Tools

[Zander]

Originally Posted by MightyMouse

I love quality tools but in reality i just cant afford or justify a whole toolbox full of them. The ones I use frequently ( ring / open end, sockets etc ) i'll by the best I can afford and the less frequently used ones I'll try and find mid price ones.

There is no way i'd buy the $10 socket sets from KMart etc, that's just asking for trouble but there's' also a case for actually having a mid priced tool being better than having a few top of the line ones but missing out on the one you need to get the job done.

I try and work on the Jeep from the toolbox i carry, every now and then I'll have to add something to get the job done but to counter that I've also taken stuff out that i'd convinced myself i would need but in reality didn't. Screwdrivers seem to fit into that category, perhaps its a Jeep thing but i find a replacable tip driver does the smaller stuff and a couple of bigger ones do the rest.

So ... theres' my 2C,

MM you can still buy good quality tools made in the USA, they don't carry the high price tag of the euro stuff.

e.g. http://www.toolbarn.com/sk-86226.html

[Wooders]

All this talk of breaking tools - IMHO - In the trade or not, if you are regularly breaking tools of any reasonable brand name (even chinese made) you are clearly misusing them.

[anthonygubbin]

Originally Posted by Wooders

All this talk of breaking tools - IMHO - In the trade or not, if you are regularly breaking tools of any reasonable brand name (even chinese made) you are clearly misusing them.

LOL so are you saying I should get off my arse and get the BFH instead of improvising with a ratchet......when the BFH is 10m away

Regards A

[SeaComms]

My father (now in his 70's) had always used Sidchrome. In fact still has most of his original tools from his late teens. These are all still in working condition. In the late 80's I remember him getting really annoyed with several new spanners and sockets he had bought that were also Sidchrome. His complaint was that although they still had a lifetime warranty he was sick if having to take them back to be replaced si has never bought another Sidchrome since. On the other hand I have a set if Sidchrome sockets and soanners I bought in the early 90's and even with my abuse have never missed a beat.

I have recently bought tools from Aldi of all places and despite using a BFH on the spanners have not managed to more that mark the chrome plating! I also bought a $59 torque wrench that have had tested at a a mates shop a couple of times over the last 2 years and still remains accurate enough for him.

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[VooDoo2]

Originally Posted by Wooders

All this talk of breaking tools - IMHO - In the trade or not, if you are regularly breaking tools of any reasonable brand name (even chinese made) you are clearly misusing them.

Tools wear out the same as anything. I wear out 14mm sockets (used daily) in under 6mths and usually get SP/Sidchrome etc. They are replaced no question.

[Wooders]

I said break not wear out

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[Beefcake]

Sidchrome tools are pretty good these days. Even in my time as a mechanic on a drilling rig, the roughnecks were flat out breaking my tools, and if anyone knows roughnecks they know they go by the motto if you can break it, it should never have been in the oilfield to start with! The thing about snap on and similar quality is the strength they retain while being made with fine tolerances. Thin walled snap on sockets and spanners etc are a god send when working on things like trucks that were built on a chassis then just have a cab and all the other crap dropped over the top of them. Horses for courses, i rely on tools to make a living so I see the value, but I've never spent over $50 for a knife in the kitchen, or $500 on a pair of scissors to cut hair with, that would be a ridiculous waste of money