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Is Stanley a good brand for tools?

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phucheneh said:
Right, you can buy 100 piece sets at Walmart for like eight bucks because they're such top quality.

Stanley fanboy; that's a new one to me.
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You are so cute.

Well you would be if you were 8 or under. But I have a sneaking suspicion you're actually in your 20's, and you are not particularly mature for 20's. Good luck in life.
 
shortylickens said:
You are so cute.

Well you would be if you were 8 or under. But I have a sneaking suspicion you're actually in your 20's, and you are not particularly mature for 20's. Good luck in life.
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I'll never understand the elitism of some ATOTers in such odd places.

'I don't quite agree with your opinion on Walmart tools! You are and will always be an utter failure in life! Grrr!'

Eat more fiber.
 
Stanley hand tools are sort of like Black and Decker power tools. Better than Harbor Freight junk, (I think) with a lifetime warranty, but if you're working with them frequently, you'll be more pleased with a better set.
 
DrPizza said:
Stanley hand tools are sort of like Black and Decker power tools. Better than Harbor Freight junk, (I think) with a lifetime warranty, but if you're working with them frequently, you'll be more pleased with a better set.
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0.o

i had a friend who was an electrician. he was saying black and decker was in a lot more common use than i expected, even for professionals who use them daily, because they're cheap and the difference in quality is not sufficient to justify the increase in price.
 
If you're putting a lot of strain / torque on a tool, or working on something with very tight tolerances, then pay the extra for a top-name brand. For your average home use and simple car repairs, Stanley is just fine. They're pretty good considering the cost.

If your life or job depends on the tool, by all means pay top dollar. If you can simply give up for the afternoon and buy a replacement the next day with no harm / foul, then there's nothing wrong with getting mid-grade or even lower end tools.
 
DrPizza said:
Stanley hand tools are sort of like Black and Decker power tools. Better than Harbor Freight junk, (I think) with a lifetime warranty, but if you're working with them frequently, you'll be more pleased with a better set.
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Would that be because of this?

http://www.stanleyblackanddecker.com/news/stanley-and-black-decker-complete-merger

Stanley and Black & Decker Complete Merger

New Britain, Connecticut, March 12, 2010 – The Stanley Works (NYSE: SWK) announced today that it has completed its merger with The Black & Decker Corporation (NYSE: BDK).

“We are extremely pleased to announce the combination of these two companies and are both prepared and excited for our future as Stanley Black & Decker,” said President and CEO John F. Lundgren. “We have made significant strides to this point in laying the foundation for a successful integration and feel certain we have the talent, experience and strategy to achieve our goals.”

The combined company will be known as Stanley Black & Decker. Under the merger agreement, each outstanding share of Black & Decker common stock will be converted into 1.275 shares of Stanley Works common stock. The existing Stanley Works shares will remain outstanding and will represent approximately 50.5% of the shares outstanding after the merger. The combined company will trade on the NYSE under the symbol “SWK”.
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:whiste:
 
IMO, tool quality is like this:

Tier 1
Snap-On
Mac and MATCO

Tier 2
Wright
S&K
Proto (Now owned by Stanley)

Tier 3
Craftsman
Husky, Kobalt
Stanley

Bottom Tier
The rest of the "Made in China" junk
 
I wouldn't differentiate much between Snap-on, Matco, and Mac. Or Cornwell. And IIRC Proto is (was?) just Mac's industrial line; tools were pretty much the same quality.

On the whole, Snap-on is usually the best, but each big brand has certain things that are better than the competition. Between that reason and promos/sales, I have all four brands in my box (or three...can't think if I actually have anything Mac or not. If so, very little).

I'm not familiar with Wright, but the rest are hard to 'tier.' IMO, it's kinda like:

-SK
-
-
-Craftsman
-Kobalt
-
-Husky
-Stanley
-
-HF/unbranded

But it's important to remember that every single brand has stuff that they do pretty damn well (especially when bang/buck is considered) and stuff that's awful. I don't recommend 'brand loyalty' in the slightest.

It's been a long time since I've broken even a cheap hex socket. The biggest thing with hand tools is usually how precisely their sockets/wrenches fit fasteners. And with wrenches, how easily the open jaws (and sometimes the whole wrench) bend.

If you're going to use the stuff often at all, there are always two things I heavily recommend: a ~60 tooth 3/8" ratchet, and a set of flex-head gearwrenches. Everything else can be as cheap as you want it to be, and it'll probably work.

But I'd totally fellate the guy that invented the flex head ratcheting wrench.
 
You're perfectly describing your own attitude in this thread.

phucheneh said:
I'll never understand the elitism of some ATOTers in such odd places.

'I don't quite agree with your opinion on Walmart tools! You are and will always be an utter failure in life! Grrr!'

Eat more fiber.
Click to expand...
 
I dont own any stanly sockets (that i know of) but i have had plenty of different stanly tools. Have some screw drivers that are 15+ years old and still work great. Also have other misc things like tape measures. Do have two allen wrench sets that stay in my gun bag for optics. They work just fine for me...a home user who uses them occasionally.

I do have plenty of craftsman tools as well which id say are the same quality. Have sockets, ratchets, pliers, even a 12V drill and impact driver from them. They work just fine for me.

I have ryobi for my 18V drill, circular saw (which sucks...but thats cause its battery), weed-whacker (works good for me!), and a leaf blower (small way under powered thing that was free with weed whacker).

All three of those brands work great for me and i havent broken anything yet! Some of those are 15+ years and others are less than a year and all do their intended purposes. I use one or more of them a week although one week might just be screw drivers the next might be the drill but you get the idea.
 
phucheneh said:
I've had multiple people call me out on various 'superiority complexes.'
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You don't say.

H2UYH.jpg
 
Stanley are comparable to just about every other imported tools on the market. Craftsman, Stanley, Kobalt, Pittsburgh Pro (Harbor Freight), etc. - they will all do the job and are fine for 99% of people who don't use them all day every day.

That said, I would pick the one that has the easiest warranty/exchange policy, which for most people means Craftsman from Sears. When one of the ratchets strips out it's nice to get a new one the same day instead of having to mail it off.

fwiw I've been using a set of "Great Neck" sockets and ratchet from Autozone for the last 10 years. They're from Taiwan and didn't cost much. I repair/maintain 2 cars and have rebuilt 3 motorcycles and haven't broken a single tool. The chrome still looks like new, and the ratchet works as well as the day I bought it. The point being unless you make your living with the tools the imported stuff is just fine.
 
I bought a ~270 piece Husky set about 16 years ago for a great price when I applied for a Home Depot card (which I paid off @ 0% interest and canceled a year later). I took flack from a couple people about them being cheap and taking a chance that Husky may not be around for long (in case I ever need one replaced per their lifetime guarantee).

I've had a ratchet that broke after about five years and walked out with a new one. Other than that, they have held up great. Except for a few Philips screwdrivers, the heads/blades have gotten chewed-up from using an inappropriate size driver than the screw called for, which I haven't tried to get replaced because it was essentially my own misuse (well, I wasn't the only one who contributed to it). I'll just buy a set of Philips when they are truly trashed.
 
phucheneh said:
Stanley is bottom of the barrel. Basically the same stuff you'll get from Harbor Freight.
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Holy cow the 'tools' they sell at HF should come with a warning, "proper usage may result in injury or death"

Even their rubber bungee cords are garbage, you can stretch them by hand until they break apart. I wouldn't secure tree branches going to the dump with them.

Stanley makes some pretty awesome stuff like:

31YaEvuZORL._SL500_AA300_.jpg


31595L2nAgL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
 
Fayd said:
0.o

i had a friend who was an electrician. he was saying black and decker was in a lot more common use than i expected, even for professionals who use them daily, because they're cheap and the difference in quality is not sufficient to justify the increase in price.
Click to expand...



Black and Decker IS Stanley. B&D owns Stanley, deWalt, porter cable, MAC, and several others
 
Know what pissis me off? Well known historic companies that put their their name on vaguely related Chinese shit. Irwin, maker of forged tools, and... lumber crayons. Milwaukee? Of course a maker of electric tools is competent to make power tapes! Then there's the completely unrelated. Caterpillar boots, Smith and Wesson knives... That's not getting into the drop in quality of their core products when they move production *overseas

*Code for a country that doesn't even have decent basic infrastructure. 'Overseas' is never Germany or Switzerland... :^S
 
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