Snap On Tools

[Slacker]

Don't know how many are high dollar Snap On fans. I have tools from France to China, with a little country in between. I may even have a few American tools.
I recently bought a set of met and std off wrench sets for the company. I got all the sets, up to 2". Out of these, I returned 14 for replacement. They were the worst, bent and slightly twisted. Four of the replacements, I returned and kept the original. They were just as bent or twisted. One of these wrenches appeared to of had some chrome chip off in places, so they re-dipped it like it was. They all still will function but I could get just as good a quality with an off brand. And the price... Craftsman didn't have these full sets that I saw. I had one sarge tell me today that he received some Snap On tools for home that had Made In China stickers on them. I also got a set of Snap On needle nose vise grips because my old set was worn out. The old set was made in Spain, but was Blue Point. The new are Snap On, Made In Spain. Just a head's up if you're contemplating getting some high end tools. I did find that the Snap On rep doesn't seem to like me now. I got fairly stern with him after he started blowing these bent and twisted tools off as 'not too bad' and 'You can still use them'.

Off to the side... Can't say too much on the subject presently. If you or your company are thinking of buying a trailer, like a low boy, with the name 'Pitts' on it, study EVERY weld or search for missing welds. Think twice before you buy. As Forrest would say, 'That's all I got to say 'bout that.'

 

[ouchez]

The quality of my Haulmark sucked too,,trailer that is.

O

 

[SpecOps13]

I have a set of Snap-On Tools that I got 40 years ago. Well, I have the tools my first wife didn't steal from me when she left.:bang head: If they're making tools in China now, I hope I never see their rep again. Snap-On can KMFA...:biglaugh:

 

[tothemax93]

Snap-on and craftsman tools use to be the tools to get. 20 years ago that is. I've haven't bought either in a long time, but the stories I hear aren't positive.

 

[06VMAXIMUS]

Yep, you gotta watch. Our Snap-On rep. is a stand up guy and will tell us which of the tools are made here and which are imported. I try to stay away from the China crap when I can.

 

[one2dmax]

Still using craftsman stuff but most of it is older. It used to be that the sets were made overseas while the replacement singles were made in the U.S.

I recently broke my big craftsman tap handle (1/4"-1") and when we went in to replace it they had discontinued that size. So they had a 1/4"-3/4" on the shelf but it was quite a bit smaller. To make matters worse they called the catalog dept (since they have some discontinued tools for replacements warehoused). The catalog told us that not only was my large one out of stock but the next size down (the size we had in the store on the shelf) was also discontinued. They wanted me to take a puny 1/4"-1/2".

I've got more grip in my fingers that I can apply with that turd. My big one was around 18" in length and this one would be maybe 8"! Then they started telling us we couldn't have the one that was in the store and had to take the smallest one. After arguing with them for over 30 minutes the salesman in the store just motioned for us to take the larger one and walk out. So we hung up on them and left (with our one size smaller tool).

Most of the time I don't have any issues with my craftsman tools other then breaking one occasionally. I usually exchange my allen wrench sets (socket type too) about once a year. I go get new screwdrivers about every other year.

We've got Mac tools and Snap-on stuff too but mostly the specialty stuff.

Sean

 

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I've had issues trying to buy stuff at sears, and trying to return broken stuff. I tried to buy a set of large 1/2" drive sockets in 6 pt but couldn't finda any locally. Tried to buy some 12pts and they didn't have any in stock. Bought a set on sell with a "raincheck" and never got them. After they called me a couple times and saying they were in, me going there and them telling me they were not in, a month of time, I gave up and got my money back.

I've tried returning a 1/2" drive ratchet that was a bit older. It was a nicer model. Long handle, polished, and it had a wheel on the back to turn the socket by hand. When I returned it they handed me a short handle, el cheapo 1/2" drive. After showing them the differences and telling complaing for 10 minutes I got something close to what I wanted but still not the same.

I haven't bought much lately but most of what I have has been Kobalt stuff from Lowes. Not sure if its really any better but the ones I have definitely look nicer than the standard craftsman stuff. Has longer handles, and fully polished. I have a ratchet, some wrenches, a nice breaker bar, and some Allen keys both standard and socket type. Not sure why but I like this stuff more than craftsman. The allen keys were a lot cheaper too cause I got them on sale.

 

[dannymax]

It's getting very difficult, if not downright impossible to find good quality products, nothing is made in America anymore, everybody is 'out-sourcing' (I hate that ******' term!)

I have some old Craftsman tools, back when they had the serial numbers on every wrench, and my wood shop is all Craftsman, but 25 - 30 year old tools, back when they actually used cast iron! It's all good stuff, tough, accurate, the kind of quality the Craftsman name was built on.

Now, when I want long allen wrenches, or snap ring pliers, or anything else I don't even bother with any of the 'name brand' stuff....I go right to Harbor Freight! They don't make any bones about it....they say their stuff is cheap junk, but it's priced accordingly! Screw it, if a wrench breaks I go get a whole nother set, gives me a bunch of spares, I save a lot of money and don't have to put up with all the crap.

And you know what....HF **** ain't all that bad. I wouldn't recommend it for someone like Sean or any other type of commercial or industrial application, but for the BRC Bike Shop....it's just fine! unk:

 

[CaptainKyle]

I have had pretty good luck with my Snap on stuff. I have a little bit of every thing,Cornwell,Mac,matco,Craftsman & some other stuff. About the only things I buy from Harbor Freight is tuff like my bead blaster,Press,lift. About the only hand tools I have had any luck with are there 3/8 ball allens. I had to jb weld them into the holders but the tips seem to hold up decent.

 

[PATMAX]

Not to be morbid or disrspectful but try to hit the estate sales and auctions that advertise tools. I used to live in Dayton Ohio where toolboxes by Gerstner are made. These things are works of art in and of themselves so you can imagine the quality of the tools inside. I have machinist tools have no right or reason to own as I doubt I do the work they're designed for. Not to mention I have gotten entire collections for pennies on the dollar. Even the old woodworking tools are absolutely works of art, and work beautifully. You might think Stanley tools are crappy disposables now but it wasn't always that way.

 

[CaptainKyle]

Not to be morbid or disrspectful but try to hit the estate sales and auctions that advertise tools. I used to live in Dayton Ohio where toolboxes by Gerstner are made. These things are works of art in and of themselves so you can imagine the quality of the tools inside. I have machinist tools have no right or reason to own as I doubt I do the work they're designed for. Not to mention I have gotten entire collections for pennies on the dollar. Even the old woodworking tools are absolutely works of art, and work beautifully. You might think Stanley tools are crappy disposables now but it wasn't always that way.

There is a lot of good stuff at Estate sales. I used to hit them when I was in Texas all the time & just kind of quit for some reason. Oh well busy day I am off to Falicon to drop off some coneccting rods among other places I have to go.

 

[one2dmax]

Ask them where my crank is! They have one they stroked for us (I have a dealer account there and resell their products).

 

[richwrench]

I used to work for Tom Falicon's brother, Brett. They've both moved on - Tom is up in the Smoky Mountains & Brett owns a Ford dealership in north Florida. I heard Falicon Cranks isn't what it used to be. What are yall's opinions ?

Oh yeah, got plenty of Snap On iron, but lately I've been buying Mac again. Good product & the local sales rep has been great.

 

[CaptainKyle]

Ask them where my crank is! They have one they stroked for us (I have a dealer account there and resell their products).

Well if I would have seen this before I went I would have ask them. If you ever need me to go by there for any reason let me know its like 10 miles from my house & MRE is like 5 miles from me.

 

[EvilD]

I have mostly Craftsman stuff that is 25 years old, and the snap on stuff was my fathers and is probably close to 50 years old, I just bought my son a craftsman set for xmas, can't wait for him to open it, and i can
t wait to compare it to my older stuff.

 

[RaWarrior]

Several of the techs at the shop where I work have Blue Point tools, which from what I understood was the "non domestic" brand label for Snap On, like how Companion is the overseas branding for Sears/Craftsman.

They're nice tools, but those tool vans need to have some chairs so you can sit down when he tells you the price. One of the techs bought a ratchet/socket set and likes it a lot, but it was crazy expensive, like $400 or something, and it wasn't even that big of a set. A couple others really like Kobalt tools from Lowe's. By looks and feel they're very nice quality, high-end tools at a mid-range price. More than what the HF bargain set goes for, but still a lot less than a high end name brand.

Last time I broke my Craftsman 3/8" ratchet, I brought it to the local Sears and they had a load of loose "reconditioned" ones in a box under the counter, they swapped it no questions asked. I've had that one for 5 or 6 years now and no complaints.

I don't work on stuff that often, I absolutely can't justify spending big $$$ for tool sets I might use a couple times a year. My craftsman ratchet set, a collection of end wrenches, and since getting the Vmax, a set of metric hex keys serves probably 95% of the work I do just fine. When I need something else, I go to HF and get a cheapo. It's chintzy, the quality sucks, it's the definition of made-in-china. It's also incredibly cheap and gets the job done. Hell you could even call some of it "disposable tools", since it isn't likely to work more than a couple times, but for a tap-and-die set I've used a grand total of twice in as many years, fine by me.