I’m a pretty good, but amateur mechanic. Always bought Craftsman because of the warranty, but I’ve watched the quality slip over the years.
I’d consider Mac or Snapon, but they don’t exactly make it easy for consumers to buy, and I could rarely justify the prices they want.
Been starting to consider Kobalt at Lowe’s, but haven’t tried them yet. Lifetime warranty and stores are everywhere with convenient hours.
Anyone have any other recommendations?
I used to buy Kenmore, primarily for the parts availability, until the internet came along and I saw how much Sears was marking up the same parts that any appliance part dealer sold. Then I noticed every brand was basically slapping their emblem (now sticker) on the same guts everyone else is using. You can guess what that did for my brand loyalty.
I have several Kobalt tools and love every single one. If I could only own one tool it would be my Kobalt double-drive screwdriver.
Bought a Kobalt torque wrench a while back for work. Comes with a calibration cert and really nice. No complaints here.
There is a factory in Taiwan which is producing tools for a lot of American brands. I can tell them at a glance because their ratchets all look alike no matter which brand.
Surprisingly they are of very decent quality. I ran into a clearance sale at a Wal-Mart where they had reduced a half inch socket set from $35 to $22 then $11 then they had a ten minute sale where everything on clearance was half price.
I bought 16 sets and have been using them as gifts etc. for at least 10 years.
Out of curiosity, I took a Mitotoyo electronic caliper and measured the post on all 16 of the 1/2 inch ratchets. I was pleasantly surprised when every single one measured exactly .499 inches.
Remarkable quality control.
Still using the complete Craftsman 3/8 and 1/2 inch socket sets I bought from Sears in 1973 when I was starting out as a field service engineer. The 3/8 ratchet pawl slips a bit, but, other than that, all in as-new condition! Really remarkable.