Socket sets

[jdodd1]

So i'm after a new 3/8 and 1/2 socket set and don't know which to go for,
at the moment i've narrowed it down to three main brands Facom, Stahwille or snap on.
The problem is i've never used any of their ratchets before and unfortunately don't have a local supplier where i can go and pick one up and see what it feels like so i've got to go on peoples recommendations.
I'm in the uk so craftsman etc can be ruled out but are there any other brands worth looking into?
Any advice is really appreciated!

James.

 

[oldldh]

How much do you want to spend???...

How many sizes do you need???...

How about standard and deep???...

How about SAE and Metric, or just one or the other???...

How about impact sockets???...

Are you going to use them in a professional or a DIY capacity???...

Many questions must be answered before you spend your money...

I have all of the GearWrench Master Socket Sets in 1/4"/3'8"/ and 1/2"...The price was right and I really like them...

Tekton makes some nice 72 tooth ratchets for a decent price...GearWrench 120 tooth ratchets are dynamite... Go to Amazon to get you a look and prices...

Your brands are nice, too...But SnapOn is very expensive on the UK market...

Do your research, and think a lot...

 

[gdocktor3]

In reference to your questions, I have a Facom J 161 ratchet and Snap On dual 80's. The Facom is nice because its small. The palm control feature is really just a novelty for me. While it is smooth, nothing compares to a dual 80. The dual 80's mechanism is so smooth, yet you can feel the strength. Some fine tooth ratchets remind me of my small motorized cars as a kid. When they broke, all the tiny plastic gears came flying out. That's what I picture in some of these fine tooth ratchets, but not the dual 80. Dual 80's are amazing.

I recommend this to you and most everyone else - Buy a cheaper, high end socket set (like SK here) and buy yourself a dual 80 flex head to go with it. My sets are 1/4" Gearwrench, 3/8" SK, 1/2" Blackhawk, old Snap On, Craftsman USA, but I have a dual 80 in each drive size that are my go to in most instances. If you can get Gearwrench where you are, I would strongly recommend giving them a try. Especially in the 3/8" size you are looking for. The quality is top notch, beautiful chrome, nice fitting, complete sets, 120xp ratchets are great, and the price cannot be beat. Plus there are always promo's and you can use coupon codes on a lot of sites.

Be sure to check here http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=160271

 

[BK13]

Of your choices, I'd go with Snap On rats and Facom sockets.

Why did you rule out Hazet?


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[M6erfan]

I may be biased but out of what you mention I would go Facom, I own 1/4, 3/8, 1/2" socket sets, they are very nice and have held up incredibly well after years of use. If I lived in Europe I would take a hard look at Gedore & Hazet too. I really like Hazet sockets and wrenches.

I have no experience with Stahwille sockets/ratchets but their wrenches are top notch.

 

[jdodd1]

Of your choices, I'd go with Snap On rats and Facom sockets.

Why did you rule out Hazet?


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I haven't really but they are harder to come buy in the uk, are they similar quality to stahlwhille?

 

[Jure]

I haven't really but they are harder to come buy in the uk, are they similar quality to stahlwhille?

yea pretty much the same,but different finish...

 

[PureLeaf]

They're all gonna do the job you need them to do... So find out which you can get cheapest, which has been warranty access if you need it.

If COO matters, theres a good chance the Facom are made in Taiwan. Stahlwille will be Germany, and Snap On USA.

 

[colin39]

James
There are more snappy vans in the Y-uk than i care to shake a stick at, stop one or drive around ya local indstrial est, a van will be along shortly
Facom likewise stop a mac van he will have at least 20 in a variant of sizes
Gumtree for a good craftsman set, is a bit rusty but itll clean up nicely.
Where in the Y-uk are you im in sunny and very hot essex i could meet you and ahow you some if not all of these.

Colin

 

[JUNK-MAN]

I'd have to say Snap-On, I have shallow SAE and Metric and are great, much better than my old Craftsman's, Mine are 3/8 but I'm sure the 1/2 are just as good. I also have SO ratchets and they are also great tools.

 

[jdodd1]

James
There are more snappy vans in the Y-uk than i care to shake a stick at, stop one or drive around ya local indstrial est, a van will be along shortly
Facom likewise stop a mac van he will have at least 20 in a variant of sizes
Gumtree for a good craftsman set, is a bit rusty but itll clean up nicely.
Where in the Y-uk are you im in sunny and very hot essex i could meet you and ahow you some if not all of these.

Colin

Thanks for the reply I never new mac supplied facom as well. I'm in Hampshire so maybe a bit far from you! If you have most of those brands of tools which do you prefer and why?

 

[colin39]

Thanks for the reply I never new mac supplied facom as well. I'm in Hampshire so maybe a bit far from you! If you have most of those brands of tools which do you prefer and why?

Yep i have a bit, ive been spinning spanners since 1986


In here there is facom snappy an old bacho no stahwille as i found then a bit clicky, nice dont get me wrong, a mac and couple of buepoint and a chinese ratchet too that i use for oil changes



I love my facom stuff but it depends on what you do and are using them for if you are a home mech, halfords stuff will do you if ya wanna look the part go for snappy they make the most reliable ratchets. For all round facom.
However all 3 have a lifetime warrenty against breakage. Since 1986 ive done around 35k on tools thats is with out multimeters and diag equipment.

What do you do? how old are you? What line of business are you in? Service tech? fast fit?

 

[richpa]

I would say Snap On. Facom are not bad but not quite up to the quality of Snap On but also it depends on how deep your pockets are. I have been using Snap On for at least 25 years and dont have any complaints.

 

[colin39]

I would say Snap On. Facom are not bad but not quite up to the quality of Snap On but also it depends on how deep your pockets are. I have been using Snap On for at least 25 years and dont have any complaints.

Very true, but if he has jus left school/collage snappy i think is going to be a bit much halfords could be a good start or gumtree for some previously loved stuff

 

[jdodd1]

Yep i have a bit, ive been spinning spanners since 1986


In here there is facom snappy an old bacho no stahwille as i found then a bit clicky, nice dont get me wrong, a mac and couple of buepoint and a chinese ratchet too that i use for oil changes



I love my facom stuff but it depends on what you do and are using them for if you are a home mech, halfords stuff will do you if ya wanna look the part go for snappy they make the most reliable ratchets. For all round facom.
However all 3 have a lifetime warrenty against breakage. Since 1986 ive done around 35k on tools thats is with out multimeters and diag equipment.

What do you do? how old are you? What line of business are you in? Service tech? fast fit?

I'm only 25, I have some old/cheep sockets and spanners that i'm currently using but i'm missing some bits and they just aren't that good tbh!
I already have some facom spanners which i love and are my only decent spanner set at the moment.
That facom ratchet in the top of the second picture does look the business, what model is it?

 

[jdodd1]

I've been looking a bit more into facom socket sets and have come across this:
https://www.toolsense.co.uk/facom-s...ket-set.html?gclid=COud-ozZgs4CFcrjGwodQ4YCMw

What are peoples opinions on this set?

 

[drtyler]

That Facom set is very complete. Seems like the SM.161A ratchet was touted as being heavy duty at the time it was made (it has since been discontinued).

A Facom dealer here in the USA (Ultimate Garage) shows the country of origin as Italy for that set.

I've been looking a bit more into facom socket sets and have come across this:
https://www.toolsense.co.uk/facom-s...ket-set.html?gclid=COud-ozZgs4CFcrjGwodQ4YCMw

What are peoples opinions on this set?

 

[T45]

For sockets, I would go Facom at this stage of the Game. They are well designed and the quality is very good. They are the cheapest of the true top-tier tools, and as a first serious set will see you go a long way. The sockets are undercut in larger sizes, which reduces mass and increases ergonomics--a feature that stahlwille and hazet also have. They also play nice with other brands in my experience if you want to use say Snap on Ratchets in longer sizes. In the short sizes, I like facom ratchets esp in 3/8. But you will need longer ones, and dual 80 flex-long stuff is the business if you can socre deals or budget an FLF 80. For 1/2 you can squeeze by with breaker bars+short ratchets if the snappy S80s are out of reach (which they may be).

 

[jdodd1]

Thanks for the replies, That set is available with different ratchets as well so would have to make a decision whether i go palm control, sealed pear head or a regular fixed one.

I've also found this stahlwille set but its 12point rather than six but it has both metric and a/f sizes in it:

http://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/...gon 45 Piece?gclid=CI23zenRzc0CFdiZGwodnFQKCg

 

[M6erfan]

Thanks for the replies, That set is available with different ratchets as well so would have to make a decision whether i go palm control, sealed pear head or a regular fixed one.

I've also found this stahlwille set but its 12point rather than six but it has both metric and a/f sizes in it:

http://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/...gon 45 Piece?gclid=CI23zenRzc0CFdiZGwodnFQKCg

Go palm control, I have them and they're very nice. They're also servicable with a $10 repair kit, unlike the sealed heads.

What T45 said...

That Stahlwille set is nice and they make great tools. Twice the price but like you said it includes SAE sizes. Decisions decisions...

 

[jdodd1]

Go palm control, I have them and they're very nice.

What T45 said...

That Stahlwille set is nice and they make great tools. Twice the price but like you said it includes SAE sizes. Decisions decisions...

Yeah decisions! The only downside I thought to the Stahlwille set is that their 12 point not 6 I always thought 6 point was the better option for general use?

 

[yamaha0343]

If I had to do it all over again, I'd buy Dual 80 ratchets and Williams USA sockets.

 

[yamaha0343]

6 point is definitely the way to go unless you have a specific need for 12 point.

 

[M6erfan]

If I had to do it all over again, I'd buy Dual 80 ratchets and Williams USA sockets.

You might rethink that if you lived in Europe like the OP...

 

[T45]

I'll be a contrarian here--12 points in 1/2 drive is fine provided you have 6 point in 1/4 and 3/8 drive. Some people recommend this appoach, actually. Especially with german, high end 1/2 drive like Hazet or Stahlwille I would not worry about it at all.

More im portant is buying the correct assortment and being happy with your tools so you don't feel the need to do never-ending upgrades. That gets very expensive, very quickly, with losses on depreciation and time shopping for replacements.

 

[Wamsutta]

Get all Snap-on soft grip ratchets (because they feel so nice in the hand) and whichever brand sockets that are the best buy in your location.

 

[jdodd1]

I'll be a contrarian here--12 points in 1/2 drive is fine provided you have 6 point in 1/4 and 3/8 drive. Some people recommend this appoach, actually. Especially with german, high end 1/2 drive like Hazet or Stahlwille I would not worry about it at all.

More im portant is buying the correct assortment and being happy with your tools so you don't feel the need to do never-ending upgrades. That gets very expensive, very quickly, with losses on depreciation and time shopping for replacements.

Thanks for the response, yeah it's buying the ones I think I'll like the most that's the hard part. Unfortunately I don't have a local supplier of stahwille or hazet tools so trying before I buy is out of the question.
I think as regards depreciation snap on stuff seems to hold their value well?

 

[T45]

Thanks for the response, yeah it's buying the ones I think I'll like the most that's the hard part. Unfortunately I don't have a local supplier of stahwille or hazet tools so trying before I buy is out of the question.
I think as regards depreciation snap on stuff seems to hold their value well?

Snap on has a very liquid market. But you shouldn't need to upgrade any of those brands. The sockets area all high quality. Ratchets are a touch bit more personal because of ergonomics.

 

[ShooTa]

OP -although i more of a weekender/farmer than some of the other posters ithought i would add where i could here........

ive just got my hands on a stahlwille 3/8 6point set which feels great in the hand which ive combined with a second ancient snapon that i picked up in a boot sale.

for 1/2 in we have an old britool set which does most big boy stuff

with all my tractor work and general car bits ive yet to need any deep sockets - but when i do im hitting halfords advanced professional - rather than going back to stahl/hazet/snapon

so tl:gr 3/8 6pointy stahlwille GOOD - halfords stuff certainly acceptable - dont be afraid to dig carboots for snapon.

 

[neuralsnafu]

If youre going to make your money off the sockets, get the absolute best you can afford. If not, buy the one that has the best value for your dollar. All the listed brands are quality so i dont think you can go wrong. Just the snap on is gonna relieve you of cash rapidly...

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