Spanners & sockets: Sidchrome v Kincrome v Stanley v Superworks etc

[Dusty Dave]

Hi everyone,

I am planning to buy some decent tools, but find myself nonplussed by the current state of the market. I have spent some time searching in these forums and the comments are interesting but many of them are a little dated, so I thought the subject might be worth raising again.

Until today I had figured that Sidchrome was probably the finest option, as they were in use at my last place of employ by the very manly diesel mechanics and they seemed to do a fine job (the tools, not so much the diesel mechanics). However, there seems to be a feeling that in the last few years (since Stanley bought Sidchrome) their quality has declined to a point where they are no better than Kincrome, despite their higher price.

Kincrome do seem to have some good tools, but they also produce some less noble gadgety things. Having until recently been a serious user of folding multi-tools I can say that the Kincrome ones were a pale shadow of the Leatherman, Gerber and Victorinox tools, which doesn't exactly leave me in awe of the Kincrome brand.

I have little time for Stanley tools these days either, the screwdrivers I bought recently are of extremely poor quality and seem to be made from some kind of cheese. If Sidchrome is about equal to Kincrome, then it would seem fair to surmise that Stanley is about equal to Supatool (the cheaper brand of Kincrome).

I had never seriously considered the Supercheap Auto tools before, but from what I've read today the 'Superworks Gold' gear is probably made by either Sidchrome or Kincrome (or an equally capable Chinese factory) and probably every bit as good.

So what to do? Until today I was feeling good about my plan to spend a bit extra and get some nice Sidchrome stuff. Now I'm wondering whether the SWG is a much smarter buy, or perhaps I should 'split the difference' and get Kincrome, an established brand but with a more attractive price tag than the Sidchrome?

Have I missed anything?

[Woodlee]

It depends on what you are wanting the tools for , to make a living or just for home use .
If you are using them to make a quid then buy the best you can afford .
If for home use then KingChrome would probably be the go.

Repco , had a range of good tools some years ago branded with the Repco name they looked very similar to Proto tools ,were robust and pretty good ,not sure if they are still available.I have one of the 1/2" drive ratchets and it has taken some pretty tough abuse over the years .

Minimax has always been my choice for tools to make a living with ,although I have a few stray Sidchrome , Stahwillie and Snap-On tools in my tool boxes.

[BobL]

Snap-on.

32 years ago I managed to get a small set of Snap-on ring spanners and sockets - they have definitely been the best hand tools I have ever owned.

[Cruzi]

Metrinch, best spanners ever !!!!

[jimbur]

If you really want the best go for snap-on or Stahwille. However, I'm still using my old sidchromes (half and threequarters drive) and for smaller stuff use Repco three-eighths drive. No trouble with any of them.
Just don't go too cheap as there's not much worse than using sockets softer than the nuts or ratchets that give way.
Jim

[wheelinround]

Stahwillie, Gedore, Snap on for life time protection with sockets go High Impact

[Ironwood]

I have worked the last 26 years as a Diesel Fitter using a mixed variety of Stahwille, Proto, Snap-on & a few older type Sidchrome tools, all good quality professional tools, but in my opinion too expensive for home/occasional use.
A couple of years ago I bought a range of JBS tools for home use, from Blackwoods (JBS= John Blackwood & sons) these would probably be in the same price range as Kinchrome etc. I have found them to be very good value for money. I also know of a few tradesmen who are using these as their main work tools , and they are happy with them.

It all comes down to how much you are prepared to spend, if you have an unlimited budget, buy Snap-on, you will be up for $10,000 for what I would call your basic set of tools. Or buy JBS and get tools that will do the same job (argueably) and spend about $2000.

Hope that helps.

[mat]

Having used and owned many of these brands I offer the following opinions.
Old sidchrome (Australian made) are very good but now only possible to buy second hand and prices on ebay are very high. New sidchrome is no better than JBS, Repco or Kinchrome so don't pay any more. Stahlwille are exceptional and still made in Germany - some good priced sets are available from industrial suppliers - very expensive as individual items. Snap-on are good but way overpriced, some bargains on ebay. Blue Point by snap on are equivalent to new sidchrome, JBS, Repco etc

Minimax are made in Japan, good value for money. A large Melbourne dealer (Minimax Tools) sells on ebay - good prices.

Lastly - I wouldn't buy anything made in India.

[malb]

Some comments on my collection.

Supercheap socket sets (Premium sets in blue cases from abt 8 years ago German?) 1/2 in drive 6mm to 32mm with acc, 1/4 to 11/4 in sockets addon, 20 to 36 in extendable breaker bar with interchangable rigid and ratchet heads. Total kit about $250 after Christmas abt 8 years ago. Have taken everything thrown at then since I got them, never slipped or rounded a head once. Basically as new after 8 years of serious use (no abuse).

Kingchrome socket set 1/2 in, 3/8in and 1/4 in drive kit in top compartment of a red series roller cabinet. Had for 18 months and has done a fair dose of work, again no hassles and a good kit. Can be found in the roller set, or as tools and blow mold tray to include into some other case, or as a standalone case with tray and tools. Also have added 3/8 and 1/2 in drive long sockets to the kit as well. No hassles with them either.

Stanley through centre socket kit. Ratchet handle, common metric and imp sockets to 19mm 3/4in, extension and 3/8 and 1/4 sq drive normal socket adaptors. Used only for moderate grade work but work well and have the ability work well over long exposed shanks as they are hollow. Max size is limited but this set could cope with about 95% of nuts and bolts on a car on its own. Currently about $50 at Bunnings. Prefered set for out of workshop at present due to compact size, range covered, and light weight.

Bunnings no name Indian OE and Ring sets. Bought these about 7 years ago at Bunnings. Each set covers 6mm to 32mm and cost about $15 for the set. Big B haven't had them for years, but I have 2 sets of each and have never had a slip with them. Fairly heavy and large, fairly poor satin chrome finish over raw forged steel. The ones I had at work for 4 years are starting to show spots of surface rust from metal polishing dust landing on them, but the home ones have stayed clean.

Supertool 1/4 and 3/8 drive kit to 19mm 3/4. Another good allrounder set that I keep in the older car for just in case. Have coped with everything I needed on the side of the road for 7 years without hassles. (Keeping a 30yo 1,500,000km car going in this case). About $45 at Autobarn.

Kmart equivalent of above from 1972. Kmart auto started importing these Jap tools at the start of the Jap tool era and flogged them for $9.95 a set. Probably one of the best small kits around. I bought the Supertool kit above because the 1.3mil k travelled had totally stuffed the plastic liner for the box and it was a pain to find the right socket cos everything just rattled around in the box. The tools are as good as new, and my dads two sets are as well.

Still have the two big screwdrivers from an early Stanley 13 pc set in the big black plastic box. Rest of the set ended in the bin because they got rusted out when neighboors left thm on top of wardrobe under eaves for three months and they got flooded. Had them for years and couldn't hurt them till they got drowned. Current ones are from China and not close to being similar.

Replaced the dumped Stanleys with a Supertool set ($35) which have been excellent so far (21/2 yrs). Set didn't have the big mothers in it but luckily the big Stanleys had more chrome and survived the drowning much better than the regular and small ones had.

[mat]

Dusty Dave

Check out Bowman Tools in Melbourne for Stahlwille. I have bought a lot of gear from them.

[jimbur]

Another point to consider is that some of the cheaper brands have thicker walls to make up for the cheaper steel. This can be a problem if you're working in tight spaces or on recessed nuts.
Jim

[Dusty Dave]

Thanks for the great responses everyone.

Regarding their intended purpose, the new tools will mostly be used on the car, but obviously will be called into service any time I need to assemble or disassemble anything with more than a couple of nuts, install dynabolts etc. While that may not in itself justify particularly great tools, I'd rather pay a bit extra for quality because I am fed up with using the crappy soft tools that currently make up the majority of my 'mechanics' kit, and hopefully I'll still be using them in 40 years - and it would be nice not to be constantly rounding off heads between now and then!

So the plan was to get a decent full set, and keep them on board the car ready for emergency repairs and planned servicing projects alike, as well as things like visits to wreckers for parts. I plan to keep the junk tools in the workshop for the odd casual bolt (or I may pick up a set of middle-ground Stanley/Supatool etc), otherwise for serious projects I'll just slide the good tools onto a trolley and wheel it in there.

$10,000 is certainly overkill but I'd be happy to spend say $300 each for a set of sockets and combination spanners, which puts me at that Sidchrome / Kincrome / SWG / Repco level. Whether that would get me near to Stahlwille remains to be seen, but I'll look into it.

Metrinch, best spanners ever !!!!

Interesting you should say that Cruzi, I was beginning to wonder if they might be worth a go. The car (86 Range Rover) is a curious mix of imperial and metric sizes, with I believe the odd Whitworth carried over from the early days, so a set of Metrinch would not be a silly suggestion. I had dismissed them as a fad when I saw them years ago, but by all accounts they have a hard core of loyal fans, and being able to do the same number of fasteners by carrying half the tools is attractive...

[Batpig]

Dusty,

There's a 30% discount on all SuperWorks Gold at the moment. Even at full-price they're very, very good gear. At the discounted price, you absolutely can't go wrong. Lifetime guarantee - no docket required. You wont be able to bust them. You'd only need Stahlwillie and Snap-On if you're working on, ahh, heck - I dunno, Formula 1 Draglines or something...

Sidchrome are made in SE Asia now so don't let Taiwanese manufacture put you off SWG. You'll well and truly be okay with them. Best bang for bucks when on sale - no ifs, buts, or maybes. Only thing that would come close for the price would be Repco house brand (which are made for them by Sidchrome) but only when on sale (which is far less often than SWG).

Good Luck whichever way you go,
Batpig.

[mat]

The big drawback with metrinch is that you have to rotate the spanner a fair way before they grip. Absolutely no good in confined spaces like a motor vehicle.

[Cruzi]

The big drawback with metrinch is that you have to rotate the spanner a fair way before they grip. Absolutely no good in confined spaces like a motor vehicle.

Not really, sometimes about 1/8 of a turn, also not a problem with their sockets. If turning more than that you are using wrong size.

When you consider that the number of spanners needed is half that of other sets and rounded off bolts and nuts are no problem at all, they kick every other spanners butt.