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Starter wrench sets?

georgee1

Aluminum
Joined
May 19, 2014
Location
chicago suburb, il, usa
Looking to round off my tool box more. I want to get a full set of sae and metric. Any opinions on choice between tekton and gear wrench sets? I know they are crap compared to snap on tools. I just can't afford those yet. And should they be ratcheted?
 
Don't believe all the hype about Snap-on I work as a professional mechanic and have Snap-on , Matco and Craftsman wrenches in my box. The Craftsman's work as well as the others and are the first set I bought as a kid . I am not sure that new Craftsman is the same quality as my 30 year old ones but I think you could pay more for worse still . Bill
 
I have a large mix of wrenches (60 years worth), Tektron is one. I haven't found a bad wrench in my life. Some are obviously better finished than others. I usually try to keep one of each size needed at each machine to cut down on hunting time. I usually buy good looking CHEAP tools for the purpose. They all fit with no rounded fasteners and no broken wrenches. When you need to modify a wrench (bend, thin, etc) it pays to doit™ to a cheap one.

 
I probably have 20+ sets of wrenches at various locations (Armstrong, Gedore, Snap-on etc. etc.). Don't know about Tektron, but the Taiwanese Gear Wrench set (full polish ratcheting box, with a directional switch) has held up OK. Generally speaking, I think Gear Wrench is a good value.

Harry Epstein often has close-out American, German etc. wrenches available. The big exodus of quality US brands was a while ago; but there still might still be something to your liking: HJE Industrial Quality Hand Tool Liquidation, Closeouts and Surplus American Made Hand Tools Biggest problem would be getting a replacement if you break one (not likely with, say, a box end set; more likely with a ratchet) or if you lose one.

HJE Industrial Quality Hand Tool Liquidation, Closeouts and Surplus American Made Hand Tools
 
I prefer the industrial brands. I have a full set of Proto "anti-slip" combination wrenches. You can get them on ebay for reasonable prices. Armstrong are good but are now orphaned by Apex.

I rarely use ratcheting wrenches. Just a personal preference.
 
After reading the title of this thread then all the responses I thought maybe I had temporary brain damage. Just to clarify...a starter wrench is a 'thing', it's a wrench that is bent in such a fashion to access bolts on a automotive starter.

I couldn't understand why the OP might want a complete set of these in metric and SAE.:)


Stuart
 
I buy used wrenches now. Last set of new ones I bought was a DeWalt brand from sears. They are so oversized they are guaranteed to round off a bolt head. I have quite a bit of Snap On that I bought New Years ago that was some of the best money I ever spent.
 
I prefer the industrial brands. I have a full set of Proto "anti-slip" combination wrenches. You can get them on ebay for reasonable prices. Armstrong are good but are now orphaned by Apex.

I rarely use ratcheting wrenches. Just a personal preference.

Wright is my favorite brand... You can find good buys on Ebay.
 
What the other grey-hairs said.

My choice, 1950's to present-day, was Sherman-Klove -> SK-Wayne, -> SK.
I had to buy ONE socket each 88-cent-an-hour payday at first.

Metric was a need, but not yet an easy option. I made-do with 1/32'ds socket sizes, and even at least one 1/64ths size.

Fill-in was, and remains "Wright" tools. Snap-on are for lending to others, no need to bother returning them, thanks. Craftsman are not what they used to be, if even they EVER were.

Everyday workaround while building up to the nearly 60-year plateau is a simple one:

Eschew "12 point" nut-rounder sockets altogether. Go and buy the handiest of SIX-POINT black-oxide-not-Chrome finished "impact" wrench sockets - even HF, Lowe's "Kobalt", or HD "Husky" - and use them manually - with your FIRST "uber-good" purchase.

S-K or Wright RATCHETS, breaker bars, speeders, Tee-handles, extensions, and 1/4-3/8 - 1/2-3/4-1" bothway adapters.

Do NOT skimp on ANY of THOSE items.

Fill-in with better sockets, deep well, thinwall, EXTRA deep, and EXTRA EXTRA deep, plus box, open, combo (both short and long..), and self-ratcheting wrenches as you can do.

Also 8-point for squares, Hex/Allen sockets, spline-drive, "Penta" Socket (Jaguar electric parking brakes...) and Torx.

By this late stage in life, I also have Metric and US open-end crowfoot, Metric & US flare crowfoot, and Metric & US combo flare-nut wrenches.

Lots of folks can go a long lifetime and never realize just how much easier a good flare-nut wrench set can make certain tasks, nor how much easier an Allen or Torx socket-wrench adapter vs ignorant "Ell" can work.

Crowfoot need - they are an abomination, actually - is REALLY rare, but when you need 'em, (down inside a water-meter box, last go) nothing else will do, if only for lack of space.

4CW
 
Unless you are in an automotive shop where $$$BRAND$$$ names and "billet" are a thing, who
cares what the name is, as long as it works well enough.

Growing up, I didn't even know anybody else made tools except for Craftsman, I have a bunch,
but you wouldn't catch me dead buying a "new" craftsman anything, especially a ratchet.
I've thrown all those course tooth POS's right in the garbage.. Though I keep my eye
out for the old fine tooth ratchets.

The blue and orange giant hardware stores, believe it or not, have some pretty decent tools.
Kobalt "locking pliers" are better than the new Chinese vise-grips at half the price.

The orange unmentionable store actually has some pretty decent stuff now also..
Better than Craftsman.. They have some ratchets with extendable handles that
are far better than any other ratchet I've ever used and damn near indestructible
(and I've TRIED), and for about $15 each, how can you go wrong. I don't like
saying that, but they are awesome ratchets.

If you want fancy names, hit the flea markets. There are always people with boxes
of old wrenches for a $1 a piece or something... A lot of 'em are crap, but sometimes
you can find a little treasure down at the bottom of the box.


I guess the question is, are we looking for "bang for the buck" or are we
trying to impress other people with names and prices??
 
I guess the question is, are we looking for "bang for the buck" or are we
trying to impress other people with names and prices??

Amen.

"Core values" - I've never come CLOSE to breaking anything S-K, save the odd over-abused thinwall-deep - fasteners die first - are good as a goal to fill-out as life-long "keepers".

Otherwise, an expendable no-name tool that fits the NEED, even if it dies in one hard-go, or has to be welded-on or partially ground way, beats a fancy brand-name that does NOT fit the specific need, and not just once in a while - but every damned time.

6CW
 
I buy American made tools whenever possible. It's not a ego thing, it's totally self serving. I make a living from American manufacturing. Any $ I put into it will come right back to me.
 
I like to buy US made stuff because I don't want to have to worry about the tool failing leaving me stranded in the middle of a job or out in the bonneys.

If it's US made, reasonably priced, it's good enough for me. I've got a two sets of US made Craftsman wrenches, they have seen atleast 20 years of abuse that I know of. No complaints, and that green canvas bag one set comes in is fantastic.

I've relegated the craftsman to second line duty now, the main toolbox has Proto and SK for the "normal" sizes, and Wright for the large stuff.
 
I buy American made tools whenever possible. It's not a ego thing, it's totally self serving. I make a living from American manufacturing. Any $ I put into it will come right back to me.

Noble, but not necessarily as pragmatic as might first appear.

Look at US-branded drills and taps. Most of the old-line makers have long been owned outright by China's Dalian Top Eastern. Many are still made in US plants by US workers. The profits? Not so much retained, US-side.

Whyso? So they could play in the "buy American" Aerospace & Defense market that goes through drills as if they were toilet-tissues.

European & Japanese firms - steel and other primary metals producers - have done the same as well.

Mind - "US investment money" has been doing the same to other countries even longer, so... what goes around.. etc.
 
Tools are consumable. On a long enough timeline, they all have to be replaced. I want to keep as much $ here are possible.

I'm happy enough that the US makes as much selling fuels, timber, or foodstuffs to China that we can eventually get to a better balance of trade as we buy stuff THEY sell.

Historically, that's what works. And then... subsidies become unsustainably costly, and transport costs (which have NO "value add") level-out the silliness.

Not the first trading partner to go through such a cycle.

We just aren't "there, yet" w/r China. It will come.
 
Make sure to get 6 point wrenches and sockets not 12 point. There have been a few tight situations where a 12 point is better but not very often.
Bill
 
Noble, but not necessarily as pragmatic as might first appear.

Mind - "US investment money" has been doing the same to other countries even longer, so... what goes around.. etc.

Some old school US brands are still privately owned and 100% US made. I'm thinking of brands like Snap-on, Wright, Cornwell, Wilde, Mayhew, etc. They have some foreign made options, but you can buy 100% US made if you desire.

There are dizzying numbers of conglomerates. Pre-recession we had Danaher pumping out US made tools under the Craftsman, Allen, Armstrong, Napa, K-D, and a few others. All pretty much the same.

The French maker Facom owned S-K for a time. Now S-K is owned by Ideal. Stanley now owns the French maker Facom along with Proto, Mac, Dewalt, etc. They now also own Craftsman in a round about way.
 
Make sure to get 6 point wrenches and sockets not 12 point. There have been a few tight situations where a 12 point is better but not very often.
Bill

I think this is the biggest wives tail in wrenching (which is chuck full of bullshit). A well made 12 point tool is more than adequate for any hand tool. If you are using an impact, 6 point is the way to go.
 








 
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