The only time I managed to break a halfords pro tool was when I was trying to take a brake calliper off a 17tonne truck. Managed to snap the end off my halfords breaker bar, so I borrowed I snap-on breaker bar, and managed to break that in the same place.
Took the halfords breaker bar back, without receipt, and was immediately given a replacement, no questions asked, no argument. Took the snap-on bar back, only to be told that the end piece was 'consumable' and not covered by the warranty**. Took several minutes of arguing to get the part replaced for free. The snap-on bar was about 5 times the price of the halfords, which was just as strong, but halfords have a far better warranty.
**It would seem that the snap-on guarantee only cover the parts which aren't going to break anyway, and the parts which are liable to break are 'consumables', and not covered.
Obviously it didn't teach you anything. You're like all the others who think that only tools made by well known manufacturers like Facom, Britool, Snap-on, Presto etc, are good quality tools. Get wise. You're probably paying more for the name, than any guarantee that the tool is any better than a no-name tool, possibly made in the far east.
It wouldn't surprise me if many of the tools supplied by the 'better' manufacturers, were made by the same Co's supplying the bottom end of the market. IOW the same tools without the name stamped on.
Well if you buy tools from a Saturday market stallholder, what do you expect?
Where the hell do you buy these tools? I buy from recognised small tool suppliers, like Buck and Hickman, J&L Industrial supply, Draper, Sealey, etc. IME reputable Co's don't stock or sell such poor quality tools. Even their very cheap drop-forged tools are better than that. Not that I'm recommending.anyone buy them.
I think most people who've bought
Marked as such? Cheap tools are not marked as cheap. I'm talking about well finished tools marked Chrome Vanadium baught from a reputable stockist, at a low price. The top 3 combination sets on this page for instance.
formatting link
And don't try to tell me they are rubbish, because I have some Kamasa combination spanners, and they are excellent value, and as strong as other spanners I have, made by 'better' manufacturers.
You're like others who think that a high price guarantees quality. I have news for you, it doesn't. I baught an expensive set of hex keys from a Snap-On van once, when I'd mislaid my own set of Allen hex keys. They were crap, as was a cross point screwdriver I baught on another occasion. A cheapy cross point baught from Halfords some years ago is still serviceable. The Snap-On one finished up in the skip. The Snap-On guy refused to change it. Obviously because I didn't spend enough money with him. So much for the lifetime guarantee.
As you have on other occasions, you're spouting advice on a subject you know very little about. Mike.
I'm becoming a little wary of Machine Mart. One of their VAT free days coincided with a day off work so decided to treat myself to a few things. Bench grinder where one of the grinding wheels 'wobbles'. The large high lift trolley jack I bought a while ago started slowly sinking not that long after I bought it. Other stuff I've been pleased with. Engine hoist. Angle grinders.
My father purchased a Clarke Pro kit from Machine mart, and every socket, be it a 6 or 12 point one fitted nice and tight and snug. I got one from a different shop and it was just the same - no variation in the sockets. IME this is one of the better ways to identify a decent tooling kit.
Like others have said, be very selective at machine mart, some of their stuff is crap.
I definitely wouldn't recommend buying any hand tools there, as they seem to be pretty cheap and nasty, but some of their bigger equipment is quite good, I bought a welder there years ago, and its the muts nuts! Take someone with you who can tell good from bad.
Braking the cheap ones. Find me a cheap[ Adjustable spanner with jaws that remain as parallel as a Bahco's under pressure & I can shift them by the box load.
It helps if they're made the right size, by the right process & heat treated properly as well though
As the phrase chrome vanadium covers an awfully large number of different alloys one is led to assume you are a heating engineer.
I wouldn't even bother to look. I thaught we were talking about quality tools. Since when has an adjustable been regarded as a quality tool. It's a tool for amateurs who haven't got or can't be bothered to buy the correct spanner for the job.
Certainly, but how do you know they're not? Just because they're cheap? Since when has price been a guarantee of quality?
Then you would be wrong. I am a precision mechanical engineer. Involved with the design and manufacture of moulds, press tools, and special purpose machine tools. I rely on good tools to do my job, so I think I know what I'm talking about.
You are also wrong in making the assumption, that the phrase chrome vanadium covers an awfully large number of different alloys. It doesn't. An alloy which is classed as chrome vanadium, will contain a relatively high content of chromium and vanadium. The precise amount of each has to be within fixed percentage limits.
If you believe that good quality basic hand tools can't be baught cheaply, you're wrong. I buy cheap hand tools, not because I can't afford tools made by the 'better' manufacturers, but because IME they are equally as good quality as tools costing several times more. If they do get stolen or lost, it's no great deal. Unlike say Snap-On ones that cost a fortune to buy or replace.
If you don't believe me. That after working all my life as an engineer I don't know a good tool from a poor one, fair enough. It's your money and your loss, not mine if you pay more than you need to for good hand tools. Mike.
That depends on what you're doing, it's a perfectly useable tool & the right tool for many situations (almost none in the car maintenance area I do agree). & if all CV tools are the same then the same ought to apply to adjustable spanners, I mention them solely as a very easily demonstrated example.
Nope, generally you can tell by inspecting them. & if you can't make handtools that conform to the relevant standards of quality that will let you stick the standards on your packaging then it's difficult to believe they're any good.
Go on then, what are the limits for calling something CV?
Well personally I would agree that you can pay massively over the odds for any tools, snapon in particular. But the price difference between the well made ones isn't very large.
Super, well personally I'd really love to know where to buy #2 pozi bits cheap that don't disintegrate on the 30th head at 40NM,
A poor example IMO as an adjustable by it's very design, means that any great strain is going to damage it, and probably the nut/bolt head into the bargain. Regardless of the quality of the alloy it's made from.
That maybe so, but the fact remains that good strong hand tools can be baught that do not have all the certification you refer to. Probably cheaply produced in China or one of the other developing far eastern countries, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are of poor quality.
Simple answer. I don't know. I could find out I suppose, but why should I? If you choose not to believe me, it doesn't particularly concern me. What I do know, because I buy special steels in my job, is that specific alloys do have to have quite tight percentages of elements to be classified in a general category like chrome vanadium. According to the specific application those percentages may vary, or additional elements may be added, to alter the alloys characteristics. That for spanners for example, would be similar whoever manufactured them. There's little point in making chrome vanadium spanners from a composition that's unsuitable for the job. The costs would be similar in either case.
Only if you assume that the ones costing half the price are not well made, which IME needn't be the case.
My comments and experience are mainly about basic hand tools like spanners, screwdrivers etc. I would expect good cheap Pozi-drive bits to be available, but I've no personal knowledge of drive bits as I seldom use them. I have got some cheap 1/2" impact driver sockets though. £9 IIRC for a set of 6 or 7, that have stood up to everything I've thrown at them without breaking. Including one being used with a 3/4" impact driver, on a very tight crankshaft pulley nut, that my CP 1/2" impact driver couldn't shift. Mike.
Many many many years ago, I bought a tool set advertised in Motor Sport. 5 quid a month. 25 quid total. Tools where marked were Spinney. Think a name used by one of the catalogue companies. Finish poor - not shiny chrome. But very strong and serviceable tools. I've still got most of them, and it's a convenient set with the sockets on top and the spanners on hinge out trays. Nothing has broken, but obviously some have been lost and replaced.
Top brand tools cost top money. But cheaper ones might be just as strong.
One very tight nut is often all it takes to bugger a poor quality spanner.
Tell me. Why do you so often make unsupported statements about a posters knowledge and experience, in an attempt to justify your argument? It doesn't make your argument any stronger, just makes you look like a pratt, especially, as it often does, it turns out that the poster either knows more, or has more experience on the subject than yourself.
I've been an engineer of one sort or another all my life which I've mentioned in previous arguments with you. Something you appear to have forgotten. So overall I've probably had more experience than yourself with hand tools, seeing as you're now a lorry driver, and have been one for a good number of years apparently.
No matter. You carry on spouting your often ill advised advice, and those of us who know better can carry on having a quiet laugh at your expense. Mike.
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "SimonJ" saying something like:
Seems to depend on the van driver. I've twice taken some heavily used and finally broken Snap-On stuff back and had no problems with straight replacements. On both occasions, the SO guy I took them to wasn't the one who got my business in the first place, it being years and hundreds of miles later.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.