What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

Craftsman Mechanic Tools

3 on the tree said:
My newer Craftsman ratchets are junk. The 3/8 drive has been rebuilt 3 times, and STILL jumps out of engagement.........

I have one 1/2 drive Craftsman ratchet that I have had AT LEAST 30 years. It has never failed or given me problems. Course, it was made in the 70s, by Blackhawk, when THEY made quality tools.
Click to expand...

i have some of the newer ones, as well as older ones. i "think" the older ones are a little shorter. i bought a couple of professional series ratchets off ebay to use with the sockets, since i did not like the "ratcheting feel" of the newer ratchets.
 
What I do is I'll buy everything craftsman except for the ratchets. I'll run to Napa and buy one from behind the counter. Granted I have a few craftsman ratchets floating around but I know if I start using them on the nasty stuff they will break. The ratchets I get at Napa I have used as hammers and punches for stuck bolts. I still have my original one from my first project I have ever done back when I was 14 years old. It's s till loving life. I doubt i'll pass it down to my kids. It's coming with me :)
 
Wow I didn't expect so much response. I've been trying to weigh out my different tool options before I start buying. My company offers at tool program for trainees. Up to 5k and you have some flexabilty on how much you want taken out of your pay check to pay it off. The negative is if I quit or get fired I must pay off the full amount to keep my tools.

They had another trainee just quit after only a few months and he forfieted his tools. He had a good used cornwell box he got for 950 and the rest was 3k in matco tools. It doesn't seem like very many tools for 3k and I'm not sure if I want to pay towards tools someone else picked out.

I'm new to working in a shop. I've worked on my chevys in my own garage for years like everyone else here and I have a small antique old box with a husky tool set and some other misc tools. It worked good for my garage but most of them aren't big enough tools for work. I love my husky set, I got it years ago for christmas and i've only had one break. I went to home depot and they said they will replace husky tools, but only in whole sets. Thats why I was looking at craftsman.

I priced out some craftsman pro sockets, ratches and wrenches and I could get more for my $ than snap-on or mac. For air tools I think I'll buy snap-on. I kinda fell into this apprentice job and I'm not a 100% sure I want to be a truck mechanic. I've spent the last 6 years running heavy equipment and a winter lay-off landed me in Kenworth's shop. Right now I don't feel like I make enough money starting out to spend thousands on tools and this is why I am trying to a hold on every angle on buying tools.
 
I agree with fourwheelerjeff. Get yourself one of the Craftsman kits and a good set of ratchets. Either the Craftsman Pros or whatever other brand you like. You can upgrade what you use most as you go.

I have a little Blackhawk socket set that I carry in my truck and a Craftsman kit in my garage. I use the Blackhawk far more than Craftsman, but mainly because I hate the feel of my Craftsman ratchets. I have been using the Blackhawk quite a bit for a few years and its been used as a hammer many times. It still works like when I got it. I'll eventually upgrade though.
 
icehouse said:
Here is an interesting link. Info is a little old, but still interesting.

http://www.team.net/www/morgan/tech/whotools.html
Click to expand...

ill simplify that for everyone

craftsman and matco=danaher
mac=owned by stanley
snap-on, made by snap-on with some select vendors on some items

the kobalt line of tools was made by an outside company, using snap-ons machines and different dies, for a few years, this is not the case anymore

craftsman tools are made by the lowest bidder, which is why some of you who have older craftsman tools notice a decline in quality
 
I am curious as to what you need in the shop? common car/truck manufature or full service? what kind of repairs?

I have what seems like 4 of every socket/wrench I need, most from sears. I do belive in a good rachet from snap on/matco and even though it sounds odd the tools I swear feel better in your hand. I am hard on tools and dont use them to make a living so I dont invest in snap on/matco etc for most of them.

I would invest in a decent craftman set and upgrade as you see needed.

rachets
pliars
picks/punches
screwdrivers
gearwrenches

are all things that come to mind that should be quality for a decent service life. As you upgrade you can take the cheaper tools and put them in a cheap box for your garage at your house.

for wheeling I would rather have my best tools with me if I can, because a trail repair is the last place to have a much needed 1/2 rachet take a crap:D
 
rjfguitar said:
Craftsman rides on their name and charges extra for it. Lots of people still believe in Craftsman from YESTERDAY's quality and value, and I see TODAY's craftsman company feeding off that.
Click to expand...
This is so true.
 
My experience so far with craftsman tools is the ones I bought when I was 17, which was 13 years ago, I still have.
The sockets work fine, even on my 600ftlb Ingersol Rand impact.
The ratchets on the other hand suck. So much that I have 3 of each in my box. I have broken too many 1/2 inch ratchets to count. And no, not with a 6 foot pipe and a large friend yanking on it.

I have continued with sears because of their return policy and how common a sears store is. But I won't use their ratchets anymore, or their allen/torx sockets, or their flare nut wrenches, nut extractors, drill bits, etc.

I hope they feel the pain of their quality choices soon, but now that you can buy craftsman in K-mart, I am not sure it will get better.
 
Jason4x4 said:
My matco guy keeps saying that snap on is made by the same company that makes harbor freight stuff... :doah::haha:
Click to expand...

I had a guy tell me the other day that the Chinese government makes Harbor Freights tools... They came over here and bought from all the major brands, then went back and tortured tested everything. Then made tools that are BETTER and 1/4 the price, just to undercut the American economy... I patted my waist for my .45 and nodded my head.

I bought about $6k worth of Craftsman and IR tools when I started in the business. I think that was a mistake. During my time I spent a lot of money slowly replacing the Craftsman stuff that I found to be inadequate. In the end I probably spent more, and still had a ton of Craftsman stuff I have yet to use to this day. Though I was known for having that odd ball crap that no one else did. Like tappet wrenches, and random 12 pt sockets even in SAE. So every once in a while someone would ask for something that I just happened to have.

Whats my suggestion? I don't know. Ha. Are you in a tech school? If so, GET THE DISCOUNT! I can never tell guys that enough. The deep discounts that students can get while in school are ridiculous and awesome. Unfortunately most can't take full advantage of it. Hurts me on the truck, but its just too beneficial to you as a tech for me to say otherwise.

As for warranty. I will and do warranty Matco stuff for anyone and everyone. Had random folks jump on the truck to get something taken care of. Its part of the job. If you have a $0 balance and someone tells you they don't want to warranty something, tell them its guaranteed. If they insist on being a dick, threaten to call their District Manager. It isn't a nice way of doing things ,and the guy won't be happy with you, but he should be serving the customer better.

And lastly, as for the store location thing, call your tool guy. I've made plenty of special trips to take care of a broken tool or an emergency need for a customer and I've only been around a few months. Guys just have to call. Sitting with a broken tool and bitching about it to the other techs doesn't get it fixed. Now with the $0 balance thing. I may be less inclined to make an extra special or extra fast trip for a guy in that situation. Depends on my mood.
 
sled, you've got the right idea... you can't always please everybody all the time, like the guy you saw yesterday, who called you today and said "i forgot to give you this broken socket, come on by today and fix it" and yet you're on the farthest side of your route from them, some people just dont understand that it isnt "snap my fingers and you better be here" mood also plays a role lol
 
I am a weekend wrencher and have been for years. I have probably 90 % craftsman but its all old stuff.

If I was to buy new now I agree with getting high quality ratchets, air tools etc. Like Snap on Matco, cornwell. The sockets craftsman work fine, My impact sockets are harbor freight and have worked well for me. I havent broken any yet, even though I have thrown 1 inch drive impact guns on small sockets with adapters and let the gun rip for 30 seconds or more trying to free frozen nuts.

I have broken a couple craftsman sockets and a universal joint (wobble) whatever you want to call it but those have been with major force using breaker bars with leverage bars slid over the top.

Another good place to look is your local thrifty nickel / craigslist for people selling boxes with tools. Also auctions.

Good luck.

I do have a few tools that cost a bundle but everytime I use them I can feel the quality also.
 
I'm not enrolled in school and my current situation I couldn't afford to. I can't afford to spend money out of my pocket right now to get tools for. If that is what I'm forced to do, I''m going to have to go back to operatoring equipment to pay my bills.

I've been waiting three weeks on my boss about this tool program the company offers. Its 5k for tools and they will work with you on a reasonable amount to deduct from your check. Currently the company already has two open tool accounts (not paid off) and neither of those guys work here anymore. They had talked about rolling the last guys tool account over to me, but i'm not sure if I want that. He bought a used cornwell box for 950 (which I like) and then spent another 3k on tools from Matco. He spent over 600 in two 10 piece ratchet wrench sets. That doesn't seem very wise to me for just starting out. There is a few other wrenches, some air tools and couple pry bars and thats it. All I own now is an old 180 piece socket set from Husky, some misc plyers, hammers and such.

I've found out what I need to buy from borrowing tools (which i can tell is wearing on people). I need alot of sockets and wrenches larger than 3/4 and 18mm up to 1 1/2 and 29mm working in the truck shop.
 
my general rule is, once you borrow it for the third time, it's time for you to buy it yourself...
 
I have just about everything under the sun, some was junk but it looked okay when I bought it, but here's some other points to consider:

No matter what you buy, if you buy on time, it costs more. Look at the interest rate and make the calculations. A great way to figure it out is look at the interest rate with your banker and have him figure out what a 1000 bucks costs you if you pay off in a year. You r tools will cost in multiples of 1,000 bucks so that will give you the hard numbers. It will surprise you what that costs.....

Next, cash is king. Look for deals in ebay and craig's list. Your local area is best so you will not have to pay for shipping. Good tools are heavy and that costs to ship. Also look for retiring wrenchs that might be inclined to sell their well used but noteworthy booty. You can bet a guy that's made his living fixing stuff probably has an interesting collection of old, stout and cool tools.

I know the boxes are expensive for snap on and matco, and I don't own any. You pro guys can tell me if they are really worth it. I'm just a weekend guy that fixes all the damage my wife and kids do to our old and tired fleet of cars.

I do have several roll arounds from different folks that are smaller and "operational minded", ie, body work, mech stuff, carpentry, paint. That works for me and that's all that matters.

I would recommend having spares of anything you see that gets broken in your shop.

Also if you want to find older Craftsman stuff look for garage sales. I use bigger sockets from Fleet and FArm, don't know who makes their stuff but it has done ok for me, but again I'm a weekend weeenie worker.

Good luck!

Randy
 
Hmm the above poster id from my area so I don't know......I'll say this anyway, ebay craigslist, and pawn shops are a great place to check out. This morning I scored a snap on ratchet that retails for 98 bucks for 49.99 and a set of matco crowsfeet wrenchs 3/8 to 1 inch for 29.99 those retail for 189.99.

In the last month I've put almost 1000 bucks retail value of tools in my box for $372.83 cash. In april I'm going to start looking real hard for some angle wrenchs. New value on those are around $1k so I think I can score them for about 250~300
 
Hey man, I'm in Anoka, come on over and visit! Where did you score your stuff?

Also for you impact guys, check out OZAT. Really tough stuff there, built to take all the crap we can give. I just found out about them and may give one or two a try.
 
Craftsman

Worked with a guy once that shopped pawn shops and flea markets for Craftsman tools. Said buying one that way was as good as buying a new one because of the replacement policy.
 
this is true

justwhatido said:
Worked with a guy once that shopped pawn shops and flea markets for Craftsman tools. Said buying one that way was as good as buying a new one because of the replacement policy.
Click to expand...


i bought a large piece pro craftsman set 2 yrs ago, everything is fine, plus i had my name etched on every piece by sears, no denying my wrenchs,sockets,ratchets,extensions...anything anymore!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom