quote:

Originally posted by mark60:
Anyone with experience with Wera?

Wera is very good. Their stuff seems to be made mostly in Germany and nearby CZ. Good ergos, great feature ideas. I also lean heavily towards WIHA, Knipex, Vessel, Ko-ken and other German and Japanese tools.
 
Chad's Toolbox is a great source for scads of German brands, plus they usually show the COO. Also, mentioned earlier, KCTool Co. Japanese tools can be harder to acquire here. Check out Amazon Japan. The page that comes up is in Japanese, but if you have an Amazon account, you know where the "Sign In" button is, so just click it. Your regular Amazon credentials will work. Then go to your Account and set your language to English.

There are also still good quality tools from US suppliers, but fewer and fewer actually made here. Taiwan is a good choice for COO. Lots of major US brands are now having stuff made there. Much better than Chinese stuff. For American, check out Harry J. Epstein American Made Tools. Their closeouts section often yields great bargains. HJE also shows COO.

quote:

Originally posted by mark60:
Anyone with experience with Wera?

Their stuff is very high quality. The screwdriver handle shapes are kind of a love-it-or-hate-it thing. I don't love it on the full-size screwdrivers but think it's great on the precision screwdrivers. Their ratchets are great. They make one with a pivoting head where you can turn it and use the ratchet handle like a screwdriver until it's almost tight then flip it to normal to tighten up. It sounds gimmicky but it works really well and is a durable, high quality tool. Their wrenches are very well reviewed but I've never used one.

quote:

Originally posted by henryaz:
I also lean heavily towards WIHA, Knipex, Vessel, Ko-ken and other German and Japanese tools.

Speaking of Japanese tools, Engineer makes some very cool stuff, like an adjustable wrench with super thin offset jaws and screw extraction pliers that have a toothed recess in the tips of the jaws for grabbing stripped screw heads. They work great.

I have been "wrenching" most of my life, and I think it was a similar thread several years ago that turned me on to Wright Tools. Since that time I have acquired various sets of wrenches and sockets from them and they are great. Not quite Snap-On but very close and about a third of the cost. They are made in Ohio with American steel. I would highly recommend them, but get the polished wrenches if you can. I haven't used their other stuff but I am sure it is good to go as well.

In my toolbox at home it's a mix of Snap-On, Mac, Wright, Wiha. Lately Mac has been pissing me off because I have bought a few small tools from them and they take forever to ship. I also noticed many of their products are now being made in China. I don't buy or use any tools made in China so I just send them back and look for some used Snap-On.

quote:

Originally posted by AirmanJeff:
I have been "wrenching" most of my life, and I think it was a similar thread several years ago that turned me on to Wright Tools. Since that time I have acquired various sets of wrenches and sockets from them and they are great.

I also have quite a few Wright tools, wrenches, sockets, drivers, etc. Very high USA quality. Harry Epstein (linked above) is a good place to get Wright stuff.

Used to be Craftsman for me until they moved production to China while keeping the American price tag. Went with some HF or Kobalt hand tools after that. For power tools it’s Milwaukee Fuel.

With Craftsman production coming back to America, I would definitely consider them again. Not worried about Sears going under as they sold the brand back in 2017.

I didn't want to like them, but so far the "Pittsburg PRO" ratchet from HF seems to be working out well. Better than my last US Craftsman.

I prefer HF pipe wrenches, hammers and pry bars too. Not much else though for hand tools.

Most of my tools are older Craftsman, Channel Lock, Vise Grip, Crescent stuff.

Kobalt is my "go to" for basic hand tools these days. Wrenches and sockets. My small batch of snap on wrenches and sockets still work perfectly, but I've never added to the set. My craftsman stuff is slowly being replaced with kobalt as they fail or wear out. Kobalt makes several drawer kits with awesome shadow concept and well labeled sockets.

Wiha for screwdrivers

Wera for "sets" in mobile applications (I have a customized set in my atv, motorcycle, and truck)

Knipex seems to have found themselves into most of my boxes and kits, but I don't use them as often as the price might indicate I would. I have a lot of crescent branded hand tools which have been working perfectly for a long time.

Klein is still my standby for nippers and dikes.

Anything cordless and powered is Milwaukee. I still have my M12 drill and driver from 2010, with original batteries working like the day I got them. My experience with Milwaukee has been flawless. I continue to invest in M18 and M12 quality battery powered power tools. My bosch batteries have long died, and I've let the tools go with them. Same for makita. I've never gotten into dewalt. We had them in the military and they fell short of performing pretty consistently.

For torque wrenches I still prefer snap on digital. Warranty has been excellent, I've used it twice for failures that were my fault.

Brown tool makes custom aviation tools, along with ATS. I treat them with kid gloves, and they're lasting...but they don't give the impression of quality.

Kobalt has been the consistent rising star for me, and the majority of my primary 2 toolboxes are now filled with kobalt hand tools.

Frankly you might as well just go to Harbor Freight. It's mostly all Chinese made anyhow. And actually HF tools have improved and have a decent warranty. The "truck" delivered tools are excellent but you need a mortgage to afford them.

HF has its place. Tools used on anything of value is not one of those places.

I have pair of Wiha pliers made in Veit Nam. I was disapointed.
At this point I would t mind picking up tools at garage sakes.

Blackhawk
PROTO
Felo
Wera
Starett
Channellock

I have a pretty good mutt-mix in my tool chests..

For ratchets and sockets, I still have the 300+ piece Craftsman socket set I bought 30 years ago. I have only had to replace 2 of them, a 15mm deep socket and of course the 10mm I have lost so many times...LOL

General use screwdrivers are mostly craftsman. Pliers are a mix of Craftsman, Channellock, and Klein. Wrenches are all Craftsman - once again, my original 30 year old set.

Any hand tools I use for electric work are Klein, meters and testers are Klein or Fluke.

I have a whole drawer full of specialty tools for the Corvette and the Jeep, I couldn't even begin to start naming the brands on those.

For precision cutters someone just pointed out the Lindstrom brand. (mfg Spain of all places) Very happy although it is the classic "buy once cry once situation).

quote:

Originally posted by jimb888:
For precision cutters someone just pointed out the Lindstrom brand. (mfg Spain of all places) Very happy although it is the classic "buy once cry once situation).

Speaking of high-end precision pliers and cutters, Schmitz (made in Germany) and Tronex (made in USA) are also worth a look.

And speaking of tools made in Spain, Grip-on (a Spanish company) makes (in Spain) a wide range of Vise-Grip-type pliers that I have read are very well made and better than the current made-in-China Irwin Vise-Grips (haven't had a chance to try any yet).

quote:

Originally posted by RB211:
I have only had to replace 2 of them, a 15mm deep socket and of course the 10mm I have lost so many times...LOL

Metric socket sets should come with at least a dozen 10mm sockets.

quote:

Originally posted by az4783054:
I've bought pretty much nothing but CRAFTSMAN tools for decades. They were American made then. I never had but one ratchet cause it to be returned for replacement. They're still a good bargain, made in China or not.

Better hurry with SEAR'S closing many more stores in the near future. K-MART stores closing as well.

But not to worry, you can buy CRAFTSMAN tools from ACE HARDWARE or LOWE'S and coming soon to the nearest CIRCLE K store.

Saw Craftsman the other day at Menards!
Was very surprised, as they normally only have cheap tools (Knipex is one exception) and with Lowe's handling Craftsman.

The set of Channellock 435 5-Inch Diagonal Cutting Pliers gets regular use around here, every time I string up another trash-pick guitar.

Aircraft mechanic 50+ years so have many different makers. Primarily Crafstman. Have purchased open/box sets at Harbor Freight for the sole purpose of making "special" tools. For example, changing a starter on a Lycomming -- need a 1/2" open end BENT kinda weird, so cheap HF and a torch makes it work.

Tinyman

My tools are predominantly 30-50 year old Craftsman wrenches, sockets and screwdrivers. Power tools are a mix of Craftsman, Milwaukee, DeWalt, Bosch and Makita.

quote:

Originally posted by henryaz:

quote:

Originally posted by RB211:
I have only had to replace 2 of them, a 15mm deep socket and of course the 10mm I have lost so many times...LOL

Metric socket sets should come with at least a dozen 10mm sockets.

Astro Tools feels your 10mm pain. They are now producing 10mm sockets that glow under UV light. Click on the picture for more information.