Why not buy cheap tools?

[lee_dutcher]

very true....craftsman today is not the same compaired to back in my dads day....but lucky to my fortune i went to a local auction and bought a snap on dresser tool chest full of brand newish snap on and other name brand tools for 400 bux.......there is easyly well over 2 grand of tools in it......got it a bout 3-4 years ago and so far no breaking.....but last month there was a mac tool box set had a corvette on it full of tools for 800 bux....now that was nice looking

[RS Thornton]

Craftsman warranty

The toolbox is pretty much fully stocked with Craftsman, mostly bought at Sears. They stand by the warranty regardless of how you manage to break, twist or shear one. Plus no reciept is required. I've broken a few and Sears replaces no questions asked. Besides the tool failure the cheap stuff is more likely to round off the head, so it is not just the tool that can break when you are working on these older bikes.

[jmnjrpa]

Hey Spider,

Pick up a fist sized rock and toss it in the air while walking.
I see some pull clean off the other side of the road!

[jmnjrpa]

Daughter??

Blonde or the dog?

Sorry I couldn't resist>

[fredintoon]

- - - So no more cheap crap for me. Time to grow up I guess. I'm going to start buying Snap-On and Craftsman, like most of the other self-respecting adult gear-heads I know, even though I'm likely going to have to do it one piece at a time.
I think I'll start with a 12mm socket. -Spider

Hi Spider,
that's a thin-wall socket, made that way to get into tight places. Of course it split when you got medieval on it.
So would a Snap-on if you gave it the same treatment.
Only difference is Snap-on or Craftsman would have replaced it. And the sales-person, being trained in politeness, would have only said "Another genius using ordinary sockets on an air-wrench" after you were out of earshot.
Me, I buy the cheap stuff on sale. Got duplicates of most normal tools. At a dollar or less for a wrench I don't mind torching it into a prezel &/or grinding it as needed to fit into an awkward spot where I'd never dream of doing that to one from my costly sets of "Sunday Wrenches."

[crazy steve]

Cheap tools have their place, and yeah, I frequent HF on occasion. But for your everyday, I-use-these-regularly tools, it really pays to buy quality. One of the big problems with cheaply made tools isn't so much that they break, but that you can booger up whatever you're working on (or yourself) when they do. Damage a couple of parts (particularly hard to find ones) and that 'bargain' doesn't look so good.

On a budget? Good 'ol Ebay can be a great source for quality tools. I bought probably $4K (retail new) worth of hand tools a few years back on there for around .25 on the dollar, most of them new (my retirement present to myself), over the course of a year. Craftsman can be had dirt cheap there (you get what you pay for....), and Snap-on is still rather expensive, but there's other good brands. SK, Williams (Snap-on's industrial line), MAC, Matco, Blackhawk, Proto (my personal fav) to name a few all make nice tools. A quality tool (used correctly) should oulast you. Nobody makes a good thinwall socket IMO.

My personal experience has been formed over 40 years of working construction and being an incorrigible gearhead. Like probably everyone else here, I had a mish-mash of tools for years until I did my 'upgrade'. I went to pretty much all Proto hand tools as those had held up the best of all the different brands I owned/used. I've broken exactly three Proto tools over the years, and all were under extreme abuse. My son-in-law was a big 'Crapsman' fan (free replacement y'know) until I gave hime some Proto combo wrenches, now that's what he buys as replacements....

YMMV

'78E original owner

[Spider]

Hi Spider,
that's a thin-wall socket, made that way to get into tight places. Of course it split when you got medieval on it.
So would a Snap-on if you gave it the same treatment.
Only difference is Snap-on or Craftsman would have replaced it. And the sales-person, being trained in politeness, would have only said "Another genius using ordinary sockets on an air-wrench" after you were out of earshot.
Me, I buy the cheap stuff on sale. Got duplicates of most normal tools. At a dollar or less for a wrench I don't mind torching it into a prezel &/or grinding it as needed to fit into an awkward spot where I'd never dream of doing that to one from my costly sets of "Sunday Wrenches."

It wasn't on an air wrench. It was a ratchet attached to my arm.

[xs11jack]

Redbone has it right

Got to fleamarket sales and garage sales and pick up Craftsman and other quality tools that are old and beat up. The worst they look, the cheaper the price. Then take them to the Craftsman dealer and exchange them for new. Free!! Simple, easy, and I love flea markets.