Tools

tool thread!

i bought this whole setup cash within a year with no drivers license. look on craigslist for box deals

snap-on is life

>heat seeking babby killing assault tools with cop killer hollow point sockets.

greenville.craigslist.org/tls/d/snap-on-tool-box/6382931304.html
Is it a better idea to get one of the flat wide boxes or skinny and tall

the spatter on that thing is so fucking bad.

That design/size will be perfect for a couple of years but with personal experience, if try to find something with as many "little" drawers as possible. As in you want shallow drawers like the ones in the top part of OP pic. The deep ones are good for air tools and hammers but I like to maximise space without having to stack tools on top of one another.

That's why you get an angle grinder with a metal brush disc. Its good for small jobs like exhausts or day to day shit

>Its good for small jobs like exhausts
i agree. i had the little HF welder and thats what i got it for. however, once you start trying to do anything that you want to look nice you are going to go through $100+ in grinding disks before you realize you could have just spent that money on a better welder to begin with and saved yourself the hours of haptic nerve damage.

That is a fine starter box. You will either upgrade in the future, or get out of the field.

My setup, FWIW. I have since taken the 80s style top and bottom, and replaced it with a top/bottom KRL. The 80s box is going to be my home setup. I'm the lead tech at my shop. Between the grey cabinet, the cart, and the triple bay, that's almost 100% full. The 80s box (now modern KRL) is about 50%.

Bro. Stay off the tool truck if you're starting out.

Get the cheapest tools you can that'll get the job done right.

The Harbor Freight US General 5 drawer tool carts hold up rather well. If you stick with this profession will you grow out of it? Yes. BUT, you'll always have a use for it as a rolling cart of your most frequently used tools while your big tool chest/cabinet stays where it stays.

You'll want something that has a flat top that can act as a work surface for various shit.

Bro, don't get Craftsman. Harbor Freight, Lowes, Home Depot, any of them offer reasonable things within the same price point. Even though Black and Decker ended up buying the brand there is a clause in their contract that it Sears goes tits up too soon they may back out of the deal. You want to be able to warranty out stuff if things break.

Been hearing good things about the Earthquake Impact Wrenches, well the air ones at least. At Least from what i've been reading online the battery powered ones seem to be good too.

Be weary of the Chicago Electric line they offer though. They're kinda sketch, but the corded electric impact I got from them does seem to do what I need it to do at home because I can't justify getting a beefy enough air compressor.

>I'm about to start tech school to be a mechanic

STOP
T
O
P

That may be too small. Also a lot of those skinny boxes are way too short for me.
I have the box in the pic and it fits a basic metric only tool set well. And having some benchspace on top instead of another box is invaluable imo.

Eh... If he's straight outa highschool and has never touched a wrench in his life... Maybe not a bad idea to build a foundation at a school for a year to kinda get an idea.

But yeah, if you're mechanically inclined AT ALL even if it's not experience in automotive. You might be better off diving head first into an entry level job at a good shop. They WILL train you.

...

I've been wanting that 3/8 impact for a long time.

Craftsman warranty applies only to hand tools also since sears is going under everything at my local sears is at least 40% off so its pretty much harbor freight prices right now

If a store has everything on sale. Nothing is on sale.

When it comes to hand tools Craftsman is crap right now even compared to HF's Pittsburgh Pro.

How do I know? I currently work for Sears. I've used both.

If you can get pre failure cascade Craftsman hand tools. Go for it. If they fail insist they get rebuilt. Otherwise you're better off getting literally anything else.

this is honestly the best infographic that Veeky Forums has ever created.

One correction I should make to that.

Specialty tools from Harbor Freight are crap. Craftsman still makes better specialty tools then HF do.

hartbraker pls

Its called a liquidation sale

Its so disappointing craftsman hand tools are junk now days, when I was growing up I used my dads old craftsman tools and they never once broke. I decided to buy my own set and I've stripped 4 sockets and bent a breaker bar in a year.

Generally tech schools will have a SNAP-ON rep come around and introduce you to real tools. When I was in school they gave students a 50% discount, and I'm pretty sure they still do. Use the best. Craftsman is all Chinese shit now, steer clear of cheap junk.
>t. A Guy With Tools Older Than You

>t. a fucking ametuer
get that shit atta here.

>Whatever size you get, buy US General,
I always get the feeling that if I filled the US General tool cart up, the bottom edge of the cart might crumple up under the weight of tools if the cart moved over a bump.

I'm just a hobbyist op but here my setup

>Oem tools 24962 337 peice apprentice kit with cart
>crescent 170 peice mechanic tool kit
>harbor freight 21 gallon 2.5 horsepower air compressor
>Daytona 3 ton jack
>(4x) 24 inch 6 ton 6 stands
>random knickknacks like c clamps, soldering iron etc

Breddy gud for working out of my garage on my project car

...

Forgot to mention also got a set of metric and SAE flare nut wrenches from harbor freight

>Whatever size you get, buy US General, the Harbor Freight house brand. There is no reason to get a mortgage on a tool box.
Or you could get something that you'll enjoy using and get some good use out of. I would never buy something without soft-close drawers again. Some of the cheaper brands with them have come down in price as well. Here's a not too bad Husky homedepot.com/p/Husky-52-in-9-Drawer-Tool-Cabinet-Textured-Black-H52TR9/206887196 and Milwaukee has some too.

That's a pretty good setup you got, unfortunately I'm probably going to have to buy used for my tools because I don't want to have to have to get a loan and I don't wanna buy new shitty tools

Also got a low pro tranny jack, a screw driver set (Phillips, slotted, torx, star, etc) some c-clamps pry bars and other shit. Other than a lift (which I'm waiting till I own my own house) I'll have my own shop

Dude I got these straight from the manufacturer (msd direct) 1400$ free shipping and no tax. Lifetime warranty on hand tools and 1 year on air tools. Customer service is excellent too i had an incomplete shipment and they overnighted me the missing tools for free

I thought own tools was more expensive than that

>tfw just bought a used snapon toolbox
>cost less than chinese garbage

Dude oem is a part of greatneck saw. It's a us company but the tools are sometimes made in Taiwan. AutoZone will warranty swap them for u no questions asked. This kit is 2200 at AutoZone but straight from oem-tools.com it's 1400$. It used to be on Amazon buy unfortunately (thanks to my stupid ass for giving them 1 star review because I got an incomplete shipment and I thought the company was fucking me) it not there anymore. Ultimate hobbyist kit comes with hand tools and air plus deadblows and a whole bunch of kit sets. I got way more than my monies worth

OEM *

>1 year on air tools
That's upsetting, air tools should last you at least 10 if they're decent, can't believe a company would only guarantee them for 1.

Well dude do to a strange turn of events I ended up receiving a double shipment so I don't care I have doubles of ever power tool

I really wouldn't go with anything less than this especially for your first box

My total budget for everything is the price of that box

Oem tools or used Craigslist set with no warranty

>paying for tools used at work
>paying for school to be a mechanic

i get paid to learn my job including school and special courses like soldering electrical shit and whatever else. the tools are provided for me, if i need anything i ask my boss and in a week i have it. what kind of fucked up system is going on in murica.

Most of those tech school courses have mandatory work experience involved. I took one of those courses and was hired on my third day of experience. It would be a good way for a newbie to build a bit of knowledge before getting a job in a garage.

how can used tools have no warranty? its not like snap on comes with some warranty papers

Figure out what you're going to use all the time and what you're only going to use occasionally and invest accordingly. I took advantage of the snapon student discount to buy 1/4 and 3/8 ratchets and coupled them with Craftsman sockets. I have a few other snapon tools but mostly Craftsman and harbor freight. The snapon 1/4 ratchet is super fine.
I work on airplanes not cars though.

>paying for tools
Not only that, but you have to spend over five grand a year in order to write them off your taxes. Meanwhile Sheky Shekelstein gets to take his business clients to the strip club for steak and lap dances, and that's a legit write off. I'd like to see a national week without auto techs/truck mechanics, and watch this country come to a grinding halt.

HF tools issues seem to be all quality control. it's hit or miss, but when they work they're great. been a mechanic for 15 years, used every brand there is.
>protip: used snap-on/matco/etc tools will get warrantied the same as the ones you buy from the guy in the truck. so any used ones are essentially as good as brand new.

those elec ratches are best tool to come out in years. the "soft" handles on the manual ones i'm not a huge fan of. the hard plastic was better.

If that's the same box I have (looks similar), it blows the US General bullshit out of the water. I was actually going to get a USG box from HF, but because of some kind of "parking lot" sale, believe it or not, they were out of them.

Went down to my local "hometown" Sears, and they had my Craftsman Pro box for only $100 more, and I'm telling you, it feels so much nicer than the HF piece of shit. And surprise of surprises, when I got the box loaded in my car, the Craftsman box (except for the casters) is American made! I was genuinely shocked!

The box on the left is almost 40 years old, and was my dad's. After he passed away, my mom gave it to me, along with his tools. It's still kicking ass after all of these years. Paint is a little faded, but other than that, still 100% good to go.

FWIW, the model numbers of my Craftsman are:
Top 706.377110
Middle 706.377160
Bottom 706.37710

Yes, I know the tops of my boxes are messy, inside they are straight though. The tops are just catch-alls for horseshit like safety glasses, rags, knives, flashlights, tire gauges, rags, etc.

I would wait until you actually get a job in the field. You won't need tools to start at a tech school

>paying for school
That's where you're wrong bucko, since I'm not fully retarded I go for free

Agreed on the Horrible Fright boxes being junk, I was really close to buying the 72" for work, but they just felt so flimsy and are so skinny. Ended up with a really ugly but solid smaller snap on box that I got for cheap off CL, then put an ancient smaller snap on top of it.
Those craftsman boxes are decent, I have nearly the same stack at home, along with random boxes I've picked up here and there. They get the job done just fine.