Good cheap tool vs. pricey tool discussion

[broke again]

I have split craftsman, snap on, and just about all other brands.


ON a side not I can tell you to always double check the rpm rating on your cut off wheel discs!!!!! Back when I was working at AMS I accidentally used a 15,000 rpm disc on a 25,000 rpm cut off tool. I came apart at full speed. Shot up at my face. I was wearing a face guard luckily. Bounced off the face guard and launched across the shop some 50ft and embedded into the wall an inch or so!!!!!!!!! To this day I leery of cutoff wheels and hardly ever use them.

x2 had a cut off wheel come apart and gashed the hell out of my leg through a pair of pants. we have our compressor turned way up and it will split any socket (some just faster than others!).

[kingjason]

All my main tools are Craftsman but I have a whole lot of specialty harbor freight stuff. I have broke all sorts of shit from there but it is usually stuff I am not going to use again. I have one of their electric impact wrenches that I bought to try out. I figured I would see how well it worked before buying a quality brand. That thing blows away any air impact I have ever seen and still works great three years later.

[BP]

ON a side not I can tell you to always double check the rpm rating on your cut off wheel discs!!!!! Back when I was working at AMS I accidentally used a 15,000 rpm disc on a 25,000 rpm cut off tool. I came apart at full speed. Shot up at my face. I was wearing a face guard luckily. Bounced off the face guard and launched across the shop some 50ft and embedded into the wall an inch or so!!!!!!!!! To this day I leery of cutoff wheels and hardly ever use them.

I had a sanding disk go through my pants, into my shin, bounced from there through a curtain and into a wall. Cheap ass owner bought the less expensive disks and didn't tell anyone, my bad for not checking though. Then again I was 19 and bullet proof!

[JimD]

I do have a set of HF wrenches that i modified to use at work. Cut the open ends off and welded the 10-12 together,13-15 14-17, 16-18. That way more leverage and have the majority of bolt size for the particular car your working on. They have held up well with daily use.

[Zfan]

I use mainly Craftsman tools but for seldom used tools I will buy HF sometimes...just be careful. I once had a socket shatter on me when I was using a torque wrench. I seperated my shoulder flying forward into the engine bay...that was a cheap Chinese socket that I should have checked first!

Live and learn!

[ceyko]

Curious, what are yall doing when you break craftsman, snap on and so forth?

I don't doubt it one bit, a million and one things could be the reason - one of them being exceeding abilities of the tools. I've just put some serious pressure on some of my craftsman tools with success (so far).

In other words, I'm interested in the story behind it. It would seem for me to break one of those sockets I'd have to have 2-3 cheater bars or a really large one on a breaker bar.

[71chevellejohn]

I've had the gearing in multiple craftsmen ratchets fail on me through normal use(3/8,1/4 drive - no cheater pipe). They get sloppy and then they kill your knuckles.

So far I'm having good luck with Kobalt. Which I am told is around the way owned by Snap-On... I don't know if that is correct but it's what they say.

[ALLAN]

I use mostly HF and Craftsman. The tools work just fine.

Have a few SnapOn like safety wire pliers and long needle nose.

[Dan03mach]

All my wrenches are either craftsman or Gearwrench, sockets & Ratches are craftsman. My airtools are either Matco or Ingersoll Rand. Most tools I use are all Craftsman and I haven't ever had an issue with them.

[JimD]

Curious, what are yall doing when you break craftsman, snap on and so forth?

I don't doubt it one bit, a million and one things could be the reason - one of them being exceeding abilities of the tools. I've just put some serious pressure on some of my craftsman tools with success (so far).

In other words, I'm interested in the story behind it. It would seem for me to break one of those sockets I'd have to have 2-3 cheater bars or a really large one on a breaker bar.

I break most of them b/c the ass plug i work for likes to do shit the hard way. Won't use a torch for anything, hell he doesn't even own a rosebud. Had to lol when i scattered one of his craftsman sockets( b4 i worked 4 him full time) they were trying to get a honda harmonic balancer off and their 3/4 drive wouldn't take it off. So he called me and i brought my 1 inch over and had to adapt down to his sockets. That mofo had full power on it, 1500 ft lbs+. Ended up having to go back home and get my 1 inch impact sockets to get it off. Some clown poured red loctite onto the crank bolt.

[Broncojohnny]

I use Craftsman stuff almost exclusively. I have some Snap On tools but most of them were given to me.

My company owns a lot of warehouses from coast to coast. We have Snap On in several buildings. If you go in and talk to the Snap On employees they will laugh their asses off at the attitudes people have about the superiority of their tools. You know it is bad when the people selling the stuff will make jokes about the extremism of their customers.

[Chili]

I've had the gearing in multiple craftsmen ratchets fail on me through normal use(3/8,1/4 drive - no cheater pipe). They get sloppy and then they kill your knuckles.

So far I'm having good luck with Kobalt. Which I am told is around the way owned by Snap-On... I don't know if that is correct but it's what they say.

I have that issue currently, with both a Craftsman and an off brand.. I do need to buy a good ratchet..

[Blue302stang]

I make my living on the tools i own so i do have quite a bit of snap on, mac and many other big name tools. I've tried to go the flea market and pawn store way as much as possible, but many times its just easier to get it off the truck. All my 1/2", 3/8" and 1/4" drive sockets are grey pneumatic impact sockets and i haven't had a single problem with them and the entire set cost me a fraction of what they would have cost me through any tool truck. I've used some HF stuff but they never seem to hold up to the abuse of daily use. I've spent more money that i would like to admit on tools, but for the most part i know they will last and if they don't i have a warranty backing them up. Thats my main reason for buying the big name brands

[gearhead78]

I hate 98% of the junk HF sells. I have a set of calipers from them I use all the time and a bench grinder I have had from them for about 10 years. Everything else I have ever bought from there is not worth its weight in scrap metal.

I don't wrench for a living but I work on cars a lot. Most of my tools are Mac or Snap-On but I have only bought off the truck a few times. Most of the rest has been collected used for pennies in the dollar.

[STANGGT40]

I use Craftsman stuff almost exclusively. I have some Snap On tools but most of them were given to me.

My company owns a lot of warehouses from coast to coast. We have Snap On in several buildings. If you go in and talk to the Snap On employees they will laugh their asses off at the attitudes people have about the superiority of their tools. You know it is bad when the people selling the stuff will make jokes about the extremism of their customers.

you need to buddy up to a few of them and get the employee discount...they probably sell those tools to employees for half of nothing!