As the title says.

I have an old (early 2000s) Craftsman set in a plastic clamshell that is functional, but any piece that breaks, gets replaced at Ace/Lowes by the newer Chinese-made version of Craftsman.

The clamshell case is bulky and the flap that holds the one side in, always seems to come apart, spilling everything inside the case.

Most importantly, and unfortunately, the rachet action on the new versions of the socket wrenches SUCK. They don't seem to click properly and the socket pieces just fly off of the wrench. I think the last straw was a couple weeks ago when I attempted to do my brake pads, and I couldn't even manipulate the bolts holding the caliper on because the sockets just slide right off of the wrench.

Very frustrating.

https://usamadeproducts.biz/to...ets-socket-sets.html

I like Wright and S-K products but they are pricey. I like Wright because they are made in Ohio and I was born and raised there. (Cheesy I know)

Another company I am researching is this.

ROCKETSOCKET | 13 Piece Impact Grade Extraction Socket Set | Made in USA | ⅜” Drive | Remove stripped, frozen, rounded-off Bolts, Nuts & Screws

I saw this on amazon for $69.



I will be honest though, when I am working shutdowns at power plants and steel mills, I use cheap knocks offs because many of these USA made items seem to walk off on their own.

I think Snap On is made in Tennessee.
They can get expensive but I think they have a life time guarantee.

Stanley Tools Is Building A New Tool Plant Craftsman in Fort Worth TX LINK

Link to more info

I don’t know if they are operational yet. Hopefully these will be of good quality.

This is excellent news.

Keep your eyes out for these American made hand tools.
.

I have the Snap On affliction, but have had and used
S&K and Proto. All worked fine.

Wright Tool and SK are reasonably priced compared to the truck brands: Snap-on, Mac, Matco, Cornwell.

There are a lot of high-quality, lesser known brands that are made in USA. I like to buy them at pawn shops. I get professional quality sockets & wrenches at Harbor Freight prices. You could look on ebay if you don't have good pawn shops in your area.

Some made-in-USA brands I recommend for sockets and wrenches: Proto, Challenger, Blackhawk, Armstrong, K-D, Allen, Easco, New Britain.

Good ratchets are harder to find than good sockets. If you want a high quality, fine-tooth ratchet (at least 72 teeth), it's going to cost you. Fine-tooth, reduced swing ratchets were uncommon in the 20th century. If you're willing to buy made-in-Taiwan, you can find something inexpensive. A good made-in-USA ratchet will run around $75-150 new.

I think Snap-on is overrated & overpriced, but they do make the best ratchets.

Glad you mentioned NEw Britain. I worked at NAPA and spent most of my paycheck on buying them.

quote:

Originally posted by Veeper:
Most importantly, and unfortunately, the rachet action on the new versions of the socket wrenches SUCK. They don't seem to click properly and the socket pieces just fly off of the wrench. I think the last straw was a couple weeks ago when I attempted to do my brake pads, and I couldn't even manipulate the bolts holding the caliper on because the sockets just slide right off of the wrench.

Very frustrating.

We probably have the same set. It sits open on a shelf and no longer moves. Gave up on the portable case for reasons stated. The ratchet has a push button to release the ball that retains the sockets. Are the sockets that you are using dimpled to receive the ball on all four sides? If not, you may have better luck with retention if you “clock” the socket onto the ratchet so that a side with an internal dimple in the square hole goes over the side of the ratchet with the retention ball. If that doesn’t apply, maybe the replacement ratchets are suboptimal.

quote:

Originally posted by 71 TRUCK:
I think Snap On is made in Tennessee.
They can get expensive but I think they have a life time guarantee.

In high school I worked in a garage. Tom Hulse, the local Snap-On rep had a bumper sticker overhead at the top of the stairs when you walked on his truck. It read, “Snap-On: When you buy the best you only cry once.”

My boss commented, “Until you get robbed.”

They are darned nice tools though. Just feel right in your hands and will grab and turn bolts that other, cheaper, sockets and wrenches just round off. The Snap-On stuff is engineered to “grab” the nut or bolt in the middle of the flats, not touching the corners at all. And if you do break them, they’re replaced no questions asked. Lost or stolen though, you’re outta luck.

My Snap-On tools live at the house. The craftsman, harbor fraught, and other assorted stuff is at the shop. If the employees are going to lose or break something, it isn’t going to be my Snap-On stuff.

ETA: iron chef is right, there is plenty of good stuff out there that doesn’t have the overhead of a salesman running around in a truck. I’ve used some of those brands and had no complaints with any of them. Thanks for sharing the list!

Snap On are good but if you aren't using them everyday and don't have a Snap On truck coming to your house every so often, I would go with Proto or Wright. S-K was recently bought by a Chinese company and moved from Illinois to PA I believe.

Discontinued USA made sockets from Armstrong, Bonney, Allen, K-D, NAPA, American Forge, Craftsman, etc can sometimes be found at places like Harry Epstein or Cripes Distributing.

Blackhawk is Proto's entry grade line. I surfed a couple of sites, and a Proto 3/8 ratchet is $37-$38. One was $135! The Blackhawk version is $23-$24. I have a not quite complete set of Blackhawk sockets and have no complaints. I picked them up like iron chef, at pawn shops but it took months to fill out what I needed (including all brands). That was about ten years ago, and pawn shops prices are higher now, like everything else.

I believe most of the Snap On ratchets and sockets are made by Williams Tool.

quote:

Originally posted by recoatlift:
Glad you mentioned NEw Britain. I worked at NAPA and spent most of my paycheck on buying them.

New Britain is/was great. They've been out of business so long that hardly anyone knows the brand anymore, which means when I find their tools at pawn shops, I can buy them for a song.

quote:

the local Snap-On rep had a bumper sticker overhead at the top of the stairs when you walked on his truck. It read, “Snap-On: When you buy the best you only cry once.”

The way Snap-on finances their customers, it should be, "You buy once and spend the rest of your career paying it off."

quote:

The Snap-On stuff is engineered to “grab” the nut or bolt in the middle of the flats, not touching the corners at all.

Snap-on doesn't have a monopoly on this design. A lot of manufacturers do it too. A lot of tool nerds will scoff, but if you have a stuck fastener w/ rounded corners, the best brand to remove them is second generation Metrinch. Their design grips from the flats better than any other brands'.

quote:

I surfed a couple of sites, and a Proto 3/8 ratchet is $37-$38. One was $135!

Proto wrenches, IMO, are among the best, and their sockets are great too, but every Proto ratchet I've seen was no better than an average Craftsman ratchet.

quote:

I believe most of the Snap On ratchets and sockets are made by Williams Tool.

It's the other way around. Snap-on bought Williams back in the 90s and took over their manufacturing. Today there's Williams USA and Williams Taiwan w/ the latter sold at lower price points. Williams is approximately comparable to Wright & SK but better known, so it's harder to find good deals on them.

Wright is my favorite American brand of hand tool. They do not disappoint.

I too have a gem of a US made craftsman set. It’s in my garage tool chest. When assembling a small tool roll to keep in the truck I looked high and low for a mix and match set of US made tools. I ended up with few US made channel-lock brand pliers and screw drivers and a Proto 3/8 ratchet and set of metric sockets for the Tacoma. I found on Amazon the black phosphate coated vs chrome ones were a lot cheaper. ( at least when I was putting my set together)

Real Snap-ons are made in Kenosha Wisconsin. The rest are just excuses.

Snap on patented their Flank Drive sockets many years ago to grip the nut from the flank of the nut to reduce putting undue stress on the corners.

If you want the best grip-the-side-of-the-rounded-nut possible, shop for a spline socket in the correct size. Snap-on has these available also.

Spline sockets were all the rage when working on aircraft, but they'll turn six and twelve point fasteners better as well.

quote:

S-K was recently bought by a Chinese company and moved from Illinois to PA I believe.

This is sad and disgusting to read...
Well they are off the list...
I am glad Veeper asked this question, because I have learned there are more USA made brands than I thought.

quote:

Originally posted by mrapteam666:
[QUOTE]S-K was recently bought by a Chinese company and moved from Illinois to PA I believe.

This is sad and disgusting to read...
Well they are off the list...
I am glad Veeper asked this question...

I learned a few things today..

Sorry to hear that SK is now owned by the communists. I bought a small set of SK sockets and a ratchet in the late 70s. Still function flawlessly.

Silent

 
I bought my SK 1/4" set about 17 years ago (SK 91844). It contains standard and deep sockets in both SAE and metric, plus a ratchet, palm ratchet, universal attachment, and a couple of extensions. The same set is now discontinued, but can still be found, at a price.