When it comes to hand tools, such as screwdrivers, wrenches,
etc, there are two levels of tool. There is the Professional tools that
mechanics use (like Snap-On and Matco) and Everything Else. We won't
even go into the pro-level tools so. Within the Everything Else category
there are literally hundreds of brands. One thing to keep in mind is
if you (or anyone in your family) have never heard of a brand, stay away
from it. It is probably some cheap knock off.
For good hand tools it is hard to beat Craftsman. Sold in Sears stores
around the globe, Craftsman hand tools are guaranteed for life. Right
up there with Craftsman are brands like Husky and Stanley . There are
several other good brands, but those three are probably the most popular,
and offer the best value. When purchasing a hand tool, simply keep in
mind how much you are going to use it and spend accordingly.
Power tools are a whole different ballgame. There is nothing worse,
well few things worse then spending some hard earned cash on a power
tool the sucks. A good general rule of thumb is if it is inexpensive,
it is probably cheap.
When looking
at your power tools you need to figure out which ones you are going
to use all the time, and get the best brand you can of that, even if
it means something that you do not use as much you get a cheaper brand.
Some of the top brands for power hand tools are Makita, DeWalt, Milwaukee
, Porter-Cable, Rigid, Dremel, and Craftsman. If you are looking for
a tool that one of these brands offer, in general it is a safe purchase.
The next “tier” of power tools would include Ryobi and Black and Decker.
The third tier would consist of Stanley , and Skill. Now, this does not
mean the 3 rd tier tools are crap. What it means is that most people
would agree that for a tool you are going to use a lot of should be a
Tier 1 brand. For example, I use my cordless drill for everything from
screwing together furniture to cutting 120mm fan holes in my system.
For this I spent some serious cash on a Makita 18.2v Cordless drill.
On the other hand, I don't use the circular saw much, so a nice Skill
saw is just fine.
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