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Tools --[ALL/1998] posted by Chita on
Tuesday, 20 May 1997, at 6:03 p.m.
I looked all over for a new socket set last week. Today, I finally settled on the 93 piece set for $55 from Home Depot. It's made to traditional (high) standards and has a real Lifetime Warranty. The last few years, I've been disappointed repeatedly when buying Sears. I gave up on most of the power tools. This time, I didn't even look there. I looked at the "Craftsman Club" flyer and went to several car parts places and Home Depot instead. Home Depot beat everybody on quality/price.
Craftsman prices are WAY too high for what you get, and they're carrying more Chinese tools every day. If I wanted to buy that sort of thing, I'd go to Harbor Freight. I had a 25 year old ratchet and compared it to a new one - the old one was better, IMHO.
About the famous Sears warranty -- on two occasions in the last two years, I've had to scream loudly for the manager to avoid getting a "Sears" branded tool in exchange for a broken Craftsman. The Sears tools have a one year warranty and are markedly cheaper than the Craftsman. I don't know what sort of financial situation they've been in, but I no longer consider their warranty reliable. It differs by manager and location and maybe the phase of the moon...
Check out the Husky brand that Home Depot sells. For heft, finish, ergonomics and price - it's a good package. I got the 93 piece set because I wanted the mixed SAE and Metric sizes and the deep sockets. It comes with three ratchets. All of them have the push button "pop off" for the sockets. I don't like the plastic case, but that's a trivial matter. Oh - and I bought a second spark plug socket for $2.67. While you're there, check out the mid-grade line Husky tool chests. They're made better than Craftsman and are cheaper too. Mid-grade is a good deal. The cheap ones are awful and the top line is very expensive.
No connection to Home Depot, just passing on a bargain for fellow shadetree mechanics.
Re: Tools --Chita's right-Somethings rotten in Chicago[ALL/1998] posted by Stoney on
Wednesday, 21 May 1997, at 8:37 a.m.
Chita is right. Went by my local S&R and was quite surprised at selection/quality. I used to do work for Stanley Tools and they used to make most of Craftsman line of hand tools for S&R.
Husky (Home Depot) SK, MAC, and Truecraft are all of equal quality to the OLD Craftsman line, so try them.
I was very surprised at lack of minimal quality with Harbor Freight Power Tools. I was using one of their Electric Impact tools last year and after only 10 min. use the casing was so hot I stopped using it and went to a breaker bar to finish the job. I opened up the tool later to compare it with older US made tool and the materials inside were grossly undersized as compared to a 1970's vintage Milwaukee Electric Impact tool. I showed it to a friend who used to design tools (air and electric) for several major US firms and he estimated that the life of the tool in regular use would be 6-9 months, if it didn't burn up first.
I now "surf" the local garage sales and look for older(50's-70's) hand and power tools and frequently can get a better tool at 1/4 the cost of it's "new and improved" modern replacement. Only when I need a specific tool or the level of the job exceeds the design of the tools I have do I order a new tool. I have had good luck with Skyway tools for "application specific" tools.
Re: Tools --Chita's right-Somethings rotten in Chicago[ALL/1998] posted by paul mohney on
Sunday, 1 June 1997, at 4:58 p.m.
late as usual : i'm in agreement w/stoney i worked for sears for almost 5 years doing appliance service. and as a preference i used my own tools (all craftsman ) ;and i was at the tool exchange every week replacing something, the ratchets are just doodoo the sockets rounded out regularly, and when i use them to fix my family fleet of 164's i had a bucket nearby to catch the broken tools.
I can't afford mac tools/proto/or snapon/ or i would buy them in a minute. So now i buy Husky tools from home depot. if they have what i need.
I found that sears quality in general has gone down hill,seems like they never learn. by the by where are you from ?
Paul in santa ana