Author Topic: First tool purchase: Sears, harbor freight or Home Depot?  (Read 16552 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Roach Carver

  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 6,725
Re: First tool purchase: Sears, harbor freight or Home Depot?
« Reply #25 on: October 04, 2014, 06:37:02 AM »
I have had good luck buying those craftsman tool kits. Usually around 100 bucks. That will get you your basics then piece it together from there. I've been given tools here and there and every once in a while you will have to make or modify tools.

Offline Dunk

  • Expert
  • ****
  • Posts: 932
Re: First tool purchase: Sears, harbor freight or Home Depot?
« Reply #26 on: October 04, 2014, 06:41:59 AM »
HF is great for consumables, tools hit or miss. I have a bunch of HF wrenches and sockets I keep on my boat... These will rust and get nasty or be dropped into bilge oblivion from time to time. Cheap and disposable but good enough to get the job done in a pinch. My rule of thumb for HF (after getting burned on cheap junk a few times) is I'll only buy HF if no part of the tool moves in relation to any other part of the tool. No ratchets, no air tools, etc. Just consumables, wrenches, sockets. The quality on those are alright, but clearly cheaper and weaker than good name brands. HF wrenches and sockets thrown in a bag with Sears or SK ratchets/pliers/etc. made a great cheap kit to keep in the boat/car/truck. For the bike, I just carry the factory Honda toolkit under the seat as it seems to have almost everything needed to completely break down and rebuild the bike if you were really in a pinch.

My real tools are many older Sears with SK, SnapOn, Proto, ChannelLock, and few others mixed in. If your criteria for junk is solely China, you'll be disappointed with many of the big names these days. Half the stuff at Sears is China, Channellock is mostly China now, etc... I have bought some SK stuff recently as they are still made in USA and feel like quality tools without paying the big 3 premium.

Offline BobbyR

  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 12,367
  • Proud Owner of the Babe Thread & Dirty Old Man
Re: First tool purchase: Sears, harbor freight or Home Depot?
« Reply #27 on: October 04, 2014, 07:08:03 AM »
I think you will see a theme here. There are a base set of tools that should be good quality. Then there are tools that are almost consumables and those you can by at HF. I am forever buying screw drivers at HF or flea markets since I lose them or misuse them.   
Dedicated to Sgt. Howard Bruckner 1950 - 1969. KIA LONG KHANH.

But we were boys, and boys will be boys, and so they will. To us, everything was dangerous, but what of that? Had we not been made to live forever?