Check your local Ace Hardware store for S-K brand tools. Mine has them.
Check your local Ace Hardware store for S-K brand tools. Mine has them.
i have the professional craftsman ratchets and haven't had any problems. They are also a bit more comfortable than thestandard ratchets. If you can find a store that still has the 80th aniversary sets in the back room they are almost free. My wife got me a set for my birthday and they were cheaper than the standard ones because they couldn't display them after the aniversary was over.
craftsman still has a lifetime warranty on their hand tools, though they do "discontinue" the warranty on stuff every once in a while. Their framing hammers and their folding wooden tape measures, for instance. They quit selling them in craftsman brand because they are both tools normally used by professionals and contractors who were taking advantage of sears... and getting new framing hammers every month and not taking care of their wooden tapes. So sears exchanged them one time for an irwin or another brand and told them that was it.
A LOT of my tools are craftsman, because there are sears stores everywhere and they are one of the few stores that sell individual tools. When I needed a 17mm hex to remove the front axle on my bike to change the tire, sears was the only place I could find it.
And sears has crazy good deals... I have a full ball bearing chest, mid cab, and top box that I picked up for like $400... I had a flyer that said buy the chest and get the top box for free, and the in store display said buy the chest and box and get the cab for free... so I paid like $400 for the chest, got the top for free, that qualified me to get the free cab. sweet! And that thing has held up now through a couple moves and its got tons of weight and its been great.
I personally have broke a few sockets from craftsman that I was seriously abusing, but I've never broken any of their other tools. We have craftsman circular saws and impact wrenches from several decades ago that are still powering through to this day. I have an electric craftsman chainsaw from the 70's that still works just fine.
I sold sears tools for a while, as well, so I'm pretty familiar with their line up and their policies.
Its also worth mentioning that if you don't like the quality of the "regular" craftsman stuff, they have much higher quality stuff available. A lot of the better stuff is made right here in the USA like snap on, and the quality is comparible even though the price is less. I have some full polish wrenches and some craftsman professional stuff and quite frankly its nicer and finished to a better standard than my brother's snap on stuff.
My brother is a snap on man, and I think snap on is great, but when he breaks a tool, as often as not, they send it away to see if it can be repaired before they replace it. And you gotta wait for the van to come. And he has a very modest set of tools and a toolbox and he's probably spent more on his than I have on mine, and I have an extremely versatile toolbox packed with stuff.
Not all of my stuff is from craftsman, either. I have stuff from harbor freight, stanley, irwin, kobalt, and am pro. Some of it is stuff that was cheap and has diappointed me, some of it has held up. But I'd say the craftsman stuff has been more reliable than most. I'll keep buying tools there... they are reasonably priced, they stand behind them, and they have a great selection and lots of locations so I actually get the tools I need when I need them.
NYG95GA wrote:Jensenman wrote: ...the HF roller bearing ratchets (almost zero swing) and so far they are pretty good. I need to find something really tight to give them the full test, though.I was taught that ratchets were for speed, not strength. That could be the problem lots of folks have with them going bad. I always crack the fastener loose first with a breaker bar (wonder why they call them that?), then swap the bar for a ratchet (usually without taking the socket/extension off the bolt). I can't remember ever having broken a ratchet.
when I was a teenager I broke lots of ratchets... all I had was a 3/8" socket set and 3/8" ratchest. I broke a few craftsman, I broke lots of no name ones. if it needed broke loose, I used a hammer on the ratchet handle or slipped a jack handle over it.
STUPID
I can't agree with you more. I grew up, I got a job, I started buying decent stuff, and I realized that there is a right tool for the job... now I own breaker bars (also called flex handles) in every size I own sockets in, and I haven't damage a ratchet since I got the breaker bars. I also can't tell you how many fewer fasteners I damage or round off since I started doing things the "right" way.
I've been known to joke that "I have a piece of pipe and a lifetime warrenty, who needs a breaker bar?"
I actually do have and use breaker bars though.
Joey
I live 45 mins from the closest town with a hardware store. So I snap something I need for my DD while I'm doing maintenance, I either need to ride my motorcycle or bum a ride into town to replace it... whether its free or not.
NYG95GA wrote: I was taught that ratchets were for speed, not strength.
And faster than swapping with a breaker bar is having a ratchet that doesn't break in the first place.
If I was using the tool improperly, brand shouldn't matter, but the only ratchets that break on me are Craftsman. My 1/2" drive takes all the abuse I can throw at it (It's an older one), but the 3/8s and 1/4-drive are crap.
The Craftsman warranty states: "If for any reason your Craftsman hand tool ever fails to provide complete satisfaction, return it to any Sears store or other Craftsman outlet in the United States for free repair or replacement." That is for most hand tools, but some specific hand tools tools and all power tools have variations. You have to check before you buy.
As for removing stubborn bolts, I went through a few ratchets and 12-sided sockets (and bolts for that matter) before I wised up. Now I start with a breaker bar and a 6-sided impact-driver socket. No slips, no rounded off heads or nuts, no problems. Thin-walled, multi-sided sockets are pretty weak!
yeah, ideally you would have a set of 12 point AND a set of 6 point. The 12 point ones are a little more versatile when working in engine bays and close quarters. For fixed wrenches, I have a set of both. For sockets, my 1/2 are 6 point and my 3/8's are 12 point. For breaking, you really need 6 point sockets. The sockets themselves are much stronger, and they round off bolts much less.
andrave wrote: My brother is a snap on man, and I think snap on is great, but when he breaks a tool, as often as not, they send it away to see if it can be repaired before they replace it.
Really? I have only seen one Snap-On tool break. It was a feeler gauge that corroded to the point of worthlessness (thin metal+heavy salt exposure). There was also an inspection mirror that was set on an engine crate and knocked over by a careless individual, but I don't recall what brand it was.
Take care of your tools, and they'll take care of you.
I'm not the most experienced mechanic in the world, but I have done enough. I kinda feel like if you break a tool doing something, you might be doing it wrong, as they say - or just using the wrong tool. Breaker bars are for breaking stuff loose, not the 1/2" ratchet. Especially not the 1/2" ratchet with a big length of pipe on the end. If you snap a breaker bar, you're a gorilla, maybe even a cyborg gorilla. If you break a ratchet, either the ratchet is defective (I'm sure it happens), you've worn it out (less likely), or you were just trying to make it do something it wasn't meant to (the most likely).
Not to say that I haven't been the guy with a pipe on the end of a 1/2" ratchet- I have. But if that thing broke loose, it would have been my fault.
I like Craftsman fine- I'm not a pro, and to me, they seem to hit the sweet spot between quality/price pretty well. As noted, their pro line is a good bit nicer than their standard stuff, but you also pay for it. Not near as much as SnapMacMat-OnCo, though. Convenience plays into it, too- I wouldn't have the first clue where to start trying to locate a SnapOn dealer, but Sears is pretty easy to find. Can you swap tools at Kmart these days? I know they started carrying some Craftsman stuff a year or two back...
Jake wrote: If you snap a breaker bar, you're a gorilla, maybe even a cyborg gorilla
Awesome! How can I tell which one I am, though?
For the record - it was a lugnut on a '60s or '70s Dodge pickup, and it took 4 of us and a torch to finally get that wheel off.
It wasn't reverse thread was it? We did that with my friends Dart and broke all the studs off.
Wally wrote: It wasn't reverse thread was it? We did that with my friends Dart and broke all the studs off.
me and Wally, separated at birth....
NYG95GA wrote: I was taught that ratchets were for speed, not strength. I always crack the fastener loose first with a breaker bar (wonder why they call them that?), then swap the bar for a ratchet I can't remember ever having broken a ratchet.
On the other hand, I've wrung off more than one of the newer Craftsman 3/8" drive breaker bars, by hand, without a pipe extender. I'm glad my ratchets are all the older type. Unfortunately, my older 3/8" drive breaker took a walk and the replacements are not up to par.
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