Quality Hand Tools - What's a good brand these days?

[Moo Moo]

Just after some opinions on what are the better brands of hand tools left in the world. Looks like everything available in big box stores (here in Australia) are either made in Taiwan or China.

Australia use to manufacture Sidchrome Tools, however when Stanley brought them out in 1996, manufacturing was moved to Taiwan. Snap-on have a good reputation but a bit out of my price range.

 

[Bakebfr480]

Craftsman if American made! Blue Point is good too.

 

[ace22]

i don't know what brands are available in the land of oz but the majority of my hand tools are the original american made sears craftsman brand.
as you said snap on is also very good.

 

[Drm50]

It's hard to tell these days. The old tried and true tool companies have moved production to China mostly. Some have partial production there.
The tools like Craftsman that use to be top quality are now Chinese but what sells them is the guarantee. About all you can do is avoid Chinese stuff. I buy Klien or look for USA labels. I can't think of any junk made in
USA. I have also bought some German tools, they don't make junk either.
The average guy is probably better off buying a house brand with good guarantee if you don't want to pay for Snap-On, ect. Cresant, Channel Lock and a few others can still be found made USA.

 

[double-dipper]

About 90% of all my "hand tools" are Craftsman (from when Sears owned them) and about 10% of the rest are a combination of Snap-on, Mac, Matco. Stanley Black & Decker owns Craftsman now and I'm not sure were they are made.

 

[JayFramer]

I really like Klein, they make electrician's tools.

 

[Eltioloco]

We always liked Proto tools. I don't hear much about them but they always had a quality product. There are even some tools in our shop marked Plomb, which is the name Proto used to be known by.

 

[WR Moore]

Snap On makes good stuff. BUT! As they say locally, they're right proud of their products and there's a substantial markup on them. Really substantial. I've got a few of their products, but only because they were the only source.

A big part of their attraction for professional mechanics is the warranty, service and the fact that the product truck shows up at the work site on a regular schedule. Add in that their payment system makes it really easy for the pros.

As a rule, products made in Tiwan are good. PRC made products can be an issue depending upon how hard the Brand who subcontracted the production leans on quality control. However, since the PRC pays no attention to patent law, one has to beware of stuff made with a brand name that has no relation whatsoever with the actual brand. With that warning in place, I'd expect that Craftsman is still good stuff. There's also a brand in the US known as Kobalt that seems good.

 

[delcrossv]

I really like Klein, they make electrician's tools.

They really are the only brand for good linesman's pliers. Their screwdrivers/nutdrivers are also excellent.

Greenlee also makes good specialty electrician's tools.


Top notch mechanics tools? Snap-On.

 

[Marshwheeling]

Wiha is pretty spendy, but good quality. I think of them not so much for automotive tools, but for service technician's tools.
For motorcycles, I have always found Motion Pro to be good. Tire tools, chain tools, multi tool kits, drivers. Again, not cheap, but a lot cheaper than trying to get the same function from Snap-On.
For Whitworth/BSF wrenches, Abingdon King Dick.
For Motorcycle tool kits, BMW and Jawa/CZ are the best. The tool kits from BMW cars are a good source to build a tool kit around.

 

[Old TexMex]

When I left NQld, Sidchrome was still the regular good stuff. In your position, I'd start hunting for used at estate sales and social media sales sites. Is there Craigslist in Oz?

 

[Moo Moo]

When I left NQld, Sidchrome was still the regular good stuff. In your position, I'd start hunting for used at estate sales and suocial media sales sites. Is there Craigslist in Oz?

Yes. The Australian equivalent of Craigslist is Gumtree.

 

[Frank46]

Kliens pliers like the lineman series,side cutters,needle nosed pliers. Still have ratcheiting wrenches that have ratchets in their heads. Still have Armstrong, Skill circular saw made in the usa. Porter Cable 1/4 sheet sanders and circular saws, porter cable rorating sanders and router. Ryobi drill, Porter cable drill. And a bunch of sears craftsman tools bought close to 30 years ago. Kobalt makes pretty good hand tools. Only place (lowes) that had 3/8 and 1/2" 24" breaker bars. Frank

 

[chief38]

Snap-on - Great but over priced.

Milwaukee - relatively new to hand tools & excellent. IMHO the best bang for the $$

Channel Lock - excellent, affordable, always reliable, readily available.

Mac & Matco - not worth the money IMHO and not S-O quality for the most part.

Craftsman - The old Made in USA was very good, but today's China made stuff - not good.

Klien - very good but not as good as some other brands IMHO. I believe their quality has slipped some lately.

SK - good but sometimes hard to find and ergonomically not my cup of tea.

Kobalt (Lowes) for the price they are very good and very affordable.

Husky - ehhh, not so great.

Harbor Freight - not for me and mostly cheap junk. Some stuff is OK, but I am not a HF Guy! Can't be bothered with exchanges, returns and wasting time!

 

[moralem]

For 80 years Wright Tool out of Ohio makes sone pricey hand tools made in America.....but they have already paid for themselves....

 

[bigwheelzip]

We inherited a 90 year old set of tools that were mostly J.H. Williams and Klein. Very impressed with the quality. I've read the Williams tools are still very good.

 

[DeathGrip]

Another vote for Klein. Every electrician I've ever known uses their lineman's pliers and most are equipped with a 1/4 flat screwdriver. They use those drivers in the most abusive ways too. Very common to use the pliers as a hammer and the driver as a punch to remove knockout slugs and also tightening the conduit fixtures. I got in the habit of using the pliers as a slap hammer and still to this day use them that way.

 

[MORSNO]

Another vote for Klein. Every electrician I've ever known uses their lineman's pliers and most are equipped with a 1/4 flat screwdriver. They use those drivers in the most abusive ways too. Very common to use the pliers as a hammer and the driver as a punch to remove knockout slugs and also tightening the conduit fixtures. I got in the habit of using the pliers as a slap hammer and still to this day use them that way.

The D2000 line of Klein Lineman's and Side Cutter's (dykes) can also be used to cut steel bolts without damaging the cutter's edge...It's sweet!