Tools - who makes them

[bodyart27]

Kinda interesting short read....

http://www.team.net/www/morgan/tech/whotools.html

[TX76513]

Thanks for sharing that - dispells a lot or rumors.

[leathermang]

Wow, that is a great one....

Now I know why I used to see " made in Texas by Fire Ants" on some tool boxes....

Very interesting.

To me the difference in tools as long as they are made from decent forgings is the shape and finish.

About 32 years ago after getting out of the Army, I bought a roll away full of tools from a truck mechanic who was going back in the Navy. That box had a good bit of Snap On tools in it, but there was at least one example of every American tool brand at the time.

The Snap Ons and some of the MACs are IMHO clearly superior, only because of shape and finish. The Snap On ratchets have a feel that is definitely unique, at least it seems so to me. When I am helping someone and pick up a non Snap On ratchet, I turn it a few times and then look at it to see what brand it is. To me NOTHING matches a Snap On Ratchet.

Used to I felt the same way about the Snap On combination wrenches. They are really nice. They're thin so they fit in tight places. They're slick so they wipe off easy. And they fit into your hand well. I've heard several people say that they are too thin so they cut into your inner knuckles. I've never felt that way about them. I think that if you are worried about them cutting your knuckles you probably have lace on your underwear.

Now there are some good, less expensive alternatives to Snap On end wrenches. I bought a set of the Craftsman polished combination wrenches in Metric because I still had a mish mash of metric wrenches. I like them almost as much as my Snap On English combinations. They are polished and almost as thin as the Snap Ons.

After well over 30 years of gathering up tools, I have a collection that I'm reasonably proud of. The only thing bad about my tools now is that I'm sure that my toolbox would win the "Ugliest Tool Box Contest" in most any shop.

Have a great day,

[leathermang]

"I think that if you are worried about them cutting your knuckles you probably have lace on your underwear."--LarryBible

This MIGHT be affected by how old/rusted/big the bolts and nuts one has to deal with are...

And after all those protestations about your answer to Jassz not being affected by sex... you post this..... LOL

[Thomaspin]

I find myself using some very old (>50 yrs?) Snap-On and Craftsman tools left me by my wife's grandfather, Grandpa Howard, who was a mechanic all his life. He worked only on American cars, so the tools are all in inch sizes, but come in very useful for wrenching a variety of a/c connections on my MBs, many of which seem to be non-metric.

Are these better than their modern counterparts from a purely engineering perspective? Hard to say. The finishes tend to be less polished than on some of the new tools. Then again, I prefer the matt finish adopted by Hazet and Stahlwille on their tools. (I wouldn't be surprised if these were made in China, branded 'Germany' and suitably marked-up, BTW).

What does make them infinitely better, however, is the knowledge that every time I pick one up I know it has given some 50 years or more of hard work and quality results to someone who did this for a living. That make me a better mechanic.

[Honus]

I have a Craftsman ratchet that is at least fifty years old. It is a beauty. It looks like some old Snap On ratchets that I have seen. The local Snap On man says that it was made by Snap On.

For new tools it is hard to go wrong with Snap On, although they are ridiculously expensive.

I have a few older wrenches made by Bonney that are very nice. I don't know if that company is still around.

My Dad had a mix of Snap On, Mac and Cornwell tools that he made his living with for a number of years. I would love to have them some day, but his brand new pickup was stolen some years ago with his top toolbox in the back. Haven't seen it since.

When I was small and shagging tools for him (when I wasn't buisy sweeping and such) in the shop afterschool and weekends, I first knew what wrench he was asking for because of their brands. He didn't know the difference in brand, he thought of them in the term of size and type, but I did. I didn't understand the fractions at first.

He always made me gather up tools and wipe them off clean and put them away in their proper toolbox location. When I got older and didn't help him any more, I noticed that he didn't keep them wiped off like I did when I was small. I guess it was just buisy work.

We were together with family reminiscing a few years ago and I was telling someone about this in his presence. His comment was "Yeah that was pretty nice having clean tools."

I have some tools now that are about 35 years old, and just a few that are probably a little older. I have some of the old black handle Snap On screwdrivers that are still in great shape. It's kind of neat to have something of such high quality and so old but still in great usable shape. If we can only make cars last that long.

Have a great day,

[dabenz]

Neat article. The oldest wrenches I have in the box (and use) are Blackhawks, from the early 1940s I think, and Craftsman/Snap-On from the 1950s. I mic'd them on a dare and they still meet ASME tolerances. It's my understanding that Proto has a slightly different heat treatment than Stanley's "lower" grades, which are still good. You can get Proto from Grainger at the Husky prices from Home Depot. Catch is that Grainger only wants to sell to businesses, but then again you either know somebody who can do it or with your employer's permission you can use your credit card on their account. My all time best ratchet is a standard S-K 3/8in. 23yr young and has been dropped in mud, sand, used underwater, used with 6ft cheater and hasn't yet been cleaned or rebuilt. The 6pt sockets that came with it get changed to Proto as I break them. Don't think the new S-K stuff is as good as the old so I switch to Proto when the stuff breaks. I use my great-great-grandfather's soldering irons occasionally - we think they are from the 1870s-1880s - the blacksmithing type. Work good when soldering or brazing large pipe. They're kept in his toolbox.

[The Warden]

Originally posted by LarryBible
I've heard several people say that they are too thin so they cut into your inner knuckles.

The best answer for that is a shop rag or two. Fold them a couple of times, then put that between your hand and the wrench. Really works wonders when trying to untorque a nut that's been rusting onto the bolt it's attached to for over 40 years.

That said, I love Snap-On tools. I had the opportunity to use them regularly in my high school auto shop class (almost 5 years ago now), and have since been spoiled. Due to my financial situation, my personal tool collection is limited and mismatched...but, so far, I've been able to do everything (except time my 6.9l) on both of my diesels myself.

[mercedesmatt]

lets all post pics of our tool boxes!!!!! what do you guys think???

[The Warden]

I'm too embarassed to show what mine look like at the moment...except for the one pictured below (that you can barely see in this picture, at the front of the Nimitz's bed, with one flap open), all of mine are little hand-carry ones that need to be sanded down and re-painted (I haven't decided what color yet)...

I'll post a picture of my toolbox as long as someone offers a prize for the ugliest toolbox. I will win the prize.

Have a great day,