Tier 1, 1.5, or even Tier 2 tools thread

[vcdgrips]

"Ball end hex tools: Bondhus is the only way to go."



A well priced set as we speak. I went Wera/Wiha from KC Tool but I suspect I spent more that I had too for comparable stuff. Made in the USA is a bonus!



https://www.amazon.com/Bondhus-20199...000E7VG5C?th=1

[AKDoug]

I actually need to get a few of those for specialty uses. Are there any features or manufacturers that are better than others? Can't have any plastic or rubber parts on stuff I use.

90% of mine are Pony/Jorgensen Clamps. No plastic parts unless you buy the extra plastic pads. I lose them all the time so I don't bother with the pads.
https://ponyjorgensen.com/products/pipe-clamps/

[Old Man Winter]

Ball end hex tools: Bondhus is the only way to go.

Bondhus is local to me and I used their stuff for years until I was gifted a Wiha ball end set. The Wiha holds fasteners better, the non-ball end inserts easier, the finish is nicer, and none of the small wrenches have deformed from operator abuse. It's a more refined tool overall.

[Welder]

....I only use it for pushing brake caliper pistons back into the caliper.

That's what I use my biggest set of channel lock pliers for.


Irwin is the Freedom Group of tool companies. Their entire business model is to buy a smaller company with a good reputation for solid products built over decades or generations, close the factory, fire the workers, have the products knocked off in Chinesium, and push them into mass consumer distribution channels. I haven't acquired any new Vise-Grips in nearly 20 years, so I can't speak to that, but they've done that model on plenty of other brands.

Yeah, I don't know anything about that...all I know is that all of my 11SP's have worked, period. And the replacement springs, which do wear out or get melted in two from the heat, are replaced for free with an email to the company. I still have some of a 10-pack of springs left that they sent me a couple years ago.

I'm sure they're made in China these days, but QC of the modern ones is equal to the old ones I've owned. I've got no complaints.

[LittleLebowski]

Is Gearwrench low quality? This is on sale, but I’m fine on skipping it if it’s low quality.

https://amzn.to/3kZh9IF

[OlongJohnson]

I would trust their signature product, the ratcheting box wrenches. (I and some friends have gotten great service from the color-coded HF version that's a heck of a lot cheaper and has smaller ratchet steps, though.) The particular set you linked looks like something sourced cheaply to fill a marketing hole.

I would buy a bit set, a 1/4-drive extension spinner like I linked earlier, and some 1/4 extensions if that's what you want. Occasionally, I'll throw a 1/4" six-point socket on that to turn it into a makeshift 1/4 hex driver. Like if I'm jumping around with the M12 driver on sockets, etc. I've been using this set (or whatever was equivalent back when I bought it) for a lot of years now and haven't killed one: https://www.harborfreight.com/hex-sh...-pc-68513.html

I picked up the cheap Wheeler set and add to it as needed for 1/4 hex bits. Midway sells the bits in packs of three, so you can buy something that's close and grind it to fit a screw perfectly. I'm sure there's a nicer handle out there (or in this thread, actually), but "it works for me."

Brownell's bits are nice, too. I won't argue that Wheeler, Brownell's, or any of the non-interchangeable "gunsmith screwdrivers" is better than another, because fit is the most important thing, IMO. Screws seem to be almost infinitely variable, so I buy what's closest to the screw I need to turn if I don't have one that works or can be reasonably easily ground to fit.

When I get a new gun with slotted screws, I go through it and figure out what bits fit what screws. If none makes me happy, I measure the width and length of the slot and decide whether grind one I have or buy a different one. I put together a chart of all the Wheeler bit dimensions. You can mine it from Midway's site, but neither Midway nor Wheeler publishes it in one place. Kind of annoying, but now I have it.

DeWalt/Bosch/Milwaukee/Wiha/etc. sets are good for the standard hex/Torx stuff. You can pick up JIS bits on Amazon. HF has a security bit set with just about everything in it that should cover you for light duty use.

I keep all the bits in a small fishing tackle kit by Flambeau with some Zerust tabs in it. Five sections are Torx, hex, Phillips/JIS, and two for slotted.

As noted earlier, my storage methods are a balance between organization/accessibility and actually being able to store everything in an amount of space and for a cost that seems reasonable to me. Many of my tools also need to travel between the spare bedroom workshop in the land of A/C, the garage, and off-homestead locations such as various shops, race tracks, etc. If I was a pro user of most of the stuff, I'd spend more money and dedicate more space for storage to make access more efficient.

[Hemiram]

I used to sell tools back almost 50 years ago, and still have some of the really good stuff that I picked out over the years.

Wright sockets are great, SK too but I mostly have Wright stuff in sockets and drives, some Mac stuff too.

For combo wrenches and adjustable (crescent) wrenches, I like Diamond, who is out of business, but they turn up on Ebay all the time. When we got Diamond stuff in, it was pretty much gone in a couple of days.

I have owned an Estwing hammer for just about 50 years. Still does it's job, but isn't as pretty as it used to be.

Best screwdrivers I ever had were from a barely known company called "Vanadium Tool Co". I still have a couple of their smaller slotted screwdrivers that are pushing 50 years old. I saw a set on Ebay once, and sadly forgot the auction and missed out on them. They looked suspiciously like the better Craftsman drivers at Sears about the same time, with reversed colors in the handles. I don't know what they were made from, but the phillips drivers outlasted any other ones I've ever had, and 2 of the slotted ones are still in my main toolbox.

I had a Wen drill I bought in '72 that I finally retired in '17 when I moved. It was insanely powerful and was almost impossible to stall. If it did, it would twist itself right out of your hands. Had an all steel 2 speed gearbox and ball bearings on each end of the shafts.

[rob_s]

we talked about drill bits yet, particularly brad-point?

I could use a new set for wood.

[LittleLebowski]

Very tempted.

https://www.amazon.com/Williams-B-52...dp/B001DNX8LQ/

[LittleLebowski]

we talked about drill bits yet, particularly brad-point?

I could use a new set for wood.

We could.