The tools discussion thread

[Bigbjorn]

Get around the swap meets and stock up on old Sidchrome, Britool, Dufor, VBW, Dowidat, Stahlwille, old Blue Point (from before Snap On acquired them and downgraded them). If you see any Armstrong Bros. Chicago grab them. They are THE best heavy duty professional hand tools. Not commonly seen in Oz though. Allen are still in business (of Allen head bolts note) and made just about the best socket sets ever but I have not heard of anyone selling them in Australia for ages. I consider Snap On to be of fair average quality, made to look pretty, and far overpriced due to their pyramid selling system. Poseurs at motor racing have shiny Snap On tool trolleys for show off purposes. Most of their tools are unused.

[rick130]

Brian, you'll find the pro teams are sponsored with tools, hence why the nice big shiny trolleys.

BTW, it used to be that only Snap On was allowed at Qantas, something to do with the integrity of the chrome plating.
Having said that I have a few Snap On 1/4" drive sockets that are flaking, and when i bought my Snap On 1/4 drive set in '92 it was because it was $400 vs over $700 for Stahlwille
At the time I knew of no one other than those two companies that had a 1/4 drive set with ratchets, etc that small.

[uninformed]

Proto was a company in its own right, untill Stanley Tool Works bought it out, as with Sidchrome....and a hell of alot of companies over the years. STW is one of the biggest tool companies in the world.

Hazet was another good brand, along with Stahwillie.

I have Gedore spanners and some snap-on. All my sockets are snap-on as my screwdrives. Pliers are knipex.

Snap-on bought Bahco in recent years.

Brian, I have had nothing but great service from snap-on tools and there dealers. I thought Blue point was always theirs, just tools they got contract made rather than from their own factories....when I first got some snap on gear in the early 90's, blue point stuff was very good. Today some is still very good, but some is price point made also.

the fit and finish on snap-on is the best I have seen/used. I have a couple Allen and Stahwillie and have used a few of the other top brands.

what ever happened to Beta? I think they were/are italian??? didnt they sponser F1 team in the 70's or 80's (orange colour) I remember them being sold out on Ipswich Rd in the 90's in some big tool shop.

Mac seems to be pushing hard in the USA on all the auto shows, like monster Garage, pimp my ride etc etc etc...

BTW Snap-ons new rachets are very very smooth and have less degree rotaion on each tooth....

I just picked up some Snap-on Hi performance spanners and a 3/8 impact wrench......awesome.

[Bigbjorn]

Brian, you'll find the pro teams are sponsored with tools, hence why the nice big shiny trolleys.

.

I was thinking of the poseurs at club racing and historic racing.

[uninformed]

Here you go Brian

Allen Mechanics 101Pc Socket Wrench and Tool Set SAE MM | eBay

[wardy1]

About 4 years ago I bought one of the Bahco kits in the orange and black 'blown' cases. Never had a complaint with any of it. 1/2" and 1/4" drive, ratchets seem strong and are fine enough, the ring/open enders are great. I bought them as I wanted a compact (or reasonably so) set that I could take everywhere and they've served me well so far.

[mattyg]

I have recently bought a Force Socket set and ratchet spanners. They are my first set and I am very happy with them. I got mine through Trade Tools Direct in Brisbane.

They were quite cheap at about $120 for a 1/2 inch set with a 1/4 set thrown in (imperial and metric) - and $100 for the 10 piece metric ratchet spanners.

They come with a lifetime trade use warranty. The ratchets have a 72 tooth, 5 degree mechanism. The sockets are a 6 point 'flank drive' design, which after using 12 point sockets are great.

The only criticism I have is the rubber moulding on the 2 ratchet drive handles.
I prefer bare metal, however it is just a grip and could be removed.

They have been broken in by replacing my Fuel Pressure Regulator and putting in my new billstein shocks!!

[austastar]

Hi,
In 1965 I was posted overseas and didn't take very much with me - left my tool box in storage.
I needed some tools to work on a motorbike I bought, so found a tool shop in a Chinese market and bought a set of spanners 8mm - 22mm, open ended and a set of ring spanners with the brand of Fukung.
I wasn't too worried about quality at the time - just needed spanners.
Well they are still going strong, still have a good polish and have never rounded a nut or bolt they were designed to fit.
I have never seen the brand since, which makes them easy to identify.
cheers

[rick130]

I was thinking of the poseurs at club racing and historic racing.

:laugh: When I raced we were all too poor to do that, we sunk all our funds into making the race cars go faster.

That was back in the day when Glenn Seton raced a touring car, had his own team but still drove a beat up old Gemini as his road car.

My old theory used to be that you weren't a serious racer unless your road car was only worth 1/10 or less of what your race car was worth