I've been rethinking my own purchasing priorities as an American who would like to support American manufacturing and it goes something like
Made in USA individual proprietor/small business even if they hate me
Made in USA large corp -flexible here in case it looks like they hate me
Made in a Vassal State (JP, GBR, EU, etc) preferably not by immigrant labor (lol, lmao)
Made in China
Still waffling a bit with buying vintage stuff vs new because vintage isn't actively helping anyone but the seller. Less so in cases where it's nigh impossible to source new from one of the top three categories in a manner that isn't 100% price-prohibitive.
I put vintage stuff off facebook marketplace/craigslist near the top cause I'm putting money directly in another American's hands. I count used stuff off ebay as a large corp who hates me.
Are there large corps who don't hate us?? I'd say no, but I also spent too much time talking politics with some socialist buddies of mine in college.
This is my logic as well. On the whole my best buys have been in person. This past January I bought a pair of non-running (but titled) Suzuki GSes out of the bed of a rusty S10 from an old black scrapper for $600 that turned out to be basically pristine low mileage gems that I sold for a sum of $11,100 after going through them. Just bought a well worn but running 98 DS80 from a rural mechanic up the road from me, he had probably gotten it for almost nothing, put some rings and a new rear tube on, I paid $600 for it, which is a decent but not great deal in this market but I felt my money was going to a better place than if I bought a new Chinese pit bike on amazon or whatever.
Pretty much all corporate leadership is made up of cringeworthy lizard people, but I suspect the people who made my F-250 in Kentucky aren't all that different from me.
Without getting too stuck into specific brands and such,
1. The best you can get for VERY frequently used tools
2. Disposable stuff for what is only needed very occasionally
Harbor Freight's ICON brand is nearly as good as snap on, but you have to weigh the cost/performance offset yourself. Snap ON itself isn't what it once used to be, same as Craftsman.
I know you have a tendency to get the BEST of something mostly to be able to say so, so as long as you're aware of that soft spot and spend your money 'wisely'. They're only tools at the end of the day.
LiquidBidding.com is another good one, this is primarily a "scratch & dent" liquidator with several locations in MI, they also ship throughout the USA. Friend of mine got a $1500 chest freezer for $80, invested about $10 to fix it. Found some other gems as well, but more importantly for you I have seen tools come up regularly.
The nepros ratchet in my toolbox feels like a work of art. By contrast, my tekton ratchets see more use than the infrequently used snapon on my drawer. You won't go wrong with nepros.
I tend to spend more on ratchets vs sockets/extensions. You're probably fine with tekton or old USA craftsman sockets for most things
Re: what you need that you don't know you need: a lot of SAE sockets for working on the tractor you need to purchase. On a related note, I regret not having purchased something with a front end loader on it yet
I’ve admired everything Fireball makes since stumbling across his videos on YouTube about a year ago. I’m not a machinist or welder, and never will be, but his videos are about the only ones I watch on normal playback speed instead of 2x.
I just happened to order the loaded inch and metric hex key holder from Fireball, can’t wait to get it:
I’m not a tool nerd, but can offer that my most used tools are the corded shop vacuum and the battery blower. I’m not sure why but messes always seem to exceed my output x 10.
My most-used tools are the USA-made Craftsman stuff my dad bought circa 1975 when he left the Navy and went to an aircraft maintenance school. Followed closely by the umpteen USA-made Craftsman hand tools I bought or otherwise acquired while I sold tools at Sears around the turn of the century. Upon entry of Crazy Eddie Lampert into the ownership spectrum of ole Sears and/or Roebuck, Craftsman went to shit never to return.
I like the industrial lines of tools - generally 50% more expensive than home-center prices, but more affordable than the virtually-identical tool truck lines. Proto, for example, is Mac without the 10% down and $30/week for life pricing. Spent a decade selling industrial tooling, where maintenance people can't wait for a truck to wander through the layers of security at some factory.
The timing of this is scary. Jack are you snooping in my search history? I am in the midst of needing to have tools in my shed, my garage and up north cabin property and would really prefer to buy tools made in the USA. But damn if that isn’t both difficult and expensive. Looking to for a vise grip, I seem to have lost my Grandfather’s vintage one and began googling a week ago. I have built up quite the war chest of Menards rebates but alas they sell very few hand tools that are made in the USA.
There's a company that bought the right to make USA Vise Grips... I can't remember who they are, but it's a real thing.
As far as knowing your search history, that's paranoid. It's just that sometimes I can see you typing search terms via the telescope I have pointed at your house!
Malco is the company. But they’re closing the factory as of last week. Snap On was having their Made In USA locking pliers made there too so I’m not sure what’s happening with those. I’ll have to ask my dealer this week when he comes around. It seems that the USA made locking plier is once again, a thing no more.
I just found this and came to post. Bummer. That they couldn’t make it. At least Malco will survive. This has been a great post from Jack. As a Minnesotan who is really interested in local
companies I have learned a lot about Malco, whom I have called in professionally, and Bondhus a company I hadn’t heard of until today. Probably gonna order a Malco Eagle Grip tonight.
My maintenance guy and my tool nut nephew suggested the Malco Eagle Grips after our production people experienced Vice Grip quality issues. So I got two for our guys. They are very nice, but pricey.
I just bought three of them. NOT cheap. Given that I did all of my early bicycle maintenance with Vise-Grips and LONGED for the day I would have a real tool set, there's something funny about spending real money on a pair.
Vise: Starrett or Wilton. Which one is up to your needs. Starrett 6”: 326, 626 or 926. I have Wilton’s and a Litton because I’m a cheap skate and/or inherited mine.
My bench grinder was from my grandpa’s barn and it’s belt driven from an old 1/2 hp ball bearing Westinghouse brush motor. Might be a Miller Falls bench mount frame. Motor probably needs rebuilt.
Nice. My bench grinder is an old 1/3 hp Rockwell that my Grandpa probably liberated from Rockwell when they left Allegan. With a stand welded from a bunch of scrap he had lying around.
The swivel head ratchet with extendo handle. Pick your favorite brand but I think I had this Stanley. The type that swivels around the ratchet head actually looks even better.
I like Wilton vises, both new and vintage. Even some of our shop monkeys can't damage them.
I have been buying Williams ratchet and socket sets lately. S-K has also been pretty good for us, historically. S-K seems intent on becoming the next Craftsman and Snap-On as of late. Thus, the shift to Williams. I will buy '70s-vintage Craftsman tools. I get nervous about newer ones after I nearly broke my knuckles back in '86 with a 3/8" Craftsman ratchet that stripped its pawls the third time I used it. I had a French-built Facom ratchet that I liked. Sadly, its internals were spot-welded by the combination of a clumsy user and the positive battery terminal on a John Deere skid steer loader.
I source tools from estate sales, antique stores, and eBay. I just picked up a '70s-vintage Craftsman 3/8" breaker bar at an antique store a week ago. It was several dollars less than many I found on eBay and that was before the 20%-off that the stand holder was offering.
My most used tools (other than basic stuff) are long reach reversible flex end wrenches. You dont have to get them on amazon but heres what they are. Mountain 5-Piece Metric Double Box Universal Spline Reversible Ratcheting Wrench Set; 8 mm - 18mm, 90 Tooth Design, Long, Flexible, Reversible; MTNRM6 https://a.co/chpb4kk
They have made impossible jobs possible more times than i can count. Consider them or similar a must buy for working on fwd race cars or cars in general.
I second this. I have an S-K set and a Cornwell set. They also make a 21mm/22mm, a 24mm/25mm, and 27mm/30mm. I picked up those larger sizes from MAC, branded PLATINUM. I'm pretty sure they are all made in the same place in CHINA. Way back when they first came out, the story I heard was that Snap-On contracted development, but then declined to brand and sell them for whatever reason.
I bought a lot of snapon tools over the decades, I prefer their sockets to most anything else, but I think everything else is up for grabs, my favorite ratchet is a snapon with fine teeth and a flexhead at the center point, I will send you a pic
Good to know. Milwaukee always does well in his testing despite being sourced from the same lowest-cost labor hellholes as the other stuff, so I wondered a bit.
I tend to trust guys like him with non-stylish glasses and no-nonsense short haircuts. As an engineer, I think his test methods for various tools are good too.
Since i'm not in the US i cant say much for US made tools, but i am pretty fond of the stuff from WERA, though it is a bit expensive - the 1/4 inch zyklop is really handy for getting into tight spots on a car since the handle is adjustable, and the hex keys are so nice compared to the shitty ones i have used before.
As for my new favourite and most used tool, i am going to have to nominate the Milwaukee m12 fuel 3/8 ratchet - having busted my share of knuckles getting bolts out of tight spots with little access, this thing has really made my wrenching life a whole lot more pleasant, and i use it A LOT.
It's real nice since it can be used as a screwdriver as well, so one less tool to drag along, and it helps get stuff out fast after the initial turn to break the bolts free.
Only negative is that the included bits are a bit long for tight spots, but i guess most people have some low profile 1/4" bits lying around for the real tight access work.
Oh, and i just remembered my other recent addition that i love - a Milwaukee m18 fuel angle grinder with a paddle switch.
Its so much nicer to use then a corded grinder, and i like the paddle switch a whole lot better then the old slide switch.
And once you are on the Milwaukee wagon, why not pick up a m18 fuel 1/2 impact driver! I have the big beefy one and its got 1627 Nm of torque, so no bolt is safe.
I absolutely LOVE my Milwaukee M12 FUEL High Speed 1/4" ratchet. It's often the 1st tool out of my box in the morning. "I use that $h1t on everything!" It's RED HOT :-)
You might like this: https://pelicannoiseworks.com/products/binford-6100
"We've got the only blender on the block that can puree a brick."
I've been rethinking my own purchasing priorities as an American who would like to support American manufacturing and it goes something like
Made in USA individual proprietor/small business even if they hate me
Made in USA large corp -flexible here in case it looks like they hate me
Made in a Vassal State (JP, GBR, EU, etc) preferably not by immigrant labor (lol, lmao)
Made in China
Still waffling a bit with buying vintage stuff vs new because vintage isn't actively helping anyone but the seller. Less so in cases where it's nigh impossible to source new from one of the top three categories in a manner that isn't 100% price-prohibitive.
I put vintage stuff off facebook marketplace/craigslist near the top cause I'm putting money directly in another American's hands. I count used stuff off ebay as a large corp who hates me.
Are there large corps who don't hate us?? I'd say no, but I also spent too much time talking politics with some socialist buddies of mine in college.
This is my logic as well. On the whole my best buys have been in person. This past January I bought a pair of non-running (but titled) Suzuki GSes out of the bed of a rusty S10 from an old black scrapper for $600 that turned out to be basically pristine low mileage gems that I sold for a sum of $11,100 after going through them. Just bought a well worn but running 98 DS80 from a rural mechanic up the road from me, he had probably gotten it for almost nothing, put some rings and a new rear tube on, I paid $600 for it, which is a decent but not great deal in this market but I felt my money was going to a better place than if I bought a new Chinese pit bike on amazon or whatever.
"Are there large corps who don't hate us?"
Pretty much all corporate leadership is made up of cringeworthy lizard people, but I suspect the people who made my F-250 in Kentucky aren't all that different from me.
I love my made in Europe chainsaw
Without getting too stuck into specific brands and such,
1. The best you can get for VERY frequently used tools
2. Disposable stuff for what is only needed very occasionally
Harbor Freight's ICON brand is nearly as good as snap on, but you have to weigh the cost/performance offset yourself. Snap ON itself isn't what it once used to be, same as Craftsman.
I know you have a tendency to get the BEST of something mostly to be able to say so, so as long as you're aware of that soft spot and spend your money 'wisely'. They're only tools at the end of the day.
For used tools and garage equipment I've got two words: Estate Sales
Get subscribed to local auction/estate sale websites. You will not be disappointed.
LiquidBidding.com is another good one, this is primarily a "scratch & dent" liquidator with several locations in MI, they also ship throughout the USA. Friend of mine got a $1500 chest freezer for $80, invested about $10 to fix it. Found some other gems as well, but more importantly for you I have seen tools come up regularly.
Everything but the House has some hidden gems I've noticed.
The nepros ratchet in my toolbox feels like a work of art. By contrast, my tekton ratchets see more use than the infrequently used snapon on my drawer. You won't go wrong with nepros.
I tend to spend more on ratchets vs sockets/extensions. You're probably fine with tekton or old USA craftsman sockets for most things
Re: what you need that you don't know you need: a lot of SAE sockets for working on the tractor you need to purchase. On a related note, I regret not having purchased something with a front end loader on it yet
I think the tractor is definitely coming, but not until the spring!
Excellent!
Also, for lifesaver tools to have: basic tap and die set, bottle of tapmagic, and stubby hex/torx sockets.
The regular hex/torx sockets don't work in any kind of tight environment, way too long
Please DM me when the time comes.
Without a doubt.
GearWrench makes some nice ratcheting wrenches. The Snap On versions are nicer, but I’ve yet to break a GearWrench one.
I’m not sure about their modern day quality, but Craftsman impact sockets are awesome. They hold up to much more abuse than they should.
If you’re not stuck on a vintage vice, the Fireball Tool Hardtail Vise is quite possibly the best vice money can buy. The USA made version is delayed, but they have one that is made overseas available for immediate purchase. https://fireballtool.com/products/fireball-hardtail-vise-deposit-for-pre-order-usa-only
That's gorgeous... I admire their forthrightness about HERE'S THE USA and HERE'S THE TAIWAN.
I’ve admired everything Fireball makes since stumbling across his videos on YouTube about a year ago. I’m not a machinist or welder, and never will be, but his videos are about the only ones I watch on normal playback speed instead of 2x.
I just happened to order the loaded inch and metric hex key holder from Fireball, can’t wait to get it:
https://fireballtool.com/products/hex-key-holder?variant=40138080092204
I’m not a tool nerd, but can offer that my most used tools are the corded shop vacuum and the battery blower. I’m not sure why but messes always seem to exceed my output x 10.
My most-used tools are the USA-made Craftsman stuff my dad bought circa 1975 when he left the Navy and went to an aircraft maintenance school. Followed closely by the umpteen USA-made Craftsman hand tools I bought or otherwise acquired while I sold tools at Sears around the turn of the century. Upon entry of Crazy Eddie Lampert into the ownership spectrum of ole Sears and/or Roebuck, Craftsman went to shit never to return.
I like the industrial lines of tools - generally 50% more expensive than home-center prices, but more affordable than the virtually-identical tool truck lines. Proto, for example, is Mac without the 10% down and $30/week for life pricing. Spent a decade selling industrial tooling, where maintenance people can't wait for a truck to wander through the layers of security at some factory.
The timing of this is scary. Jack are you snooping in my search history? I am in the midst of needing to have tools in my shed, my garage and up north cabin property and would really prefer to buy tools made in the USA. But damn if that isn’t both difficult and expensive. Looking to for a vise grip, I seem to have lost my Grandfather’s vintage one and began googling a week ago. I have built up quite the war chest of Menards rebates but alas they sell very few hand tools that are made in the USA.
There's a company that bought the right to make USA Vise Grips... I can't remember who they are, but it's a real thing.
As far as knowing your search history, that's paranoid. It's just that sometimes I can see you typing search terms via the telescope I have pointed at your house!
Malco is the company. But they’re closing the factory as of last week. Snap On was having their Made In USA locking pliers made there too so I’m not sure what’s happening with those. I’ll have to ask my dealer this week when he comes around. It seems that the USA made locking plier is once again, a thing no more.
If you don't want to buy Chinese, Knipex makes a locking pliers in Germany that's less expensive than the Malco ones (if you can still find them).
I just found this and came to post. Bummer. That they couldn’t make it. At least Malco will survive. This has been a great post from Jack. As a Minnesotan who is really interested in local
companies I have learned a lot about Malco, whom I have called in professionally, and Bondhus a company I hadn’t heard of until today. Probably gonna order a Malco Eagle Grip tonight.
My maintenance guy and my tool nut nephew suggested the Malco Eagle Grips after our production people experienced Vice Grip quality issues. So I got two for our guys. They are very nice, but pricey.
I just bought three of them. NOT cheap. Given that I did all of my early bicycle maintenance with Vise-Grips and LONGED for the day I would have a real tool set, there's something funny about spending real money on a pair.
Not a happy ending, then. Sucks.
Vise: Starrett or Wilton. Which one is up to your needs. Starrett 6”: 326, 626 or 926. I have Wilton’s and a Litton because I’m a cheap skate and/or inherited mine.
My bench grinder was from my grandpa’s barn and it’s belt driven from an old 1/2 hp ball bearing Westinghouse brush motor. Might be a Miller Falls bench mount frame. Motor probably needs rebuilt.
Nice. My bench grinder is an old 1/3 hp Rockwell that my Grandpa probably liberated from Rockwell when they left Allegan. With a stand welded from a bunch of scrap he had lying around.
https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Tools-Extendable-Ratchet-85-782/dp/B000N254P6/
The swivel head ratchet with extendo handle. Pick your favorite brand but I think I had this Stanley. The type that swivels around the ratchet head actually looks even better.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Makita-18V-LXT-Lithium-Ion-Handheld-Compact-Cordless-Vacuum-Kit-2-0-Ah-XLC02R1B/301687802?g_store=&source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&&mtc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-GGL-D25T-025_014_WET_DRY_VACS-NA-Multi-NA-SMART-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-WetDryVacs_TopSell&cm_mmc=SHOPPING-BF-CDP-GGL-D25T-025_014_WET_DRY_VACS-NA-Multi-NA-SMART-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-WetDryVacs_TopSell-71700000089285334-58700007536183006-92700072559735542&gbraid=0AAAAADq61UcdvaSs34ZIN-5E4yZFn_AkP&gbraid=0AAAAADq61UcdvaSs34ZIN-5E4yZFn_AkP&gclid=CjwKCAiA9qKbBhAzEiwAS4yeDXK01tdjY54R9jOeNoGqzddU2AfuUrR7LGGoyu3GAbdXpMp_EggSjhoC9q0QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Cordless shop vacuum. By far our most frequently used thing.
Amazon Lifehack...
On the link, everything past the / right before the ref portion of the link is just for tracking. This link goes to the same place:
https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Tools-Extendable-Ratchet-85-782/dp/B000N254P6
as does this one:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000N254P6
Don't do that to my affiliate links!
(That I'm always too lazy to include.)
I like Wilton vises, both new and vintage. Even some of our shop monkeys can't damage them.
I have been buying Williams ratchet and socket sets lately. S-K has also been pretty good for us, historically. S-K seems intent on becoming the next Craftsman and Snap-On as of late. Thus, the shift to Williams. I will buy '70s-vintage Craftsman tools. I get nervous about newer ones after I nearly broke my knuckles back in '86 with a 3/8" Craftsman ratchet that stripped its pawls the third time I used it. I had a French-built Facom ratchet that I liked. Sadly, its internals were spot-welded by the combination of a clumsy user and the positive battery terminal on a John Deere skid steer loader.
I source tools from estate sales, antique stores, and eBay. I just picked up a '70s-vintage Craftsman 3/8" breaker bar at an antique store a week ago. It was several dollars less than many I found on eBay and that was before the 20%-off that the stand holder was offering.
My most used tools (other than basic stuff) are long reach reversible flex end wrenches. You dont have to get them on amazon but heres what they are. Mountain 5-Piece Metric Double Box Universal Spline Reversible Ratcheting Wrench Set; 8 mm - 18mm, 90 Tooth Design, Long, Flexible, Reversible; MTNRM6 https://a.co/chpb4kk
They have made impossible jobs possible more times than i can count. Consider them or similar a must buy for working on fwd race cars or cars in general.
I second this. I have an S-K set and a Cornwell set. They also make a 21mm/22mm, a 24mm/25mm, and 27mm/30mm. I picked up those larger sizes from MAC, branded PLATINUM. I'm pretty sure they are all made in the same place in CHINA. Way back when they first came out, the story I heard was that Snap-On contracted development, but then declined to brand and sell them for whatever reason.
I bought a lot of snapon tools over the decades, I prefer their sockets to most anything else, but I think everything else is up for grabs, my favorite ratchet is a snapon with fine teeth and a flexhead at the center point, I will send you a pic
We most definitively trust the project farm dude. I've been taking his advice almost as long as I've been taking yours.
Good to know. Milwaukee always does well in his testing despite being sourced from the same lowest-cost labor hellholes as the other stuff, so I wondered a bit.
He's an aspie like us, he knows his stuff, and he pays for it. No hand outs, no bias.
Fwiw, I use Craftsman, simply because Lowe's covers the lifetime warranties and I have one in walking distance. They're all good enough.
I tend to trust guys like him with non-stylish glasses and no-nonsense short haircuts. As an engineer, I think his test methods for various tools are good too.
Reminds me of the scene in Cryptonomicon where Randy finally meets the oral surgeon who can get his wisdom teeth out.
Seconded. His old tests on the lawnmower engines were extremely entertaining, too.
Since i'm not in the US i cant say much for US made tools, but i am pretty fond of the stuff from WERA, though it is a bit expensive - the 1/4 inch zyklop is really handy for getting into tight spots on a car since the handle is adjustable, and the hex keys are so nice compared to the shitty ones i have used before.
As for my new favourite and most used tool, i am going to have to nominate the Milwaukee m12 fuel 3/8 ratchet - having busted my share of knuckles getting bolts out of tight spots with little access, this thing has really made my wrenching life a whole lot more pleasant, and i use it A LOT.
Did you get the plain Zyklop or the one where you can also spin the handle?
The spin one - zyklop speed i guess its called.
It's real nice since it can be used as a screwdriver as well, so one less tool to drag along, and it helps get stuff out fast after the initial turn to break the bolts free.
Only negative is that the included bits are a bit long for tight spots, but i guess most people have some low profile 1/4" bits lying around for the real tight access work.
Oh, and i just remembered my other recent addition that i love - a Milwaukee m18 fuel angle grinder with a paddle switch.
Its so much nicer to use then a corded grinder, and i like the paddle switch a whole lot better then the old slide switch.
And once you are on the Milwaukee wagon, why not pick up a m18 fuel 1/2 impact driver! I have the big beefy one and its got 1627 Nm of torque, so no bolt is safe.
Agreed on the Milwaukee angle grinder. I use one at work a fair amount and it’s a solid piece of gear.
Alright, I'll give that one a shot!
I absolutely LOVE my Milwaukee M12 FUEL High Speed 1/4" ratchet. It's often the 1st tool out of my box in the morning. "I use that $h1t on everything!" It's RED HOT :-)