If money was no object I would have a lot more snap-on in my collection, on top of the crafstman and mac that i use also.

 

well, it goes like this...

you buy plain old Craftsman, guess what, its not built to be a every day tool.

buy Craftsman Pro, and it is, and will perform just as well as any old Snap-on sold for a 35% or better mark up. plus Sears has NEVER hassled me about replacing tools. My friend cant say the same about his Snap-on tools.

I make a part of my living with tools, and let me tell you, there is no better line of hand tools to use than Craftsman Pro. They are so darn comfortable to use, and very very durable. I beat the crap out of my tools, and they keep coming back for more.

and here are a few examples of why I go Craftsman, every time.

I once broke my Craftsman Pro needle nose pliers, broke the tip right off. It was clearly my fault, and owner mistreatment that caused it. (don't use needle nose pliers as a prying tool, it doesn't work so well... ) I took it into Sears, clerk got the tool name, and away I walked with a brand new $23 pair of pliers.

I have a Craftsman socket set, circa 1989ish, which all three drivers were wore out (doesn't matter what brand they are, the kind of use those things saw in that 19 year period, whatever you have would've been wore out too!). I took them back, and walked out of the store less than 3 minutes later with 3 completely refurbished drivers.

and I am taking back a pair of wire strippers I have that I bought at the beginning of my Electrical career, about 3 years ago, 4 this December, simply because the rivet that holds the little clamp on to keep it closed is loose. They will replace it, no questions asked. you find me another tool brand that is so forgiving and so honorable to their tool policy, and I'll be impressed.

I look at Craftsman like this. Buy it cheaper. Its a one time investment, and when you break it, free no hassle replacement. for as long as you physically own any Craftsman tool.

oh, and apparently Kobalt tools are made in the same plant as Snap-on, and I happen to really like Kobalt as well. I own quite a few Kobalt wrenches, and they do what I need them to.

And to the plumber that said about Ridgid pipe wrenches, you are 100% correct. they are the best damn pipe wrenches out there, hands down.

many tools are that way really, one company makes the best of a certain tool. I will admit I have a few Klein hand tools in my tool pouch, as no one can beat Klein in comfort when it comes to screwdrivers. (I own a set of Snap-On screw drivers, and I'm not impressed at all...) Nor can anyone make a better crimper/cutter tool. or nut drivers for that matter. and Irwin, they make some of the best channel locks, utility knife blades (the gold ones), drill bits, and tape measures (straight-lock) out there. Lenox, hands down, makes the best hole saws, I'd never even consider a different brand. I have a few more specialty tool companies I could mention favortism towards, but its all electrical tools from here on out.

haha, see, I'm not biased!

 

Finding a craftsman screwdriver on the side of the road that has been run over twenty times and trading it in for a new one is priceless.

 

CANADIAN TIRE MASTER CRAFT!!!
if it looks cheap i dont buy it..
if it breaks you bring it back to canadian tire new one no questions asked

 

It really depends on whether or not you make your living using those tools. I have a cabinet full of MAC and Snap-On tools. If you have a good dealer, they will take care of anything worn or broken. If you have a bad dealer, you have a bad dealer.

The quality of Craftsman/Mastercraft tools has come a long way. Most of my spare tools and stuff that I keep around the truck's spares box will be of this variety. Not used daily.

 

In my opinion, Snap-On is about as good as it gets,Mac, Matco, and others are very good too, but I like Snap-On above all.

That being said, unless you are working with the tools every day as a professional mechanic, you are spending too much on tools buying anything off a truck. For your casual mechanic, Craftsman gets the job done at a way more affordable rate. Snap-On isn't overhyped- but probably overkill for most guys. I still own a bunch that I bought when I was turning wrenches for a living, but I have lots of other tools that function just fine.


Of course, if money is no object to you, you can't buy a better tool. If you are like me, and money is very much an object, then save your money for mods and use Craftsman.

Just my two cents...

 

They are amazing, My Dad has a set and they're the best I've ever seen.


They are the best but we sometimes get milwaukee too. Milwaukee Hole Hawgs are an amazing Drill, we've got two and we've had them as long as I can remember and they've only required little service work. Any tradesmen that drils through alot of studs and beams should In my Opinion, have a hole hawg, what an amazing drill! Our milwaukee hammer drill took a pretty good beating before we had to replace it too.

 

oh yeah, anything power tool wise, the only things that go in my tool box are Milwaukee and DeWalt. I swear up and down by those brands. pretty much any corded tool will be a Milwaukee and cordless will be DeWalt. Milwaukee cordless tools are nice, but they just don't seem to hold up as long as any DeWalt I've owned... though my next purchase is a 1/2" chuck Milwaukee angle drill. those with Irwin Speed-bore bits chew through studs like a knife through butter. and hands down, Milwaukee has the absolute best portable band saw you will ever use. and hammer drills (unless you go Hilti, but thats a whole different league...).

 

i have a broken Matco die grinder, when lever is pressed, just air passing throu the chuck won't turn. i called Matco customer service asking if their dealer would stop by at my work to take a look at it. and that was 6 months, 3 phone calls ago, no one ever showed up. consider there is a major bodyshop in the same industry park here just 50 yards away from my warehouse, the rep never knocked on my door, i know he goes every week. instead, i bought a cheapo Harborfreight one for $9.95, good or bad, it beats a broken Matco. that's how i rate them.

on the other hand, i emailed MAC about some tools needs repair, i got reply in 2 days and all the info i needed regarding the procedures. i shiped 2 rachets and 2 impact guns. they FedEx overnight'd 2 brand new rachets back within 3 days after they received them, and the 2 impact guns were repaired and back in my hands the next week. all those no charge, not even the return shipping. i just paid the shipping to MAC. that's customer service.

as for Matco, they do their repair and warranty via dealer ONLY.

 

Man... you have no idea how many times I've done that... Sockets and wrenches too...

Other than air tools, the only Snap Ons I have were found on the side of the highway. And, I got the air tools off of eBay. Most of the stuff I buy is Craftsman, but then again, I'm just a weekend wrencher.

By the way, Craftsman, Matco, Napa and Kobalt are all about the same, because they're all made by Danaher. Heard a recruiting commercial on the radio a few months ago for Danaher that mentioned all of the above as the brands they design and produce.

 

This week I found an old tool box of my grandfathers with some really old Snap on tools that are rusted and I was told the Snap-On man will give me replacements for them.. And if some have to be broken I was told he would break them for me to get them replaced.

I personally like Snap-On tools I have some but I can't everything I need from them right now so I use Craftsman Professional which is step down but still very good tools.

I'll keep you guys posted on whether or not the Snap-On tools guy warranties these Snap-On tools.

 

many people like snap on a bunch but i am not impressed with them. i have broken more snap on tools than greatneck tools. just my experience.

 

I like Snap-On for one reason:
Their sockets, for whatever reason, won't strip bolts as easy. Also, they
tend to be able to loosen pre-stripped bolts.

Not sure if they're manufactered with stricter tolerances and measurements,
or if its magic, or what.

However, I broke the handle on my Blue-Point rubber mallet fairly easily.
Wasn't too happy about that..

 

I personally like Snap-On because our seller is always there to replace anything that breaks even if it's not warranty. I recently had our diesel tech bend 2 of my 1/2" drive 36" long breaker bars trying to bump the starter on diesels in order to replace the waterpump. My Snap-On rep just simply said to bend the bar back straight and he would be able to replace it, otherwise the Snap-On company will not replace it as we used a "cheater bar" for more leverage. I really like how thin the wrenches are as they tend to get into tight engine components more easily.
I tend to believe it's just who the tool dealer is. If he's an absolute butthole the you won't like the tools. Our Cornwell man is just crooked and not really willing to work with me so I do not like to buy tools from him. Our Snap-On man is really cool and even gets to know us on a personal level so I buy the majority of tools from them. I do not like Crapsman tools anymore. Sears or KMart in my area is hard to return tools and most of the salemen are just a pain to deal with. I enjoy the convenience of not driving 10 miles out of my way to get a tool replaced when I can wait until the next week for the tool truck to replace it almost instantly or even the next week when ordered.

 

Depends ENTIRELY if you work for a shop the SnapOn (or MATCO, MAC, Cornwell, etc) man stops at. If I break a tool, I know I can find a Sears not too far aways... Craftsman for me.

 

I'm an industrial mechanic, and I personally think Snapon is overated. However, they do carry a lot of automotive specialty tools. I use Craftsman mostly. I have broken both Snapon and Craftsman tools. I think sometimes it depends on the tool. I have a set of standard hex bit sockets that are Craftsman I paid 30 bucks for and I have broken all of them and had to replace them. I bought a set of metric hex sockets at Harbour Freight, paid 7 bucks for them and have yet to break a single one. Go figure!

 

for me, i like Snap-On.. where i work we have a awesome snap-on dealer who gives some good hook ups from time to time.. and the biggest factor is that he comes to me and will warranty things hands down with no questions asked. iv been trying to pedal off and and using my craftsman stuff at work, though they are all i use here at home. i seem to break the wrenches and sockets to easy and it was getting annoying driveing across town to sears to replace them.. ill admit im very hard on my tools but iv only had one of my snap-on tools break on me, and its was compleatly my fault.. 3 foot cheater pipe on a 2ft beaker bar lol as for mac... junk IMO.. ofcorse i do have a lousy dealer who seems to not want to warranty anything and never carries any thing on his truck... from what iv found alot of the mac stuff he sells looks like glorified harbor freight stuff.. and it usually says made in china or indoneisia or tiwan on it.. i hear there air tools are decent tho.. but thats because Ingersol Rand makes the majority of them i beleve.... dont take this wrong, im not saying that craftsman.. mac.. or other brands are crap.. but i have had good luck with snap-on and i personaly dont mind payin extra for something that i use daily

 

I'm not a mechanic I am a shade tree mechanic. I bought my whole 200+ crafstman set of tools for what rocket paid for a used 13 piece snap-on set.

I say buy what you like and what you can afford Crafstman isn't the best but its not the worst and I've always been able to buy the tool I need for the job and leave me more money to spend on my truck which is why I bought the tools in the first place :-)

 

True story: My co-worker in the machine shop I used to work at puts his 1/4 x 12" Snap-On extension on the work bench. It rolls off, onto the floor. It breaks into two pieces. I watched it happen. I personally would buy Hazet, if you can afford it. I usually can't.

 

Snap-on is crazy expensive, when we had the tool show at school mac and snap on came. I went with snapon but man, i think i paid 1200$ just for 1/4 of the master craft kit i got..
none the less, im ordering a couple taps/dies this week.. we get a pretty good discount for being students