Sets that don’t match. Does it bother you?
- Thread starter impactims
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WMichelsen
Well-known member
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- Nov 24, 2012
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- 64
Your set... no.
My set... YES.
My set... YES.
rooster59
Well-known member
Not in the least as long as they’re all quality wrenches.
whateg01
Well-known member
My gf refused to have appliances that don't match. Then last week her fridge crapped out and she didn't have the money to buy a whole new kitchen. Life happens and sometimes you have to roll with it. My tool box is filled with partial sets of wrenches, sockets, punches, chisels and whatever else came as a set originally.
Are you one of those guys who spend all weekend polishing your wrenches that never get used?
Are you one of those guys who spend all weekend polishing your wrenches that never get used?
isb cornbinder
Well-known member
shoggoth80
Well-known member
Nope. I care about function first. Is an all matching set nice? Sure. As long as I've got a decent usable spread, I'm mostly a happy camper. I UNDERSTAND the OCD, I just don't let it win most of the time.
My stuff mostly matches.
I have a Belzer socket set missing a few sockets so I filled in the blanks with Proto. If I could find the Belzer sockets to complete the set I would have been all over them.
I have a Mac crowfoot set, minus the 12mm. I bought a Snap-on crow foot to complete the set because it was cheap and readily available. I didn't want to pay the Mac price for a new one when the Snap on one was so cheap. Maybe later I'll find a used one for cheap.
Other than this, my tools match pretty well as for sockets and wrenches. Punches, pliers, extensions, screwdrivers....they are a mixed bag of Snap on and Mac rather than orderly sets as sold by Mac and Snap on.
Overall, I feel like matching sets is somewhat important with wrenches and sockets and less important with other things.
I have a Belzer socket set missing a few sockets so I filled in the blanks with Proto. If I could find the Belzer sockets to complete the set I would have been all over them.
I have a Mac crowfoot set, minus the 12mm. I bought a Snap-on crow foot to complete the set because it was cheap and readily available. I didn't want to pay the Mac price for a new one when the Snap on one was so cheap. Maybe later I'll find a used one for cheap.
Other than this, my tools match pretty well as for sockets and wrenches. Punches, pliers, extensions, screwdrivers....they are a mixed bag of Snap on and Mac rather than orderly sets as sold by Mac and Snap on.
Overall, I feel like matching sets is somewhat important with wrenches and sockets and less important with other things.
Plenty of my wrench and socket sets do not match. It does not bother me at all.
If you build out a huge set of tools… mostly from garage/estate sales and flea markets… that is so expansive that you could never justify it… you want to do it cheap when possible.
I prefer Snap-on, but other truck and industrial brands without chrome loss… work for me. A little at a time. I slowly weed out the lesser brands.
If you build out a huge set of tools… mostly from garage/estate sales and flea markets… that is so expansive that you could never justify it… you want to do it cheap when possible.
I prefer Snap-on, but other truck and industrial brands without chrome loss… work for me. A little at a time. I slowly weed out the lesser brands.
BuffettFan
Well-known member
Same here!
If they don't match, they're not a set.
But, I'm not gonna stop using them.
After over 50 years of tool collecting and abusing, I've got very few sets that are still 100% complete and matching.
But I'd like it if they did!
Miss the Pontiacs
Well-known member
Not in the least I bet I have at least 10 different names in my wrench box.
Proto
ETF
Gray
Blue Point
SK
Crescent
Craftsman
Mastercraft
That I can think of off hand. Some 2nd line from Princess Auto etc that were made off shore.
The funny thing is I never really paid attention till after I joined GJ.
Proto
ETF
Gray
Blue Point
SK
Crescent
Craftsman
Mastercraft
That I can think of off hand. Some 2nd line from Princess Auto etc that were made off shore.
The funny thing is I never really paid attention till after I joined GJ.
BlakeTheCarGuy
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I don’t care really my only requirement for them to be grouped together is the same length for the size range. I don’t have many matching sets of anything. I’m cheap so if I can piece together a set at the pawn shop with 15 different brands I don’t care lol.
ETF tools was a stones throw from my childhood home . Later years I rented shop space in the building. it's all houses now. https://papawswrench.com/vboard/index.php?topic=2981.0
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Boogerman
Well-known member
Bother me? Maybe. I don't like it as well as a nicely matched set. But, that's a boutique show tool box, not a working box. Real world, things get lost and broken all the time, get replaced, sometimes under warranty, sometimes substitution. Even with tool truck warranty stuff, sometimes newer stuff doesn't match exactly. So, sets get mismatched over time.
My approach is that every time I get a new set or an upgrade for some reason, it goes in my personal box and replaces out the old which then fills out another box instead. That way, my own box is the closest to matched, new pieces as I can get. And, my box went from motley old used stuff, to matched Proto and SK, to mixed Snap-on and MAC and Proto, to now nearly all new Snap-On with favorite Proto in some slots. Now retired, don't have the option of multiple tool sets being maintained to pad my own with new, so my stuff will become less new and less matched as it ages out.
My approach is that every time I get a new set or an upgrade for some reason, it goes in my personal box and replaces out the old which then fills out another box instead. That way, my own box is the closest to matched, new pieces as I can get. And, my box went from motley old used stuff, to matched Proto and SK, to mixed Snap-on and MAC and Proto, to now nearly all new Snap-On with favorite Proto in some slots. Now retired, don't have the option of multiple tool sets being maintained to pad my own with new, so my stuff will become less new and less matched as it ages out.
If we're talking a big, extended set and only 2 weren't the same brand, I might just ebay the 2 to complete the set. But multiple brands don't bother me in the slightest, pretty much each of my individual sets are from a different manufacturer depending on what I could afford / find locally at the time.
Miss the Pontiacs
Well-known member
Only have a couple of the smaller wrenches, have no idea where I even picked them up. Probably from my Grandpa, so I figured they were vintage.ETF tools was a stones throw from my childhood home . Later years I rented shop space in the building. it's all houses now. https://papawswrench.com/vboard/index.php?topic=2981.0
Edit: Sorry I got side tracked looking up ETFs history. You likely had family or friends parents that worked there. Renting space was probably pretty cool, big old shop that transformed a lot of steel in its day.
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Never really thought about it over the years, since wrenching was not my main occupation, and my tool use was much more occasional.
However, after I semi-retired, I started doing way more automotive work for my self, friends and family members. One of the first things I did was to sort and organize my tools, and was shocked at the wide variety of brands I had. The SnapOn, Craftsman, and SK were expected, but where the hell did I get the Kmart wrenches??
That was fine until I started hanging out on GJ a lot more and became assimilated.
Now I lust after complete sets of sockets and wrenches....
However, after I semi-retired, I started doing way more automotive work for my self, friends and family members. One of the first things I did was to sort and organize my tools, and was shocked at the wide variety of brands I had. The SnapOn, Craftsman, and SK were expected, but where the hell did I get the Kmart wrenches??
That was fine until I started hanging out on GJ a lot more and became assimilated.
Now I lust after complete sets of sockets and wrenches....
PelicanPines
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Put it this way... My socks don't match.
Kurt4440
Well-known member
I thought you would have said:
Matching tools sets are like matching *****, I prefer a matching set, but, I still enjoy using them if they don't match.
Functionally it doesn't matter if my tools all match, but, after being on this forum for 15 years, the aesthetics of well organized matching tool sets is appealing. So I have settled for organized tools.
rust in the eye
Well-known member
rust in the eye
Well-known member
I've had this arguement with several women. It is an absurd notion if for nothing else the idea that one manufacturer makes the best in each of the various appliances. A kitchen is like a tool box in that it is a place for function over form.
A friend spent a ton of dough having a huge, fancy and very well appointed($$$ appliances) kitchen built for his wife who's idea of cooking is making reservations. The ** chromosome version of our tool polishers.
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Kurt4440
Well-known member
I think the wrench sets are like a United Nations meeting.
The only twitch came from the wrenches in the back not being organized.
If I started all over, I think I'd just buy individuals and have a wildly different toolbox...and a lot less tools (plus maybe a cheap HF toolset-in-a-briefcase that was stuck in the closet).
For me, the better brands all work about the same, not much preference, and it would be cool to have a big sampler.
Naturally, the problem is that sets tend to be cheaper than individuals once you escape tool trucks brands bought new.
I look at a set like this, and since I own the same cars over and over (510s and 240z's in the case of furrin'), most of it just seems like wasted space....
For me, the better brands all work about the same, not much preference, and it would be cool to have a big sampler.
Naturally, the problem is that sets tend to be cheaper than individuals once you escape tool trucks brands bought new.
I look at a set like this, and since I own the same cars over and over (510s and 240z's in the case of furrin'), most of it just seems like wasted space....
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MovingAlong
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Not when I'm working, only when I'm daydreaming..
dlwilson
Well-known member
My wrench and socket sets are all different brands, but generally the sets themselves mostly match. Sometimes I'll fill out the large or small end size(s) of a wrench set with something else. And when I notice a socket set is missing something (how does that happen?) I'll fill it out with something from an older or backup set. Although I usually get on eBay or eventually and get the correct one.
I like ***** from various suppliers.
joel63
Well-known member
That's a nice 5/8 combination wrench you have there.
I am on weekends I don’t got any car work to do otherwise my tools will be lonely
WMichelsen
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- Joined
- Nov 24, 2012
- Messages
- 64
How many of us have a nice set of something.
But, have a bucket of old crappy ones that we usually use because we don't want to wear-out, break, lose, etc. the ones in the good set?
But, have a bucket of old crappy ones that we usually use because we don't want to wear-out, break, lose, etc. the ones in the good set?
gtae07
Well-known member
Hell, I'm lucky if my socks match on any given day...
unmatched socks ? that's very stylish for the young kids, dunch yah know?
I have multiple personalities, I guess. My electronics tools are spotless and typically matching sets. My mechanic tools and carpentry tools are "whatever".
It probably has more to do with the environment that they are used in though. My electronics tools are right in my face, on my bench, so I want them to be pretty, lol. My other tools are used in harsher environments. And while I keep them clean, they do get beat up, broken and replaced just from the nature of the jobs I do with them.
And truth be told, when I break a socket or whatever and replace it, I can spot that socket from a mile away now. It helps when I have somebody helping me too- "hey, hand me that socket over there that looks newer than the rest".
It probably has more to do with the environment that they are used in though. My electronics tools are right in my face, on my bench, so I want them to be pretty, lol. My other tools are used in harsher environments. And while I keep them clean, they do get beat up, broken and replaced just from the nature of the jobs I do with them.
And truth be told, when I break a socket or whatever and replace it, I can spot that socket from a mile away now. It helps when I have somebody helping me too- "hey, hand me that socket over there that looks newer than the rest".
micromind
Well-known member
I've likely got a dozen or so different manufacturers tools in my boxes, all the way from ones I bought in the early 70s to ones I bought a few months ago.
I very rarely throw anything away if it still works.
Years ago, when I lost or broke a tool, it was replaced with Armstrong but since Apex bought it and closed it down, these days it's Wright and if Wright doesn't make it, I use Proto.
I won't live long enough to have complete sets but little by little........
I very rarely throw anything away if it still works.
Years ago, when I lost or broke a tool, it was replaced with Armstrong but since Apex bought it and closed it down, these days it's Wright and if Wright doesn't make it, I use Proto.
I won't live long enough to have complete sets but little by little........
genog
Well-known member
It used to.....
I used to try, and still try to a certain extent, to get all matching wrench and socket sets
The more that I would try to match up sets by scouring the Flea Market, Garage and Estate Sales, the more incomplete sets I would end up with.
Thus, even more darn sets to complete
So, I resorted to peruse ePay.....after seeing what some of those darn predators want for singleton wrenches and sockets on ePrey, I am not so inclined to complete sets anymore.
Hey, I tell myself. They are just tools and the nuts and bolts don't know the difference.
Who cares if my wrenches and sockets don't match exactly?
richfinn
Well-known member
My current favorite Facom Spanner set comes in a snazzy folding plastic holster style thing, It would probably annoy me if I had a loose mismatched incorrect length wrench in that organizer.
I would almost certainly buy a single wrench to replace it, I'm not a tool snob particularly but it would eat away at my soul until I replaced it with the correct spanner, that's how they get you nowadays, the organizers.
I can't have socket organizers with the sizes stamped on for the same reason, it would drive me insane
I would almost certainly buy a single wrench to replace it, I'm not a tool snob particularly but it would eat away at my soul until I replaced it with the correct spanner, that's how they get you nowadays, the organizers.
I can't have socket organizers with the sizes stamped on for the same reason, it would drive me insane
That looks remarkably like my screwdriver drawer. It's nice to know I'm in good company. Some day I should document my boxes in their current configuration. I'm pretty sure there would be some twitching.
Junkdrawer Dog
Well-known member
Sets that don't match? That's all I ever had. I started acquiring tools in 1969, at the tender age of 13. I needed them to work on my 1965 Yamaha YG-1. I would buy whatever I could from wherever I could find metric tools. I started with a mismatched set so that never bothered me in later life.
Cripe is a really good resource for onesie twosie sockets and wrenches for filling in gaps in sets. The prices are good, and a lot of it is made in USA.
I have an order coming tomorrow with a few sockets and a couple short pattern wrenches. The sockets and wrenches do not match the sets that they are going into…
I have an order coming tomorrow with a few sockets and a couple short pattern wrenches. The sockets and wrenches do not match the sets that they are going into…