cheap tool review

[souNdguy]

about a week back I was hitting HF for a few odds N ends, and they had a sale on a 40 pc socket set. 2.99$ hard to pass up buying one, as I don't pay but a lil less for yard sale kits that have no box or incomplete.. etc.

this one came in a small plastic case.. clear top, organized tray. no frills.. but didn't need any. no carry handle, just a flip/slide open tray.. i'm 50/50 on the absence of a handle. harder to carry, but then lays nice and flat / stacks in a tool box / drawer.. I'm leaning toward like the absence of a handle, as if it did have one.. it'd probably be flimsy, break, and when it hit the floor it'd be a 25 pc set.. unless you got lucky.

had a socket wrench 3/8 drive, 3" extension, and nut driver/screwdriver 1/4 drive/phillips/regular

nut driver was a lil diminuitive.. but functioned.. not a big handle.. it's a '+' profile.. looks like the average male hand might break it if you hit a fastener that didn't move and you really wanted it to.

ratchet is no frills, but works.. a bit loud.. a drop of 3-1 oil made it quiet and change direction smoother. no lockups or stripping during my testing this weekend.

sockets are high polish but not chromed.. 12 pts and 6pts depending.. drive ned has small retaier slot, and drives have ball retainer.. no frills but work.. no sockets fell off drives. look to be drop forged, with well formed points i the 6/12 side.. no chaff or off center milling present. using test fasteners, I found all sockets fit good according to their marked sizes.. no loose fits to chew off heads.

for 2.99$ I call it a decent set for a 3/8 - 1/4 drive small job. it's about 1.25" deep, by 4.5" wide, and 9" long or so.. better looking quality than some of the 1$ pakistan sets I've bought at yard sales.

END tool review.. below is a general rant about loss of manufacturing capability and offshore outsourcing.. stop reading here if you don't feel like seeing the followign comments..

scarry as it sounds.. their (china and similar )quality on even the discount stuff is coming up.

american manufacturing has been declining steadilly since post ww2, and nose dived from 0's and on. with 3rd world and industrialized countried going up, especially in the qc dept.. i'd say we are in trouble BAD. I mean.. look a tthis socket set example... harbor freight can have a company in china, make the tools and kit, import them, and sell them at retail for 3$, and the worker, maker/company/foundry , importer, and HF are MAKING money... they made money on a 3$ tool kit.. meaning that kit likely cost 50 cents to make.. and is at least 'homeowner / odd task quality...

I did a price comparison looking at other basic tools at other places.. closest i could come was a 35pc kit at autozone for 7.99$ was basically a similar kit, with no screwdriver tips or the screwdriver adapters.. just the sockets, wrench and extension, and nut driver.. looked about the same 'quality'..

just a general observation on tools and some commentary by me..

soundguy

 

[wisbaker]

Sounds like a better deal than my american made S&K 1/4" socket set I bought 30 years ago for $30.00, several of the sockets were 3 point, meaning they had 3 of their 6 points, the other half of the socket was round, looked like they had been drilled of center then the broach only cut about 1/2 the socket points. And the guy that made them was probably earning about 3 times an hour more then I was milking cows.

 

[souNdguy]

i have an s&k set 1/4 as well.. but love mine. all real high quality.. just hard to beat the price of this new stuff nowadays.

I have a cousin who is going to sae school.. he's 18 and just starting out. they gave him a list of tools he needs for his full course ( couple years ).. it's pretty much a 3/8 and 1/2" socket set, torque wrench, assorted adjustable wrenches, screwdrivers, full set of hand wrenches sae and metric, some specialized pullers for front end and pullies.. extractors.. hand tools, some power tools and drills, grinder.. etc.. etc.

I added it all up and did a price comparison from napa and car quest tools, harbor freight, and snap on and craftsmap.

snap on was highes, then craftsman, then napa, then car quest then harbor freight.

here was the price swing.

everythign he needed in large tool boxes and whatnot form harbor freight, plus some other lil goodies like gloves and some saftey equipment and clean up stuff was about 1000$.. and for the are minimus on everybody else.. up to 4000$

I think the familly is getting together and all giving him gift cards when he leaves for college to get his tools... I presume he's going hf.. no other way to do it. He can get name brand tools later on when he gets work..

soundguy

 

[oldtanker]

(quoted from post at 08:13:21 10/10/11) i have an s&k set 1/4 as well.. but love mine. all real high quality.. just hard to beat the price of this new stuff nowadays.

I have a cousin who is going to sae school.. he's 18 and just starting out. they gave him a list of tools he needs for his full course ( couple years ).. it's pretty much a 3/8 and 1/2" socket set, torque wrench, assorted adjustable wrenches, screwdrivers, full set of hand wrenches sae and metric, some specialized pullers for front end and pullies.. extractors.. hand tools, some power tools and drills, grinder.. etc.. etc.

I added it all up and did a price comparison from napa and car quest tools, harbor freight, and snap on and craftsmap.

snap on was highes, then craftsman, then napa, then car quest then harbor freight.

here was the price swing.

everythign he needed in large tool boxes and whatnot form harbor freight, plus some other lil goodies like gloves and some saftey equipment and clean up stuff was about 1000$.. and for the are minimus on everybody else.. up to 4000$

I think the familly is getting together and all giving him gift cards when he leaves for college to get his tools... I presume he's going hf.. no other way to do it. He can get name brand tools later on when he gets work..

soundguy

One of my SILs works at a Chevy dealer.....says he owes his soul to the Snapon dealer. Actually he keeps em paid up pretty good but he says that at current prices he has close to 30K in tools. His folks paid for his tools while he was in school 11 or 12 years ago. I think then they spent 5 or 6k.

Rick

 

[R Geiger]

When I went to school in the 60 after 3 years in the Army I bought a starter set of tools at Sears. Still using the one I did not lose, then when I could afford it I bought all snap-on. The snap-on did not work any better and I found I could lose them just as easy! Usually other people borrowing them and never returning them. Now days, I find real good buys at estate sales and garage sales. Just wish I had the energy to use them all!

 

[souNdguy]

sounds pretty close to what I'm adding up.. my cousin's basic costs for the tools for the 2 yr program would be about 4k$ thru snapon.. etc.

soundguy

 

[elmersooner]

the best way to cut down on lost tools is to paint them a high gloss pink. most people won't borrow them, and if they do it is real hard for them to say its not yours. course you have to use pink tools, but if you drop one they are easy to spot.

 

[MRinMN]

You get what you pay for. Sitting in your shop you can get by with the cheap stuff, but when it"s needed for earning a living, go no lower than craftsman. Having worked on aircraft for decades, Ive seen a few snap-on tools break, some craftsman, and tons of the cheap stuff snap, which can be dangerous when using 1/2 inch breaker bar and pieces go flying.

 

[Fuddy Duddy]

I think Snap on is way over priced. I've used them and Craftmans. I can't tell where Snap on is any better. I think it's a status Quoe thing. But I try to stay away from the "cheap" tools. I've broken a many of them. If the company that makes them won't put their name on them that should tell you something. When I was a kid I bought what was supposed to be a handy dandy tool. It was a wrench that fit 8 sizes of bolts. It had like a ball on each end with each end fitting 4 sizes. I was working on my bicycle and came across a tight nut. I gave it my all. It broke in haft and make a deep cut in my hand. I still remember that well.

"scarry as it sounds.. their (china and similar )quality on even the discount stuff is coming up."

You may be right. Reminds me of the movie "Back to the Future" Don't remember what they were referring too, But the the Professor said something like, "No wonder, Look it says made in Japan". Then Michael Fox said but Japan makes the best stuff. I can remember when 'Made in Japan' meant poor quality. Then look what happened. I'm thinking China may someday be the same thing. If you want good quality buy China Made. It can happen. It seems this country has seen its peak. Most likely will only be down hill from here. Its sad but most likely true.

 

[NoNewParts]

harbor freight can have a company in china, make the tools and kit, import them, and sell them at retail for 3$, and the worker, maker/company/foundry , importer, and HF are MAKING money... they made money on a 3$ tool kit.. meaning that kit likely cost 50 cents to make.. and is at least 'homeowner / odd task quality..
soundguy

ya, it's getting scary. amazing Anything can be made and sold for that cheap
I have a few cheapo tools for in the house stuff.
In the shop, S&K mostly, and old Craftsman and Vulcan.
(and lots of yard sale old box/open end wrenches that have no name, just 'made in USA'-forged)
Never could afford Snap-On.
(those were for the Corvette guys, I'm a Ford man........just kidding)
I never use cheap tools on anything that can hurt me, broken hand means no work=no money

 

[R Geiger]

I wowrked in aviation for 35 years. Quit making my tools because if someone borrowed one of my marked tools and left it in the helicopter and it caused it to crash I could be liable even if I did not leave it there.

 

[souNdguy]

While not saying cheap tools can't break, I think what we ask of a tool sometimes is more than what it can reasonable take.

for instance.. a 1/2" breaker bar.. If I can't break a bolt loose by hand with a 1/2" bar.. there is no way I'm putting a pipe on it. If it's that tight i move up to my 3/4 set, andthat one I will use a pipe on. can stand on a 4' pipe bouncingup and down and the BB don't flex.. way easier to sher a fastener than break the tool.. and yeah.. it's a chinese set.

I see guys that break the drive end off a 3/8 drive ratched and can't help but think they were using the wrong tool. I can't remember the last time i used a 3/8 drive set.. really used one.

i use 1/4 drive sets for them darn hard to get to bolts on tractor tin.. I have a swivel ratchet.. etc. otherwise I use a short profile 1/2" drive ratched that is really no bigger than a 3/8 drive, and I know i really can't break it by hand..

for emergency work, or working on my bicycle, a lil 3/8 kit like this china one is just the ticket.. slips into a zipper pouch easilly.

you can break ANY tool if you want to... don't matter what it cost the end user.. if it was made, it can break. and as I said.. yo can buy cheap, low cost tools, or more expensive low cost tools. I've so far not seen a huge difference in quality in standard wrenches and ratchets on a mroe expensive low cost tool vs a very expensive tool. I have plenty of craftsman and snap on wrenches.. have broke a few over the years using lots of leverage, and have done so to a couple chinese ones. in the end.. ech craftsman wrench i bought new, cost more than an entire chines wrench set.. and sadly.. both have the same warranty nowadays.. I do like the odd yard sale find of old american tools on the cheap.. and buy as many as I can afford though.. that gives you built in equity...

I'd also like to point out that my 3/4 chicago pneumatic air gun works ( and looks ) identical tot he ingersol rand 3/4 gun at work.. except mine didn't cost 1/4 of what the IR did, and yet, on a half inch hose, I can work right along side the mechanic busting bolts off of the undercarriage on a dozer when we are replacing tracks and chains and sprockets. ( yep.. I get to be the tool truck guy now and then.. )... i tell ya... it's coming... no name tools are gonna eclipse brand name tools in value.. why? because those brand name tools are gonna be, or already are, built in the same factory buildign the non brand name ones, then marked up 250% and sold...

ever flip over a new craftsman wrench lately? stamped MADE IN CHINA... lifetime guarantee. same thing stamped on a harbor freight set... .. except the hf set costs 9$ for a 23pc set at hf, and 19$ at walmart ( just saw them there last night when getting dog food ), and well.. 200$ at sears...

if you don't think what I'm saying is true.. you might be avoiding the facts.

we don't manufacturer hardly anying over here anymore. if we do 'build' it, it's merely assembled from offshore parts... that's BAD NEWS IMHO!

what happens when ww3 hits and we are going to war with the country that makes 99% of our stuff? what then? suffer while we tool up? yikes!




soundguy

 

[G6 at Snook, TX]

Sounder,

I used to be a major proponent of American made tools, but since I am too cheap to buy Snap-On it was normally Craftsman. But in the last year or so I have not gone to Sears much lately since the "made in China" tag showed up on their material. I now buy HF for most hand tools because they are cheap and have a warranty. I have not had an issue with them breaking either due to stress, but I don't jump on them.

To a specific question, what model number is the 3/4 HF impact wrench that you have? They have two, the "earthquake", and the older model. One is much more than the other. I am looking at a couple of air tools and HF is probably my destination.

Thanks I have enjoyed reading the thread. Going to a tool store for me is like going to a shoe shop for my wife.

 

[souNdguy]

i'll check for you when I get home. this 3/4 gun I have is quite heavy, and it is a real BULL. I used it to spin the long since frozen bolts off on rims on my 5000 and 4600, as well as assemble some framework on my 10' mower.. plenty of 1=" fasteners on them.

it's even spun out those darn rusty fine thread fender bolts/nuts ford loved. with the power dialed up, I have spun the nut and shank off a 3/4 bolt by holding it on too long..

except for a decorative rubber sleave on the front near the anvil, and the rear which the ingersol rand has, this one looks virtually identical to the IR our mechanic has at work. I bought this one earlier this year.. think I paid 58$ on it.. it was on a daily special, plus I had a 20% coupon.. it was an awesome deal.

here's a pic of my 3/8, 1/2 and 3/4 gun from back when I was putting a rops on my 4600. not the size difference.

I can tell you that it is not one of the 3 I see listed at HF

the earthquake: Item # 68425

the HD composite ( yuck! ) Item # 66984

or the standard duty Item # 32871

note.. at first glance it looks liek the standard duty, but dimensions and grip are different. i looked at the standard duty when i was in the store.. didn't like it. specs are very low.. a good 1/2 gun is higher.. plus it only weighs a couple pounds.. this one I have weighs 11 pounds.. it will be a real shame if HF no longer carries it as it is an awesome gun.. unfortunately, it seems like every few monhts they have different items in the same class???? as for the composite guns.. I don't like them..

ps.. for the 3/4" gun.. use a real 1/2" hose and make sure the air outlet of the tank is not a 1/4 or 3/8 nipple.. that gun needs 1/2" hardware to function at full potential. luckilly for me our mechaninc at work thru out 2 30' 1/2" hoses back when i got my gun as they had 'repair' ends on em and he didn't like them. that red hose you see is one of those 'free' 1/2" hoses I got.. can't beat the price!




soundguy