I picked up the Craftsman 145 pc Mechanics set today. Its a great deal, I'd do it again in a second, but I do have a few thoughts.
The sockets aren't put away in the case, just loose in half a dozen or so plastic bags. If buying this as a gift I would open it up and put away the sockets, plus go over them with shop towel to clean them up and put a shine on them.
Some of my sockets were not 100% first quality looking. When I get a chance I plan to go over all of them and check for problems. So far I have found some chipped chrome, some funny discoloration, and rust on at least one.Many of the Craftsman sockets have the chrome fine on the outside, but inside and the inside lip is uneven with spots like some kind of spray went where it shouldn't. It didn't help that my SK 1/4 drive set arrived yesterday, and those are close to perfect.
I don't like the case, and I don't think I am going to be leaving stuff in it for long. The 1/4 and 3/8 ratchets won't go in there spots, and all the combo wrenches just go loose in the bottom. The whole thing is heavy, but has little room for anything that isn't in the set, just the loose wrench area. I can't see carrying the whole thing over to what I am working on, or leaving it open on top of my roll away etc.
I don't like the ratchets, have plenty of others, so these are going.
Bottom line, overall its great, a great value, and PLENTY of stuff that I plan to keep and use, but as soon as I get myself sorted out, some will go back to Sears to be replaced, and a "fair" amount is going to get sold or traded.
The sockets aren't put away in the case, just loose in half a dozen or so plastic bags. If buying this as a gift I would open it up and put away the sockets, plus go over them with shop towel to clean them up and put a shine on them.
Some of my sockets were not 100% first quality looking. When I get a chance I plan to go over all of them and check for problems. So far I have found some chipped chrome, some funny discoloration, and rust on at least one.Many of the Craftsman sockets have the chrome fine on the outside, but inside and the inside lip is uneven with spots like some kind of spray went where it shouldn't. It didn't help that my SK 1/4 drive set arrived yesterday, and those are close to perfect.
I don't like the case, and I don't think I am going to be leaving stuff in it for long. The 1/4 and 3/8 ratchets won't go in there spots, and all the combo wrenches just go loose in the bottom. The whole thing is heavy, but has little room for anything that isn't in the set, just the loose wrench area. I can't see carrying the whole thing over to what I am working on, or leaving it open on top of my roll away etc.
I don't like the ratchets, have plenty of others, so these are going.
Bottom line, overall its great, a great value, and PLENTY of stuff that I plan to keep and use, but as soon as I get myself sorted out, some will go back to Sears to be replaced, and a "fair" amount is going to get sold or traded.