price.

Based on the experience I had earlier in the year, while trying to replace a split cheap 12 point 19 mm socket, buying individual sized 12 point sockets is not easy at Canadian Tire. The staff at the store I was in told me that they didn't carry individual sizes of 12 point sockets, and I'd need to buy a kit to get the single size I needed. To get me out of a bind, they did an "under the counter" exchange of my busted no brand socket for a new 19mm 12 point spline drive socket out of a smaller Mastercraft Maximum kit they were getting rid of because of missing items due to theft. That was a nice thing for them to do, and totally unexpected. Based on that socket, I suspect that all the 12 point sockets in the 400 piece kit are spline drives, but I'm not sure.

Most of the stuff in the 400 piece set I don't really need (like the 3/8" and 1/4" drive stuff), but the bigger sized 1/2" drive 12 point sockets would certainly extend the range of my tool capabilities, and when I add up the prices of getting small 8 or 9 piece socket only sets of shallow and deep 6 point sockets and bigger sets to get deep 12 points, the sale price on the 400 piece kit starts looking attractive. As a bonus, the sockets in the kit that match my existing good sockets and the 8 SAE and 8 Metric wrenches in the set means I can use the surplus pieces to build up a pretty decent portable tool kit to carry in the car (and ditch the really cheap/disposable tools I currently carry).

The tools have an "over the counter replacement" lifetime warranty, and reviewers seem happy with their quality (there's some suggestion that they may come out of the same plant in China that makes the Stanley stuff), but there are lots of comments that the "LASER etched" size markings aren't all that robust and wear off, and Canadian Tire have admitted that their so called "Professional Grade" tools aren't designed for "Professional Users".

At the moment, my gut feeling is to put them on my "watch list" and wait for the next sale and see how I feel about them at that time.

Has anybody had any experience with this particular set?

 

[01ps]

I bought a master set of mastercraft (non-maximum) years ago and have had really good luck with them. The quality has slipped since then for sure. But on sale I cannot see how you can go wrong.

 

[canuckian]

not that particular set but my work bought a smaller set last year and for what we use them for (network admin/tech), they work but they're not what I would call good or even decent quality. The sockets dont fit well and the bit sockets are made of a soft metal and are easy to strip. That and the ratchets, even after being lubed, are still not smooth at all. In fact, they slip quite a bit. I'd bring them back but not worth it for many reasons. That and my work didn't keep the receipt anyways.
I have a pile of older Mastercraft tools at home from 2 or 3 decades ago and they are head and shoulders above the newer stuff. In fact, the Mastercraft Professional stuff I have is easily as good as any of the industrial brands and close to as nice as the tool truck stuff.
if you're set on buying it, I'd invest in a decent set of ratchets to go with it.

 

[James_B]

Thanks for the replies.

The ratchets would have gone straight into my "traveling kit". I have better ratchets already in my tool chest.

In any case, I think I'll pass on these tools for the moment. I'll stick them on my "sale watch list" as occasionally they go on sale at around the $150-$170 point. If I haven't already updated my tools by then, I'll have another look at them then.

 

[matt1977]

I have both and personally i'd go with kobalt for sockets/ratchets/wrenches, the quality is much higher than you'll ever get from mastercraft maximum.

 

[ndoran]

I only have a couple of mastercraft maximum items, they are certainly not in the same league as the mastercraft professional tools - which are as good as my Proto. That said they are not the worst stuff on the market by a long way. I consider they are better than the craftsman stuff available in Canada. On sale they are tough to beat

 

[abvw]

On a scale of 1-10, I'd put them at 8. Very good sockets, doubt you'll ever notice the difference if you're not working with them professionally. Their 12pts are pretty good (as with all Flank Drive derivatives/off corner engagement), as long as you don't run them on a power tool on rusty fasteners. Most of the 12pts that gets rounded in my workplace are the 10mm (on 3/8), 13mm (on 1/2) and 9/16 (on 14mm), make sure you double check for slack.

 

[matthew]

I'm fairly satisfied with most of the Mastercraft stuff I've got, and although it was downhill for a bit I have seen some improvements of late. But I've become more fussy these days and haven't really bought any of it in quite a while.

So - just another idea to throw into the mix, you may also want to take a look at Napa's UltraPro offerings here in Canada. Per piece it's more costly than Canadian Tire, but it doesn't have all the filler **** in it, most of it comes in a metal tray, has stamped markings, and you can buy it either as open stock or in sets that include all the sizes (no skips). I bought a 3/8" set of metric 12pts, standard depth, 8mm to 19mm, for under $20, and the 6pts of that set could be had on sale for around $15. The 1/2" drive stuff is more, of course, but especially if you're looking at regular depth sockets it's reasonable. Their promotions are here (the catalog specials are probably the ones you'd be most interested in). If you want to browse their selection and exact listings of what is in the sets, there's a link to their catalog on the bottom right of their webpage.

 

[gaffobohs]

I bought one of the sets similar to this when I moved to Canada nearly a year ago and I have no complaints about any of the sockets. Just don't put them on the hansen socket trays as it will drive you insane looking at the empty pegs! I filled what I was missing with ultra pro sockets from NAPA that I got for 50% off.

I use mine daily in a professional environment and they have held up so far. I don't expect them to last me a lifetime but for the price of them and Canadian Tire's lifetime warranty you cant go wrong. Yeah the ratchets aren't great, my 1/4 inch ratchet has been sticking but a bath in oil freed it out. If it sticks again i'll just bring it back for a brand new one.

One of the guys in work who just moved here is going to buy this 400 piece set and I'm sure it will serve him well for the time being!

 

[exophyusical]

I've got a couple Mastercraft socket sets, one in each vehical and then another at work. The one at work I've upgraded the ratchets which probably wasn't necessary. I've got one set in my pickup that is over 15 years old, its been used hard and often, and I havnt broken a thing. I'm happy with mine but there are a few things to keep in mind.

The non- maximum ratchets are not all the same. Some of mine are round headed ratchets with a silver back and a toggle switch and they have been pretty good, the newer ones have a black back and you turn the whole back, they are junk! These days I'd go with the Maximum ratchets which are pretty decent.

The sockets are good, I like the non-Maximum ones better because they are stamped rather than etched. I've done all sorts of horrible things to these sockets and have only ever broken one. Under my vehical I had a fastener that I could only get my 1/4" ratchet on but it was super tight, I used a deep socket and an extension as a snipe and hung my 200 lbs off of it. I split the deep socket and stripped the ratchet, the only toggle switch style Mastercraft ratchet I have broken.

With Mastercraft it seems like the bigger the kit you buy the more junky novelty items that you will never use get included. 5" long 1/4 breaker bar anyone? (though possibly if I had used this stupid thing I might not have stripped that ratchet) IMO the big kits are quite often not a better deal than the smaller ones.

 

[sselander]

Maybe find some Gray tools, or look at their imported Dynamic line

http://www.dynamictools.ca/

http://www.graytools.com/
------------------------------------------------------------
Poor Sidchrome, another bright move by Stanley

Stanley Black & Decker Acquisitions
1990: Acquired Sidchrome Tool Co., headquartered in Melbourne, Australia; closed plant and moved all tool manufacturing to China.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Works

 

[James_B]

Poor Sidchrome, another bright move by Stanley

Stanley Black & Decker Acquisitions
1990: Acquired Sidchrome Tool Co., headquartered in Melbourne, Australia; closed plant and moved all tool manufacturing to China.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Works

Sidchrome tools went from a trusted brand to just another import from China.

The older tools would take a hell of a beating, and keep functioning. A good example is this 70s vintage T-Bar that I found on the side of a road. I've placed my own undamaged 70s vintage T-Bar next to it for comparison. Marks indicate that it's had a cheater bar fitted over the sliding handle in order to deal with what I can only assume was an over torqued wheel nut.

A lesser brand tool would have broken long before this. Out of curiosity, I hooked it up to a torque wrench at work, and even with that level of damage, it was still holding at 100 ft-lbs. If the previous owner had managed to get the wheel nut off and change the wheel, the T-Bar would still have been good enough to tighten the wheel nuts to a suitable torque. I didn't go any further with the torque testing for fear that when it broke, I'd end up on the floor holding a torque wrench.

While I've split open 3 unbranded Chinese made 12 point sockets and worn the teeth of another (all from the same set of 1/2" drive metric sockets) in the past decade, the only Sidchrome tool I've ever broken in over 4 decades of usage was a post Stanley takeover Chinese made extension bar, and that was broken while I was using my T-Bar to try to remove an over torqued wheel nut (no cheater bar, and I was relatively weak at the time due to having the flu when I got the flat). At that point, I stopped buying Sidchrome tools.

Sidchromes were (and still are) expensive ... priced like Snap-Ons are in the USA (don't even think about what Snap-On prices are like in Australia), and after the Stanley takeover, their no questions asked lifetime warranty became something less than it should have been.

Most mechanics I know stopped buying Sidchrome and started buying other brand tools that came out of the same plant in China that was making Sidchromes. No point paying Sidchrome prices for just another Chinese product, although admittedly the Chinese Sidchromes are a better grade tool than the usual Chinese product, but certainly not worth paying the higher price just to have the right logo on the tool.

 

[James_B]

I like the non-Maximum ones better because they are stamped rather than etched.

That was a big problem. I like the sizes to be stamped in.

As a LASER engraver (there's a link in my signature), I know the processes they are using for their so called "LASER etched" size designations, and in most cases, it's certainly not what I would call etching. It's either just a coating that's applied and then darkened and bonded in the pattern of the text by the LASER, or in the case of the black sockets, the best you could hope for will be that the black coating has been etched back to the underlying metal. On the black Stanley and Mastercraft Maximum sockets that I have, you can feel that the size designation "etching" is raised compared to the rest of the socket, so that's just a LASER set coating. It might as well just be painted on, and while it's tougher than paint, it's certainly not going to have the wear resistance of a stamped designation, and a common theme in the reviews of the tools is that the "engraving" wears off.

 

[James_B]

I'm going to take suggestions on board. I hadn't thought about NAPA, but it's worth considering.

I don't like buying tools from catalogs or online. I like to feel the tools to get an idea of their quality and ergonomics. I hate some of the "stylist shaped" tools that appear to have been designed more for how they look when attached to the packaging in the store than how they feel when you use them. Too many have overly sharp non-rounded edges or thin edges where you apply the most pressure, and this makes them unpleasant to use. My Mastercraft Maximum Bolt Removers are like that ... tools that do the task they were designed for quite well, but which you don't use as much as you could because they don't feel right.

I live in rural Nova Scotia, and the nearest Canadian Tire stores are both almost an hour away in opposite directions ... as are the nearest NAPA stores. The closest big box hardware store is also just under an hour away, and the store is tiny compared the usual big box hardware store, and they carry very little stock. It's a bit over two hours to the closest SEARS store (a real SEARS, not the "SEARS Hometown" stores that carry nothing but furnishings, stoves, refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines and lawnmowers) and another hour past that to get to decent tool stores. Any tool shopping expedition I make will involve a lot of time spent driving and a lot of premium gas fed through our less than frugal Land Rover.

 

[exophyusical]

I'm going to take suggestions on board. I hadn't thought about NAPA, but it's worth considering.

I don't like buying tools from catalogs or online. I like to feel the tools to get an idea of their quality and ergonomics. I hate some of the "stylist shaped" tools that appear to have been designed more for how they look when attached to the packaging in the store than how they feel when you use them. Too many have overly sharp non-rounded edges or thin edges where you apply the most pressure, and this makes them unpleasant to use. My Mastercraft Maximum Bolt Removers are like that ... tools that do the task they were designed for quite well, but which you don't use as much as you could because they don't feel right.

I live in rural Nova Scotia, and the nearest Canadian Tire stores are both almost an hour away in opposite directions ... as are the nearest NAPA stores. The closest big box hardware store is also just under an hour away, and the store is tiny compared the usual big box hardware store, and they carry very little stock. It's a bit over two hours to the closest SEARS store (a real SEARS, not the "SEARS Hometown" stores that carry nothing but furnishings, stoves, refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines and lawnmowers) and another hour past that to get to decent tool stores. Any tool shopping expedition I make will involve a lot of time spent driving and a lot of premium gas fed through our less than frugal Land Rover.

See, I'm the exact opposite, I'll do almost anything to avoid leaving my nice little home beside a lake full of hungry walleye, surrounded by hundreds of square miles of Crown Forest, and waste a weekend driving around some **** hole city shopping for whatever.

I've broken more Ultra Pro tools than I have Mastercraft, I've found their road boxes do hold togeather longer than Mastercraft though. I've also broken more Westward tools than Mastercraft. IMO Craftsman is not enough of a step up (if at all) from mastercraft that I would go to the extra trouble or expense to buy them. One "mid grade" company that I have found to be consistently good is Jet, but they will cost more though. If Sunex chrome sockets are anything like their impact sockets that would also be a good option.