What Tool Brand To Go With?

[Dynasty]

What tool brands are producing quality products these days? I am far from a professional, but do enjoy wrenching on cars, motorcycles, and other various projects. I suppose I am more of the "weekend warrior" type. When it comes to building up and piecing together a set of tools, what tool name brand should I go with? Will the tools available at Home Depot, Lowes, and Sears serve me well and last? Am I better off finding older tools off or Craigslist?

I appreciate any suggestions you have.

 

[lbgradwell]

Are you kidding?!

 

[allinon72]

Wow.

 

[sberry]

I love Sears sets these days. They are not the finest craftsmanship but the price is insanely low. The 309 pc set is on sale again. There are some other things a guy should cherry pick, pliers, Channelock and Vise Grip and some tubing wrenches but cheap stuff is so good these days its the place to start, if you need a better socket in a case buy it one off. The bit sets, torx and hex can be HF or Walmart to start with, again, find a size you need a good one then go for it.
Get your feet under yourself, get work wise and then go from there. The Home Depot is fine and I bought a couple singles from Lowes a while back as well as Menards.
Craigs list is ok, there are some real deals there but you have to want to shop and it may take time.

 

[ravenzfusion]

I agree with sberry. Piece together your set. Start with a good USA Craftsman set on sale (the 250 pc is still USA, among others i'm sure) Of course you're not going to want to keep the Raised Panel craftsman ratchets in those sets. There are plenty of suggestions for good ratchets. Get a flex head, get a roto, there are many types to make work easier. Shop sales frequently, don't limit youself to three stores.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

SK, ProTo, and Wright can be bought for reasonable prices... I have the 309 piece Sears set that was mentioned.. It is cheap stuff, and the sockets have a goofy double detent setup, and the ratchets have been replaced with ProTo... The $212 with tax that I spent should have been applied toward ProTo in the first place.. If your tool needs are strictly for metric fasteners,, half that set is sae, and would be of little use?? Many of those ''309" pieces are little toolie thingies that are of little value...

I suggest buying fewer tools of better quality,, and take your time to pick and choose them....

 

[rsanter]

I called snap on and asked them that question for you......
They recommended......snap on

Actually if you are far from a professional and don't mind that you have a mix of brands, then I would start buying quality used stuff on this board, CL, eBay, yard sales.
There is lots of great stuff out there.
Older proto, SK, older craftsman....and more

Have you looked at our classifieds?

Bob

 

[wild cowboy]

if you are not in a hurry, and decide you want high-end tools at a bargain, just sit back and watch ebay, craigslist, yard sales and some closeout sites such as Cripe Distributing - I am constantly finding bargains.

also watch the Classified and HOT DEALS section here at Garage Journal.

 

[Davefr]

I'll keep this brief.

Pick the specific tool, do some searching/research then choose the brand. There is no one best brand for everything and having a broad mix of brands ensures you get the best bang for the buck.

 

[cgv69]

I'll keep this brief.

Pick the specific tool, do some searching/research then choose the brand. There is no one best brand for everything and having a broad mix of brands ensures you get the best bang for the buck.

/\ Perfect answer... /end thread

 

[woody 73]

Ok if you just spent the last year in all the other topics on the GJ we will cut you some slack if this is your first visit to the tool section of the forum.

Don't think about tool company names at least that is how I started out over 40 years ago without any tool web-groups. Instead try this foolproof approach start going to garage sales and picking up different tools that you are finding; if they feel good in your hands and they have held up to years of abuse then see who made the tool in question and start buying them when you see them.

Or plan B do a web search on the GJ and start reading 10,000 posts about quality tool names to look out for, after all it took me 40 plus years to figure it all out and you can learn it all it in much less time.

 

[espyking83]

Wright wrenches
Wiha screwdrivers
Sk sockets
Bahco/Williams ratchets


All are professional quality for a hell of a lot less than the truck brands. Buy from Amazon, ebay, Craigslist, or the classifieds here. Dont be scared of buying used tools.

 

[Caleb T]

Personally from a professional mechanic standpoint, (as well as being a weekend warrior) I would reccomend SK all the way. More affordable by far than snap-on or mac, and in some cases (not all) higher quality. Craftsman USA is good too, just get the "new" china stuff. I love my SK stuff. I have gotten alot used, but there are other great brands as mentioned above. (proto, wright, armstrong, etc....)

 

[Askme42]

Try google. He has lots of good answers.

 

[Formula]

For at work I prefer and buy mostly Snap On.

For at home I buy whatever I can find for cheap.

 

[jd_1138]

Pick whatever brand you can afford basically. Used truck brands (Snap-On, Mac, Matco, Cornwell) can be picked up pretty reasonably or you could buy brand new SK/Wright/Proto/Williams/Craftsman Professional/Industrial, etc.. Also GearWrench.