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Hi Kermit, I suppose everyone has their own 2 cents worth, and this is mine. I believe that Snap-On tend to be the best of the best, Mac being second, and I tend to lump Bonney, Matco, and Cornwell together. All the above are sold as automotive and industrial tools, Craftsman now also has a line they are touting as professional or automotive I believe, but I do not know much about them. While I am only in the "industry" as a buyer of personal tools, and lack "inside" information, I have been exposed to the tools mentioned, except Cromwell. Automotive tools, in my opinion, are a stronger and more specialized breed of tool. The jaws on these wrenches tend to spread less under high torque situation, often they are also designed to grab the heads of nuts and bolts better too, as they tend to apply pressure to the flat surfaces of these devices while other industrial lines tend to apply pressure to the corners, resulting in more rounding of bolt heads, etc. I have heard good things about the S-K line these days, it would seem that they are also applying more pressure to the flat surfaces of bolts with, at least, some of their line. I admit to a more limited exposure to the Snap-On/Mac/Matco, etc, line of screwdrivers pliers etc. than to their wrenches and ratchets. My current favorite line of screwdrivers is the Craftsman professional line, the orange handled ones, when they have them, are tops on my list. I have only used older Snap-On screwdrivers and was not impressed, I was actually disappointed with one of their phillips screwdrivers. As I work as a repair man in industry, I actually maintain several tool boxes. I have what I call my industrial box, which is full of Craftsman, Kobalt, and other tools, and I have my automotive boxes that I maintain at home, and use for working on cars, and everything else. The better tools are just too expensive to use in an industrial environment, unless the employer is supplying them. :-) If I round off a bolt at work, it is not my money that will be spent correcting it, not that I ever desire that to happen, where as if I were to have a set of Snap-On tools stolen, it would be my money that would have to replace them, as most employers will not replace stolen tools. I suspect that this is because historically many repairmen have lied about stolen tools, or claimed that a tool they lost was stolen. In any event, the employer that does not supply tools, or replace stolen tools, gets what they pay for. Anyway, the bottom line is that I use both, and when I am on my dime, I want the best tool going. Thus, I tend to use Snap-On, Mac, Matco, et. al., because my experiance has been that these tools will work when others will not. Though, as I stated in another post, I tend to use my older Craftsman ratchet more than my Mac, Snap-On, or Matco ones, unless a special ratchet is needed. I'd not give you 2 cents for the quick release Craftsman ratchets they are selling these days, which is why I stick to Kobalt at work, my older Craftsmen ratchets stay home! :-) I am sure there will be many arguments made pro and con on this issue. Many people tend to take their tools personally. Only God can tell you why that is I suppose. :-) Lou
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