Rolson Tools....Cheese or Granite

[RW]

OK..........They're cheap and chuckable. But, when advertised as "Tradesman" tools Don't.....Just don't......ever.....ever .... buy their screwdriver sets unless you need some old shyte steel for making hairpins.

First set.....harder than granite and just as brittle....." Hammer Through" it said on the pack. Didn't need to hammer them to break any, just normal use on stubborn screws. Second replacement set softer than fresh laid dog turd !

Bring back the old style Kamasa sets.......Had a set for 15 or more years and they still do the job well.

[Andy Dingley]

Wiha, via Axminster. Not expensive either.

[Tim S]

RW coughed up some electrons that declared:

Wera. Not cheap but very very good.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If you want inexpensive tools that are decent quality check out Lidl - but you'll have to look for a 'special' day.

Kamasa - at one time at least - were a quality brand. I've got one of their socket sets which is excellent.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I'm not so sure. I've managed to wear out the pozidriv one in my set. The diamond coating didn't protect it for that long.

[The Medway Handyman]

Wickes do some good ones

I've been beating seven bells out of mine for a couple of years now.

[Andrew Gabriel]

The best screwdriver I've got came with the Meccano chiming clock kit around 30 years ago, I kid you not. Just right hardness blade, and very comfortable handle. It used to have "Meccano" engraved in the handle, but I've worn that off.

The next best ones were a few single ones I bought from Halfords, but as that was over 20 years ago, it's probably not a useful guide to whatever they sell nowadays.

[dom]

I have some Halfords of that vintage, plain black handles - I think they're rebranded Spiralux - not their top of the range, but quite decent.

Recently bought best would be Wera slipstop - expensive but a real "notch above" on quality compared to most.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Halford's pro range of spanners/sockets is pretty good - it's what I buy if I'm missing one. Not sure if they do the same with screwdrivers.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "Dave Plowman (News)" saying something like:

I have several Kamasa tools which were made/bought when they were being produced in Japan (or so I believe) and they are every bit the equal of Snap-On or Britool. About 20 years ago the quality of Kamasa took a definite downturn and I wouldn't bother with them any more.

[Andy Dingley]

If they're 25-30 years old and branded as Kamasa "Texans", then peel the sticker off the box and read where it has "Snap-on" stamped into it, who were who actually made them for the US-market. A set of these were my first Snap-ons.