I hope this thread will grow to show others what quality tools are out there made in the USA. I inherited one of these sets from my Dad after his passing, I use it daily at work and after 40 years I broke one of the bits and just happened to see Jay Leno's Garage do a spot on the company Chapman MFG Company visit thier web site and look at teh prices of these fabulous tools, you can not even buy a screw driver from Snap-on for the price of an entire kit. http://chapmanmfg.com/HardCaseKit.html http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/made-in-america-precision-hand-tools/1256760/
I still have a couple of ratchets from my first wife's Dad they are Snap on and work great. They are never in the boxes with the other tools is why I still have them. Otherwise the Damn crackhead sorryassed waste of skin thieves have all the other good stuff I've had over the years. I still have my first Metal Kennedy carpenters tool box I had to have as an Apprentice Carpenter.
Tools Yes , you may borrow a tool *if* you bring the job here , my tools don't go anywhere I don't . Why not ? I hear you whine ? becasue , they feed my family and put diapers on my baby's behind when he was little and I still have them unlike you , who treat tools like the trash you are . FWIW , I have old & newer Craftsman tools as well as Mac , Stanley , Snap-On , etc. , all make good tools and I have many German special tools and even a smattering of Chinese tools , Japanese tools are most excellent but they never really caught on in America so only a couple of those . I liked that link but they don't make much useful IMO (sockets . wrenches etc.) . After many years & tears , I finally found a Gilmore hose bib , it's made in America and survived being run over by my truck . Some of the crappo Chinese ones broke as I was screwing them onto the hose . Best part ? only $6.00 ! @ Tru-Valu Hwe. Stores .
Snap-off Still have the scar on my elbow from when i was tappet adjusting an old Triumph herald and my snap-on ring spanner snapped clean across the ring end and my elbow went skimming across the badly twisted driver ends of the adjusters, where previous mechaniacs used an african big" hammer to adjust them! only a small scar but boy did it bleed! the snap-on guy was a bit taken aback by my tirade the next time he came in I like Snap-on but its a little too dear for me nowadays, I also love cheap spanners (wrenches i think they called them in the middle ages) the sort that leave flakes of chrome embedded in your hands after you use them
Ratcheting spanner/box ends Craftsman (guaranteed for life, but I don't believe are still made in the USA) are pretty sweet...marvelous invention.
I've been "restocking" my toolbox, including the toolboxes, recently, thanks to the Unwelcoming committee. (Got robbed). I'm getting mostly Craftsman, as I've used them forever, and they hold up really well. Can't afford them individually, but when you shop for a 'set', the cost becomes much more acceptable.
