Tool Brand

What is your favorite tool brand and why?

Also what is your favorite tool from that brand, anything is welcome!

Hand tools: Proto!
I love the Proto chevron-logo combination wrenches. Absolute favorite.

I like my Aloris tool post sets on my lathes.

My Starrett telescoping gauges have the best feel to me. I have a Mitutoyo set, and it is hard for me to get accurate measurements with them (I need more practice).

I really like my Mitutoyo micrometers.

Lincoln on welders, for sure!

List could go on...

If you would like to keep naming go ahead!
I am currently using a pair of hand me downs Mitutoyo dial calipers from my cousin. I love them! I have not gotten my hands on a set of micrometers either. But have had a chance to borrow a digital Mitutoyo Micrometer from a buddy at work one afternoon, loved that thing!

crb06 said:

What is your favorite tool brand and why?

Also what is your favorite tool from that brand, anything is welcome!

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Ask 10 different people and chances are you'll get 10 different answers.

How many get to try many different brands?

Starrett C316R scale, Starrett 1 inch mics, Helios 6" dial caliper, Brown and Sharpe Intrermics, Sylvac height gage. Because they have remained accurate with daily use for the last 15 - 20 years.

Starrett scales for the depth/clarity of the hash marks, for mics it would be old B&S or Etalon, DTI it's Interapid, Intermics it's B&S again, dial calipers are Mitutoyo for the smooth feel and the easier manner to dis-assemble for cleaning. For tooling I like the Harig Grind All, Hermann Schmidt, Taft-Pierce, Size Control, Omer Robbins for the quality construction and feel. Oh and wish I had one of RJ's Newbould indexers just because.

I bought older Lufkin precision tools when I could; B&S when I couldn't. I bought older Plumb pebble pattern wrenches when I could; Proto standard style when I couldn't.

crb06 said:

What is your favorite tool brand and why?

Also what is your favorite tool from that brand, anything is welcome!

Click to expand...

Why don't you just go to a tool market or fair, look and try AND THEN ASK about what caught your eye.

Not saying you'll get bad advice in PM but it'll only be about what people know. Much too will be about tools from "the good old days" when everything apparently was better.

Gordon B. Clarke said:

Much too will be about tools from "the good old days" when everything apparently was better.

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Well of course it was when looking back from now because all of the real rubbish and most of the so-so kit got dumped years ago.

Pretty much all of the older equipment you see on the market now is mid to high end gear. Often filtered by years of use by skilled toolmakers and the like who needed decent, reliable equipment to keep making money by turning a good nob in in reasonable time. Unaffordable new on apprentice, just starting out and machine operator with aspirations money. Heck my first dial gauge was a Unique, about thruppence three farthing used down from 5 bob, or maybe 'alf a crown, new. My first micrometer was a mail order no-name of somewhat dubious and uneven accuracy for probably the price of a couple of pints. Which is about when I learned not to trust mail order. Nice case tho'. Still have them for nostalgia. To be fair, the Unique is remarkably accurate considering its basically a needle in a folded sheet of embossed tin. Seen "looks the proper part but worse performance" for proper money.

Have maybe £500 - £ 600 in conventional measurement gear about the place these days. Lord knows what it would have cost new from the shop but its all either very good used or new old stock when bought :-

Micrometers full sets 1" to 12" and 25 mm to 325 mm by Moore & Wright, Starrett, Tesa a few duplicates, both styes of M&W 2", a tube mike and Mitutoyo multi anvil 1" to 6" which never gets used.

Verniers:- daily drivers are full set heavy duty M&W, with the long vernier scale, up to 2 ft and a couple of decent brand ordinary 6" ones.

Dial calipers :- Mitutoyo 8" and 200 mm, M&W 6" and 150 mm.

Internal micrometers to 6" and 150 mm, 3 off one Starrett, two M&W not sure which is which without looking.

One full set of M&W telescoping gauges, one half set and all the small bore companion set. Plus a few extra odd ones.

Depth micrometer sets:- M&W 0 to 6", Starrett 0 to 150, B&S 0 to 2". Also 2 Starrett 12"-300 mm depth vernier sets one with both scales one with only the long one plus a couple of no name 8" 200 mm ones for ruff and loaner jobs.

Maybe 10 or 12 dial gauges, all good makes. Lever and plunger covering pretty much all the normal sensitivities. One day I need to do a proper census.

Both styles of M&W bevel protractors with the accessory long rulers and a half decent version of the weird quadrant one got for one job and, thankfully, returned to store. Starrett combination square, like what everyone has, of course.

Height gauges one Mitutoyo 300 mm vernier, APE Microball in 300 mm and 12".

Only digital gauge I have is a supermarket special. Unused since the battery died and un-missed. Unless you count three sets of nano-metre sensitive Heidenhain probes and readouts which bumps up the investment a bit more. As do metric & imperial new old stock sets of Weber gauge blocks. Various other assorted useful items hoovered up at nearly know money when offered by the unknowing before throwing away. Even with these still probably less than £1,000 in there.

Should really thin the list via E-Bay but the return hardly seems worth the hassle. Sometimes loaner gear is handy.

Wouldn't replace it all if I lost the lot but ...

Clive

Originally Posted by Gordon B. Clarke
Much too will be about tools from "the good old days" when everything apparently was better.

Clive603 said:

Well of course it was when looking back from now because all of the real rubbish and most of the so-so kit got dumped years ago.
Clive

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Are you agreeing or disagreeing with my quote? Did you find much of the "old stuff" rubbish? How far back are you going?

I visited M&W about 25 years ago while they were still in Sheffield but even then they made very little themselves.
I wonder how many, yourself included, think about how many of the brands I've seen mentioned in this thread are in fact are all owned by one corporation?

It's not good "business" to get cheap product brand names associated with expensive brand names so it's best to let customers think they are dealing with different companies.

crb06 said:

What is your favorite tool brand and why?

Also what is your favorite tool from that brand, anything is welcome!

Click to expand...

I personally like starrett tools, but I'm not married to them. I can't say I have a favorite tool because each tool has a job. And I've selected those tools for that job...I do have some tools I've made for myself, mostly when I started out and i would say they are my favorite because they truly are mine.

Herman Schmidt for grinding and 3R for EDM. Hardinge collets for 5c and R8. Nikken for Cat 40 tool hoders. Mititoyo or Helios for drop indicators, Interepid for test. Old saying," The pain of the original cost will long be forgotten after years of trouble free use ". Or something along those lines.