In <961003224627_324562101@emout07.mail.aol.com>, DBGaither@aol.com
wrote:
>
>What are your thoughts on tools? Please mention any of the brands above
>as I am considering them. I'd like to hear from professionals as well as
>others like myself.
A couple of months ago, I broke down and did something I NEVER do--
bought something advertised on a TV infomercial. I believe that the
crap sold this way could _never_ live up to its hype and all the paid
fools that ooh and aah and clap during those things are brain dead.
Having said that, I could not resist buying a set of Metrinch tools as
so advertised. The reason I found them irresistable was the
representation that they would fit all size of nuts and bolts, Metric,
SAE, and (although this is not emphasized in the informercial) BA, BSF,
and Whitworth. Having an MGTD with _all_ those sizes on it, I had been
struggling along with three sets of sockets and open-end wrenches of
varying completeness and quality.
I have been pretty pleased with them. The combination wrenches are as
least as good in quality as my standard Craftsman, and the sockets and
socket wrench are actually better in quality. They fit all nuts and
bolts as advertised, although they take some getting used to. They do
not fit snugly as a regular wrench does, since they are designed to
touch the flats of the nuts rather than the points. Therefore, you have
to be careful not to round off a nut by using a wrench that is too big.
It sometimes takes a little bit of jiggling to determine the right size
one to use, particularly if you've got a nut that is going to take a lot
of torque. I had to build confidence with them, because at first, since
they don't fit snugly, I thought I was going to round _every_ nut with
them. According to the commercial, because they turn the flats and not
the points, you can turn a rounded nut with them. I haven't tried this
yet, but I think that may be possible for some rounded nuts, but I
wouldn't get too excited about that feature.
I suppose a professional mechanic would poo-poo these things, of course
while standing in front of his $10,000 box of Snap-ons of all sizes, but
for the LBC hobbiest I think they are a godsend. They are expensive
compared to Craftsman, but you get good quality and don't have to buy
three sets of tools. Of course they come with a lifetime warranty.
They have got good reviews in some of the British car mags I buy (they
were available for several years in Europe before being marketed here)
and I noticed that The Eastwood Company now sells them (see back of
latest catalog), which might ad back some of the credibility lost
through informercial hype.
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