FireDemonSiC

My dad has officially cut me off from his endless supply of tools and It's time to go out and get my own. The only problem is, I don't have alot of money to throw around and can't afford an entire plethora of SK. I work at a wireless booth inside costco and noticed in the back around the tool section they have a MAMMOTH (over 200 pc.) toolset made by a company called crescent, which is one of the names Cooper tools goes by. This set has everything from SAE and metric sockets, both standard length and deep, to spark plug sockets, allen wrenches and open box end wrenches. The package says the tools to be made of Chrome Vanadium. The ONLY thing that truly concerns me, is the price. The grand total for this whole set, $100. I know that being a member os costco won't bring you THAT much of a miracle, and I'm a firm believer in you get what you pay for. Now, I am not a workshop freak nor would I rely on these tools to one day save my life, but for someone who is trying to get started building his first toolbox how well would you expect these to be for general repair?

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InfernalVortex

Those sockets will probably work fine. The socket wrenches may suck, but you can always replace those. Even cheap sockets tend to work fine as long as you dont throw em on an impact wrench.

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ellocojorge

id say go with stanley from walmart...ive had my sets for 5 years the onlything that gave in was an extension, because i attachet a long pipe to the socket wrench to loosen a bolt, the extension twisted but the wrench was fine

di11avou

My recommendation is picking something with a lifetime warranty. It might cost a little more to start with, but will save you a lot in the long run.

wvabreeze

I've used Crescent brand tools before and can't think of any problems I had with them. I would also suggest cruising the pawn shops. Sometimes there are whole tool boxes show up full of name brand tools in them. I always look through them and if they are Craftsman tools even if there is broken stuff they have lifetime warranty. Snap-on shows up occasionally but you usually have to chase down a tool truck to get them covered.

gregsz-28

Don't go to walmart, costco, home depot, etc, for hand tools. Any work you do will be no better quality than that of the tools you are using.
For your budget, Napa tools and craftsman tools are good enough quality, and they have a lifetime warranty. I haven't had good luck with SK or blackhawk tools.

UNCLE TOM

i'm a ret. acft. mech. , i have more brand wrenches/rachets/sockets than you can think of . sure snap-on , craftsman , matco are all good as are most of the major brands . ( i have snap-on rachets that are more than 40 yrs. old ) start with what you can afford and build from there . you will be suprised how fast your inventory grows . with the 200 items , how many are allen wrenches ? how many are screwdrivers tips ? the 200 number i'm sure is full of them . buy with caution , buy on sale , buy what you will use . don't be afraid to modify tool's , ( i have dozen's ) . your dad , i'm sure cut you off because you lost/mis-placed/ stole his tools . just kidding , good luck .

Scorpner

You need quality tools for nuts and bolts that are stuck. Without a good fitting wrench or socket there is a higher chance of it rounding out the bolt head or nut. Then you're in for more problems. This is especially true if you live in an area where corrosion is prevalent because a bolt head can actually reduce in size. That being said, I do buy the cheap stuff for day to day things and to leave in the car. When something requires a bit more torque or whatever then I pull out something that's built better. I've had the cheap stuff explode when being pushed so keep that in mind too.

I started out with an SK 3/8" (SAE, 6pt., 20 piece) set with shallow and deep sockets. I still use it today after 30 years or so. I also have a set of SAE quality wrenches and the rest is mostly Craftsman. You can tell how good they are by how well they fit on a bolt head. (IMO the Craftsman line isn't as good as it used to be since K-Mart bought them out, but you can easily turn them in for replacements.) Later on you can buy metric socket sets as you go and see them on sale. I also bought a couple of cheap 52 piece socket sets ($5-$10) that have a wide selection that I can leave in the car. I've used them a lot because of the really small sockets and oddities when I'm at places I don't have my main tools handy.

I would go with craigslist before pawn shops. I just looked around and the prices were high locally. I figure this is because the pawn shop includes the middle man over the craigslist guy.

Other cheap stuff I have to hack on are drills, palm sanders and grinders. The ones I get have a year warranty and even if they do break they were only $10-$20 anyways. But it's better having something than nothing, and if you only use it once in a while it will get you by until you have more money.

Don't forget to ask the old man for tools this Christmas. He'll have to get you something decent.

-Interesting comment on the SK, they may have changed over the years as well.

Kevman

I live by a quote many journeyman have told me in my trade..

"You're only as good as your tools"

But for a hobby type deal like Camaro's and Firebird's.. You can't go wrong with the Crescent set.. If you were a mechanic doing it everyday, the SnapOn set is worth it.. Same reason I buy Klein screwdrivers at $12 a piece.. Or Sidecutters at $49..

FireDemonSiC

The old man cut me off because we got into a fight about a wire brush he had let me use to scrub the rust off my brake drums for paint. About 2 rows of bristles in the front thinned out, which was about 5% of what was on the brush. I told him that I would expect him of all people to know that this was normal wear and tear especially for a tool of this nature. He still insisted I buy him a new one and I told him he was full of it.

Same thing happened last time with the cheap made in japan 10mm socket he let me use to try and remove my alternator. The BOLT, actually stripped out whatever kind of soft metal the socket was made out of. But I didn't say anything, I just went and bought him a new one. When he caught me with the brush, I was in an extremely mood since I had just spent the last 3 hours replacing a part on the car that didn't fix the problem.

The tool set in question is pictured below and yes, it does state lifetime warranty in the top right corner.

Attached Images

IMG00315-20091006-1817.jpg (750.4 KB, 18 views)

gregsz-28

Where do you take a broken tool to if you need to get a replacement? Costco? I bet the catch is that they want you to pay +/- $5 shipping to replace a $.50 tool...

FireDemonSiC

I believe this is where the line gets crossed of thinking too much into things. Sure its a probable outcome but also one that will have me spending $400+ on an equivalent set that could potentially do the same thing.

I've heard people say good and bad things about just about every manufacturer including craftsman and SK to the point now where it's like trying to figure out who shot kennedy.