Great Tools

[swisscraft]

Hello

I need to buy some general tools in the US (Annapolis Area) for fitting out the boat - not knowing the local brands or shops: Is there a good priced online store which offers tools in a professional, or semi professional quality? I’m not interested at all in cheap China stuff.

Or can anybody recomend a great basic kit? (I have metric stuff but nothing in zoll)

Many Thanks.

[tager]

I suggest craftsman.

[Unicorn Dreams]

As above, go to Sears and buy Craftsmen tools, lifetime warranty and sears are all over the USA.

try Sears: Appliances, Tools, Electronics, Apparel and more from Craftsman, Kenmore, Diehard and other Leading Brands

[Auspicious]

Agree with Craftsman. There is a Sears store at the Annapolis mall outside of town. It's on the bus lines if you don't have transportation.

Most of my tools are Craftsman with the odd bit of Snap-On.

[S/V Alchemy]

I like Husky...no failures even after heavy use.

But Craftsman is good as well.

The trick these days is to avoid Chinese metalwork, which is getting more difficult as so many manufacturers have exported their factories.

[swisscraft]

Thanks folks - looks Sears.com is not working from abroad for quit some time now...to sad. Will keep on trying.

Marco

[zeehag]

snap-on, mac.. do they have online capabilities? i would think those are good....

[roverhi]

Home Depot and Lowes have decent prices on tools. I like Lowes Kobalt brand for wrenches, hand tools etc. Sears is also good though I haven't managed to make use of their guarantee. Haven't been able to break any of their hand tools despite years of trying. Snap-On and other tools from the guys in the trucks are pretty but god awful expensive. A couple of Snap-On metric sockets that I needed in a hurry cost me more than a complete socket set with ratchet from the above suppliers.

If you are looking for power tools, I'd stick with Bosch or Milwaukee brands. Like the Bosch battery powered drills that I have bought as well as their plug in tools. The Milwaukee 12v battery powered screw driver has been a god send to these old wrists. It's a really small size but will drive 3" screws into fir with ease and #10 pan heads into teak all day. Their 18v lithium battery drill motors are about the most compact you can find. Have a 30 year old Milwaukee grinder/polisher/sander that's built three boats, refinished another and still going strong. I'm not very fond of Sears power tools. Have had poor, short lived performance from them and it's a pain having to constantly take them back if used hard. They do have some interesting new battery powered tools but no idea if they will last longer than their previous varieties.

[Kettlewell]

Here's another vote for Sears Craftsman, and I have returned several tools that I have managed to break (abuse on my part, and I admitted it). No questions asked--they just exchanged it. But, I find that Lowes and Home Depot brands are also OK for most things, and I've purchased some small tools from Advance Auto parts also. Even Harbor Freight cheap stuff is fine for most work, despite what some will tell you. For example, I needed a very long breaker bar with a swivel on the end to do the brakes on my car which were frozen in place. I found a two-footer at Harbor Freight that did the trick. I won't need Big Leon very often, so any perceived lack of quality is not an issue. It is worth it to spend a bit and get better quality socket wrenches for your boat engine from Craftsman, because strength and precision does matter there, but you can almost always buy a good set on some big sale, which they have every week around here.