06-22-2006, 09:46 AM
Craftsman is the price/performance sweet spot for hobbyists. Much cheaper than the Tool Truck brands, lifetime warranty, and still good construction.
Harbor Freight has some very good tools for very cheap if you know what to buy. The trick is not to get the ultra cheap version of a tool. I bought a $7 set of metric wrenches and they were horrible. I bought a $15 set of metric wrenches and I love them.
Some notables are: Impact sockets, Pittsburgh Longhandle wrenches.
Gearwrenches are a requirement. Love mine, Ive bought 2 sets.
I also bought the Gear Ratchet set made by the same company. It has some advantages over regular ratchet/socket sets but it wont completely replace them.
IMO tool sets are pretty useless. The only thing I still use out of my huge set are the ratchets and a few sockets that I havent lost yet. RJs all metric set is pretty nice though, if I was starting over Id probably get that.
Harbor Freight has some very good tools for very cheap if you know what to buy. The trick is not to get the ultra cheap version of a tool. I bought a $7 set of metric wrenches and they were horrible. I bought a $15 set of metric wrenches and I love them.
Some notables are: Impact sockets, Pittsburgh Longhandle wrenches.
Gearwrenches are a requirement. Love mine, Ive bought 2 sets.
I also bought the Gear Ratchet set made by the same company. It has some advantages over regular ratchet/socket sets but it wont completely replace them.
IMO tool sets are pretty useless. The only thing I still use out of my huge set are the ratchets and a few sockets that I havent lost yet. RJs all metric set is pretty nice though, if I was starting over Id probably get that.