Title says it all: snap-on, craftsman, mac, matco, mastercraft :screwy: ????????
I just invested in a snap on set. The craftsman tools I used to have kept breaking and they didn't always honor their "lifetime" warranty.
Most of my tools are Mastercraft (Canadian Tire). I find they are exceptional quality, especially for the price, and even when I do break one, even when it's from obvious abuse, they honour their warranty with no problems. The few Snap-On tools I do own are good quality too, but since the Snap-On guy only comes around bi-weekly it just isn't convenient when one breaks, and they are VERY overpriced. Whenever I try to get warranty on a tool the Snap-On guy always tries to get out of honouring it, too - if a socket is broken he'll say you had it on an impact gun, and he will not honour warranty on screwdrivers at all (except for the ratcheting mechanism in my ratcheting screwdriver). If you break a screwdriver he'll say you used it as a pry bar or chisel or something stuid like that. You could buy five Mastercraft tools for what the same tool would cost you from Snap-ON, and you could beat your Mastercraft tools to death with a hammer and they'll still replace them under warranty.
That being said, there are a few tools that I would only buy from Snap-On: the double flaring tool, ratcheting screwdriver (even though mine has broken several times), and pry bars. I also buy my philips screwdriver bits from Snap-On because of the extra grips on thier bits. All of my other bits are Mastercraft. My air tools are all Ingersoll-Rand, and they are considerably more powerful than anything I've seen from Snap-On or Blue-Point. A guy in my shop is always borrowing my old IR-231 Impact gun to remove pinion nuts on GM rear ends because his Snap-On gun doesn't have the oats to do it.
A mixture of Craftsman and Mac...
the kit that was on sale after thanksgiving :p
All of my tools are mastercraft except one mac: a 12 point 12mm impact socket. Can anyone guess why I bought that one?
I do go through a lot of ratchets though :( 3/8s and 1/2s
Craftsman mostly. With some Snap On mixed in. As far as Construction power tools I swear by Milwaukee.
Have you had your driveshaft out lately? :D
i have a lot of off brand tools, only because its what my family bought over the years, i have some craftsman, some snap on, but mostly "made in china" stuff
the only thing i have preference on is things like ratchets, i used only craftsman and snap-on ratchets
Thunder Chicken wins :giggle:
All Canadian Tire Stuff, Life time Warranty is nice.... :grinno:
If a tool break, I go on my nearest Canadian Tire with the broken part and without invoice, they replace it for free...
My Impact tools are Hauffman Cample :ies:
Complete Mac/Snap-on tool box = + 5000$
Complete MasterCraft = - 1000$
Even my Torque wrench is a Master Craft.... 90$ instead of 500$ (Snap-On)
Since im not a 5 day a week Mecanical, i dont want to sell my pants to buy tool....
craftsman tools make up 99.99% of my toolbox. I also have some Duralast (autozone brand) extensions and adaptors for my socket wrenches.
Durring my motor swap I broke 2 sockets and the 1/4" socket wrench. Both I returned to Sears and not only did I have no problem getting replacements, but the guy didn't ask a single question. I am very pleased with what I have.
Craftsman with the exception of a few cheapo things I had to pick up in a rush (a take what you can get deal). Broken a couple things with no problem on the exchange.
De Walt power tools
Craftsman all the way for me. Never had a problem getting exchanges for broken sockets ("No, sir, I didn't use them on air tools!"). One thing that I did notice, however, is that when the ratchets break, the sales associates don't go back into the locked cases and get you a new one....they reach under the counter and dip into the "exchange" bin. And those replacements suck big time. Once I even got a ratchet with someone else's Social Security number etched into it. That's like, not cool. So now I always have them go back into the case and those hold up much better. I also think it's cool that Sears is probably the only place in the U.S. where you can walk in and literally buy something for $.01...the ratchet repair kit. Check it out next time you're there.
Mine are mostly Stanley tools. They've always worked well for me. But my toolbox is Crafstman. :D
Craftsman and a few el cheapos. I have never had an issue with craftsman. Will probally always buy Craftsman when i can.
My first tool set was a Craftsman, and I still have those tools around somewhere, but it's inconvenient when they break (the nearest Sears is 20 miles away while Canadian Tire is only 1/2 mile away). I too noticed that they wouldn't give you a new ratchet (by default), so whenever I needed a replacement I would walk straight to the display, pick up the appropriate replacement, and bring it and my broken tool to the service desk. I'd say "I wanna trade this for that" and they would oblige.
Canadian Tire has always been VERY good at tool warranty replacements. I don't even think they
sell ratchet repair kits, they just give you a whole new ratchet. I even used to bring broken drill bits back for replacement, but they changed the wording on the package. It used to say "All Mastercraft tools carry a lifetime warranty", and now it says "All Mastercraft
hand tools carry a lifetime warranty". The bastids...
Craftsman!!! i've striped far too many important bolts with cheapo tools. i buy Craftsman whenever possible. ^_^
Ive used that ratcet repair kit on an old 3/8 inch drive my father-in-law was going to throw away. That was a LOOOONG time ago and I still have the ratchet and it works like a champ!
Maily Craftsman..........I never had a problem with getting off the shelf replacements rather from exchange bin replacemnts (didn't even know they did that). I broke a rachet and twisted an extension like a liccorice stick (funny how a 5' pipe will do that) and they just gave me new ones from the shelf that were as close a match to my old stuff as they had in stock........No complaints with Sears
I have a mixture of snap-on and craftsman but more craftsman right now.
Do what I do if you want cheap snap-on tools and hit up all the puppies stores around your area. When ever i find ones at the puppies stores i exchange them with my dealer for new ones and he is ok with it and he encourages (SP) kids just starting out to do that. The best deal i found at a puppies store was a torque wrench for $25 and gave it to my dealer to repair for $70 and wound up with a $500 torque wrench for $95
Since I've worked fror Sears for almost 36 years, I'll let you guess what brand I own...
Mac? :D
py no-name tools for me, so far. Mostly useless stuff like socket sets given to me by the families of former girlfriends. I have to figure out ways, like the puppies shop thing, to get the most decent tools for the least amount of money, until income improves.. or just keep picking up a few pieces at a time.
woo go sears :p im go'n on 4 years now tom, only 10% of your time lol.
i have around $3,000+- in snap-on, $600+- craftsmen, and $400+- in macco, pluss all my desposable tools that you use when you know their going to be broken :p
Wow! Three pages of replys the first time I checked my post. The reason I bought the snapon set is because I got in a used deal from a friend of mine (who's father passed away leaving him the tools). It came with a snap on torque wrench, (the only thing that doesn;t work), so I hope they'll hounor that warranty. Before this deal came up I was gonna go with a Canadian tire set (they had them 60% off for the holidays). I'm glad to hear they are so open with returns.
With my sears tools I too found that I got refurbished or repaird stuff that did not work like new. At my sears the tools were in a display case and I could not grab them to take to the parts counter. The would refuse to give me off the shelf tools too. The tools them selves were great save for the larger (3/4" plus, 1/2" and 3/4" drive sockets. 12 and 24 point) they had a tendincy to break on me, alot. The last straw with craftsman for me was when I snapped the open end of a combination wrench by hooking another box end on it for more leverage. (supposibly that was not covered by warranty). And their is no sears where I live either so traveling their did not make me that happy.
Another question, does anyone own a socket set (1/2" or 3/4" drive) with deep, six point sockets greater in size than 1 1/8" (27mm). I know sears carries up to 1 1/8" and mastercraft has 1 1/8" and
1 1/4" but I need 1 3/16" (30mm). I wanted to avoid buying one socket for $38 from snap on. In case you wondered this is the axel nut size (the prevailing torque type) on FWD Fords and Gm's. The
Each time I exchanged a broken item I recieved brand-spankin-new from the shelves. I guess I can't complain at all!
However my sears dosent even carry timing lights... thanks Bill for getting one from a NJ sears for me!!!
MDJ1281,
which Sears do you go to? I've seen timing lights at both Massapequa and Hicksville. A Little closer than Jersey I would suspect
Hicksville? There really is a place called Hicksville? I don't feel so bad living in Lower Sackville anymore...
I am a craftsmen man, unless it's some specialty tool I will only use once, then I might cheat and buy what ever is cheapest.
Yes there is a place called Hicksville. It's actually a suburban town about 30 miles from Manhattan. There's also a little area on Fire Island in NY called Lonelyville
craftsman
I go to Garden City's Sears... the old Bloomingdales.
I have about half craftsman and half "made in china" tools. I keep a lookout for tools and sockets when I go to the junkyard.
Half craftsman, some snap-on, stanely, channel lock, "vice grip" vice grips, cresent and made in china. I to always find alot of tool in the junck yard that I use for my junck yard tool box
Craftsman, Companion, Bon-E-Con, Plomb, Mac, Urrea, Proto, & Forged.
Everytime I've taken back a ratchet the lady at the service counter just puts a repair kit in my ratchet and gives it back.
i mainly use mastercraft,and westward is my other type.oh merccougar50 if you can get westward i suggest u try it they sell a complete set from 1" -2" life time warranty
I have a veritable salad of tool brands. A few good craftsman pieces sprinkled in here and there. I can usually judge the quality by picking them up, though. I had, can't find it anymore, an awesome all-black ratchet that was standard issue at the GM Lordstown plant, it had a very short sweep and was tough as nails, I sure hope I can find it again. I'm not sure what it was called... Johnson? Jacobson? Somethin' like that. Anyway, between the boxes in the garage, basp00get, and my car there are a countless number of tools,(I've counted as many as 10 of the same wrench before) but it always happens that I have about 15 3/8" wrenches in the garage, but all the 10mm's are somewhere else, unless of course I'm not looking for them.
As for power tools, we have about 5 Makita cordless drills, 2 or 3 DeWalt regular drills, a huge Bosch hammer drill, cheap-er Craftsman drill press, DeWalt table saw, Makita compount miter saw, cheap generic 14" (is that the size?) chop saw, a total of about 5 welders (2 Miller's - one arc, one MIG, 3 Lincoln arc's), a big 7.5 hp shop air compressor, countless air tools, D/A sanders, impact wrences, air rachets (all broken), die grinders.
I guess you could saw between my father and I we sort of collect tools, just not in any organized fashion. I've gone out many times to just buy a tool I wasn't able to find, only to find it later that same day!
HUSKY Tools here they do the job and not too expensive either. The rest are china and the toolboxes are crafstman.
What, no one uses the Benchtop/Kmart brand? :giggle:
I have a whole set. :shakehead
forgot about benchtop, i have a bunch of the sockets in my room somewhere
benchtop tools???? That mean you can't use them under the car??? :grinno: