Craftsman Max and Universal wrenches and sockets

[Donald]

Craftsman has two sets of tools and I wonder peoples opinion.

1) They have wrenches that can take off hex, square, Torx, rounded and one or two others for a total of 6. My guess is however 99.99% of all bolts and nuts are hex. A few drain plugs are square.

2) Sockets where a long bolt can come through the socket and out the top. Socket is held around the outside.

These to me look like gimmick tools and I hope no one gives me one.

 

[linemanhill]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Craftsman has two sets of tools and I wonder peoples opinion.

1) They have wrenches that can take off hex, square, Torx, rounded and one or two others for a total of 6. My guess is however 99.99% of all bolts and nuts are hex. A few drain plugs are square.

2) Sockets where a long bolt can come through the socket and out the top. Socket is held around the outside.

These to me look like gimmick tools and I hope no one gives me one.



I guarantee I will not get you one.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: linemanhill
Originally Posted By: Donald
Craftsman has two sets of tools and I wonder peoples opinion.

1) They have wrenches that can take off hex, square, Torx, rounded and one or two others for a total of 6. My guess is however 99.99% of all bolts and nuts are hex. A few drain plugs are square.

2) Sockets where a long bolt can come through the socket and out the top. Socket is held around the outside.

These to me look like gimmick tools and I hope no one gives me one.



I guarantee I will not get you one.


With my Dad gone and only daughters, there is no one who really knows tools to get me Christmas presents.

 

[Sawdusted]

Originally Posted By: Donald


With my Dad gone and only daughters, there is no one who really knows tools to get me Christmas presents.


That's why I buy my own tools for x'mas!

"Guess what YOU bought for me this year Hon, And I love it! I'm sure this table saw will be the last one I will ever own!"

 

[GMBoy]

I own both. They were gifts but I really like the Universal wrenched and sockets - they FIT the fasteners great and saved my butt replacing s fuel pressure regulator with a rounded off bolt head. The go-thru set I have not even used yet, but I am sure a time will come where I don't have a deep enough socket and this will be the perfect tool.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: GMBoy
I own both. They were gifts but I really like the Universal wrenched and sockets - they FIT the fasteners great and saved my butt replacing s fuel pressure regulator with a rounded off bolt head. The go-thru set I have not even used yet, but I am sure a time will come where I don't have a deep enough socket and this will be the perfect tool.



+1 I have both as well, and put them to good use. The go-thru set can be very useful at times.

 

[Trav]

We had to pull the 40ft dock in and always needed a bunch of tools, some hex and square.
This time my brother forgot the tools and the handle to lower the wheels, 5/8 square drive. All he had was one of these black universal sets from Craftsman, Chinese at that.

I said oh here we friggin go I can see this caper going south and us taking a 10 mile trip to buy tools.
To my surprise it worked on all the fasteners like a charm even with a piece of 2" plastic pipe on it to raise the wheels.

I wouldn't call it great quality but good enough to do the job and very useful, I would have no problem receiving one as a gift.

 

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: Donald


2) Sockets where a long bolt can come through the socket and out the top. Socket is held around the outside.

These to me look like gimmick tools and I hope no one gives me one.



I have the second set, and with a flex-head handle it's very useful. I use them like flexible ratcheting wrenches. For some recessed bolts where a deep-well socket just isn't deep enough to get over the protruding bolt or where a shallow-well socket does not have enough clearance, they work miracles.

 

[camelCase]

I was given a set of the "through ratchets" too. They are interesting....

I've used them to remove some nuts off bolts that were entirely too long for their job. Had I not had them, I probably would have just busted out the dremel and cut the bolt down. No need for a bolt to extend more than a few threads past the nut. However, I had them and used them - saved some time.

However - the other weekend when I was changing my sparkplugs, I needed to use an old extension to reach the spark plugs. No go on those. Had to use an old ratchet as well with it.


I hate how the craftsman name is really going down the [censored] IMO. I used to love their tools, but have found myself becoming more and more disappointed with their performance.

Disclaimer - I'm not a pro-wrench. I don't really use my tools to 100% of their ability. However, I feel that I use them enough to know a POS tool when I use it - and craftsman tools have been falling into that more and more.

 

[wvrailroader]

I looked long and hard at the Craftsman universal set, but the "Made in China" stamp really turned me away from them. I found both a metric and standard set of SK spline drive sockets (which is all the universal set really is) on eBay for about $25 each with free shipping. They are made in the USA and while they are not "universal", I think having both sets is better in the long run because I have the right size socket for the job. They seem really well made and the chrome finish on them is very good. I may have spent a little more in the long run and didn't get a ratchet with my purchase, but I have more than enough ratchets anyway.

I have used them several times and they have always worked really well for me. Just a suggestion in case you want an American made option.