Total tool Confusion... who STILL makes quality?

[leafspring]

Which quality old school brands still make tools in their own name?

'Britool' were always good... except these days 99% sold as 'Britool' is labelled as being made by 'Expert' 'Britool' doesn't appear on any of it

Most 'Bahco' is still top quality made in Sweden from Scandanavian steel so I bought a set of 6 spanners for nearly £40... except the 'Bahco' spanners are made in Argentina and are not finished properly

So can 'Expert' be trusted to be as good as 'Britool' used to be?
are Argentinian 'Bahco' still 'Bahco'?

I doubt it, so unless it's 'Bahco' and has 'made in Sweden' stamped on it... back to 'Halfords Pro' I go


unless... are the reassuringly expensive and nicely photographed 'Facom' good?
and can 'Draper Expert' still be relied upon?

Edited by leafspring on Saturday 28th December 16:22

[paintman]

Quite a bit of my kit is Facom, bought in the late 70s & still going strong.
The rest is a bit of a mixture as I was lucky enough to live near a very good used tool shop. Unfortunately he retired a few years ago so anything now is either Laser or Halfords Professional.

[ch427]

Britool = ste these days in any form. Can't comment on facom but always found bahco to be good.

[leafspring]

The Swedish made Bahco stuff is still superb... the new spanners (made in Argentina) just look poorly made with rough finish, the ring ends look thin and they are very light I expected better.

Never tried Laser

Usually have Clarke Pro, Draper Pro, Halfords Pro, Hilka, Stanley and Bahco (labelled 'made in Sweden')

[Deerfoot]

I use Facom at work and they're great. Primetools in Bath are a decent on line retailer for their stuff.

[DocArbathnot]

I bought some Britool from ebay on reputation. (In the 70's it was mentioned in the same sentence as Snap On)

The stuff ain't that good anymore and the rachet screwdriver was very poor.

[spike50]

i find britool pretty good and the expert name is just there branding to try to take it into Europe, Facom is the best for ratchets , very smooth and guaranteed for life .
sealey I wont touch after a bad experience with there busted knuckle slippy spanners

for general diying id go for Halfords pro on the deals , tho there guarantees seem to be a bit hit and miss , ratchets not warranted , certain stores you need receipts even if it says Halfords on the damn spanner

[leafspring]

NB: this isn't for DIY use, I got a new job in the workshops at a marina.

[ch427]

I find halfords pro stuff hard to ignore these days with all the offers on, it's very good quality stuff that I've used and abused on cars and throughout industry and it's never failed me yet.
Someone with thousands of pounds worth of snap on stuff may snigger at you but who cares.

[paintman]

Could do a lot worse than look at one of the Halfords toolkit deals. I usually only buy the odd item now as & when needed which is fairly rare as I started building my kit in the mid 70s when I was working in a motor factors so the Facom stuff came at cost price.
I recently replaced my 1/2" Facom ratchet with the Halford's Advanced one & very good it is too. I'm trade so the discount card is useful. The Facom one expired after nearly 40 years of hard use/abuse & whilst they do have a lifetime warranty I fancied a change.
I have a preference for hexagonal sockets as opposed to the multipoints as I find they don't butcher nuts/bolts & will often undo those that have been.
I broke one of my Laser brand Torx keys - twisted one end off, should have used the right tool so my own fault. Contacted Laser to see if I could buy a replacement & it arrived FOC within a couple of days.

[leafspring]

Snap on are partners with/own Bahco don't they.

Update:
I been on here www.facom.com and they tell you who makes what for them.

So I went for http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006MSR3CC/ref=... which looks like all I'll need for now.

I can transfer my still complete 13year old 150piece Halfords Pro set back home (it was far to big as I only needed the spanners and 1/4" drive ratchet/sockets) without splitting it up. I knew from the start Halfords Pro was good

Now the sockets are sorted it's just various GRP/Wood/Metal working and paint preperation tools I need now

Edited by leafspring on Sunday 29th December 12:35

[JoeMk1]

This list is obviously not exhaustive and is only based on my personal experience.

Britool - Possibly Taiwan, Britool is just a brand name under Stanley now
Bahco socketry/spanners - Argentina, still good quality though IME
Bahco adjustable spanners - Spain, again still good quality
Bahco cutting tools - Mostly Sweden, about as good as it gets
Bahco files - Portugal, again still very good
Draper Expert - I think is rebranded Elora - Germany. I have some Elora hex sockets and they are excellent quality.
Draper has always just been an importer/rebrander.
Facom - Some of the latest spanners are made in Taiwan, not France, but still top quality.
Halfords Pro - Who knows, average quality in my experience (floppy ratchets and soft screwdrivers for example) but importantly, quick and easy to get warrantied.

For sockets and spanners you could also try Hazet, Stahlwille, Gedore, all top quality German made tools, and of course Facom. I also like Koken (Japan)
For screwdrivers you could try Wiha (Germany), Felo (Germany), PB Swiss (Switzerland), Wera (Czech Rep)
For pliers you could try Knipex, NWS - Both Germany

I believe that the only socket and spanner manufacturer left in Britain is King Dick.

And of course if you're feeling flush there's Snap On.

[leafspring]

JoeMk1 said:

This list is obviously not exhaustive and is only based on my personal experience...

Draper Expert = Elora now there's a name I haven't heard in a while

The www.drapertools.com web site catalogue leads to http://www.drapertools.com/en/catalogue/Pagesource...

Edited by leafspring on Sunday 29th December 12:49

[JoeMk1]

Yep, I wouldn't hesitate to buy Draper Expert spanners or sockets as long as I could get confirmation that they were Elora made.

Edit: Looking on the Draper website, they list Elora stuff separately to Draper Expert, and the Expert stuff looks different to the Elora. The Elora is also priced significantly higher. Therefore Draper Expert is probably not Elora stuff.

I also forgot that Draper do a line of Knipex pliers - top quality.

Edited by JoeMk1 on Sunday 29th December 13:49

[magpie215]

halfords pro is rebadged signet

[greenskin]

We use a mixture of Britool Expert, Facom, Snap on and Roebuck. I have found the Britool expert spanners to be very robust and hard wearing. Roebuck also do dececent sockets/spanners/pliers etc...

[4v6]

I use mostly Beta, Facom and Snap on stuff.

I have used the halfords spanners and theyre fine for most things but I did find size issues now and then with them.
The sockets are pretty good also and good value for money, lots cheaper than the Beta and Snap-On stuff.

Teng Tools are reputed to be good as are Kamasa.

[rsv gone!]

4v6 said:

Teng Tools are reputed to be good as are Kamasa.

I have a few Teng tools and a 3/8" drive set. It is very well made and strong and the ratchets are very good. The only problem is that the sockets show signs of some corrosion - and I take care of my tools.

I have a few Sealey tools. I have a 1/2" 6-point set that seems well put together. Most handy set is a deep impact socket set.

[darreni]

I have a mix of snap on ( ratchets & sockets) facom (ratchets, sockets, ratchet spanners) & wera & facom screwdrivers.

Facom is lovely kit & I'll always reach for a facom ratchet over the snap on one.

[cpas]

Apparently Halfords Advanced are not as good as the old Halford Professional. but I still find they are good for home mechanics, so probably OK for limited trade use. They also look better finished than Clarke Pro stuff. Personally, the quality of the finish gives me a good idea o the overall quality of the tools. Even the non-pro Halfords stuff seems to be better than some other stuff I've bought!