Tools...Craftsman or SK?

[spencejm]

Forgive me if this should be somewhere else but it didn't seem entirely off topic.

Assuming I can't afford Snap On tools, is there a consensus of which brand is best? Craftsman, SK, Facom or something else. Maybe different brands for different tools?

I've had decent luck with Craftsman and I love the few SK tools that I have.

Thanks for any help.

Joe

[NY65912]

I've use SK tools that I have had since I was 15 years old.......36 years and still look and work like new. I also have a ton of Craftsman tools that I bought when I started work at a Lincon dealership in 1975.

IMO.......either is perfectly fine.

[berettafan]

if anything the 'notches' on the closed ends of my craftsman wrenches are sharper and better defined than the SK set i just got.

[Zef]

I never buy Snap-On tools...I have no money for the guy who sell them....for the fuel of his truck....for his insurance....for his salary....I got SK tools for many years...very comparable with Snap-On for the quality...And always garanteed...!

[Rot 911]

Also the Kobalt line that Lowes carries are pretty decent tools. I have those and Craftsman. Snap-On is overpriced in my opinion.

[toolman]

I like the feel and quality of the SK, craftsman is getting rougher through the years.

[URY914]

http://www.garagejunkies.net/index.php

Use the above link and go to the forum section. There is more info there than you ever need to know about handtools.

[Fidalgo911S]

I use SK and yes, Snap-on. Both are great. I bought a couple of Craftsman wrenches in a pinch when I first started driving and working on VW bugs. The Craftman wrenches ended up being worthless. They were a poor fit (for metric at least), bulky, and poor quality. I ponied up the extra $ and bought SK and essentially wasted my money by buying the Craftsman in the first place. And this was their "professional" line.

I learned after that and heeded John Muir's advice, of the "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive..." fame:

"If you can afford it, buy professional tools which cost so much more you won't believe it but they are beautiful, last forever and feel good. The feeling well made tools brings makes the work easier to do with love. And you don't mind cleaning tools which cost a lot."

[Jeff Hail]

Originally posted by spencejm
Forgive me if this should be somewhere else but it didn't seem entirely off topic.

Assuming I can't afford Snap On tools, is there a consensus of which brand is best? Craftsman, SK, Facom or something else. Maybe different brands for different tools?

I've had decent luck with Craftsman and I love the few SK tools that I have.

Thanks for any help.

Joe

J.H. Williams, a division of Snap-on Incorporated makes Kobalt Tools. They are not the same spec as Snap-On but decent. Anything that has a lifetime guarantee and wont gall or break is worth the money.

[Paul K]

+1 for SK.

[iamchappy]

I have a mixed bag of tools and wrenches and they are all thrown and mixed together in my tool chest drawer most of the time, they all work fine but to be totally honest I do pick through all of the wrenches and grab the Snap-on's when I get to work.
I bought a set of 10-19 open - boxed end metric wrenches and a 1/2 drive ratchet and 10-19 metric sockets and torque wrench back in the late 70's they still look great and feel great and work great.(But the other ones will work the same).

[Wayne 962]

I've spoken to manufacturers who make tools for SK, Snap-On, and Craftsman. They have told me that the tools are all the same, the molds just have different logos on them. I use Craftsman here at home, and have been very happy with them. I also have many SK tools when Craftsman doesn't stock a particular tool or set that I need.

-Wayne

[pwd72s]

Originally posted by Jeff Hail
J.H. Williams, a division of Snap-on Incorporated makes Kobalt Tools. They are not the same spec as Snap-On but decent. Anything that has a lifetime guarantee and wont gall or break is worth the money.

I'm not so sure this is true anymore. At first, Kobalt looked to be high quality...today? They look a lot like the same tools one can buy in a NAPA store...in other words, Stanley. My tool chest has mostly craftsman, some SK, and some snap-on. Quality wise, I'd say Snap-on still makes the best, but SK is ahead of Craftsman. Craftsman is ahead of today's Kobalt. Just my opinion. Wish I'd bought Kobalt when it was indeed made by J.H. Williams....Jeff H.? You might inspect the tools being offered as "Kobalt" at a Lowe's near you. I think you might then agree with me. No longer polished, shorter in length, etc. (edit) I originally said "home depot" to check out Kobalt tools of today...my goof...it should be Lowes. Home Depot sells "husky" brand.

[RoninLB]

old craftsman vs S&K

[rfn026]

I love my Snap-On tools. My S-K tools are almost as nice, and notice I said almost. Craftsman are just fine for most jobs but they lack the feel of quality. Neither though do they have the high price of Snap-On.

Richard

[efhughes3]

Originally posted by zefsuper911
I never buy Snap-On tools...I have no money for the guy who sell them....for the fuel of his truck....for his insurance....for his salary....I got SK tools for many years...very comparable with Snap-On for the quality...And always garanteed...!

And nobody else has overhead? Sears and everyone else sells tools because they like us?

I think Snap-on has been successful due to convenience of them pulling up to shops, and even financing, I believe. I own no Snap-ons, and probably won't, but if they can sell their product, at an apparently premium price, more power to them! You gotta love a free market economy.

[RoninLB]

Snap-On has nice short universals on their swivel sockets.

[JeremyD]

Originally posted by Jeff Hail
J.H. Williams, a division of Snap-on Incorporated makes Kobalt Tools. They are not the same spec as Snap-On but decent. Anything that has a lifetime guarantee and wont gall or break is worth the money.

I've been pretty impressed with the Kobalt tools at lowes - and it looks like craftsman is back on the quality bandwagon.
Like wayne said - there are really only a few tool companies that rebadge

Lowes now (as of earlier this year) is selling a line of Mechanics Tools called Kobalt which is made by Snap-On. They are good tools.

Home Depot's Husky brand is made by Stanley Mechanics Tools, a division of the Stanley Works. Husky are also good tools and have a good lifetime warranty (they'll even replace your broken Craftsman with an equivalent Husky).

Until 1994 or so, Stanley also made Sears Craftsman tools. Sears Craftsman is now made by Danaher Tools. They beat out Stanley on the contract over price. Danaher also manufactures MatCo Tools, the third largest player in the Mobile Automotive industry (behind MAC and Snap-On). Odds are, if you own any Craftsman tools that are older than about five years ago, they were made by Stanley in plants in Dallas, Texas, Witchita Falls, Texas, and Sabina, Ohio.

Stanley also owns MAC Tools and manufactures MAC tools in the same plants. Now here's the kicker: MAC Tools, Proto Tools (a very expensive industrial brand), Husky Tools, and, (prior to five or so years ago) Craftsman Tools are all made from the same forgings in the same plants. Proto is unique because it goes through addtional testing and certification because it is used by NASA, the military, and industrial customers (including General Motors).

There are three MAJOR players in the USA mechanics tool business: Stanley, Danaher, and Snap-On. Stanley and Danaher (almost identical in sales revenue at about $28 billion each) are the biggest followed by Snap-On. Each of these three manufacture and sell tools under a variety of brands (there are many other brands that Stanley makes that I haven't even named). The quality between these three manufacturers is roughly the same. I know its a bit of a let-down to hear that, but its a simple fact.

FACOM ( Franco-Americaine de Construction d'Outillage Mecanique). French for "French-American Mechanical Tool Manufacturing. FACOM owns S-K outright. You'll notice (if you look through the catalogs from preceeding years) that the tools are becoming more and more alike. The S-K "pro" screwdrivers are now FACOM ergotwist screwdrivers. The "tuff1" ratchets are S-K pro ratchet handles avec FACOM innards. FACOM's ratcheting flare wrench now has S-K stamped on the side of it. I don't like it because we could get FACOM tools from S-K dealers for over 10 years, but now they're getting more and more reluctant to give us FACOM stuff, they'd rather sell S-K stuff. Which is why you get S-K catalogs instead of FACOM. If you specifically request (demand) a FACOM catalog, you get their _american_ catalog, which is abbreviated.

[dfink]

Here is my take but it has been a while since I bought snap-on tools. There are probably several very good brands that have warranty and will last. What I have found it that snap-op is a thinner wrench while being just as strong. They are just not as bulky. This does not mean much it you have plenty of space but sometimes it makes a difference. The ratchet mechanism is finer with less slop than the other tools also.
There used to be a brand called Proto that were a decent tool. I however have mostly S-K that I have had forever and they work nicely.
It is however very difficult to beat a snap-on screwdriver or a snap-on needle nose pliers. They just seem to take abuse that would cripple anyother tool.

[haycait911]

I like the craftsman warranty but hate it when I break a tool. when I take it in for replacement they happily give me a 'replacement' piece of cr-p that looks similar but is NOT the same quality. it just means I'll be breaking the new one that much sooner. Don.