Second Hand/Old Socket Sets

[Phil Pascoe]

I bought a lock knife in a junk shop years ago, it had brass ends and rosewood scales just like the cheapo Pakistani ones. I picked it up because it looked to be a little better made than them, and as I opened it I felt the little Rockwell test indent. Right, I thought, it's obviously a half decent one, I'll have it. When I got outside in decent light I realised he blade was etched - Sandvik Browning.
A beautiful knife, I've still got it. £8 ..... I dread to think what it was new.

 

[mbartlett99]

I bought a set of Sandvik (not Bahco) spanners before theywere bought by Snap On - seriously good, slim, light, well polished and tough as you like. If you see some buy them - like hens teeth.

In my opinion, Sandvik gear was some of the best stuff you could get at one point. I've got these Sandvik F-Clamps that are absolutely bombproof and super strong and I've never seen any other ones except for the 3 I have that I picked up in a farm sale. I've also got a Sandvik axe which has seen a lot of use, it holds an edge like no other axe!

I'm not really sure what happened to Sandvik, I know they still make gear for turning and milling but I'm not actually sure what happened to the hand tools part of it. As far as I know, Bahco isn't actually the same company technically even though they're both owned by snap-on?

The Sandvik side were really all about specialist steels and cutting tools - which they returned to when Snap On bought them. Their gear competed directly with Snap On so away it went leaving the Bahco brand as a cheaper line - still very good and super value. If you look at Snap On adjustables/ratchet screwdrivers and a good few other bits from their range you'll find an uncanny resemblance to the Bahco range but much more expensive and all highly polished.

Fluke have done a similar thing with electrical test equipment.

 

[Rhyolith]

I have never quite understood the odession with snap on, nothing I have actaully seen of theirs seems that good to me. The same goes to a much lesser extent with bahco adjustable spanners, I think britool is quite a bit better than bahco going off the 6” britool and 10” bacho I have.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I think the main attraction is/was the lifetime quibble free guarantee, although much or the stuff is sold through an arrangement with garage owners where apprentices (especially) can buy and pay in weekly installments. I suspect in the environments many people work nowadays it's probably more likely that they have the stuff stolen than they break it.

 

[TFrench]

I have never quite understood the odession with snap on, nothing I have actaully seen of theirs seems that good to me. The same goes to a much lesser extent with bahco adjustable spanners, I think britool is quite a bit better than bahco going off the 6” britool and 10” bacho I have.

All my grandad's snap on kit is fantastic, some of the best tools I have used. I think that as per usual, the old stuff is the best!

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I don't think anyone would argue about the quality, just the obsession.

 

[Beau]

Just a word of warning about the Halfords sets. Not had problems with the sockets but I was doing some work on the Felder and there is a nut you can only get on with a spanner. Using the Halfords 13mm and rounded the blasted nut. Never slipped off it just rounded over. Checked I had the 13mm and yes but it was a bit loose on the other nut so I got the verier gauge on it. The 13mm spanner was 13.3mm. I found a cheapo Screwstation one and that was 13.1mm and successfully removed the offending nut. All of the Halfords ones were a bit oversize but the 13mm was the worst. Cheap set was consistently closer to the marked size. For general work the Halfords set has been fine but I can see why it's sometimes worth seeking out better quality tools.

 

[Rorschach]

Older stuff seems better and new stuff seems rubbish because peoples idea of value and price are totally skewed these days.

There is better quality stuff available now than there has ever been in the past, and there is worse junk now as well. The difference is you can buy something now which will work great for odd jobs a few times a year and it won't cost you a weeks wages like it might have done in the 60's.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Of course. I was brought up with the mantra if you can't afford the best, buy the best you can afford. This used to be fine, but I think nowadays it pays to buy at one end of the spectrum or the other. I've one tool I had the option of paying something like £6.99 or £50 for - I bought the cheap one for a one off job and it's done maybe six or seven - bargain. If it were a tool I was using day in day out I'd have paid the £50. I've a few 6" G cramps that were less than a fiver each - hideous things - but I needed loads at one time and they did the job. I think I've used them once in 15 years. It's relative, and we mustn't forget that many top class tools were more expensive when new than top class stuff is now.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Just a word of warning about the Halfords sets. Not had problems with the sockets but I was doing some work on the Felder and there is a nut you can only get on with a spanner. Using the Halfords 13mm and rounded the blasted nut. Never slipped off it just rounded over. Checked I had the 13mm and yes but it was a bit loose on the other nut so I got the verier gauge on it. The 13mm spanner was 13.3mm. I found a cheapo Screwstation one and that was 13.1mm and successfully removed the offending nut. All of the Halfords ones were a bit oversize but the 13mm was the worst. Cheap set was consistently closer to the marked size. For general work the Halfords set has been fine but I can see why it's sometimes worth seeking out better quality tools.

I have one Halfords open-ended set bought years ago with the opposite problem - it has lumps on the tips, possibly because it was too long in the plating bath, but it might just have been badly machined*.

That means you can't slide over a nut along the axis of the spanner, which is really annoying. They look really nice and shiny but they're not actually that well made.

It's one reason I go for hexagonal socket sets now, rather than the 12-flute ones (my Draper socket set is 12-flute in the bigger sizes). Hexagonal ones have far less chance of rounding off a nut or bolt head.

E.

* which is why I haven't tried to "fix" it - in case I break through the plating.

 

[Just4Fun]

I think nowadays it pays to buy at one end of the spectrum or the other. I've one tool I had the option of paying something like £6.99 or £50 for - I bought the cheap one for a one off job and it's done maybe six or seven - bargain. If it were a tool I was using day in day out I'd have paid the £50.

That has always been my approach. For critical or everyday use I get a high quality tool but for hobby or occasional use where a failure is merely a minor inconvenience I buy cheap rubbish and accept that it may not last long. The exception is where I will use something a lot but the cost of professional quality is enough to bring on financial cramp. I may buy cheap rubbish then because the potential savings make it an attractive gamble. Sometimes "cheap rubbish" is surprisingly good.

 

[Rhyolith]

Just a word of warning about the Halfords sets. Not had problems with the sockets but I was doing some work on the Felder and there is a nut you can only get on with a spanner. Using the Halfords 13mm and rounded the blasted nut. Never slipped off it just rounded over. Checked I had the 13mm and yes but it was a bit loose on the other nut so I got the verier gauge on it. The 13mm spanner was 13.3mm. I found a cheapo Screwstation one and that was 13.1mm and successfully removed the offending nut. All of the Halfords ones were a bit oversize but the 13mm was the worst. Cheap set was consistently closer to the marked size. For general work the Halfords set has been fine but I can see why it's sometimes worth seeking out better quality tools.

I have one Halfords open-ended set bought years ago with the opposite problem - it has lumps on the tips, possibly because it was too long in the plating bath, but it might just have been badly machined*.

That means you can't slide over a nut along the axis of the spanner, which is really annoying. They look really nice and shiny but they're not actually that well made.

It's one reason I go for hexagonal socket sets now, rather than the 12-flute ones (my Draper socket set is 12-flute in the bigger sizes). Hexagonal ones have far less chance of rounding off a nut or bolt head.

E.

* which is why I haven't tried to "fix" it - in case I break through the plating.

I recently discovered hex sockets, they passed what is for me the main test of any bolt/nut handling device: removing a bit rust bolt from a big rusty hole (hammer) . I am looking to replace my nearly complete kennedy bi-hex sockets with some hex ones, hence this thread to some extent.

 

[yetloh]

As a young man I was forever in or under unreliable old cars so, for my 21st birthday in 1963 I asked my parents for a socket set. They bought me a half inch drive Elora set comprising BSW, AF and metric sockets with a ratchet and sliding wrench, extension bars, articulated joint, wheel brace and long spark plug spanner. I'm sure it was quite a lot of money at the time. It proved a wonderful investment and I still have everything apart from 1/2" AF socket which got lost and was replaced by another brand. Everything still works as well as it did then. The metal case is a a bit battered and has some surface rust but, functionally, as good as new. I don't use it much these days but it brings back many happy memories when I do.

Jim

 

[Jacob]

I bought a 53 (?) piece 1/2" set from Exchange & Mart about 1966, no brand probably Chinese, and guaranteed "for life". Similar to but not as good as yetloh's Elora brand.
Still got it and all the bits except the ratchet handle which broke after about 30 years. Couldn't find the receipt so failed to claim on the guarantee. Bu&&er!
Luckily, being a cyclist with eyes usually focused on the edge of the road, I often find bits n bobs, probably left on the chassis or fuel tank under a tractor or HGV and dropping off a few miles later. One brilliant Snap-on ratchet handle amongst many other things! Should see me out.