15 replies to this topic

[Southy]

Right its come too that time at work now where I no longer can keep borrowing the other lads tools and I need to make that leap into buying my own....

Ive already bought myself some bits and pieces and stuff but im after some rachets, sockets and spanners etc

The main question I wish to ask is, do people rate Signet tools?Ive used a fair bit of there products whilst borrowing another lads at work and they seem ok too myself and they arent too badly priced at around £20 for a 9pc socket set and rail.

Is there any other tool brands out there people would recommend?
I personally dont rate Snap On gear myself, think your just paying for the brand name where as the tool quality is no better than some cheaper alternatives.
Has Draper tools lacked decent quality in later years or is it just me?

Your oppinions and views and very much welcome
Regards
Adam

[HARBER07]

Tengtools, Bahco, Stanley, Bluepoint (basically Snap-on), Clarke. Just a selection of what i use, and everything is spot on! Never had any troubles.

[minivanman]

halfords pro stuffs ok too, specially if you can get discount on it. Lifetime guarantee too. Personally I like snap on stuff, it really is well designed, feels really nice. That said, there was already a load of it in the garage, I couldnt justify buying it myself for the amount I use it.

[rosco454]

I have a mixture mostly made up of teng and halfords professional,the latter comes with a lifetime guarantee and cant rate them highly enough.My other stuff is more expensive when ive been feeling flush on ebay and splashed out a bit and went wild lol.

I have a smallish draper roll cab for my welder/metalwork gear but no experience of their hand tools as such - cab has been no trouble though and feels well made.
The only clarke thing i have is an old ratchet i acquired/stole from a friend and the lever for the ratchet is too long and always knocks your hand while turning and knocks it into "neutral" if you get what i mean?

Overall i would recommend the halfords pro range as it will suit most budgets and is good quality.

[RobG295]

I've got a set of draper expert stuff...Very good quality in my opinion, given the socket set a lot of abuse over the few years i've had it and not had any problems at all! The case even survived being driven over after i left it under the car!!

[AndrewJ530]

My dad used to own his own mechanics garage and only ever bought snap on or britool.

All of his tools are still going strong today even the ones he bought like 20 years ago so i'd say for longevity, get snap on.

Is britool still going by the way?

[Broomer]

My dad used to own his own mechanics garage and only ever bought snap on or britool.

All of his tools are still going strong today even the ones he bought like 20 years ago so i'd say for longevity, get snap on.

Is britool still going by the way?

Yes Britool is still going.

[Southy]

Cheers for the advice so far people any more oppinions out there?

[Dan]

Has Draper tools lacked decent quality in later years or is it just me?

No they haven't gone down hill lately, they've just always been garbage. Any tools I've ever had break have been from Draper (except for one Snap-On socket), good thing they're cheap. When my dad was an apprentice engineer he bought a few Draper socket sets and tool kits, then threw the contents in the skip, started buying his proper Snap-On stuff and kept it all in the Draper boxes. Nobody ever wanted to nick any of it. Here are some of my thoughts on tools for you, hope it helps.

Britool, strong as anything. Possibly made of Kryptonite. Heavy, robust. Hard to find.

Snap-On, inventors of the entire modular socket set concept. Great stuff but pricey and not indestructable. The no-questions-asked lifetime guarantee makes up for that though and the van will probably come to you once a week where you work so getting any replacement stuff that you might rarely need is very easy. They do make tools under other names so you might get their stuff in other people's sets but without the guarantee.

Blue Point, Snap-On by another name. Traditionally the name for Snap-On brand air tools but that's all changed a bit lately. Presumably a seperate company once upon a time.

Facom, just as good as Snap-On but about 2/3 the price. Exact same no-questions lifetime guarantee but you have to go to the tool shop yourself to get new tools and replacements usually have to be ordered because they tend to stock things as full kits only.

Teng, never used any but good reputation.

Bahco, tend not to be mechanics or engineers tools. Make a lot of plumbers and general tools, water pump pliers and hacksaws and the like. I don't believe they do sockets or pullers or any special tools but they might do. Might be the new name for Sandvik I think.

Stanley, good for knives and tape measures. Everything else is a bit domestic I think. Their sockets and spanners appear to come from the same foundry as Clarke, Halfords Pro and some of the Draper brands (Draper own about 8 other major tool companies) but seem lighter to me and appear not to hold an edge. Their screwdrivers really don't hole their profile well at all. No lifetime guarantee I believe.

Halfords Pro / Expert, very good for a high street brand and will certainly do for most applications whether you're a professional or home mechanic. Lifetime guarantee on all except ratchet mechanisms and torque calibration (I suppose that's the same with the other guarantees too). As above they appear to come from a central foundry that may prove to be owned by Draper but Halfords back them with the guarantee. In theory easy to get but not all components are stocked in all places and if you want an individual imperial socket, tough. Actually getting them to honour the guarantee for anything they don't have a single unit of on the shelf (like something you can usually only get in a pack) is tricky in my experience.

Draper, never again.

Clarke, are they available outside Machine Mart? Good looking stuff but always seems to come in oddly arranged sets that either don't quite include everything you want or contain far too much. Possibly from a Draper foundry. No Guarantee to my knowledge.

Sealey, are they available from anywhere other than Demon Tweeks? In all respects seems to be very similar to Clarke to be honest.

Just my opinion.

[Southy]

Thanks very much for choices and oppinions of tool companies Dan.

Ive used Northern Tools & Equipment for a number of stuff and I know they deal with Sealey gear and it comes direct from them as ive just bought a few bits and pieces.

[Dan]

A lot of my work buddies are getting a lot of stuff from Northern Tool now, I'll have to get a catalogue.

I must admit I've never heard of Signet tools. Never used or even seen anything from them.

[Southy]

to be honest neither had I really till I started using these from a colleague at work.

I personally think that the Northern Tool site is better than the catalogue as its got soo much more avaiable on it as ive found out after recieveing the latest one with my recent order.
Both myself and father have been using them for the past 5 years or so and never had any real problems with them.
Northern Tool's

[Guess-Works.com]

Britool are now made by Facom ( or at least I think they are ), which are still good.

For ease of access etc, and high street bought tools, you can't beat Halfords Pro'

I have some old Snap/Blue point pieces which have stood the test of time.

If you're starting from scratch, simply buy the best you can afford, and if it breaks ( and not protected by a lifetime warranty ) replace with something which is.

Edited by GuessWorks.co.uk, 01 April 2009 - 07:04 PM.

[kgb]

Ive got a set of signet rachet spanners which are very good quality and nice finish.

[ANON]

i just bought a huge set from costco, can't remember the make and to be honest i haven't heard of them anyway.
the ratchets aren't anything to shout about but the sockets and spanners are good.
1/4 3/8 + 1/2 drives/sockets start from 3.5mm and go upto about 24mm, don't know what size the olde worlde starts from but they go upto 1"

metric and olde worlde spanners, ratchet spanners,combi and open end. hydraulic spanners, screw drivers, allen keys, torx drivers and loads of other stuff for just over £200

i've got britool stuf that i've had for well over 20 years and to be honest i can see the ones i've bought lasting as long

Edited by ANON, 01 April 2009 - 08:15 PM.