That's the one in the green box! Has 9rather weirdly) BA sockets as well as AF, and metric Box spanners are still good for some jobs, but TBH I can't remember the last time I used one. I'd have to dig most of them out first. The modern type "go through" sockets do mostly the same job. If we needed a long box spanner for something when i worked in industry, we'd usually make one out of a piece of pipe.
Are Snap On tools worth the £s ?
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I could only afford a £16.00 Elora set @ that time - to fix my 5 year old Triumph Saint bike that cost me c.£160. So pro rata some things have got cheaper over the years. Damned if I can remember how much a packet of Player's Gold Leaf were back then
4/6 IIRC (that's confused the youngsters!). I used to go and get them for dad. Embassy were the same price. First pint of beer I ever bought in a pub was 2/4 again IIRC.
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I like my Halfords stuff too but don't turn up and expect them to change anything. As Ollski says the ratchets are only a year and if you turn up with anything other than scratches on it they can refuse. I tried to get a socket changed and they claimed it had been struck with a hammer and refused. I had actually been dropped and had a dent in it.
I like Facom stuff too.
Best tool I have is a screwdriver I made at school. Best possible quality that one.
I like Facom stuff too.
Best tool I have is a screwdriver I made at school. Best possible quality that one.
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On Ice Road Truckers, all the workshops and trucks are decked out with Craftsman brand tools. Being used on trucks, the brand must be decent.
A pity the IRT series has finished - its my favourite program, all that fantastic scenery !
A pity the IRT series has finished - its my favourite program, all that fantastic scenery !
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Favourite of mine too. I noticed they used "Craftsman" They're Sears own brand I think.
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Bought a brand new (trade price) around 1968 £20 something, metal boxed, Britool master AF socket set. Still in excellent condition.
Some years ago I found a universal joint on the road !! A useful addition.
I should take a pix.
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Some years ago I found a universal joint on the road !! A useful addition.
I should take a pix.
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I didn't have a breaker bar in my set, and wandering around a village car boot years ago, I rummaged in a box of household stuff, and there was a Britool breaker bar in the bottom.
"How much?" I asked
"50p. What is it?" came the reply!
"How much?" I asked
"50p. What is it?" came the reply!
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My 'breaker bar' with short extension and wheel nut socket resides in boot on top of spare wheel, defeats any airgunnery cowboy yet encountered.
Not looking as good as I thought, but functionally excellent - 48 years on the twist and counting.
BTW The bars have been hammered with a large hide faced mallet down the years - no damage !!
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Not looking as good as I thought, but functionally excellent - 48 years on the twist and counting.
BTW The bars have been hammered with a large hide faced mallet down the years - no damage !!
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Quite common on better quality tools, though everything has its place: the cheapo nasty socket set that has sockets with 12 very sharp points inside are actually really good if you've rounded a nut off - select the next size down socket (remembering of course that the next size down from a metric might be imperial) from the proper one that the nut is supposed to be, and hammer it onto the nut. The sharp splines will grip it well and may be all you need to wind it out
Buy cheap, pay dear. The quality will be remembered long after the price has been forgotten!
The set of spanners in lidl that are half the price of a single snap on spanner are probably made of cheese and will ruin more nuts and make your job harder work.
I bought a cordless and impact driver set from Aldi, their premium range (yep, aldi have a premium range), and it's quite a good set. It also has the advantage that noone on a site would ever nick it, and the batteries don't fit anything else (batteries always walk) but it has its limits, and it's mediocre DIY level in terms of stamina and strength TBH. It was good for the time when I was just starting on doing a bit on site and wanted my own gear but pretty soon the other trades moved on and I was more and more of a mind to build my house myself. The Bosch cordless+impact set I got 6 months later was twice the price but easily far more than twice the tool - the cordless will zap screws in on price work mode (gear 2) that the aldi one struggles with on day work mode (gear 1) and the impact driver will keep winding until the bit explodes or the screw disappears through the work whereas the aldi one is forever complaining about excess current draw from the battery and shutting down when the screw's only a third the way in.
Cheap tools have their place: start out with them, as soon as you discover its limit (i.e. it breaks on you or plain up doesn't have the balls for the task) replace it with something more expensive. I still have a Kamasa socket set, but it has a Teng ratchet handle that is worth more than the rest of the set - the original kamasa ratchet dropped to bits quite quickly and understandably so - it's a complex mechanical thing compared to a socket so it's asking a bit much to get a good one, and 50 sockets for 30 quid
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I've bought some Snap On 3/8" sockets and a ratchet of a local van.
I like them!
I like them!
I may be a cynical old git but if I see tv a series using a particular brand I assume they are sponsored in some way by them.
litl
August 4th 'Ice Road Truckers X' series started on History it seems.
Time was they were the gold standard of hand tools. But I didn't have much luck with the actual few tools I bought off the van. However, the next van guy's gave me new replacements - no quibble.
I dont know by personal experience but I've heard and read that the standard has dropped.
And as above, tools nowadays are generally unbelievably cheap.
I dont know by personal experience but I've heard and read that the standard has dropped.
And as above, tools nowadays are generally unbelievably cheap.
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only thing in my opinion worth it snap on are the flank drive spanners, they are hard as hell so even the open ended ones don't open under pressure and slip like a cheaper brand, which saves time and money in less rounded nuts.
socket, ratchet and everything else wise Id say halfords professional(the 200 piece set they have half price at £150 all the time is hard to beat for the money for the home mechanic). otherwise Beta, Bahco, Unior, Laser stuff is all very capable gear at a lot less than snap on prices. (although i have had 2 duff union 1/2" ratchets recently, but ratchet ring spanners have outlasted my bluepoint (made by snap on) ones.
socket, ratchet and everything else wise Id say halfords professional(the 200 piece set they have half price at £150 all the time is hard to beat for the money for the home mechanic). otherwise Beta, Bahco, Unior, Laser stuff is all very capable gear at a lot less than snap on prices. (although i have had 2 duff union 1/2" ratchets recently, but ratchet ring spanners have outlasted my bluepoint (made by snap on) ones.
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