Snap On Tool boxes / Roller cabinets etc

[zzr1200]

Some of my favourite spanners are "Tipco" brand

Now there's a blast from the past, I haven't seen any Tipco spanner for years.

As for Snap-on tool boxes I've personally owned 4 top boxes and 2 roll cabs, 3 changes of the roll cabs were upgrades for larger versions only one change due to a box falling apart but to be fair it had survived 18 years in the back of a van when I worked on large forklifts as a service engineer, the roll cab change was for the same reason.

I'd still buy a Snap-on Road Box if I needed a tough tool box for a van, a mate who works on earth moving equipment has had one for 25 years, it well protected in his van from impacts but hasn't needed welding up as yet.

As for general (main dealer/maintenance) workshop use there are just as good quality boxes out there for less money.

 

[brewdexta]

Britool nowadays is part of Stanley/facom group and of Far East origin rather than the original British made stuff, which was superbly made.

To throw more confusion into the mix there are these guys who are the exclusive distributor of Hallmark Britool, sounds like they are also made by Facom

Facom stuff is pretty good, however not sure if the Britool expert or hallmark stuff is made to the same quality. I have some "britool expert" and the hallmark stuff. Well finished but the jury's out about longevity.

My first ever spanner purchase was a 5/8" - 1/2" open ended Britool England when I was about 10, I still have it, so have a bit of a soft spot for Britool but now they are just a bought brand it means nothing.

 

[Rocketman]

Incidentally it's not the Stanley/Facom group it's the Stanley group and Facom is in it..

As far as I know Britool is generally designed by the Facom and then manufactured in Asia. As Britool expert is supposed to fit in the market below Facom, so the brands don't overlap, it makes sense that they aren't quite as high quality as Facom.

Britool is aimed at a higher market than Halfords professional so if you were happy with Halfords professional you will be more than happy with Britool expert.

You get all these people saying Britool is rubbish, well look at the price it's mid market not high end anymore and it's perfectly acceptable quality at the price point.

As far as Britool Hallmark goes is this just simply old stock of the trade/industial range?

I've got no idea how you can argue that SO is so amazing purely because you have landed on a dealer that will swap stuff that they wouldn't do usually. The Facom supplier I use does that.

 

[brewdexta]

You get all these people saying Britool is rubbish, well look at the price it's mid market not high end anymore and it's perfectly acceptable quality at the price point.

It is more than acceptable price/quality, agreed, but the name suggest British made and its not, probably why "Britool" doesn't actually appear on the tools anymore.

As far as Britool Hallmark goes is this just simply old stock of the trade/industrial range?

No, its different, they have a particular logo on it - the "Marque of Skill" a Hexagon with a B in it, again no sign of "Britool" on the tools. I have some ratchets and combo spanners, all very nicely finished and in use seem high quality.

I have some ebay "Britool England" old stock, which I am quite suspicious about in terms of where it was made. When I questioned the seller he said it was in their last days before the factory shut and quality control was
relaxed, I can't complain really as it was Hilka prices so kept them. They seem dimensionally OK and not made of toffee.

 

[Rocketman]

Prime tools still sell Britool old stock and so do several other respectable companies. If you ring them up it's pretty well the story you say old stock they are still trying to clear. Incidentally Prime tools even have some Britool Hallmark stuff on their website.

This thread probably helps in the overall history of Britool branding in recent years
http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=277755

 

[Bullet2012]

How about a really useful snap on box ?

 

[brewdexta]

Prime tools still sell Britool old stock and so do several other respectable companies. If you ring them up it's pretty well the story you say old stock they are still trying to clear. Incidentally Prime tools even have some Britool Hallmark stuff on their website.

This thread probably helps in the overall history of Britool branding in recent years
http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=277755

Thanks for the link Prime is where I got the Marque of skill stuff from, AKA Britool Hallmark, cheapest I found.

 

[daleyd]

I used the Stanley/facom label just as a general term rather than the actual name of the group!

My point was that the old Britool stuff could hold its own with the top end brands, and as you say the new stuff is ok, certainly not up to the old standards but then it's priced accordingly. I actually have a 1/4 inch set of the new Britool type (bought about 6 years ago from prime tools) and it's ok, certainly no complaints for me for the price I paid.

 

[Cobbler]

I've still got some Britool open ended & the mini rings that I bought when I left school & went to my first job 50 years ago, they've not been used as a professional would for many years, but have had a lot of diy use before everything went metric. Still as good as new, chrome still pretty good. In those days Britool gave an unconditional guarantee from what I remember. They were superb quality then & would stand serious abuse. The King Dick & Gordon spanners were good as well but were too thick in the jaws to use in tight spaces.

 

[Richard.]

Incidentally it's not the Stanley/Facom group it's the Stanley group and Facom is in it..

As far as I know Britool is generally designed by the Facom and then manufactured in Asia. As Britool expert is supposed to fit in the market below Facom, so the brands don't overlap, it makes sense that they aren't quite as high quality as Facom.

Britool is aimed at a higher market than Halfords professional so if you were happy with Halfords professional you will be more than happy with Britool expert.

You get all these people saying Britool is rubbish, well look at the price it's mid market not high end anymore and it's perfectly acceptable quality at the price point.

As far as Britool Hallmark goes is this just simply old stock of the trade/industial range?

I've got no idea how you can argue that SO is so amazing purely because you have landed on a dealer that will swap stuff that they wouldn't do usually. The Facom supplier I use does that.

I certainly would not base my snap On purchase on there take back and replace scheme because as you rightly say most tool companies offer this life time swap thing. There are however reasons why I do have certain snap on items. IMHO with regard to sockets and spanners they take some beating. Yes other brands offer or offered tools that lasted as long but sometimes it's just about feel and comfort and how well that spanner sits in your hand. Over priced yes definitely there is no doubt about that. But The spanners and ratchets etc are second to none IMO. Cutters, pliers screwdrivers Etc. no thanks as there is better for a lot less money.

 

[Rocketman]

I just always struggle to see if you can get Gedore, Elora or Stahlwille cheaper why would you buy SO and that's not having a go at people who buy SO it's a honest question. The only reason I can think of is the guy comes to you but that is kind of lost with the reputable internet suppliers these days.

 

[F.J.]

I have a range of brands in my box from snap on, Facom, BriTool, Teng Tools and even Kennady from Cromwell Tools. The snap on tools i have have all been handed down, I wouldn't spend the money on them although the spinners do feel nice in the hand but then so do the Facom and Kennady ones. They all have life time warranties so why spend big bucks when you can spend less for the same kind of quality? My roll can is a Clarke HD with roller bearing drawers and my top box is a trusty old Teng Tools that I bought 16 years ago as an apprentice. It sits in one spot of the workshop so has never seen any kind of abuse apart from a bit of overspray when I've done a bit of painting

 

[Richard.]

I buy what I like best. I have a set of gedore 200mm bolt/wire cutters which are just awesome. 5mm subarc wire is delt with by a tool that fits in my pocket. I have a set of SO stubby spanners. Cheap ones would do the same job as let's face it we ain't gonna break a stubby spanner but the snap on ones just feel great when using them in awkward positions which is usually where stubbys come in. For me comfort is more important than strength. That's why I own a limited amount of SO tools. Bacho take some beating on adjustables and screwdrivers. Knipex or CK are good for crimps and Cable cutters. Horses for courses in the tool world.

 

[daleyd]

Personally I prefer facom ogv spanners, they are very, very good as are their palm control socket sets. Second choice would be GeDore or stahwille as I've used these and they take some serious abuse.

I myself have also never seen the attraction of s-o gear, there's no doubting the quality but the price is eye watering, even taking into account the warranty. Maybe if I worked in a garage and had the convenience of the guy in the van visiting every month then that may convince me, but I don't work in that environment.

Knipex or bahco are my choice for pliers, and bahco for adjustables though I did get a couple of pairs of GeDore adjustables from a place I worked which have proved decent.

I don't really rate facom for screwdrivers though , I had the handles disintegrate on some ergo twist ones and the handle has slipped on one of the vde set I have.

 

[MattF]

The King Dick & Gordon spanners were good as well but were too thick in the jaws to use in tight spaces.

Williams Super Slim's are lovely spanners in that regard. By far my favourite generally. They look somewhat frail, but I've leant on some of those spanners a few times and they've never even broken a sweat. Snail Brand spanners were also very chunky.

 

[Bill Edwards]

I just always struggle to see if you can get Gedore, Elora or Stahlwille cheaper why would you buy SO and that's not having a go at people who buy SO it's a honest question. The only reason I can think of is the guy comes to you but that is kind of lost with the reputable internet suppliers these days.

For me on things like circlip pliers, it was easy.
I've some probably good old ones which are now too broken or bent to be of much use. I bought a Sealey set which I've broken all of quite quickly but the giant pair.

At work I got some Gedore ones which I liked and was temped to buy a set myself, but after hardly any use (probably less than 10 jobs) they were broken, and I don't believe I abused them.

SO weren't, in my eyes, a ridiculous price for a set particularly when I consider that, although it's probably likely that I'll manage to break some, they will be replaced FOC. I no longer need to keep buying them as though they're consumables.
As already mentioned, the same applies to my screwdrivers - I've worn out or broken enough, now I shouldn't ever need to buy any more.
Ratchets - SO ones are beautiful to use, and again, I may manage to break them but it won't cost me a penny.
Prybars - I've a cheap one somewhere that's bent and the end snapped on me. The SO will clearly take some abuse, it's very strong, and anything I do to it won't affect the warranty if I do somehow break one.
Breaker bars - I used a Sealey quite happily for a while, but was temped over to SO by the fact that although 1/2 will always break at times, it will no longer cost me when it happens.

I'm sure that in some cases it's quite possible to buy tools of the same quality as SO under a different brand, and where it's either unlikely that you'll break them or where that supplier also offers a lifetime warranty. However, I know that buying it from SO means it's probably the best quality available without having to do research and shop around, and it's easy to get stuff swapped - everything is in one place.

 

[winchman]

It is more than acceptable price/quality, agreed, but the name suggest British made and its not, probably why "Britool" doesn't actually appear on the tools anymore.



No, its different, they have a particular logo on it - the "Marque of Skill" a Hexagon with a B in it, again no sign of "Britool" on the tools. I have some ratchets and combo spanners, all very nicely finished and in use seem high quality.

I have some ebay "Britool England" old stock, which I am quite suspicious about in terms of where it was made. When I questioned the seller he said it was in their last days before the factory shut and quality control was
relaxed, I can't complain really as it was Hilka prices so kept them. They seem dimensionally OK and not made of toffee.

In 1989 I owned a franchise with Britool Automotive selling tools to the motor trade.
They launched a higher quality range ( Hallmark) this was to compete with Snap on etc, It was split off from the Industrial range and Called the Automotive division, Bott made the boxes, James Neil tools supplied Pliers, cutters etc, White House supplied Hammers, Oxford supplied the Welders etc, Britool manufactured all the Chromed stuff in Cannock.
The franchise had a few teething problems, Facom bought the James Neil Tools group which included Britool, the Automotive division had a few problems. It was subject to a big legal case due to the problems and as far as I remember it folded or was just absorbed in to Facom but a few of the staff set up a new company selling the products it had produced and other products aimed at independent van sales dealers and the motor trade.
They have now been doing this a long time and are still open so the stuff must still be of good quality, I assume they are having it made by Facom or another quality sub contractor, the few bits I have are still going strong, I had a spanner on my van that had been bent in a test rig and the load was massive far greater than the load the Snap on one failed at so the quality was generally good.

Now boxes, a £1000 box wont earn you a penny, so I have the Clarke cheaper ones ( heavy duty range) and cant fault them

 

[winchman]

I certainly would not base my snap On purchase on there take back and replace scheme because as you rightly say most tool companies offer this life time swap thing. There are however reasons why I do have certain snap on items. IMHO with regard to sockets and spanners they take some beating. Yes other brands offer or offered tools that lasted as long but sometimes it's just about feel and comfort and how well that spanner sits in your hand. Over priced yes definitely there is no doubt about that. But The spanners and ratchets etc are second to none IMO. Cutters, pliers screwdrivers Etc. no thanks as there is better for a lot less money.

I am currently waiting for the Snap on man to change a few spanners, its been 4 weeks and still no joy so as good as the spanners are I doubt I will buy any more, I like you used to feel they made the best chrome stuff but they are only as good as the warranty, which from what others tell me can be slow to change things so its not just me having a poor experiance

 

[Ian X]

I like toolboards, even a piece of ply with nails in, stops you misplacing a tool or leaving it in a vehicle after finishing a job. Had one of these Corgi VW Breakdown Trucks as a kid and the toolboxes neatly laid out always stuck in my mind!

What are those smaller items stashed near the rear right?

 

[Maker]

All just stuff for today's parents to sue the manufacturer over when a child swallows one.