Hand tool question??

[Yjmoose]

If you were starting over collecting basic hand tools( think wrenches and sockets,the basics) which brand or brands would you consider?

My 16 year old son is just starting out.

I still have my basic craftsman set I started out with when I was 16ish. I have been adding mostly harbor freight basic hand tools as of late due to price and I find the quality for a diy guy to be acceptable. I do buy the middle of the road stuff at harbor freight, but don稚 find I break it anymore than my craftsman stuff (as far as sockets go)
I have never broken any of my craftsman wrenches and have actually only lost 1 in 30 years (I still wonder what happened to that 1/2 combo wrench)

Screwdrivers for me are a lost cause and I just buy either husky or craftsman, and they grow legs and go looking for that 1/2 wrench I guess, I lose them way too frequently

I appreciate the responses

 

[mmancuso13]

I like gear wrench

 

[buck12]

For wrenches and sockets, pawn shops are a good source. Not complete sets but the big box or bin with all sorts of mismatched stuff.
A few years ago I wanted to create a full set of standard and metric tools to keep in my truck we take to our remote property while leaving my shop set of tools at home. I was able to get all sorts of mostly American made tools very cheap from pawn shops. This box is a mismatch of brands.

It is great your son is interested in tools. The ability to fix things is a very valuable skill.

 

[rangerfredbob]

Tis the season, but for about the next month if you go to Home Depot or Lowes they likely have a brick of tools for $100, it is really a heck of a deal to get started or just to get a second set of compact tools... Last year I bought one of the Husky ones, there's 3 ratchets, 3 sets of sockets in both depths, a limited set of wrenches in metric and standard and some other basics, you just cannot replicate that for $100... There's a chance another will follow me home this season to get a start on my new tool box for my new shop... and some socket organizers from Harbor Freight to go with them likely... I'll keep the better organized of the two for my camping and junkyarding kit, I needed some parts from the junkyard and used that kit almost exclusively aside from pry bars and screwdrivers I think and got what I needed...

 

[jaxs]

This is one of those situations where it's"different strokes for different folks". If you are satisfied with Harbor Freight,just go in there and buy what he need's because there's nothing else lower in quility or price. Personally,I wouldn't use Harbor Freight tools if you bought them for me.

 

[Doofy]

Garage Sales, Pawn Shops and Big Box Stores. You certainly don't need Proto or Snap-on tools to learn. Most tool sellers have Starter sets of different qualities. Buy what you can afford.

 

[i7win7]

Snap-on had a patent called flank drive. Six and 12 point sockets and wrenches had rounded points like this


Patent must have expired, better quality tools now use this design. Spline sockets (fits metric/sae) move the point of contact to the flat sides of the bolts & nuts. In the 70's a craftsman tool could round off a nut, hammer on the snap-on and break it loose.
I think craftsman, kobalt, stanley, some others have the improved design

 

[rangerfredbob]

This is one of those situations where it's"different strokes for different folks". If you are satisfied with Harbor Freight,just go in there and buy what he need's because there's nothing else lower in quility or price. Personally,I wouldn't use Harbor Freight tools if you bought them for me.

Haven't looked at a HFT store in a decade or so, eh? Sure they have a few different quality lines but they aren't what they used to be, and there sure are lesser tools out there anymore. I am by no means saying they're the best, but if you pick and choose you can definitely do worse...

Garage sales and such are usually the best deal, hard to say anymore though as it's much more of a sellers market this year, not near as many good deals... A lot of my random stuff is from yard sales, estate sales and auctions, but I'm crafty and use tools within their limits taking quality into the factor, most of my wrenching is situational... If it's sketchy I'll use a better tool or if I don't care or it doesn't matter I'll hammer a cheap socket into place and wail on it with an impact or whatnot... I have options, if that doesn't work I have a welder, torch and grinder that says something will happen...

 

[newbury]

This is one of those situations where it's"different strokes for different folks". If you are satisfied with Harbor Freight,just go in there and buy what he need's because there's nothing else lower in quility or price. Personally,I wouldn't use Harbor Freight tools if you bought them for me.

Lot's of people dump on hf.
The "quility" of their Hand Tools may depend on what hand tools.
Look at youtube for example the hf breaker bar Snap-on -VS- Mac -VS- Matco -VS- Pittsburgh Pro (Harbor Freight) - 1/2" Breaker Bars (MADE IN USA) - YouTube at the 6 minute mark.
Their torque wrenches were accurate, just be sure to "leave them loose" and check them once and a while.
Many of their simple hand tools - wrenches, screwdrivers, pliers etc. hold up as well as tools bought off the Snap On truck, and when bought either on sale or 20% are so cheap one can afford to have multiple sets.
Also, they source many of their hand tools from multiple areas. For example their "Made in Taiwan" socket sets or wrenches were better than their "Made in China".
Most of their electronics are great, while they last, but the smoke leaks out quickly.
I too started out with Craftsman but HF seems to be as good.
If you have a "local HF" it's a big difference. It's not worth it to me to drive the 80 mile roundtrip just for a $20 savings and a free flashlight.
Also it's not worth my time to pick through the "garage sales" in my area.

And look out for bargains at Lowes and Home Depot.

A while back Lowes clearanced a line (Bluehawk??). A set of 8 wrenches ~$5, a 185 piece "Automotive" kit w/ fairly complete 1/4 and 3/8 socket sets for about $20. I bought about 7 of each, gave them to each of my 4 children and scattered the rest in vehicles.

 

[oosik]

My first vehicle was a military Jeep - 1965. My first metric and SAE socket sets were SnapOn - 1965. I still have both sets. I now have metric & SAE in 1/4", 3/8", 1/2" & 3/4" . They are SnapOn, ProTo and Craftsman. All my socket sets are over 45 years old and will be passed on to my great grand children.

My open end and closed end wrenches are all ProTo. I've found that quality hand tools save money. Nothing ever snapped, cracked or broken.