What tools to get?

For years I've been mooching off of my father-in-law's tools but now that I live 10 hours away that doesn't work so well. I've got a very minimal compliment plus an air wrench, but I need some long sockets, torx bits, box wrenches, etc. I've got some sizes already, but never what I need...

I went over to sears today to pick up a torx bit so I could adjust the striker and figured I'd look at some big tool kits. I just about crapped myself, you can spend a fortune!


So what do you guys recommend? Do you go the bargain wal-mart route for some stuff? What are the alternatives to craftsmen and sears, for brand and store? I've definitely broken a handful of cheap sockets. How do you spec quality? Any recommendations?

Thanks,
Rob

Hit up the pawn shops...you gotta know what the good tools are though.

The Stanley brand is okay...it will do in a pinch and isn't too expensive. The stuff they sell at Home Depot and Lowes work as well (Husky and Kobalt).

If you can wait until the big days like Father's day or Memorial day...those can net some nice discounts if yer buying new.

I've been picking up wood working tools (I used to be a finish carpenter) for years at yard sales, but that's just it... I don't know what I'm looking at when I look at tools other than whether it's stainless or not. My father-in-law had mostly mac/snapon stuff, but that's definitely out of my price range.

What about "crescent" and "channelloc"? I see big kits of that stuff at Sam's some times.

Thanks,
Rob

Most of the mechanic tools are not stainless steel...too soft. Most are made of a special alloy.

I personally have a small 50 piece Craftsman mechanic's tool set with metric and SAE sockets in 1/4" and 3/8" drive. I also have a miriad of combo wrenches. Added a few 1/2" drive sockets, ratchet, and breaker bar...and just got a torque wrench.

Rob, if we're talking about tools for working on your vehicle, pick up a couple jackstands and a hydraulic jack. Can pick up fairly decent stuff on the cheap from almost anywhere. I also like my ceiling mounted florescent light on retractable cord reel (sears, homedepot, or Menards has a few to pick from). A decent socket set, vice grips, rubber mallet, ball pean hammer, set of screwdrivers, telescopic magnet, and hemostats (aka 'fishing pliers') will also come in handy. Socket sets: check out Craftsman at Sears cuz if you break it, they'll replace it---forever.

I'm sure others will add items, but keep in mind there's no need to grab all those at once. I'd say the sockets ad jackstands should be items 1 & 2 though. You should also check Craigslist. Just put the word 'socket' in the search box and you should see some tools. You might want to hit the stores to scope prices though, so you can tell whether the price you see on Craigslist is good. Stay away from the imported sockets. They break easily under strain. On that note, add a breaker bar (hunk of pipe to go over your ratchet handle) to the list. And if you're doing brakes, a large C clamp and say a 5x2 inch length of 1/2" wood.

... I don't know what I'm looking at when I look at tools other than whether it's stainless or not.

Yeah - the Snap-on, SK, and Craftsman tend to be pretty pricey, but worth it if you can get 'em - if you can break it, they'll replace 'em. More important, they tend to work just a smidgen better than the cheaper stuff.

Midrange stuff I look for is Husky, Milwaukee, Great Neck, Stanley - all reasonably good at reasonable prices.

If you've got an Aldys store nearby, most of their tools (special deals, gotta watch for 'em) are fairly good, other than their clamp sets.

The nickel plating you're seeing is so common it's almost standard - and mostly, doesn't mean much. A fresh plating job looks the same whether it's 1 micron or 100 microns thick, and the prep work done before plating has lots to do with how durable it'll be. Nor is plating all that important - for your unplated tools, an occasional spritz with WD40 or Pledge will keep rust at bay.

My local dollar store has little gadgets that come in handy - extensible magnet-head thing for reachin' dropped parts and tools, stuff like that.

Is this the type of advice you were lookin' for - brand name mentions? My advice is worth every penny you just paid, and I'd be willing to bet that I could find someone who loathes every brand name I mentioned.

FWIW, in woodworking, I have a Skil tablesaw, and am a Grizzly fan - so you have an idea of where I draw my quality/price line.

Danno, whose SAE wrenches are now almost useless.... <sigh>

This has all been the kind of advice I was looking for.

Bam, you seem to me to be one of the more-apt to do it yourself guys here, and I'm comforted by the short list of tools you're talking about!

65- I keep some small jack stands and a bottle jack, crescent wrench, and small 1/4&3/8 combo socket set in my truck. A lot of the other things I hadn't thought of that I definitely need. I'm still adjusting to this... I was used to having 20 pairs of vice grips to choose from at the in-law's - I hadn't even realized I don't have any now. I've really missed his heated garage, too!

Danno- I'll keep my eyes out for stuff I need and have in mind what quality I'm paying for. Re wood tools: you got me thinking - I've got a delta band saw & planer, hitachi miter saw, mostly dewalt and milwaukee power hand tools... but my table saw, which I use about as much as anything is a piece of junk riobi. None the less, the table saw has done everything I've needed it to as well as any other table saw without a thousand dollar fence.

In light of all of the advice from you all and different brand rankings... I think I'll find a good deal on a bigger socket set (I need some deep sockets immediately), and for the rest of the tools follow this philosophy: get the cheap/ mid range stuff when it's a lot cheaper, and get the better stuff when it's either not much more or I've broken a cheap tool trying... and I'll only use good quality sockets with the impact wrench.

Thanks again all.

Walmart has the impact 6pt deep sockets (metric) fer about $17 fer the set.