What tools do and do not need to be quality?

[Teacher]

Hear ye hear ye all gearheads!

I'm trying to build my garage with useful things, such as tools. I'm curious as to what quality tools you guys think I should pay a good (read deserved - a.k.a. "you get what you pay for") price for. For example, I know that you get a much better, more accurate, and longer lasting torque wrench if you pay the hefty price for quality. On the other end of the spectrum, I've seen Harbor Freight generic wrenches last a good while, and you don't have to sell your lung for it.

What other examples can you come up with for both lists. I'm no super mechanic, but here's my opinionated list:

Quality Tools - Pay more because you need it to do the job right:

- torque wrench

- hex wrench set

- beer

Lower Quality - They are a dime a dozen and their function just gets the job done.

- screwdriver set

- box wrenches

- stool

- beer

Okay, okay, so beer is not a tool, but you get buzzed/drunk in the end and you can't tell if it's quality or not anyway, right?

And as you all already know, don't drink and ride!

- teacher

[TimC]

I would recommend good ratchets. The cheap ones will get the job done, but they feel lousy in use - especially when flipping the levers between tighten and loosen. Buy good quality tools and they'll probably last forever.

[PACIFICMAN]

You never waste money on good tools.

[Guest]

You never waste money on good tools.

Here! Here! Absolutely nothing but truth in that statement.

Hex Wrenches are important to have quality.

I have the Craftsman Allen sockets... Last night the 5mm broke off in my Ducati's oil drain plug. Who would have expected Craftsman to snap.

But with Sears spiralling down hill, they are sending more jobs to China... I have one set made in the USA and the quality is much nicer than the newer set made in China.

I reached in the cabinet and just grabbed one thinking it would never break.

Generic Allen wreches always seem to round out the inside of the Hex bolt or round the end of the tool.

Same theory goes for cheap phillips screw drivers and sockets.

As for the rachet statement above... There is a huge difference between a Craftsman rachet and a Snap-On rachet. It is hard to go back to Craftsman. But Snap-On costs sooooo much.

Some of those cheap China made ratchets are just knuckle busters.

[hondalover]

I'll disagree with your list when it comes to screwdrivers. The hardness (or lack of) of the bits in the cheaper screwdrivers will bite you in the ass. I've only got Craftsman Professional Series and Snap-On screwdrivers and they've stood the test of time of 5 years of daily use in a motorcycle dealership and frequent use for the following 9 years. Not one of them has ever needed to be replaced due to being stripped. But I have replaced a few from mis-use on my part, but the Snap-On do state right there on the handle "Not to be used as a prybar or chisel", I just choose to ignore it.

[Guest Recalcitrance]

All tools need to be good quality. You wouldn't want your doctor to perform surgery on you with discount supplies. Same for your bike.

[Monk]

A cheap torque wrench will seem to be working, but is it clicking on the correct setting(says one thing but does something else)

[SEBSPEED]

I think this is all relevant to how much work you plan to do yourself.

[Lee 2002]

This thread is going to have such wildly swinging opinions that there will not be a concensus on anything. It'll just be an oil thread about tools.

The problem is that you'll have people who are professional mechanics, weekend warriors, and guys who change oil all giving their opinion. Each opinion is correct for that person, but not necessarily for anyone else. All these varied and diverse groups are going to have different criteria on what is acceptable.

The only piece of advice that I'll offer is that money spent on quality tools is never wasted, provided the buyer knows how to use those tools and actually does use the tools.

[dirtbag]

Work box is almost exclusively snap on or Mac. Won't settle for less.

Home box is a mix of big store brands... Craftsman, husky etc. I pick and choose on which tools I prefer. The odd snap on and Mac have made it in there, as have a few other name brands(proto, gray etc)

With precision tools, you will generally get what you pay for, but I do know craftsman torque wrenches are pretty quality, although they are not cheap(as in harbour freight cheap).

One example of a tool that seems pointless to spend money on: dead blow hammers. Go swing a cheap ass dead blow and it will uselessly bounce. Go grab a snap on dead blow and give it a swing. No bounce, and excellent energy transfer. The new craftsman deadblow hammers are pretty good too.

My 2cents.

[Muff]

:lurk

The only piece of advice that I'll offer is that money spent on quality tools is never wasted, provided the buyer knows how to use those tools and actually does use the tools.

I agree with Lee.

[Guest]

You wouldn't want your doctor to perform surgery on you with discount supplies. Same for your bike.

You absolutely do not work in healthcare and you have never spent time in an OR...

The cheapest tool will always be used on you!

Pakastan crap has been flooding the healthcare industry for longer than you want to know.

Most is disposed after one use.

Simply put, it is cheaper for the hospital.

It will get worse with Obama care.

Off topic!

[Guest Recalcitrance]

Uh....it was a joke.

And your reply is off topic.

Calm down.

[gll429]

as a guy who has had "use the right tool for the job" drilled into head since birth..

i have my pro tools at work. 99% matco with a few "SNAP-OFF" and "CRACK"(mac)

at home. i have a bunch of kobalt and crafts man and husky.. the main difference is the tool truck wont come to your house on a sunday morning when you need that ball end hex driver.

.and if you break a tool on the road.. you can replace it in just about any town in america.

[Olive]

Cheap screwdrivers are a poor idea - even if you only use them occasionally. They will strip and you will replace them time and time again. The cost of replacement is more expensive than purchasing a decent tool to begin with. Craftsman, as mentioned here, is fairly decent middle of the road quality. A great choice for equipping a garage.

[JZH]

Speaking of using the right tool, using a JIS cross-head screwdriver on our Japanese motorcycles' JIS-head fasteners is probably a good idea. (FYI, that's all of them--there are no Phillips or Pozi-drive screws on these bikes.) McMaster Carr carries the excellent Vessel brand (they are also sold by Vessel USA and RJR Cool Tools, among others).

In the USA, I use the full set of Craftsmans I inherited from my dad. Generally they are quite old, so the quality is different than what is available today, but if Sears still replaces them for free, then they are probably okay. My "foreign" tools are a combination of Craftsman sockets and Facom everything else (complemented by a full set of Vessel JIS drivers, naturally). But I like tools for their own sake...not everyone does!

As for torque wrenches, I don't really trust 'em. I think this is an irrational response to my experiences stretching fasteners (irrational because I now think this was mainly due to their threads having been lubricated), but I still don't trust click-type (I call 'em "snap-type") torque wrenches. I have an old beam-type torque wrench, so I usually use that--it never lies.

Ciao,

[joneill]

I'll disagree with your list when it comes to screwdrivers. The hardness (or lack of) of the bits in the cheaper screwdrivers will bite you in the ass. I've only got Craftsman Professional Series and Snap-On screwdrivers and they've stood the test of time of 5 years of daily use in a motorcycle dealership and frequent use for the following 9 years. Not one of them has ever needed to be replaced due to being stripped. But I have replaced a few from mis-use on my part, but the Snap-On do state right there on the handle "Not to be used as a prybar or chisel", I just choose to ignore it.

I replace screw drivers regularly, even the high quality ones. Every time I pick up a screw driver I check the tip. Once I see the the first sign of wear I chuck it. Once it wears it is only a matter of time before you strip the head of a screw.

[joneill]

A cheap torque wrench will seem to be working, but is it clicking on the correct setting(says one thing but does something else)

Thread hijack...I have both beam and clicker type torque wrenches. Where do you get your torque wenches checked or calibrated?

[Guest]

A cheap torque wrench will seem to be working, but is it clicking on the correct setting(says one thing but does something else)

Thread hijack...I have both beam and clicker type torque wrenches. Where do you get your torque wenches checked or calibrated?

Last tyme I had to have one checked / calibrated ( 20 yrs ago, Kept snapping head bolts, & turned out to be defective head bolts ) My Tool Rep actually had the equipment to do it. (very few do ) They usually know where to send them to have the work done.

[Lee 2002]

Thread hijack...I have both beam and clicker type torque wrenches. Where do you get your torque wenches checked or calibrated?

Your local tool truck driver will be able to get your wrenches (any brand) calibrated. If you're a regular customer, our local guy will usually accomodate you for no cost. Otherwise,he charges for the service. My experience has been that if you don't use your wrench above about 85% of it's capacity you'll have nothing to worry about. Once you get into the 90%-100% range you'll start to see the wrench not achieve set torque and it'll need recalibrated. (I'm referring to click-type wrenches, I'm not sure this is true for a beam type.)

If you know someone in a military maintenance shop you might see what they can do for you.... just sayin'.

If you are able to do some rudimentary math and have a set of barbell weights, a vise and a nylon strap you can quickly veryify that your wrench is reasonably accurate right in your own garage. Most wrenches are calibrated to the center of the hand grip.