Folgers.Okay guys. Happy Sunday. I’m going to talk to my bolts and find out how their weekends have been so far. Maybe see if my wrenches want to go out for a coffee.
Folgers.Okay guys. Happy Sunday. I’m going to talk to my bolts and find out how their weekends have been so far. Maybe see if my wrenches want to go out for a coffee.
Your argument is the same as mine. A fastener has tolerances and a tool has tolerances. You find the best match. It's NOT a brand thing. I have a bunch of different sets of wrenches of different brands and "quality" levels for this reason. Sometimes it's actually the cheap one that's better. It happens.Typically, not always, but typically better performing tools are considered better quality. You can get sort of hairy here with non-standard designs, but just picking on "regular" style tools without wild offset geometry.
I'm not making a brand argument, the fastener doesn't "know" it was a proto and chose to release easier because it like proto. My argument is that something like Proto will typically have better tolerances and geometry compared to other brands, and given a fixed number of fasteners in a variety of conditions will remove more all else equal than a lower performing tool. Given 10,000 fasteners beginning at a perfect center tolerance bolt and degrading into a complete circle with no chance of removal, a center tolerance Wright wrench or whoever is considered top quality will make it out with a high % of removed fasteners. Higher as a percentage, than a cheaper brand. However this isn't a straight [$=additional fasteners] conversion factor of 1/1.
The result of this, is most brands will remove X fasteners. Higher quality tools have better heat treat, better steel/alloy, better tolerance design and hold. As price climbs another line climbs at a lower rate where more $$$ should equal more fasteners removed. The biggest gap is at the bottom. The blank branded wrench that says "drop forge china" may cost $1, and stepping up to a $5 is a much bigger increase in performance than the $25 wrench despite the cost being multiplied by a factor of 5 both times.
If price is y=X, increased performance is more like y= (squareroot)X
Imagine a fastener, flush with optimism, only to find it's being installed into a Hyundai. While it's batch-mates go on to a Toyota. That bolt felt pain.
I'd agree, but I still feel some mechanical empathy. It saddens me to see a neglected vehicle or object. It had more to give, and was squandered.
I have mechanical empathy as well but they sure as heck don't reciprocate. Both of my current vehicles were neglected resurrections.I'd agree, but I still feel some mechanical empathy. It saddens me to see a neglected vehicle or object. It had more to give, and was squandered.
Yeah. That was what I was getting at with my comment about surface olates. If someone wanted to make their own on a shoestring budget, they can. I learned how and I think learning how to do it is an essential part of learning metrology. But I’m not going to do it in a laboratory setting. It’s a waste of my time, unproductive and hence, unnecessarily expensive.I also don't believe they're going to walk in and be productive. But they have the base knowledge to do the job and ability to use the tools.
Insulting other POVs isn't cool.We are amongst some real tools and idiotic points of view in this thread.
I will defer to those who are experienced turning wrenches daily to put food on the table. They are, every day “in the field”, so to speak. Experience counts.
The small percentiles of better performance a professional tool gives is actually cumulative in effect. Added up over the course of the day, it can pay real dividends, especially over time.
Over the years, I have heard professional tool owners proclaim that HF tools are junk and they would never ever step foot in the store.We are amongst some real tools and idiotic points of view in this thread.
I will defer to those who are experienced turning wrenches daily to put food on the table. They are, every day “in the field”, so to speak. Experience counts.
The small percentiles of better performance a professional tool gives is actually cumulative in effect. Added up over the course of the day, it can pay real dividends, especially over time.

Over the years, I have heard professional tool owners proclaim that HF tools are junk and they would never ever step foot in the store.
I guess I was to take that as some kind of informed opinion.![]()
Insulting other POVs isn't cool.
Over the years, I have heard professional tool owners proclaim that HF tools are junk and they would never ever step foot in the store.
I guess I was to take that as some kind of informed opinion.![]()
This almost always strikes me as silly.Perhaps you were either mistaken or too easily fooled into believing they were “professional”.
Even amongst the most pretentious of tool users, it was always known that HF was the source if one needed a sacrificial tool to make a tool out of.
You don't have to respect it but insulting it makes you an ***.This is exactly the problem with the world today. The saying goes that everyone who has a POV, their POV must be respected, even if it is overwhelmingly clear that the POV is not based on worldly wisdom.
This is a problem.
It’s not learned.
Lucky for you and me, the opinions of others, especially on the internet, are **** all.I thought we were discussing the opinions of others.
You are right, though.
Lucky for you and me, the opinions of others, especially on the internet, are **** all.
Excuse the French, used colloquially.
The internet is the worst place to form an opinion on someone without extensive interaction. It's words on a page.Thank you for proving my point.
There are some opinions I highly value on the internet and in a forum atmosphere such as this. But it is based on the wisdom of the opinion sharer.
In my experience, it has been easy to distinguish those who have acquired such wisdom, and those who have not.
One must consider and evaluate this.
I'm interested in the opinions of others, but in the end, they are opinions. I cannot help but wonder on how they based their opinions.Lucky for you and me, the opinions of others, especially on the internet, are **** all.
Excuse the French, used colloquially.
Have you ever personally purchased and used any tool from Harbor Freight, comparing it to a similar, but more expensive truck tool?Thank you for proving my point.
There are some opinions I highly value on the internet and in a forum atmosphere such as this. But it is based on the wisdom of the opinion sharer.
In my experience, it has been easy to distinguish those who have acquired such wisdom, and those who have not.
One must consider and evaluate this.
Have you ever personally purchased and used any tool from Harbor Freight, comparing it to a similar, but more expensive truck tool?
If not then it seems you a simply choosing to agree with certain opinions, which is certainly your right.
That mindset does seem make the word or round these days. Works pretty good on YouTube.
Which tools are "everyday?"Let me see if I can nip some of this in the bud with some facts:
All bolt specs have tolerance allowed for width across flats. The tolerances for width across flats are all "unilateral" (i.e. one sided, not +/-). And they are always negatives.
Example: a 1/2" bolt has a 3/4" width across flats. The tolerance is .736-.750 or .75 +.000/-.014.
Conclusion, the best wrench for a bolt that varies in head size is the tightest most precision wrench available. Sloppier wrenches will do worse.
Exception: Corrosion ADDS to the width across flats. As does dirt and schmutz. You may have trouble getting some of the super tight fitting tools onto such hardware e.g. Snap On FX, or koken Zeal. This is why the manufacturers say these aren't everyday tools.
Since most everything is rusted/crusted/painted, Harbor Freight?Which tools are "everyday?"

Since most everything is rusted/crusted/painted, Harbor Freight?![]()
If you think this is true 100% of the time, you are incorrect.Corrosion ADDS to the width across flats.
Using my critical thinking skills, it would seem dirty, rusty, painted fasteners would require a wrench with more + on the tolerance side. Pittsburgh Pro FTWSince most everything is rusted/crusted/painted, Harbor Freight?![]()
Yes! Some people might like having a couple sloppy tools. If you ask @2ndGearRubber, he will probably tell you that's why he keeps "beater" tools that he can literally beat onto a fastener.Using my critical thinking skills, it would seem dirty, rusty, painted fasteners would require a wrench with more + on the tolerance side. Pittsburgh Pro FTW
I don't know the Koken brand, but for Snap On it would just be the normal flank drive. I don't know of any other brands that have "normal" or "everyday" tools and a "super tight" series. Only Koken and Snap On. So for other brands, all their tools are everyday tools. Maybe Nepros?Which tools are "everyday?"
Yes! Some people might like having a couple sloppy tools. If you ask @2ndGearRubber, he will probably tell you that's why he keeps "beater" tools that he can literally beat onto a fastener.
But @JeepYJ is also correct. Corrosion swells steel, but the swollen material isnt strong. It will come off, break off, and you will be left with a smaller fastener. (As we all know). So buying loose wrenches for corrosion can be something pros do, but the rest of us maybe not so much. I suspect a LOT of pros may start with "starter" tools, whatever they can afford, as many of us have. They typically don't dispose of those tools. They keep them for emergencies etc. I still have all my 1990s craftsman tools.
I don't know the Koken brand, but for Snap On it would just be the normal flank drive. I don't know of any other brands that have "normal" or "everyday" tools and a "super tight" series. Only Koken and Snap On. So for other brands, all their tools are everyday tools. Maybe Nepros?
Are you basing this on anything factual? Snap On tool sales remain strong. Company stock is strong. I’ve seen no evidence of quality fade. I think you are maybe referring to the buzz you are hearing, which is nothing more than rumors.I've been seeing all the drama lately especially over the wrenches. I think people are slowly just getting fed up of snap on relying on their name to sell tools. IMO the quality has gone down hill and the prices are going up and snap on is pricing themselves out of the every day techs pocket. Other companies aka harbor freight and the like are making tools that are almost as good for 10 cents on the dollar...
I really don’t understand this. Neither this tech nor the Snap On driver in the original video understand how wrenches work or what this test was intended to show.Royal Auto Service in Georgia
Do you mind elaborating a bit?Root problem: @Ultradog MN above is just dead wrong. Tools are really complicated. Steel production is complicated and steel quality varies greatly around the world. Wars have been fought over steel.
Snap-On makes better tools than Hazard Fraught, period. As you said above, it isn’t rocket science. The use better steel, better heat treatment, better finish, etc. all of that adds up to a better tool. If Harbor Freight offer tools that were made to the same standard, then they would be just as good. But all of that extra work – better heat, treatment, better, metallurgy, better finishing – comes at a cost. And that cost is not pennies on the dollar. Even for something produced in China. if you’re not: in a commercial setting, or using the tool repeatedly day in and day out, or you’re not using the tool in a critical application, nobody is saying you need to buy a Snap-On wrench. But there is a reason many do. There is a reason the stock is trading at $285 today (up $160 over the past decade). It has nothing to do with gimmicky YouTube comparisons or retired guys working on old cars. They make a better tool, at a premium that people are willing to pay.Do you mind elaborating a bit?
Are you saying engineers and scientists are unable to analyze the ingredients in steel? If so, read about the German company Krupp. How they made the best battleship armor for a century. But by WWII other countries - Japan, US, Britian, France, etc discovered their own ingredients and manufacturing techniques that not only equaled it but significantly improved on it?
Are you saying that Swedish steel - known for centuries as the very best stuff hasn't been replaced by technological advances so that the iron from from Australia, Brazil, China, Ukraine, Russia, India and
Canada - the 7 countries with the largest iron ore reserves - can't be all be equally used.
Are you saying that only Snap On has that "secret formula" that is best for sockets and no one else knows it, can discover it or improve on it? Are you saying a thing so simple as a combination wrench can't be reverse engineered and copied - even improved upon?
Are you saying that the Big 3 US auto makers are still the very best and Toyota BMW or Leyland can't ever catch up?
Are you suggesting the Apollo trip to the moon was the zenith of engineering and technology that has never been equalled or improved on?
I have no beef with Snap On. I have no beef with Snap On lovers. If you think they are the best, buy them. I'll be happy for you.
But please, please elaborate - with actual engineering and scientific facts, how Snap On can make tools no one else can.
And please don't tell me more opinions or that they are made with fairy dust and magic.
People not in the trades or are not more involved in the semi-pro DIY scenes tend to forget that quantity beats quality when you are starting out. When it’s your job, you absolutely need lots of stuff right away for as little as possible. That’s why so many newbies start with Craftsman, Pittsburgh, Husky, Ryobi, etc. I did it, every other machinist at the shop did it. Most serious people don’t just drop $10k+ on tools right out of the gate, though there are always exceptions. You got an entire career ahead of you to upgrade and splurge on exotic stuff and usually people understand that. It’s why I dislike so many social media people, they put it in everyone’s head that somehow it’s normal to have these massive tool hauls and spend thousands plus on high quality tools. It’s just not how things are done.There is a commenter on another forum I frequent that always posts about how they only use S-O tools because they “want the best or will go without.” That person seems to be a hobbyist, not a mechanic by trade. They go into rants if someone mentions that there are better options for some tools or, even worse, S-O doesn’t make all the tools they sell. That kind of attitude makes the person unlikeable and emphasizes the fanboy stereotype.
It really is that simple. Harbor freight makes discount tools and distributes them in a low cost retail setting, because that's their business model, and there's plenty of people to buy, thus a lucrative business. Snap-on makes premium tools, and distributes them to direct users in a model that works for their industry, and their sales record proves it's a successful business model.Snap-On makes better tools than Hazard Fraught, period. As you said above, it isn’t rocket science. The use better steel, better heat treatment, better finish, etc. all of that adds up to a better tool. If Harbor Freight offer tools that were made to the same standard, then they would be just as good. But all of that extra work – better heat, treatment, better, metallurgy, better finishing – comes at a cost. And that cost is not pennies on the dollar. Even for something produced in China. if you’re not: in a commercial setting, or using the tool repeatedly day in and day out, or you’re not using the tool in a critical application, nobody is saying you need to buy a Snap-On wrench. But there is a reason many do. There is a reason the stock is trading at $285 today (up $160 over the past decade). It has nothing to do with gimmicky YouTube comparisons or retired guys working on old cars. They make a better tool, at a premium that people are willing to pay.
They're better but it's not like the manufacturing cost is a linear correlation to the retail price. You pay a lot more to get a little more.Snap-On makes better tools than Hazard Fraught, period. As you said above, it isn’t rocket science. The use better steel, better heat treatment, better finish, etc. all of that adds up to a better tool. If Harbor Freight offer tools that were made to the same standard, then they would be just as good. But all of that extra work – better heat, treatment, better, metallurgy, better finishing – comes at a cost. And that cost is not pennies on the dollar. Even for something produced in China. if you’re not: in a commercial setting, or using the tool repeatedly day in and day out, or you’re not using the tool in a critical application, nobody is saying you need to buy a Snap-On wrench. But there is a reason many do. There is a reason the stock is trading at $285 today (up $160 over the past decade). It has nothing to do with gimmicky YouTube comparisons or retired guys working on old cars. They make a better tool, at a premium that people are willing to pay.
Yeah but the point is they wouldn’t be up by almost double if they made the same tools that were available for pennies on the dollar. You’re not getting a little more tool, you’re getting a lot more durability, etc. Not everybody (especially DIYers) need that but it’s absurd to claim it isn’t there.They're better but it's not like the manufacturing cost is a linear correlation to the retail price. You pay a lot more to get a little more.
A lot of stocks are up over the last decade not just SOs.
Yeah they run DeWalt. Haven't really ever seen Snap-on at a construction site.Yeah but the point is they wouldn’t be up by almost double if they made the same tools that were available for pennies on the dollar. You’re not getting a little more tool, you’re getting a lot more durability, etc. Not everybody (especially DIYers) need that but it’s absurd to claim it isn’t there.
There’s a reason you don’t see entire construction outfits running 100% Hercules tools. At that level it’s a money loser.