The End of Halfords tools?

[winchman]

Well local store called me they will have stock in May yes May!
They have offered me a black one next week so I am taking that.
Its interesting peoples comments re more expensive brands, I feel over the last 20 years the cheap tools have now become much better quality, we still have some junk but when you look at some of the Aldi / Lidle and several others they have some really good stuff that's great value

 

[Barking Mat]

Well local store called me they will have stock in May yes May!
They have offered me a black one next week so I am taking that.
Its interesting peoples comments re more expensive brands, I feel over the last 20 years the cheap tools have now become much better quality, we still have some junk but when you look at some of the Aldi / Lidle and several others they have some really good stuff that's great value

Couldn't agree more, my favorite spanners are Facom, but I have a Lidl box of tools, in the car. If i'm just tinkering on the car i'll grab the Lidl set, as it's closer.

 

[Joe 90]

What brand of the cheap spanners are best or best value or are they pretty much all the same.

 

[mtt.tr]

What brand of the cheap spanners are best or best value or are they pretty much all the same.

Much of muchness, though the cheap cheap brands are mega thin

 

[8ob]

What brand of the cheap spanners are best or best value or are they pretty much all the same.

There are two cheaps, one is the £20 a set chocolate gear off the bay of thieves that you chuck in the truck as "useful in emergencies" , the other is Halfords pro which tick a fair few boxes and wont do you any harm as workshop tools.

Bob

 

[the snooper]

Just been to Halfords to swap my trusty 13mm ring spanner and they tell me they have none instock and cant order me one?
The live chat person messed me about for a week and has just told me its discontinued?
How can they do this with a Lifetime warranty?

Everything has a lifespan, im guessing it relates to the expected time the tool remains useful before wear takes its toll, I doubt it relates to the owners life span

 

[Migmac]

If ratchets aren’t meant for slackening and tightening nuts and bolts, what’s the point of a ratchet with an extendable handle ? Son has one, it cracks stubborn nuts and bolts with ease and the ratchet work flawlessly

 

[Trevorleach]

I have a Snap-on ½" impact gun and it's far from poor. The thing's an absolute animal.



You can get a repair kit for them.

I assume you mean cordless?
How much was it?
Bought a new Milwaukee M18 1/2 the other day with two batts/charger 306 quid delivered to my door, be interesting to see what the snap on costs, this was to replace my over 10 yr old M18 1/2 impact.

Snap on MG air tools are the dogs danglies, mg325/725 and the 1250 all excellent bits of kit.

 

[mtt.tr]

If ratchets aren’t meant for slackening and tightening nuts and bolts, what’s the point of a ratchet with an extendable handle ? Son has one, it cracks stubborn nuts and bolts with ease and the ratchet work flawlessly

My cheap ratchet spanner mostly 27mm has met the end of a mallet many times, still going strong

 

[AVI_8]

What brand of the cheap spanners are best or best value or are they pretty much all the same.

I’d say buy cheap to have a set of spanners just in case you need one or for infrequent use, if you’re using them regularly though Halfords professional range is good.
Having said that, I bought a set of spanner’s which had every size from 6mm to 26mm from eBay, I’ve had them for 10 years now and used them often, and had no problems, probably I’ve just been lucky.

 

[bricol]

What brand of the cheap spanners are best or best value or are they pretty much all the same.

Aged 15 in 1985, I bought two sets of Draper spanners, metric and imperial, in metal clips, vacuum packed to cardboard from Woolworths. £1.99 a pack or something similar.

So far I've snapped one - the 11mm ring when hammering it the wrong way to try to loosen corroded in stat housing bolts on my sister Metro in around 1990 . . . chrome flaking off some, bent the 1/2", cut others down, added special extensions to some to reach awkward fittings in Lancia engine bays, but all still working.

So Draper budget - from Woolworths.

In fact, thinking about, I'm still using a blue handled Draper Philips that a mate recommended back then - it had a sharp point that worked on the small screws in R/C cars we raced - all these years later, I'm still using it!

 

[mtt.tr]

Aged 15 in 1985, I bought two sets of Draper spanners, metric and imperial, in metal clips, vacuum packed to cardboard from Woolworths. £1.99 a pack or something similar.

So far I've snapped one - the 11mm ring when hammering it the wrong way to try to loosen corroded in stat housing bolts on my sister Metro in around 1990 . . . chrome flaking off some, bent the 1/2", cut others down, added special extensions to some to reach awkward fittings in Lancia engine bays, but all still working.

So Draper budget - from Woolworths.

In fact, thinking about, I'm still using a blue handled Draper Philips that a mate recommended back then - it had a sharp point that worked on the small screws in R/C cars we raced - all these years later, I'm still using it!

Are they the spanners with a raised spine stamped "drop forged" if do and always will have a place in my heart

 

[MetalMonkey]

What brand of the cheap spanners are best or best value or are they pretty much all the same.

The generic Chinese ones sold under "US Pro" etc seem to be well received for the most part - you often find they are very similar to Clarke or Sealey or Draper but with a lower markup.
There are even cheaper ones but they are going to be a bit of a roll of the dice as to if they are made from metal or some sort of cheese.

Next step up would be Taiwan made, I personally like Toptul stuff, which are the OEM for Facom and some of the Stanley B&D brands.
Most good ratcheting wrenches are made in Taiwan as it was (IIRC) a Taiwanese company that held the patents - even some of the German ones have Taiwanese mechanisms.
However, some of the Taiwanese brands now outsource to China anyway.

Stepping up again you are into European, Japanese, US or UK made, and you pay accordingly.
More expensive spanners are nicer in my opinion, more consistent, harder wearing – but a lot of the cheap ones are really hard to beat now and more than good enough for general use.

 

[Ubique]

I didn't know that about the Facom stuff, most of mine is old enough to be marked with 'France' on it somewhere and there is a noticeable difference to some of the newer stuff the younger lads have.
I have some older Kamaza 3/4" stuff that has survived well and I find Koken to be very hardwearing, I have a set of magnetic spark plug sockets that are well over 25 years old, they've been dropped, thrown in various 'take home' tool bags, used as magnetic retrievers and they are still in one piece with no lumps out of the magnets.

 

[winchman]

Early Kamassa stuff was just branded and made by ETC in Japan for sockets and Heyco Germany for spanners great quality but sadly the company has been bought and sold since then.
In general I find the Taiwanese stuff is great.

 

[Cobbler]

Early Kamassa stuff was just branded and made by ETC in Japan for sockets and Heyco Germany for spanners great quality but sadly the company has been bought and sold since then.
In general I find the Taiwanese stuff is great.

I’ve got an early Kamasa 1/2“ ratchet which I scrounged off the rep in the early 70’s, don’t use it much now but still good condition even the chrome. As you say it was good stuff then. We used to sell their tools where I worked in those days, there was a lifetime guarantee, if you could break it, it was changed without question.

 

[bourbon]

Lucas was one of the main agents for Kamasa tools when they first came into the UK market, Just so happens I have a socket set that was my dad's, in the workshop. Most lost but there are a few bits left in there

 

[Moose McAlpine]

I feel over the last 20 years the cheap tools have now become much better quality.

Definitely. I've had some cheap Draper impact sockets for 15 years, daily use and they still show barely any wear.

My tool set on my work van is mostly cheap stuff; Sealey sockets, Draper spanners, etc and it all works fine, has done for 5 years. It stands up to that use in roadside work just fine.

If ratchets aren’t meant for slackening and tightening nuts and bolts, what’s the point of a ratchet with an extendable handle ?

They are made for that. I have a 36" ratchet so they're definitely intended for high torque.

I think Hazet rate their fine tooth ½" ratchets for 1,000NM.

I assume you mean cordless?
How much was it?

Snap on MG air tools are the dogs danglies, mg325/725 and the 1250 all excellent bits of kit.

It was a repo, i think i paid about 350 for it 7 or 8 years ago.

I'm not fond of their air impacts. Awful ergonomics, loud, heavy. Mine are Ingersoll-Rand and they've never given me an issue.

The generic Chinese ones sold under "US Pro" etc seem to be well received for the most part.

A lot of US Pro stuff is surprisingly decent. Worked for a guy who had loads of it and couldn't fault it personally. Been tempted by a cheap set of their ratchet spanners to go on my work van.

Bit sockets and screwdrivers always seem to be the weak point for cheap tools to me. Torx bits shear off, screwdriver tips get chewed up.

 

[Trevorleach]

It was a repo, i think i paid about 350 for it 7 or 8 years ago.

I'm not fond of their air impacts. Awful ergonomics, loud, heavy. Mine are Ingersoll-Rand and they've never given me an issue.

You are spot on about the loud bit, especially the 1/2 inch and 3/4 models
But the 1/2 inch ones available 2nd hand now circa 100 quid, 150 quid if recently been rebuilt, last for years as well.
Sold my IR to workmate years ago, regretted it as it was quite a bit smaller the an the Snap on MG model.

Tbh I think any of the cheap spanners are just fine, at home I work with utter cheap crap and still get the job done, the cheap USpro extra long normal and torx spanners are decent.

 

[Moose McAlpine]

You are spot on about the loud bit, especially the 1/2 inch and 3/4 models
But the 1/2 inch ones available 2nd hand now circa 100 quid, 150 quid if recently been rebuilt, last for years as well.
Sold my IR to workmate years ago, regretted it as it was quite a bit smaller the an the Snap on MG model.

I worked with someone who had an MG725 and it was going back to be rebuilt every few months. It'd be powerful, briefly, then be ****-weak a couple weeks later. He always mocked my "plastic" IR gun, but mine's never once failed.

Tbh I think any of the cheap spanners are just fine, at home I work with utter cheap crap and still get the job done, the cheap USpro extra long normal and torx spanners are decent.

The US Pro long spanners are pretty good.