Proper Tools....Name your Favourites!

Finally, is Black and Decker still a decent brand (if it ever was)?

I picked up a nice Fluke 333 clamp multimeter for about half price in a pawn shop. While I probably wont need the amp meter much anymore, I wanted to replace the one some low-life stole from me a couple of years back.

Sorry for all the questions at once.

All the tools you mentioned are first-class. I have some of all of them. I'm a little partial to Makita but you cannot go wrong with any of them.

One caution. Don't get locked into one brand. Each manufacturer makes one or two tools that are simply the best but no one makes all the best tools. For example, when I needed a rotary hammer, I looked at a bunch of them, bought a Bosch, and could not be happier with it.

As far as meters go, Fluke is #1. They are also mighty pricey. I have an old Fluke DMM for electronic work but for truck/tractor work I use a $40 Radio Shack DMM. If I drop it, I'm out only $40, not $400.

Makita is based in Georgia here in the US but is a Japanese company, and the 4 1/2" angle grinder I just bought of theirs is made in China, but it is well made and for sure to their specs.

As far as hand tools, Many of the common brands today, Craftsmen, Matco, Allen, Armstrong, K-D, Fluke, Robins, and a few others are all made by one company, Danaher Corp.

Link

This may explain why these tools tend to look alot alike. Danaher has been licensed by Sears to market Craftsmen tools outside of Sears, so the big tool companies/suppliers like Zigler are now actively pushing Craftsmen tools. The quality of Craftsmen hand tools dropped off after Danaher got the Sears/Craftsmen contract a number of years ago.

I have WWII vintage Craftsmen, Plumb, Snap-on, and others that my dad bought new and I perfer them to the newer tools I have. Might be because I've used them for so many years I've grown used to them.

I'm a professional mechanic and will buy 20 to 40 year old used Proto and Williams wrenches and sockets rather than buy the new, cheap stuff.

An aquaintence of mine, a tax appraiser in an adjoining county, was a tool design engineer and took an early retirement from Williams Tool Co. in Columbus, GA (their home office) after Snap-on bought them and started cutting. He said the Kobalt brand you see in Lowes is made by Williams but in Taiwan. They designed it here, but he said some inexperienced engineers designed it and that some of the tools (specifically the rachets) will not carry the designed torque before failing. The quality is simply not there.

As far as power tools, I stick to the brands you name, and stay away from Black and Decker and the other cheaper brands. I did buy a $19 angle grinder from Northern to grind some bad welds with, and it works, just vibrates till your hands are numb. Bought the Makita to replace it. I have a Makita Circular saw, and every single carpenter (full time professional) I've seen working on anything in the past five years was using that same Makita, they all say its the best weight and durability.

Personally I'm not fond of DeWalt, the quality of design and manufacture seems to vary too much.

Charles

If the Williams made Kobalts were made in Taiwan, Lowes was guilty of false advertising as the packages said they were made in USA.