Now here is a man that cares for his tools, :thumbup: I thought I was the only one that polished my tools! I have for years used a light cotton buffing wheel and light duty compound to polish up wrenches, ratchets and sockets followed by a shot of WD40 but I never went so far as to wax them. One word of caution however is NOT to use an aggressive compound or do this too often because the chrome will wear through even on Snap-On tools.
I not sure where're I not old enough to take care of my tools or I just don't have any professional tool yet. I do uses them, but don't abuse them, I don't think. Most of them have been with me 45 years and climbing. Hope they aren't to unhappy. I just wash them in my parts cleaner, then wipe them off. And I have seen a frown . :welcome:
Once or twice a year my Snapon Matco and MAC guys will go through my tools and ask me if I want the "worn" ones replaced.
LAST YEAR SNAPON REPLACED 4 SETS OF MY SWIVEL 3/8 METRIC AND SAE sockets. Matco guy saw them and replaced all my 3/8 and 1/2 inch impact sockets with new ones with the big numbers (for the newbie mechanics who cant guess close enough)
If Snap On even thinks about replacing open, box, or crowfeet wrenches with new ones, they have to match the ones in my current sets, if so, I let them, if not I wait for them to get a used one that does....
I guess with Chrapsman you would have to match up the "made in china", "made in japan", "made in India", or " made in tiwan" logos...
Worked with a guy who had a fancy smancy huge Snap-On tool box filled with pretty chrome plated tools. He was single and I was married with one child at the time. He spent all his time cleaning, polishing, and arranging his tools. He would clean his tools between each job and put them precisely back in their designated spot. We all worked on commission at that time and it seemed he worked solely to pay the Snap-On tool man. He eventually got married and started a family and all that polishing and stuff went out the window, and he even had some Craftsman tools in the big shiny Sanp-On tool box.
You know it's amazing to me how some guy's on here just love to "Raw Dog" Craftsman tools. Looks like if you don't own Snap On or Matco etc. then you aren't a REAL tool guy. Sure, I'll admit there's a quality difference between them and if I was a professional mechanic and had a shop I probably would buy a better brand.
I've had my Craftsman roll-a-way for over 40 yrs. full of the tools I need to build my cars and do all the normal stuff around the house and they have served me well. I've only had to replace a few tools and that was due to my carelessness. I wipe mine off with a shop rag when I'm done with them, but If you want to "POLISH" your tools and spend thousands of $$$$$$$$ on these brands then so be it, I have no problem with that, it's your time and money. OOOOP's sorry, I have to go, it's cold out in the garage. I forgot to turn the electric blanket on that covers my roll-a-way........
You know it's amazing to me how some guy's on here just love to "Raw Dog" Craftsman tools. Looks like if you don't own Snap On or Matco etc. then you aren't a REAL tool guy. Sure, I'll admit there's a quality difference between them and if I was a professional mechanic and had a shop I probably would buy a better brand.......
I don't think anyone has been badmouthing Craftsman other than to say they are not quite the quality of the Snap-On, Matco, etc and for general shop use they beat just about anything out there. For heavy duty use for the professional it is usually a different story and for that the pro grades are the best investment. I think most here that prefer the pro tools would also agree that buying Snap-On, etc is not very practical for the average home shop and for that Craftsman are just fine.
Now about polishing tools, we are not talking about taking the buffer to every tool used before it is put back in the box but occasionally when wrenches, sockets and such get dulled there is nothing wrong with polishing them to bring back that clean shiny look and it is no different than cleaning a tool box and maybe replacing the drawer liners. Personally I like to open my box to a nice clean set of tools and the few minutes spent buffing on a wrench occasionally is not time wasted, not to me anyway.
My 50 year old craftsman box has good drawer slides. I bought an upright top and bottom at a moving sale for $ 25. new they were 200 on sale. they have lousy slides and if I load the drawers they jump off the tracks..
After being a tradesman for the better part of 25 years, I have put together a mixed-bag of tools. Mac, Matco, Snap-on, S-K,Craftsman, et al.
I have never had a problem with any of them. Some break, some wear, some get lost between the inner and outer fenders. I
'll be honest. I can't complain about a single one of them and trust me when I tell you, I am not easy on my equipment. Not that I abuse them, but I work them constantly. I always said that if you take care of your tools, your tools will take care of you.
I dont care what name is on the handle, not many 3/8 drive ratchets can stand up to a 3' cheater bar!!!
I bought my first set of Craftsman tools in 1960 (shortly after buying my 36 Ford Coupe. This set was stolen when Uncle Sam sent me to Okinawa in 1968. I was given a check for what I paid for them and when I returned to the States in 1970, I replaced them with a much larger and more complete set. I have all those tools except for a long 1/2X9/16 box, a 9/16X5/8 line wrench, most of the screw drivers and the 1/4 ratchet. The box and line wrenches are still in the kit, but they have been modified into special tools. I replaced them by hunting through hundreds of tool benches at flea markets and swap meets. I have also added to and expanded my line with the same period tools. My screw drivers and 1/4 ratchet have been replaced by Sears, but unfortunately, they are not the quality of the older tools (bigger, fatter and just plain fuggly. I think this is what OHD is alluding to when he says Snapon has to replace his boxes with used matching ones. Though the prices stay high on Snapon, Matco, and MAC, their quality is lagging in my opinion. For the guy that makes a living with his tools, they probably are not too expensive, but for a hobbyist, probably not worth the difference.
Now if I could just find a great set of old Snapons at a widow's garage sale....!!!!
I used Craftsman tools for about seven years professionally as a certified Chevy and Ford mechanic at dealerships. Still have most all of them plus a few more. I broke a few and they were replaced at no charge. Craftsman tools will serve you well in a professional work environment, they are not just for hobbyists.
I used Craftsman tools for about seven years professionally as a certified Chevy and Ford mechanic at dealerships. Still have most all of them plus a few more. I broke a few and they were replaced at no charge. Craftsman tools will serve you well in a professional work environment, they are not just for hobbyists.
Sorry but I just can't agree with using Craftsman for pro work, I have seen it tried too many times at the mines and the failure rate was simply too high. A lot of the young guys would come to work with their new Craftsman tools because Sears was a heck of a lot cheaper than Snap-On but when those sockets cracked or ratchets failed in the middle of a job miles from nowhere that warranty didn't help much, and the failure rate compared to Snap-On, Mac, etc was VERY high especially the sockets, they would break far too easy! Another problem was box end wrenches and 12 point sockets rounding off fasteners where the pro tools were of the flank drive design and would grip the fastener on a stronger part of the flat. 12 point sockets of any brand are bad for doing this and should be used only when a 6 point will not work but the pro type flank drive work much better. For those guys out there in the field a broken tool could mean disaster and the new guys quickly figured out for themselves why the rest of us did not try to save money at Sears. Craftsman wrenches are really tough and will take a beating but they are slightly thicker and that can occasional cause a problem, the regular screwdrivers are not very good but the pro series are probably as good as any I have used, pliers are really good too (with the exception of those junky vise grip type) but sockets and ratchets simply break too easy. Craftsman has that lifetime warranty but how good a warranty's worth should be measured is by how often you have to use it instead of how agreeable they are about honoring it.
The only time I have cracked a Craftsman socket was when I used a 1/2" breaker bar with an extension pipe, or used my impact wrench with it...duh . I'm not trying to claim Craftsman is better than Snap-On or any other brand. All I'm saying is there are literally thousands of auto mechanics out there making a living using Craftsman tools and they are serving them well. Not everyone needs to invest $20K+ in a huge bright shiny box full of chrome plated tools.
while I cant say what I do to maintain my snap on wrenches, or my mac ratchets...I Don't own any, I've got a Kennedy box full of Brown and Sharpe, Mitutoyo, Tesa, starrett, and hand made precision (some of them down to .00005") ground tools that require a lot of care...I'm talking if you drop it its a write off. All the bare metal, and there's a lot of it gets wiped off with a clean rag, with acetone if need be, and hit with WD 40. The drawers have desiccant packets. Nothing (mic's calipers, etc) is stored with the measuring faces together. nothing is kept locked, or with any tension on it for any period of time. most items have their own case they are kept in which is in turn kept in my box. And to top it all off everything is independently calibrated occasionally to make sure I do a good job of taking care of my stuff...I even got ahold of the roll of calibration stickers and put one on my calculator .
my personal mill, lathe, band saw, etc, all get the same treatment...except having their own case to be kept in...that would be a big case. but all the bare metal gets coated with WD 40 when not in use, everything stays lubricated, the mill even has a nifty set up that you fill with way oil, give it a pump and it oils everything. Nothing stays locked, when it sits idle for any period of time I move all of the axis's and fire up the spindles on occasion. The CNC machines at work stop in their tracks when the lube tanks get low. they say forget you buddy, you oil me up then i'll go back to doing what I'm doing but not before.
It was hard to make the transition from working on bulldozers to precision stuff but its really helped with my patience and attention to detail...although I still momentarily revert to get a bigger hammer mode every now and then.
To be fair you are talking about auto mechanics and I have to admit I am thinking bulldozers but then it was the smaller more common sizes I was talking about. The strange part is the big stuff from 3/4" drive up works just fine out there and even though things like sockets are somewhat thicker than, say, Snap-On I have never seen that to be a problem on the larger stuff. Honestly it was not just brand loyalty and if the Craftsman tools (mainly sockets and ratchets) would have done the job they would have been used more often. As far as cracking sockets I cracked a 1/2" drive 12 point (24 MM IIRC) trying to remove an oil plug in the side of a Ranger Truck 5 speed transmission without using a breaker bar. The fellow I was with who owned the tools had one of those Craftsman sets in the black plastic fold-up case and out of the 3/8" set 3 of the sockets were cracked (12 point). Honestly I am not making this up and I just could not imagine a Proto or Snap-On cracking on that oil plug. I have always said that not everyone needs to buy Snap-On, etc but when someone's job depends on them it may be a different story.
There has been a recent discussion here about the problems (impossibility?) of getting the Snap-On warranty honored and by coincidence he is from my area. It seems there is more than one person with that problem and Snap-On is increasingly getting bad-mouthed by more than just this guy so they may be headed for trouble. I hope it is just a local thing but the problems he has had getting help from the regional office does not look good and I think maybe I personally would be hesitant to invest that kind of money in tools that might be orphaned before long.
I have had no prob with snap on in our area. I still buy from him as necessary. Actually more than before because he and the cornwell guy are the only two that show up weekly without fail. I still have craftsman in my tool box at work and they work great when i need them, but i have traded some of them down to home use only.
The story of the guy who meticulously polished and replaced tools in his box sounds a little like a guy i work with. He doesn't polish and put back but he just bought the fanciest new snap on box with a lockable top compartment for a lap top and a power strip, yet he doesnt have some of the necessary tools for everyday work. Most of us in the professional auto repair trade seem to be of the opinion that you prob shouldn't buy a bigger or fancier tool box until yours is full and you can work on your own without asking for help all the time. anyway i wont get into that any further.
All joking aside there seems to be a bit of a misunderstanding between simply "freshening up" the finish on a tool set occasionally and spending time polishing on the tools everyday. I like to keep my tools clean and occasionally I will change the liners in my box and thoroughly clean everything including going so far as to buff some of them if the finish is scratched and/or dull followed by a shot of WD40, this is not something that is done everyday however.
I had a bunch of tools stolen and I did happen to find replacements at this type of sale. Fair assortment of snap-on and matco. Pretty lucky really.
I have a little of everything but back in the aviation days, removing the exhaust manifold nuts, nothing else would squeeze in there but a snap-on 12 point flex socket. The others were just too thick. I still look at those and say no way, but they would bust em loose every time without breaking.
For $$ reasons I sold my snap-on roller back when and later replaced it with a craftsman. Like someone mentioned, the drawers will fall off the tracks occasionally if I'm not careful. Maybe too much junk in them, LOL. I'm gonna get rid of it down the road when a few extra bucks come in.
Never saw much use in cleaning and polishing. If they get greasy, I soak em, clean em and wipe with a rag and machine oil.
As a side note..........I have noticed the snap-on guys getting a little fussier. Hope that's not a sign of things to come........ :nono:
Maintiantence on anything keeps them functioning and looking good. It is part of the time/investment one puts into his overall appearance/professionalism.
Well maintained tooling shows that the owner cares enough about his items to also take care of their customers items.
As to using Sanp On tools, if one works with anyting long enough they find out that the "beater sockets, ratchets, extensions etc" break and do not fit on LOTS of fastners, and the wrenches have way to big, of ends to fit many places. Then one ends up trying to "borrow a Snap On one" to do the job.
As to Snap On warranties, some of the individual dealers (independent contractors) try to pull the "if I did not sell it I will not warranty it" trick. All it takes is about 3-4 written complaints and that dealer gets to go sell Chrapsman at Sears. The 800 number SnapOn guys will overnight free if they catch a dealer screwing around with a good customer.
Snap On has recently made a decision to make a judgment call as to used tools ownership and will never deny warranty to the origional owner. If you did not buy it new they may not replace it. If you have other Snap On tooling they rarely deny exchange. This was done because some of the warranty return items Snap On was scrapping, were showing back up on Ebay for sale. Snap On always puts a "grind mark" on the origional replaced tools and the ebay sellers were listing them as "grind marks destroying the origional owners id" marks.
MY Crapsman tools also get maintenance. I use the power wire brush to bring the new finish back to the beater stuff I use to lend out. When someone breaks them they get to drive to Sears to get the replacement. :thumbup:
In the example above with the guy using the pipe on a ratchet, to extend its strength, that is why Sears has to make their tools physically bigger, so this type or idiot does not kill himself or some close. :spank:
Snap On has recently made a decision to make a judgment call as to used tools ownership and will never deny warranty to the origional owner. If you did not buy it new they may not replace it. If you have other Snap On tooling they rarely deny exchange. This was done because some of the warranty return items Snap On was scrapping, were showing back up on Ebay for sale. Snap On always puts a "grind mark" on the origional replaced tools and the ebay sellers were listing them as "grind marks destroying the origional owners id" marks.
In the example above with the guy using the pipe on a ratchet, to extend its strength, that is why Sears has to make their tools physically bigger, so this type or idiot does not kill himself or some close. :spank:
Interesting to know, as was the written complaint remark.
I think we've all used a cheater bar at times. The longer the bar you're using...........look around at what you're gonna hit, because something's gonna break loose..........
I still have the Husky socket set that I bought 40+ years ago..........plus some of my dads Snap-on stuff from years before that.......Scratches in them are just war wounds...............
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