and if you watch, NAPA has some smokin sales a couple times a year


Oh here is another comment on snap-on. They will only take care of you if you are a tool *****. When I was spending 200 a week on the truck I had no problem getting what I needed. As soon as I closed shop and paid them down they didn't have the time of day for me. I only owed them 3000 on my big toolbox which I had put in storage and they still wanted me to keep making the big payments, wouldn't refinance even though I had been a sterling customer for many years and did all the service and repair on my dealers van. The regional manager used to bring his family out to my cabin to go snowmobiling. They have a few trick items but for the most part they have no desire to deal with the guy who only makes an occasional cash purchase. Forget them I say, but it's personal to me.

 

They have great tools, we know this. Willowbilly pretty much summed it up though. They love to sell big $7000 tool boxes and A/C machines and all that "gravy" but they are getting so big they hate to be bothered by a guy who wants a few small items now and then.
It's good to have a current Strap-On catalog to find the tool you want, then you'll find OTC makes most of them and OTC are simply Strap-On's without the name stamped in them. I recently got the Hydra-Krimp A/C line thing online and saved about $230 by leaving the Strap-On guy out of the picture.

 

Yeah, Airbrush is right on there. Most of snap-on's bigger stuff is made by some one else. Black and Decker makes their grinders but snap on gets nearly double for putting their name on them. I bought their biggest 110 volt wire feed only to find that I had a Twenirth Century that I paid about double for. Still their wrenches definately top shelf, but consider that you can buy a whole set on sale at NAPA for about what one wrench from Snap-Off costs. I have several sets of Snap-On wrenches and wouldn't trade them for anything. But I would also never buy them again.
And if you aren't a regular customer, like one of the stops for a dealer, you have to chase him down and get treated like a redheaded step kid while he takes care of his regulars.

 

I would stay away from pawn shop air tools. They may run up ok in the store and still have no power when you really put them to work. Most of them aren't a very long life tool when they are in constant use. I used to replace my favorite ones about once a year. One of my favorite airtools was the Ingersol-Rand reactionless 3/8 air rachet. These are great but pricey and short lived. Of course for a hobbiest one would last for several years. Still the first air tool to buy is the old stand=by 1/2 impact.

 

If you are set on some Snap-On tools and don't want to or can't chase the local dealer down there is an online Snap-On site where you can buy their tools

https://buy.snapon.com/_mem_bin/formslogin.asp

I have no idea how the online prices or selection compare to the local dealer's.

RussA

 

Fordman - For whatever it's worth to you, I just retired after 34 years of turning wrenches for the worlds largest package delivery service. Throughout those years I have used almost every brand going, but when it came to my own tool buying it was nothing but Craftsman, unless it was a special tool they didn't make. There is no way to justify the extremely high cost of SnapOn in my opinion, and I never had a problem with Sears adjusting something that got broken, even if it was through abuse. I also found the heavier bodied Craftsman tools more comfortable in my hand when pulling hard on them. As a matter of fact, after my retirement, I went through my tools and culled out the limited number of SnapOn that I had and sold them on E-Bay. The Craftsman Professional line is also every bit eye apealing as the SnapOn if that is important to you. I also found the SnapOn dealers to be obnoxious when it came time to warranty something unless you had a history of big time weekly purchases from them.Just my two cents worth, but hope it helps.

 

Craftsman ratchets will drop the socket if you push the button, trying to yank a greasy socket off of one of the other brands' slick chrome can be nearly impossible if it's oily. In fact, I really wouldn't prefer really "slick tools". I don't feed guests off of them, I use them to put sheet together. In all fairness, Strap-On tools were peaked in about 1976. They weren't crazy with the prices yet and they loved to make customers happy. No metal toy cars, no nascar hats and lighters, no "special collectors edition screwdriver sets" ...the swimsuit calanders were just coming out but nobody cared, they went on the truck to get tools. Back then I got whoever had the best deal and in-stock. I worked for a living and couldn't store broken cars while I waited for the cords for a dwell meter or something. I bought a lot of plum, proto and always loved the craftsman ratchets. I had an employee melt a nutdriver when he used it in a non-approved welding procedure. They gave him a new one down at the mall! The thing looked like it did the backstroke through a foundry but they didn't care over at sears. They used to be that way with their car and boat batteries too.
Some of the "S-K" tools are OK, but I'm getting way off topic soon.

 

I have a snap-on 3/8 rachet with the push button release. Unfortunatly it has their scrawny slick handle and infamous coarse tooth count. I also have 3/8 and 1/4 snap on swivel rachets that are the best. Fine toothed and they swivel on an axis that is right through the center of the head. These are the only swivel rachets I have ever used that didn't slip off and get you knuckles peeled. The design makes for a head that is a bit bulky though, and if I remember right those 2 rachets cost 138.00 in 1991. As much as I dislike snap-on corporately, I am glad I made that purchase. And I never have a problem with sockets stayng on or being difficult to get off with greasy handswith them. I do use the Craftsman 1/2 inch drive quick release rachet because the sockets stay on and don't fall off. I use a S-k long handled 1/2 inch rachet and have found it to be tougher than a breaker bar( so named I believe because of their tendency to break)
Other great brands of the past, Williams Superwrench, Bonney, Plumb, Proto.
Here is a comparison between S-K and Craftsman. I have each of their 3/4 inch drive sets. We were doing some undercarriage work on a D-7 Cat. I was using a 2 foot cheater on the craftsman rachet and broke 3 of them one day. (yes, every time I traipsed into the store they gave me a new one) Well I brought in my S-K set the next day and we had a 6 foot cheater on that rachet with 2 guys bouncing on it and it took the punishment. I was young then and wouldn't treat the old girl like that nowdays.
I agree with Airbrush on the slick finish but the reason for it is to make them stronger. The snap-on wrenches are a bit thin in the hand. I prefer my Mac wrenches over my snap-on ones, but you have you get used to the Macs being angled backwards from most other wrenches

 

i've never had a problem with snap on replacing broken tools. the mac guy was a different story.... just dont try to get a discount from my snap on rep he doesnt budge 1 cent from list price, but if you break it, he fixes it 100% of the time.

 

It depends a lot on the dealer.
The Snap-on dealer where I am can be counted on to show up every 2nd Tuesday, will make you a deal, will let you pay "next time" and doesnt argue about broken tools.
The Mac dealer we had would show up every few months usually and wonder why no one wanted to buy anything off him.
Anyone here use any Armstrong tools? I dont have any but they look good.

 

Aaron,
I'm in a similar situation to you, Finished my B.A. and B.E. Last year, not making all that much, and trying to flesh out a workable tool box.

Here's my guiding principles:

If I only want to pay for it once, I buy the craftsman. We have a 'sears hardware' store locally with good selection, adn by watching the sales you can do pretty well. Just avaoid getting suckered into the big "X number of peice" sets. They tend to have lots of screwdriver bits etc.

If I only ever want to own one, and replacing it would be unacceptable, I'll look at Mac Matco Snap-on etc. So far, nothing has fallen into this category.

If I need an impromptu prybar or something to bang on, I'll go for the el cheapo. keep it hidden away in a dark drawer in your tool chest so you don't accidentally use it when you need a real tool.

The folks here have good advice though, figure out what you really want from a tool, and what you want to spend. Then, Above all, take care of your tools.

Good Luck
~Paris