Your socket set of choice. Discussion / Recommendations

[GreenV8S]

Strudul said:

Has anyone tried cheap ebay sets?

Curious how something like this holds up. 1 Year warranty, so if it instantly falls apart it can be returned, and can you really got wrong for £70?

The tools need to be hard enough to keep their shape under load, but tough enough to take loads without breaking. It needs the right material and construction to achieve that. Cheap sockets are liable to be either soft or brittle. A box of cheap tools like that is just a recipe for rounded off fasteners and skinned knuckles in every job you tackle.

[Mr Teddy Bear]

Cheap ebay tools aren't as rubbish as they were 40 years ago.

For DIY use there is no point going beyond Halfords kit imo anyway.

If you're using it every day when times money that's different.

[TooMany2cvs]

Mr Teddy Bear said:

Cheap ebay tools aren't as rubbish as they were 40 years ago.

How bad were cheap ebay tools 40 years ago...?

There's some shocking st on eBay now. Sure, there was probably some shocking st available 40 years ago, too... But when I was first buying tools, in the mid 80s, the only easy source was the selection of Kamasa and Britool stuff from the tool-and-homeware shop in the nearest town. Now, it's a doddle to buy some serious dross.

[PositronicRay]

TooMany2cvs said:

Mr Teddy Bear said:

Cheap ebay tools aren't as rubbish as they were 40 years ago.

How bad were cheap ebay tools 40 years ago...?

There's some shocking st on eBay now. Sure, there was probably some shocking st available 40 years ago, too... But when I was first buying tools, in the mid 80s, the only easy source was the selection of Kamasa and Britool stuff from the tool-and-homeware shop in the nearest town. Now, it's a doddle to buy some serious dross.

Woolworths
Exchange & Mart
Classifieds
Local market (maybe)

[shirt]

The halfords sets are a cheap way of building up a set of tools, they were half price when i was in there a week ago. Also check out motorsporttools, they also seem to have a permanent sale on.

I would then recommend getting a better ratchet, something like a wera zyklops.

My tools are mainly beta, halfords and wera. Wera make really nice products but expensive with it.

[Mr Teddy Bear]

STAHLEWILLE have become as expensive as Snap On the last time I was looking at tools at the Classic Car Show. I have a beautiful Stahlewille 13mm combo in alloy that does all those awkward jobs like battery terminals etc.

Back in the day I had and still have, a metric/af socket set by ELORA that was good stuff used every working day for five odd years with an air wrench too.

Kamasa spanners/screwdrivers had a good reputation as a hard wearing competitively priced tools. The impact sockets not so however [reputedly one shattered] everyone still bought Snap On for heavy commercial use.

Edited by Mr Teddy Bear on Friday 10th August 14:20