Who (& where) are the high quality tool suppliers?

[Ratel10mm]

As the title says, can anyone suggest who, & perhaps where, the Australian suppliers of what I shall call Real Tools (RT's) are?

By RT's I mean the harder to find brands that professional hand tool users trust, for e.g:
Facom
Britool
Bahco
Armstrong
Stahlwille
Gedore
Witte
King Dick
& for measuring:
Mititoyo
Moore & Wright

Don't limit it to my list, feel free to add any others you care to recommend.

I'll start it off with Masters & also Blackwood for Stahlwille. Both have told me they can get in any Stahlwille that they don't stock.
RS Components (http://http://australia.rs-online.com) can be good, but like Blackwood they're a 'one stop shop' so you need to know your prices.

[Blknight.aus]

the snap on guy turns up at work....

you can now order from them online and have gear delivered.

[Bigbjorn]

As the title says, can anyone suggest who, & perhaps where, the Australian suppliers of what I shall call Real Tools (RT's) are?

By RT's I mean the harder to find brands that professional hand tool users trust, for e.g:
Facom
Britool
Bahco
Armstrong
Stahlwille
Gedore
Witte
King Dick
& for measuring:
Mititoyo
Moore & Wright

Don't limit it to my list, feel free to add any others you care to recommend.

I'll start it off with Masters & also Blackwood for Stahlwille. Both have told me they can get in any Stahlwille that they don't stock.
RS Components (http://http://australia.rs-online.com) can be good, but like Blackwood they're a 'one stop shop' so you need to know your prices.

Add Allen, Armstrong, Beta to the hand tools and Starrett, Brown & Sharp to the measuring gear. They are superior to Mitutoyo. For dial gauges English Mercer are the tops.

I try to avoid Blackwoods. They tend not to keep stock but show you pictures and offer to get it in for you. Charge top price too.

Unless you are in a hurry, order on-line from overseas and get far better prices and often better service. Machine Shop Discount in New Jersey are very good. Their e-mail is sales@msdiscount .com

[uninformed]

As the title says, can anyone suggest who, & perhaps where, the Australian suppliers of what I shall call Real Tools (RT's) are?

By RT's I mean the harder to find brands that professional hand tool users trust, for e.g:
Facom
Britool
Bahco
Armstrong
Stahlwille
Gedore
Witte
King Dick
& for measuring:
Mititoyo
Moore & Wright

Don't limit it to my list, feel free to add any others you care to recommend.

I'll start it off with Masters & also Blackwood for Stahlwille. Both have told me they can get in any Stahlwille that they don't stock.
RS Components (http://http://australia.rs-online.com) can be good, but like Blackwood they're a 'one stop shop' so you need to know your prices.

Masters has a small range of Stahlwille spanners. Only problem is the have the 13 series in SAE and the 14 in metric.

Trade Tools can get Gedore, Koken, Moore&Wright, Mititoyo etc. I think they can do Witte

Bahco shifters can be had there also as well as plumbing supplies, Total tools etc.

[Ratel10mm]

Brian, I'm inclined to agree about Blackwoods. However I have to say that the local branch generally tried to look after us at my last but one employer. Often couldn't compete, but as often they had the weird, unobtanium or downright 'never been made, mate' item any other Gold Coast company didn't.
Never tested it, but when I told them Masters were selling Stahlwille, they said to make sure I asked them before buying some. So they are open to negotiation.

[juddy]

Britool are no longer made in Sheffield England, there made in the Eastern Block.

The quality will be different, as its not Sheffield Steel, and Sheffield steel is still probably the best steel you can get. you can still get old new stock Britool, as well as Neils, Moore and Right, Record. Eclipse and Spear and Jackson. as well as many other Sheffield made Tools.

[jackafrica]

Bahco, a mixed bag, now seem made in Asia with varying quality.

Facom too have become "iffy" in some areas. I have a set of Facom shifters in 4" to 12" which are very definitely below par to the quality I have experienced from the brand in the past.

There was a bloke on the Gold Coast (Miami), at BM Spares, (Karl) who had a great range of tools, sensational in fact, including old Bahco, Stahlwille, old Belzer and more.
Don't know if Karl is still selling tools or even if he is still there, haven't heard from him in a few months. 07 55 721 112
If Karl is no longer there I'll edit the post.

Hope this helps.

[bushrover]

Don't forget your Caterpillar dealer. Most Cat brand tools are Snap-on and if you get to know your Cat spare parts man you can usually get a good deal. Most of my Cat tools were probably around 30-40% less than Snap-on prices.

The best tools in my toolbox are the ones I bought as an apprentice - all brands mentioned previously - none are broken or worn out, but I have lost plenty. All recent purchases even supposedly top of the range don't feel right and my one left hand Bahco shifter really ****es me off.


Rick

[zkdaz]

The best quality tools I have ever used (not owned) were Elora. They are fantastically expensive and probably only justified if you work on planes or F1 cars, but the catalogue makes enjoyable browsing;

Startseite Elora Werkzeugfabrik (http://www.elora.de/)

these guys claim to sell them (and other premium brands) here in aus

OzSwiss European Tools - Elora - Overview (http://www.europeantools.com.au/elora.htm)

Dan