What brand do you buy for hand tools?

[Moparguy1960]

How about favorite tools in the box?
I have a Matco radiator pressure tester and venturi refiller that is excellent.
Power Probe III with short finder ( Gotta have one of those)
Hansen socket organizers ( The pins can break but plastic epoxy will fix that)
Gear wrenches, I have some from Matco , Gear Wrench, and stubbys from Williams.
As long as you don't break loose with the gearwrench side they are one of the best inventions to come along in my opinion. One other thing try to buy ones with a reversing lever on them. If you loosen something and it bottoms on the way out well....been there done that.
Torx and Allen sockets, Got to go Snap-on here. They fit tighter and will take the twisting better.
Have a Snap-on MG725 impact, it's pretty decent power wise but, kind of loud, and the trigger is not easily controled. my co-workers IR titanium blows it away.
My box is Snap-on KRL, I know they are wicked expensive but if your a pro in and out all day the drawer action is worth it to me.
Snap-on pencil grinder 70,000 rpm and carbide burrs. Grinds off stripped screw heads, true up the drill hole on a broken bolt (yea sometimes I miss center) and a lot of other uses.
On that note, just bought a Quik center kit to help with that. I have used my co-workers and it's pretty slick.
Bought a Gearwrench tap and die set and found they are not as beefy as the pro tools.
My friend swears by his Snap-on 1/2" cordless impact. I use it if I have to go out in the lot, or we are at the track. Other than that I like the air.
Robnair ratcheting tubing cutter. Takes a while to cut but comes in handy.

Hydraulc flaring tool can't think of the brand. It's one of those tools made buy one company but everybody puts thier name on it. Mostly for the pro's (or the wealthy) due to the 300-400 bucks it costs but it makes short work of many different types of flares.

That's a few of my favorites off the top of my head.

One final note, most of the tools I get come from Tooltopia.com and E-Bay. If you know what you are looking for and at, you can get some good deals.

[Jensen91]

I prefer Sioux Impact. . Recently I bought a 3/8" torque wrench for $ 170 and it still runs good to this day.

[daddy2kids]

Same dilemma here, I had my toolkits before but lost them due to friends borrowing but not returning them. So I bought one cheap but the wrenches were soft that they would bend.

[Schurkey]

Originally Posted by Bio}{azard

Craftsman. They warrenty forever, them mean forever.

Just replaced a 15 year old ratchet that they don't even make anymore.

"Forever" has a different meaning now that Sears is all but dead.

Originally Posted by YellowMaranello

Have any of you heard of SK Tools?

There have been dozens if not hundreds of tool manufacturers, and about 90% of them have merged or just plain gone out of business. My box has many different brands, some of which went out of business decades ago.

That said, if I'm buying hand tools, I'm buying SK or Snap-On these days. SK is inexpensive and very durable. Now that I'm just a home-shop hobbyest, if SK has what I want, that's what I buy. If SK doesn't have what I'm looking for, I get Snap-On.

Other tool brands I'm impressed with are
Proto (often the same as Mac. Proto and Mac are both owned by Stanley)
Williams (often the same as older Snap-On--Williams is owned by Snap-On.)
Wright (not a huge selection, but what they have is high quality. Wright is still independent and, I think, family owned.)

Cornwell mostly sells blue-colored versions of other company's products. I think they still make their own sockets and wrenches, and some of their ratchets. I'm not sure I own ANY Cornwell tools.

Originally Posted by taillight

I used to have Craftsman but when you turn wrenchs everyday for a living you get tired of going back to Sears every week to get replacements for broken tools. I have gone to Snap-On and have had no problems for the past 30 years.

Yes! My "everyday" "Sears Best" 3/8 drive round-head fine-tooth quick-release ratchet went back every six months like clockwork. Get a new ratchet...six months later it needed a "repair kit". Six months later, the ratchet repair kit and the handle were worn out. Get a new ratchet. Six months later, repair kit. I got sick of that, bought a Snap-On pear-head ratchet, and it lasted the entire rest of my career of professional use, plus eight or ten years of hobby use before I had to put a repair kit into it. Craftsman used to advertise that their products were "professional quality", and that used to be true before they moved production to China. HOWEVER, an apprentice is a professional (in training.) Craftsman tools were of the "apprentice" quality level. When a professional gained enough skill to move beyond his apprenticeship, he also tended to buy better tools. What Sears/Craftsman had going for them was a remarkably low price for VERY adequate tools, (very "High Value") and the "neighborhood" source for purchase and warranty.

We'll never see that combination of customer service and value again. I'm lucky to have seen and benefited from it while it lasted, but by the late-80's it was already in decline.

Originally Posted by Jensen91

I prefer Sioux Impact. . Recently I bought a 3/8" torque wrench for $ 170 and it still runs good to this day.

Sioux is owned by Snap-On. Some of the Sioux items seem to be re-branded as Snap-On, and others aren't.