Last year someone posted a link to the 3 major US tool manufacturers (Stanley, Danaher, & SnapOn) and the brands they make. I couldn't find the post but found the link.
Perhaps if you bought a better screw driver to begin with, you wouldn't need to keep taking it back. I've Vermont America #2 and #3 phillips that are over 15 years old, have driven thousands of screws with them, and they're still good as new.
scott
That's been pretty much my experience too. The Craftsman garden tools have really crappy fiberglass handles anymore. The resin cracks and the fibers separate. I've returned many shovels, pitchforks, and garden forks. The hickory handles stood up much better. Art
Thousands?!
Discover the cordless drill, friend. :-)
------------------------------------ I'll take 6 point sockets every time out of the box.
I have found over the years that 12 point are simply too easy to strip out.
The few I have are strictly for desperation usage.
Lew
On Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:04:27 -0500, "Leon" wrote the following:
I was there as many as three times a week, usually in bandages, replacing broken Crapsman hand tools in the mid to late 70s, and I got crap about it several times, having to talk to the store manager, not just the department manager, a few times. F*CK SEARZ!
Try the Craftsman socket chisels if you come across them at a yard sale or flea. They were probably last made in the 50's. They're worth the effort to flatten and sharpen, even if you have to make a replacement handle. Excellent steel, and somebody may have already flattened the back for you.
The black plastic handled chisels they currently sell are made from good steel. I spent a lot of time flattening the backs of the set I bought. Every one was convex. They're hard chisels, hold a good edge. Too much trouble to get flat though.
Thing about it, 20,000 screws (he didn't say "tens of thousands" so place an upper bound at 20,000) over 15 years is four or so a day.
Thanks for the link, Artemus. Looks like I was misinformed about a couple things. I looked for Williams tools on the web many yrs ago and could find nothing and thought they had expired. Maybe they just hadn't discovered the internet, yet. Glad to see them still around.
I have Williams 4" adj wrench on my keychain that's been there for over 40 yrs. I've used it for just about everything imaginable including loosening some pretty rusty nuts. The thing has been beat to death, yet the jaws will still close down accurate and tight enough to hold a rolling paper. That's another story. ;)
S-K is another good brand. Used to be you hadda look for 'em at huge flea markets, as almost no establish stores carried the brand. They were amazingly inexpensive for the quality. Now, they can be found in many knowledgeable auto parts stores, even if prices have increased. I've never broken an S-K socket, even when incorrectly using regular S-K sockets on impact wrenches. That's tough.
nb
What you need are flank drive sockets. These are designed to grab more on the flat of a hex nut/bolt, not so near the corner. You can actually grab fasteners that have already been rendered useless by rounding by other wrenches.
I think it was Bonney that invented this design and it was patented, so no one else could make them. They were quite expensive. Now, the patent has expired and most good tool companies make a version. The wrenches are specially handy cuz they will give you the short throw of a 12 point but the non-rounding ability of a 6 point.
Flank Drive is the brand name used by Snap-On. I think Bonney used a different Name. Craftman now also makes this type of wrench/skt under still another name. Posi-Torque and Surface Drive are names from other tool companies. You can tell a flank drive cuz it looks more like a circular sine wave rather than pointed corners of a 6 or 12 pt.
nb
re: "I agree a tool doesn't make the man, but a man that knows what he's doing knows a good tool."
So true!
A lot of what I do as volunteer work and as my main hobby (which very often cross paths) involves both hand tools and power tools. Very often, it also involves other people using their hand tools and power tools in close proximity to me.
When the guy next to me pulls out his brand new 47-in-1 ratchet handle- screwdriver-claw hammer-box wrench-paint brush tool and 9.6 volt screw gun-air compressor, I can pretty much tell the level of expertise to expect from him.
That puts Craftsman in a lot of smaller and rural markets that Sears doesn't otherwise cover, except by internet.
What luck - you can buy Craftsman's latest useless gimmick, at inflated prices, at the neighborhood Ace store.
I still like Ace but maybe a little bit less now :^}
RonB
Or, for those twelve-point nuts (don't laugh, they DO make 'em), and four-point nuts and lag bolts. For an impact set, all six-point makes sense. Otherwise, the twelve-pointers aren't always unneeded, and I'm usually not pulling so hard as to fracture anything anyhow.
If I have the right size, I drive square items with an eight-point socket...
snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:
#2 doesn't fit in a #1 head, and doesn't bottom in #3; you need a set with all the right sizes (as well as Pozidrive and maybe some Japanese standard shapes as well) to do it right. I discourage doing it wrong.
The right tip for a multitip screwdriver, or a custom-ground blade for the old slotted screws, is a joy to use. Get yourself some joy.
Can anyone find a web page that can clarify one thing for me. I was under the impression that a Ponzi and JIS were the same bit. Some equipment I maintain have the JIS screws. And yes the Phillips head often will strip them if it is tight. So I use the Ponzi and usually do not have any stripped screws.
Mike in Ohio
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