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One more time, SnapOn tools

Do you like your SnapOn tools?

  • Yes

    Votes: 38 67.9%

  • No, but I am not a professional mechanic or am not anymore

    Votes: 2 3.6%

  • No, and I am a professional mechanic

    Votes: 5 8.9%

  • Other tool brand: specify

    Votes: 11 19.6%
  • Total voters
    56
sled_dog

sled_dog

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Those who own Snap On tools, do you regret buying them?

Need to decide this week and talk to the parents about getting a loan to buy a couple K worth of tools and a box.
 
I swear by snap on mac and matco tools. But i am a pro tech and my paycheck depends on them. In my opinion there is other brand lifetime tools but you pay for it because they break more often. As far as boxes go id check out the matcos. they are equal quality to the snapons and more affordable. I bought the matco 8535 upper and lower triple bank with extra wide side locker and absolutely love it
 
i had to take the third option, even though i am not a mechanic. any monkey who buys a tool box calls himself a mechanic. the proper term is technician.
 
I can get a 53" 19 drawer Snap On box for $1300. Thats what I'm heavily considering. Not quite as much storage space as a top and bottom 40" but the top work bench would be nice.
 
beater_k20 said:
i had to take the third option, even though i am not a mechanic. any monkey who buys a tool box calls himself a mechanic. the proper term is technician.
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I knew someone was going to say that.

I don't yet give a **** for this mentality. Yeah you are better at it then some general grease monkey, but I don't give a **** about giving yourself a better title. To me it is like a trash man that calls himself a "garbage removal technician". I understand the difference between a tech and a mechanic, and I plan to be a tech, but I still don't care for it.

Eh the first few times people in the general public try to look down on me for being a "mechanic" I'll probably start to care.

The general concencous I get is, "If you plan to make a living doing this, buy Snap On".
 
its not a bad box to start with but you will end up upgrading if you go pro due to the shallow depth. but for the money its a steal.
 
can't get a deeper one through school. The Snap On guy likes to leave a lot of things for the guy on the truck. Th elist of tools I can buy is rather short. But at the same point I just did the math for my mom and I will save over $4000 with the school discount(still spend about that much).
 
i went to a tech school so i know alot about the discounts (hell i woulda went back and taken auto mechanics just to get the discount then switched back to carpentry if i thought of it:doah:) it was 50% off for us. we could buy any tools in the snap on cataloug though... try contacting snap on directly and see whats available becuase if you can get a big enough box that you wont have to buy another one then why not?
 
nope they only offer whats in our box. The guy at school works for Snap On, he is not some guy on the truck.
 
I think that owning Snap-On shows to others pride in what you do. It's not that the other top name tool makers aren't any good, it's just that Snap-On has created that image and it has seeped out into the general public's concious.

Were it me, I'd buy Snap-On for the core tools, those you use every day, all day. For those tools you'll use once a day or less I'd look at the other brands.

Are you pursuing pure Repair Tech type work, or are you heading more towards fabrication? If more fab then you'll need to develop tool sources other than the traditional repair tool vendors. Some of my fab tools I've made, some have come from the machine shop industry, and others from garage sales and swap meets.
I use a large steel hand carriable box for my hand fab tools. Stuff like Tri-Squares, steel rules, scribes, center punches, "Dullies" (Sharpies- they're never sharp for long), dividers, transfer punches, T-dollys, etc.
 
the ultimate goal is fabrication. But for now pure repair. I want to work on my fabrication work a while, and need to be making money. Unless I happen to find a fabrication job sometime very soon. Even then I'd have a good set of tools to use in the home shop or fab shop.
 
whoua whoa there is a huge differance bettween a tech and a machanic. snap on is great stuff are you goin to school out of your state ? befof you buy check with your local dealer he sould honner the student discount.
a MECHANIC repairs and fix's a tech remove and replace's IT TAKES YEARS TO TO BECOME A MACHANIC!!!
 
megahillbilly said:
whoua whoa there is a huge differance bettween a tech and a machanic. ...
a MECHANIC repairs and fix's a tech remove and replace's IT TAKES YEARS TO TO BECOME A MACHANIC!!!
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your username says it all. :screwy: let me guess, you work in a factory?

it also must take years to properly spell mechanic, something you obviously havent mastered.
 
beater_k20 said:
your username says it all. :screwy: let me guess, you work in a factory?

it also must take years to properly spell mechanic, something you obviously havent mastered.
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2nd on this

theres alot more to it than remove and replace, usually the technicians are the ones who fix it right, after the mechanic at the shade tree shop has hacked it up a few times or just can't figure out these new fangled computer thingies
 
i get 20% off on anything they cary right now. i love to buy them when i can afford it as when i break anything its no questions swap, some times for the next up model.

good tools last and because of that are not cheap.

craftsman and mac ar also favs of mine to buy.
Grant
 
beater_k20 said:
i had to take the third option, even though i am not a mechanic. any monkey who buys a tool box calls himself a mechanic. the proper term is technician.
Click to expand...



Reminds me of the time when I dated a stripper. She called herself a "dancer" though. Got pissed when you used them interchangeably. Whatever man, it’s all about the English.
 
Sled Dog...good choice on the box. Start small like that and grow up into a KRL1003....as you grow out of your box your experience and pay should increase along at the same pace...most youngers guys in the buis do well going this route as a $7K box is mighty expensive. But if you stay in the field you will end up with something taht big and then like the rest of us add on to it. Then for the fun part...my box costs a cool franklin to move ever time i switch jobs or bring it home because it requires a flat bed roll back wrecker to move it...lol. But i'm proud of my monster thats now in my garage....it took years to move up the food chain...and even more to pay off the box and all the tools in it. But its a good feeling when you look back and say its all mine when some new guy asks what your monthly payment is!

Most of us could care less whether we are a tech/mech/wrench/lube tech/etc. Its a job...it pays the bills....the key to any job is when you wake up in the morning (being a rookie i'll bet that will be afternoon for you) and want to go to work because you enjoy what you do where you do it.

Some advise....at first your income vs. what you will have to pay to gather tools sometimes makes no sense....but your tools are yours for life...never sell them even if you make a career change because you can allways tap that knowledge and spin a wrench again as long as you have tools.

If i had to do it over again...fresh out of the army i was supposed to go to UTI in phx as being a wrench/recovery specialist in the army didn't mean didly squat in the real world. So i ended up passing on the school due to vehicle and money issue's....but the mistake i feel i made was working for the fleets out the door instead of starting at the bottom at a truck dealership...i worked for swift from 89-93...Ryder from 93-95...95-97 Butler Fleet Services....before i got smart and went to work for freightliner....there are sh-- mechs where ever you go...dealerships included. Dealerships pay better than fleet...offer constant training and advancement in pay. I ended up leaving freightliner this july to take a chance in the oilfields after 10 years with ftl. I left at the top at $22.50...there wasn't much room to grow pay wise....so i decided to take a chance. I'm making double and some months allmost triple what i made at ftl....but i just want you to hear my experiences after 15 years. The choices we make in life are sometimes difficult...i don't expect you to do what i say...i would hope you would file it away in the back of your head and use it when you consider your options. UTI in phx does regular class tours at Ftl in phx...and they hire quite a few graduates...most start while they are still in school as a clean up boy and they assist the techs when they are free. Hard workers who pay attention to detail as a clean up boys are allways hired on full time on the floor once they graduate.
Just an option to consider as a heavy truck dealership will afford more opurtunities to do fab work than a car dealership. I have close ties at the dealership in phx an colorado so don't hesitate to ask for a good word ifyou end up in that area.


Doug W.
 
I go with craftsman, the price and my usage are the reasoning. I will say that their rachets suck. I have never had a problem with swapping stuff out. If I could afford snapon, I would love to get some.
 
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