Which set? Proto or Martin

[jdelrizzle]

Well guys I'm in need of an angle wrench set, which would y'all recommend the proto 14 pc set or the Martin industrial black set (15 pc, because it comes with 1 3/16) help me out they both cost about the same, $250- $350 is my price range.

 

[Tronyadorable]

Never heard of Martin. = = Proto. A better(easier on the wallet) option might be Tekton ???

 

[carcajou]

The Proto 14 pc set is available on Ebay for $199 quite often.

 

[jdelrizzle]

I'm leaning towards this set

http://www.martinsprocket.com/products/product-search?Part_Number=BOB15K

 

[BK13]

Probably not very fair, but the only Martin wrenche I have looked at were pretty roughly finished. Personally, I like the Protos. (Admittedly not used either one.)

 

[Tronyadorable]

Yet another idiot company.No "Where to buy" No Dealers. Nothing.
They should consider a merger with SK, Wright and Gray !
One funeral !

 

[McFarmer]

I have this SK set from HJE. Old stock, but they seem good.


http://store.harryepstein.com/cp/Sktools/8661240.html

 

[RedneckWelder]

Yet another idiot company.No "Where to buy" No Dealers. Nothing.
They should consider a merger with SK, Wright and Gray !
One funeral !

I don't have a problem buying online.

A brick and mortar presence is not necessary these days for some companies.

 

[DJAMiller]

Martin is a little bit of an odd company, there's one place that stocks them by my house and everything is rediculously expensive. From as far as I can tell most the their stuff seems to be rebadged from thef companies. Their pliers and adjustable a looked exactly like the western forge ones craftsman is selling now and their brass hammers are definitely nuplaflex (place by my house wanted more than my snap on guy for the brass hammer, the blue point rebranded nuplaflex brass hammer was cheaper lol). My guess would be someone else is making their wrenches and selling them for much less, I'd probably go proto or someone else.

 

[wild cowboy]

Martin is famous for their industrial service wrenches - thin like a tappet wrench, typically single open end - just because some people have never heard of them, really just reflects on those folk's limited tool knowledge, not Martin.

 

[Tronyadorable]

Martin is famous for their industrial service wrenches - like a thin tappet wrench, typically single open end - just because some people have never heard of them, really just reflects on those folk's limited tool knowledge, not Martin.

Disagreed. Poor advertising. These companies either have sucky online presence or none at all. That's why "Gearwrench" is a fairly common name and SATA( who makes much of it) is unheard of.
Ironically many never even heard of Proto but the reason is simple. They're superglued to the govt ***.
At least you can put your hands on them most anywhere on earth.

 

[senlow]

I would buy the Martin. Their wrenches are good stuff. They also have a good line of body hammers. They took over the old Fairmount line of auto body tools.

 

[honcho]

Disagreed. Poor advertising. These companies either have sucky online presence or none at all. That's why "Gearwrench" is a fairly common name and SATA( who makes much of it) is unheard of.
Ironically many never even heard of Proto but the reason is simple. They're superglued to the govt ***.
At least you can put your hands on them most anywhere on earth.

It's a different business model. Martin sells industrial tools through industrial tool sources yet you can find many martin products on the internet without difficulty. Not everyone has to sell everything through brick & mortar retail storefronts, or internet dealers or even direct from the manufacturer. In fact, while most businesses are happy to take your money, there are many customers that are NOT profitable to service. Since tools appear to be only a small portion of Martin's business, they may have all the tool business they can profitably handle without significant additional investment. However, that's just a guess on my part.

It would be interesting to hear executives from the different tool companies explain their strategies for manufacturing and selling tools to different markets.

Ain't capitalism great?

 

[wild cowboy]

Disagreed. Poor advertising. These companies either have sucky online presence or none at all. That's why "Gearwrench" is a fairly common name and SATA( who makes much of it) is unheard of.
Ironically many never even heard of Proto but the reason is simple. They're superglued to the govt ***.
At least you can put your hands on them most anywhere on earth.

Just because you are young and still a bit clueless, doesn't change the fact that Martin Tool & Forge has been making the industrial service wrenches that built this country's infrastructure since 1917 - sorry you are just now discovering them 100 years later, but that is no reflection on them.

 

[dnschmidt]

I use Martin's autobody tools and they are great. I've got some of their sockets and they are fine but nothing out of the ordinary. Seems like good American made stuff, if that matters to anybody.

 

[espyking83]

Martin makes 95% of all quality US angle wrenches.

 

[espyking83]

People still dont realize that most of the tools Martin makes gets rebranded.

 

[wild cowboy]

Martin has been around longer than SK, Snap-On, Mac, Matco, Cornwell, Wright, Blackhawk or OTC

 

[espyking83]

Yep. Love Martin tools, some of the best and most underrated tools out there. No tools have better steel, imo.

 

[bob15]

Yet another idiot company.No "Where to buy" No Dealers. Nothing.
They should consider a merger with SK, Wright and Gray !
One funeral !

So because you have never heard of Martin Tool, they are the idiots? Maybe you should look in the mirror.....

Maybe if you were in the autobody area, or work in an industrial setting you would have heard about them. Because they don't cater to private sales, it makes them bad or they are going to go out of business?

Want a dealer for:

Martin: amazon, MSC, Cornwell Tool, Summit Racing (want more dealers?)

Wright: Epstein or Royal Supply or my local dealer: Quality Tool (Bloomfield, CT)

SK: Grainger, Epstein, MSC or my local dealer: Coastal Tool (West Hartford, CT)


Just because their business model doesn't cater to YOUR likes, doesn't make them bad or poor companies.

 

[bob15]

For the OP, i would seriously look at Snap On because of their 30° & 60° design. Even bought used, they would serve you much better than Martin or Proto and their 15° & 60° angles. You can get into more places with better bite than with the Proto or Martin.

Snap On used to have a display for you to try the other brands and compare it to theirs with a nut and two "wrench stops". With the other comapnies, you couldn't get another bite with their wrenches, whereas with the Snappy you could keep grabbing the nut.

A very good price (not my auction):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Snap-On-Set-of-13-Open-end-4-way-angle-head-wrenches-Std-sized-3-8-to-1-1-4-/361157183448?hash=item5416a547d8&item=361157183448&pt=Motors_Automotive_Tools&vxp=mtr

 

[sonvolt]

We have used specialty Martin wrenches forever in an industrial environment such as spanners for surface grinder wheel mounts and cylindrical lock nuts.

To the OP both are quality I would go with Proto as Martin seems to be a little on the pricey side

 

[Tronyadorable]

Just because you are young and still a bit clueless, doesn't change the fact that Martin Tool & Forge has been making the industrial service wrenches that built this country's infrastructure since 1917 - sorry you are just now discovering them 100 years later, but that is no reflection on them.

1956 model here Cowboy. From railroading to racing in the seventies to Mohawk tire( Dayton) to the Alaskan pipe-farce to the 55 story Centrust building in Miami. Never heard of them.
Maybe I should ask one of my horses ?

 

[DennisH2014]

Just because they have limited brand recognition consumers and heritage of sorts doesn't mean they couldn't easily branch out and make themselves more accessible to others. But then again, why would they ever want more customers right?

These days it's simply idiotic for a business not to have a decent website with easy purchasing options. Websites are cheap, and the purchasing systems are so automated; at that point all they have to do is fill the orders and make money.

 

[2oolhound]

The Martins specify their wrenches to be hydraulic wrenches with extra thin profiles although they don't give you the actual dimensions. The Proto appear to be regular thickness you would expect although I haven't seen the thickness dimension posted. If you are buying them for hydraulic fitting work I'd get the Martins but for regular use consider the Protos.

Personally I'd pay double for angle wrenches that have 30/60 degree angles because I already have 15' open ends on my combo wrenches and I've encountered fasteners that required the 30/60 combos, a 15/60 wouldn't have worked. If I'm paying $300 just for the 60' angle end I'd have to pay another $300 for a set of 30' angle wrenches. I'd prefer to have one set with 30/60, a truly specialty wrench for those truly limited access fasteners.

I suppose if you look at it logistically the 1st time you encounter a fastener that you can't get at by flipping your 15' combo, any other off set will come to the rescue so 60 is a good compromise. Let's say of all the fasteners you encounter only 5% are not accessible with a normal wrench and of those 5%, 75% of them are fully serviced by a 60' offset. So only 25% of the 5% limited access fasteners require something more than a 15' normal wrench and a 60' angle wrench. (either the nornal 15' or the 60' will not turn the limited access fastener enough so you can re-grab it with either wrench). In those few instances you need a 90' or a 30' offset angle. These figures are hypothetical only but it puts things in perspective. You may feel for the limited amount of advantage you get you will forgo the extra expense of the 30/60 ' wrenches and of coarse the same logic holds true when you are considering buying a whole set of wrenches as opposed to buying just a few of the common sizes you most frequently encounter.

 

[jdelrizzle]

We have used specialty Martin wrenches forever in an industrial environment such as spanners for surface grinder wheel mounts and cylindrical lock nuts.

To the OP both are quality I would go with Proto as Martin seems to be a little on the pricey side

Actually,

In this case the Martin wrench set is a little cheaper on eBay

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Martin-15-P...0941348872&pt=Motors_Automotive_Tools&vxp=mtr

But I've already purchased a proto set (new) for $295.

I work on nothing but specialty hydraulic equipment, hopefully the proto angle wrenches workout for me.

Thanks for all the input guys, reason I went proto over Martin was the ship dates, I need the wrenches as soon as Monday.

 

[ladrones]

Just get the snap-on angle wrenches. It will be money well spent.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Hpozzuoli]

Never heard of Martin. My choice is always SK, but if you desire one of the two mentioned, go Proto.

 

[jdelrizzle]

The Martins specify their wrenches to be hydraulic wrenches with extra thin profiles although they don't give you the actual dimensions. The Proto appear to be regular thickness you would expect although I haven't seen the thickness dimension posted. If you are buying them for hydraulic fitting work I'd get the Martins but for regular use consider the Protos.

Personally I'd pay double for angle wrenches that have 30/60 degree angles because I already have 15' open ends on my combo wrenches and I've encountered fasteners that required the 30/60 combos, a 15/60 wouldn't have worked. If I'm paying $300 just for the 60' angle end I'd have to pay another $300 for a set of 30' angle wrenches. I'd prefer to have one set with 30/60, a truly specialty wrench for those truly limited access fasteners.

I suppose if you look at it logistically the 1st time you encounter a fastener that you can't get at by flipping your 15' combo, any other off set will come to the rescue so 60 is a good compromise. Let's say of all the fasteners you encounter only 5% are not accessible with a normal wrench and of those 5%, 75% of them are fully serviced by a 60' offset. So only 25% of the 5% limited access fasteners require something more than a 15' normal wrench and a 60' angle wrench. (either the nornal 15' or the 60' will not turn the limited access fastener enough so you can re-grab it with either wrench). In those few instances you need a 90' or a 30' offset angle. These figures are hypothetical only but it puts things in perspective. You may feel for the limited amount of advantage you get you will forgo the extra expense of the 30/60 ' wrenches and of coarse the same logic holds true when you are considering buying a whole set of wrenches as opposed to buying just a few of the common sizes you most frequently encounter.

Very good point, the number one reason that I need angle wrenches would be to remove/install the hydraulic lines that are plumbed directly to hydraulic pumps/compensators that I have to work on.

A fellow employee at work has a set of Armstrong angle wrenches that I've used from time to time, they've work out pretty well, it's time I invest in my own set. In all reality I actually need sizes 1" - 2" many of the lines are really difficult to get to with a normal wrench. A full snap on set would be ideal here, but I can't justify spending over $2000 for the set. I might buy 1 1/2 and a 2 inch angle wrench separately, or I might just save up for a "jumbo set", not sure yet. Or I i might just buy the bigger wrenches sunex brand or maybe even hf brand not sure yet.

 

[DOUGD]

My son toured the Martin plant in the Dallas area recently. They were making Proto wrenches. Lots of these mfg.s produce tools for other brands.

 

[wild cowboy]

In all reality I actually need sizes 1" - 2" many of the lines are really difficult to get to with a normal wrench. A full snap on set would be ideal here, but I can't justify spending over $2000 for the set. I might buy 1 1/2 and a 2 inch angle wrench separately, or I might just save up for a "jumbo set", not sure yet. Or I i might just buy the bigger wrenches sunex brand or maybe even hf brand not sure yet.

do you know the specific 3 or 4 sizes that you always end up using?

from 1" to 2" there are 17 wrenches inclusive, by 1/16ths, so which ones are you always needing? - surely not all 17

 

[T45]

Disagreed. Poor advertising. These companies either have sucky online presence or none at all. ....

dude they are hiding from you

 

[plinker]

Epstiens has Martin angle wrenches. I have a set (mixed Wright & Martin, same wrench). The are a little bit heavy on the open end for the length, but they get the job done.

I have a few Proto metric's as well, have not really used them enough for an informed opinion other then they look nice.

Snap-on angle wrenches are longer then either, fwiw.


Edit; I also have a Sunex 2", decent enough quality for what it is. I intened to get an 1-1/2 as well.

 

[1982fxr]

wow some real CEO's in the making in this thread. One of you guys please email Martin or Wright, or SK and tell them how you can fix their ************* businesses that are doing so poorly.

Crazy as it may seem, not every business needs to reach YOU to survive/thrive.

 

[honcho]

Just because they have limited brand recognition consumers and heritage of sorts doesn't mean they couldn't easily branch out and make themselves more accessible to others. But then again, why would they ever want more customers right?

These days it's simply idiotic for a business not to have a decent website with easy purchasing options. Websites are cheap, and the purchasing systems are so automated; at that point all they have to do is fill the orders and make money.

Businesses do lots of stupid things, but it is an arrogance to think that we know better than the people running the business on the value of a website. Decent websites aren't necessarily inexpensive and, depending on the composition of their main customer base, may not produce a sufficient return on investment.

Most of us here on Garage Journal use tools either as professionals or hobbyists (or both). The companies making tools want to sell us their products, but to stay in business they have to sell things and make a profit. Just because you can sell more doesn't mean it makes business sense. Lots of retail businesses fail even though they sold great quantities of merchandise. For various reasons, they couldn't move the merchandise profitably (or, as is often the case, more profitably than alternative uses for the capital resources).

As others in this thread have pointed out. It appears that Martin rebadges other manufacturers tools to fill out their product line and one poster claims that Martin produces tools for other brands. Without talking to Martin tool management, we can only guess at why Martin makes and sells their products the way they do. Saying that they can make money by just by having a web site and fulfilling orders may or may not be true but us folks on GJ aren't in a position to know what is profitable for Martin.

 

[metaldad]

Mc master Carr also handles Martin.
Not shown in their books, you have to ask the sales rep.

 

[PCO6]

Yet another idiot company.No "Where to buy" No Dealers. Nothing.
They should consider a merger with SK, Wright and Gray !
One funeral !

I'm not sure what it's like in the U.S. but Gray tools are pretty easy to get up here through jobbers or online. Back in the '70s a lot of their products were available at Canadian Tire. I wish they still were, they are excellent tools.

As for Martin, I'm only familiar with their body hammers and am quite happy with them.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Snap On. The different angles are worth it. I have a set of Bonney angle wrenches at home, and a set of SO at work. Night and day difference when you are working in tight places. The Bonney are like all the rest with the 15°/60° angle vs the SO 30°/60° angles.

Old angle wrench thread.

Martin is well known for their thin single open end service wrenches. That market used to be covered by Armstrong and Bonney, but with the Bonney line disappearing Martin has seemed to take the place. They are not as thin as the Bonney but work well. Rough finish, good for when your hands are covered in grease, oil, and hydraulic fluid.

Charles

 

[espyking83]

Most mechanics-let alone diy'ers-- dont have the need, therefor cant justify the price of Snap On angle wrenches, the price for them is insane. Most people should buy the cheapest they can and use a grinder to alter shape. I support quality USA tools, but everyone is recommending a high priced product for **** someone will rarely ever use. If a person really wants quality, look at the SK's on Epsteins, just a hell of a deal. But the smartest thing a person can do who doesnt use them on a daily basis is to buy the Tekton ones and grind them. If anyone wants to know how I will post some pics of the ones I use at work.

 

[Nortonscustom]

OP, I was in the same boat earlier this year. Ended up getting the Proto set. Been using them weekly for months now and have been happy with them. Really don't think you can go wrong with either set.