Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests Hand Tools - Craftsman

What brands of hand tools do you prefer? I know Snap-On & Mac are big with professional mechanics, but I'm praising Craftsman this morning.

Since not having purchased hand tools in over 10 yrs, I had forgotten how good the Craftsman warranty at Sears really is. I went through my toolbox and weeded out a bunch of tools that were damaged, or looked slightly damaged.

I'd say I had about 8 screwdrivers, a 10" crescent wrench, a 15mm open end wrench, and a large pair of channel locks. I'd say it was over $100 easy. Sears exchanged every one of them without even a single question. Now that�s a good deal, and they will continue to get my future purchases on hand tools.

although snap-on has some nice specialty tools, i prefere craftsman because of the ease of exchanging broken tools.
if i break a craftsman i can go down the street and get a new one.
if i break a snap-on, ihave to find a vendor and or wait for one to come around.

Husky tools are not too bad either...

Don't know about their exchange policy though, haven't had one damaged yet...

I used to be a full-time auto mechanic back in the 1980s and my perspective was this:

Craftsman tools are good but in some cases, they are not as durable as Snap-On, Mac, and Matco. The durability issue really shows-up on sockets; Craftsman sockets were much more prone to cracking and rounding-out when used on a daily basis. Back in the 1980s, the Craftsman tool boxes were not nearly as good (sloppy drawer movement and the tracks wore-out quicker) as the "Big Three" and they didn't have really big boxes. Craftsman has improved considerably since the 1980s on tool box durability and variety.

Snap-On, Mac, and Matco are really popular with full-time mechanics because the tool vendors come to the mechanics, the mechanics don't have to take time out of their personal lives to go to Sears after work.

There are some cases where it is an absolute must to have Craftsman tools. Flare nut wrenches are the best example of needing Craftsman along with the "Big Three". I ran into many situations where the "Big Three" all made their flare nut wrenches with a specific orientation of the box end such that when in cramped spaces, you could loosen a flare nut fitting but you didn't have the room to rotate the fitting enough to reset the wrench to loosen it some more. The Craftsman flare nut wrenches had box ends that were rotated by only about 15-13 degrees but that made all the difference. You would loosen the nut with one wrench, then slip in the other brand name to loosen some more, switch back to the first wrench, and so-on. The process goes slow but you know how it is; auto manufacturers do not design the cars with the intent of being easily serviced.

Mr. Spindlelegs

80% of my hand tools are Craftsman. For the same reasons stated above, Lifetime replacement gaurauntee, availability (always in stock, so far at least), and Sears seems to always be close.

Actually, the only Craftsman tools i have ever had to return are socket heads. 3 times I have cracked them.

The remaining 20% are simply done better by other manufaturers, IMHO. For instance, I like Stanley for tape measures, Johnson for Levels and Eastwing for hammers.

Mark

At home I use mostly Craftsman, except for my Makita's. At the shop we've got mostly MAC and Snap-On, but that's because we have one helluva credit line with them, and they stop by once a week. =)

For home tho, I have yet to find anything better than the Craftsman replacement warranty, for the same reasons as ppl stated. When PuckPuck had a problem and I didn't have the "proper tool" we just improvised... It destroyed the tool, but who cares, it gets replaced free, right?

E1

I use Craftsman and Snap-on for the most part. Snap-On has some EXCELLENT ratchets; I use them to the exclusion of all other ratchets due to their action. I've got a sprinkling of other Snap-On equipment (sockets, off-set wrenches, etc.) but probably 80% of my stuff is Craftsman.

Craftsman is a bit cheaper than Snap-On (both offer close to the same quality of tools) and like everyone else has said, it's easier to find a Sears store than a Snap-On truck...

I've actually never returned any Craftsman or Snap-On equipment. I've been told you can tell a true mechanic apart from the amateur one's by the number of tools they break...

...so I know where that leaves me!

Yeah, I completely prefer Craftsman. My father has been buying them since probably 30 years ago. We broke a socket (from 30 yrs ago) the other day, brought it in, and they replaced it. Once shock subsided, I bought a couple tool sets for the car.


Any excuse to buy more tools I guess. Although I have mixed emotions about using them!
Sean