Tools

Got a halfords professional tool kit for crimbo. I was toying between halfords and draper (Lifetime guarantee) just been to use the 14mm open end spanner and its laser etched 'draper expert'! They are obviously exactly the same and made in the same place. I knew it...

I got one of their toolkits a couple of years ago, not bad bit of kit, especially the 'locking on' ratchets. My only complaint is that I find the sockets very shallow compared with my (very) old set, however that do seem to work OK and nothing has broken so far.

BigRog said:

I got one of their toolkits a couple of years ago, not bad bit of kit, especially the 'locking on' ratchets. My only complaint is that I find the sockets very shallow compared with my (very) old set, however that do seem to work OK and nothing has broken so far.

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Draper always used to be a good brand to buy years ago so unless they have followed some of the cheaper manufacturers and started making them some crap steel you will be ok. I've got a mostly full set of snap on spanners and sockets and the sparkly bits from when I was young free and single working on the trucks , now married and running a money pit sorry Freelander so its value for money stuff for anything I don't already have now especially with the grown up kids borrowing them and leaving them on the drive

I got one of the Halfords Professional kits a couple of years ago, and with it being at the more often than not 'sale' price, it is one of the best tool investments for value for money that I have ever made. And they DO replace bits under the lifetime warranty if you take them back. I know as I have had to take some bits back after after breaking them through misuse

I work in a garage and get a lot of stick of the other guys because half my tools are Halfords Proffesional. The rest of my tools are Snap On or Mac and the Halfords stuff does the same job for a third of the price. I have snapped several torx bits and rounded a few Allen keys and they've all been replaced under guarantee with no hassle, unlike Snap On who are still "assessing" my ratcheting screwdriver after several months!

S'pose I'm one of those old "Stick in the mud" farts
I had been in Engineering all my life and my philosophy was, from day one- buy the best tools you can afford as they are your means of making a living.
My sockets and spanners are nearly all Britool, except, where I had to replace lost items which I had lent out, with Facom or Gedore (Draper).
Obviously, if I needed a specific tool for a one off job, my first priority would be price.
I have a few Draper & Clarke (Machine Mart) tools in my collection and have found them to be of decent quality and performed the task I needed them for well.
My advice is-don't be tempted by shiny tools (Magpie effect), ascertain how often and the purpose you need them for and then look at the cost and buy what you can afford, as and when you need them.
Remember...the tools are only as good as the person who is using them !!!

Irishrover said:

S'pose I'm one of those old "Stick in the mud" farts
I had been in Engineering all my life and my philosophy was, from day one- buy the best tools you can afford as they are your means of making a living.
My sockets and spanners are nearly all Britool, except, where I had to replace lost items which I had lent out, with Facom or Gedore (Draper).
Obviously, if I needed a specific tool for a one off job, my first priority would be price.
I have a few Draper & Clarke (Machine Mart) tools in my collection and have found them to be of decent quality and performed the task I needed them for well.
My advice is-don't be tempted by shiny tools (Magpie effect), ascertain how often and the purpose you need them for and then look at the cost and buy what you can afford, as and when you need them.
Remember...the tools are only as good as the person who is using them !!!

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and owning a Freelander they are going to wear out quicker

bruno1926 said:

and owning a Freelander they are going to wear out quicker

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:behindsofa:

PML.......:5bbeatdeadhorse5::5bbeatdeadhorse5::hysterically_laughi:hysterically_laughi

i used to have all snap on tools and have had a few replace due to breaking ,But I had a break in . In the main garage where they were all kept along with other stuff like welders ect, every thing was taken that would fit through a window infact there was paint on the metal window frame which came of the welder, and as the years went by drills had broken down and one or two other bits and the cheeky sods tried everything and anything that did not work any more was dumped on the floor . now i buy stuff like Britool and halfrauds, and the window is now bricked up , not as it was easy to get in it had steel bars on the inside and on the out side was messing to stop the windows getting broken by balls , they did try to get the window frame out and even tried getting part of the roof off, but thats all taken care of now even an alarm on. So Do take care of you tools you never know when you need them and i do not lend any more I have lent to many times and no returns .

I work in a garage too, and I have used Halfords Pro stuff for the last 8 years, and other than a few stripped ratchets, and a few broken ratchet spanners, they have all been fine.

Even better when you buy them with your trade card, and get them even cheaper than the sale price

Seen the halfords vs. draper debate in another landrover forum...I now know they are one and the same. I thought I'd just mixed them up but I don't even have any draper expert! ( got these, some teng and a few snap-on bits)

the thing to protect your rachets is not to use them on the initial movement of the nut/bolt you should always use a bar but who ever does that i even for get at times

Interesting post this. I have a Draper tool set i've had for over 20 years apart from a couple of sockets missing everything has worked fine apart from the 1/2 square ratchet which broke a few years ago.

I have just purchased a Sealey 50L 3HP air compressor, looking forward to getting it tomorrow. Also purchased a 1/2 inch square drive air ratchet to make things a bit easyer in my old age LOL. Anybody got any thoughts on these compressors.

I have had on for about 3 years and it has been trouble free. Make sure you fit a filter/Lubricator unit preferably with a pressure regulator to enable you to vary the working pressure at the outlet-essential for spraying etc.
Also remember that air ratchets and Impact drivers require a good VOLUME of air-not just pressure and this means a decent bore hose feeding it, at least 3/8". Use a 1/4" hose or one of those recoil (Curly) hoses and it will run out of steam when using wrenches.

Irishrover said:

I have had on for about 3 years and it has been trouble free. Make sure you fit a filter/Lubricator unit preferably with a pressure regulator to enable you to vary the working pressure at the outlet-essential for spraying etc.
Also remember that air ratchets and Impact drivers require a good VOLUME of air-not just pressure and this means a decent bore hose feeding it, at least 3/8". Use a 1/4" hose or one of those recoil (Curly) hoses and it will run out of steam when using wrenches.

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Hmmm thanks for the advice. Sealey recommend a hose with an 8mm bore, so it sounds like the hose I have ordered is going to be no good. I'm not using it for spraying but will be using a ratchet and tyre inflator.

I bought last year one of these cheap valve spring compressor as the one I had was too large for the valves on my Honda CX500, it was one of those on EBay in the red case for £15 or there about with 4/5 different size heads. It worked well on the Honda just used it on my K series head and it worked really well considering how little it cost and for something I'll probably use once/twice a year it seems value for money

Grayo said:

Hmmm thanks for the advice. Sealey recommend a hose with an 8mm bore, so it sounds like the hose I have ordered is going to be no good. I'm not using it for spraying but will be using a ratchet and tyre inflator.

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:behindsofa:

The pressure switch on my compressor is set at 6 bar (Approx. 100psi) as a matter of interest, this is the norm for the majority of factories etc.
I have a selection of air tools including a pistol drill, reciprocating saw, spray gun, impact driver and ratchet wrench. The tyre inflator, spray gun and drill work fine on a 1/4" (6mm) bore hose but the impact driver and ratchet do not have the guts to undo larger nuts/bolts and a normal spanner etc. is sometimes needed first to crack it. I do have a 1/2" (12mm) bore hose which I use with the impact driver and this works fine.
Remember that most air tools (Except spray guns and tyre inflators) need to be regularly lubricated to prevent seizing, with Air Tool Oil which you can buy from any Pneumatic Supplier, Machine Mart or online.

i have a very big compressor about 200 ltr i think, at least and on it i have put a v conector on, one side it has a lube and air presure ,and on the other outlet it has just air presure because that side is used for spray guns

Irishrover said:

:behindsofa:

The pressure switch on my compressor is set at 6 bar (Approx. 100psi) as a matter of interest, this is the norm for the majority of factories etc.
I have a selection of air tools including a pistol drill, reciprocating saw, spray gun, impact driver and ratchet wrench. The tyre inflator, spray gun and drill work fine on a 1/4" (6mm) bore hose but the impact driver and ratchet do not have the guts to undo larger nuts/bolts and a normal spanner etc. is sometimes needed first to crack it. I do have a 1/2" (12mm) bore hose which I use with the impact driver and this works fine.
Remember that most air tools (Except spray guns and tyre inflators) need to be regularly lubricated to prevent seizing, with Air Tool Oil which you can buy from any Pneumatic Supplier, Machine Mart or online.

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Thats great, thanks for the advice. Mine was delivered this afternoon so it's up in the garage. I followed the instructions in the manual for first time start up and waited for the pressure switch to cut out which it did, reading the pressure guage at max pressure (full tank) was 116psi/8bar. Looking at my air ratchet it needs 6.3 bar to operate. Thanks for the link re: the air tool oil, I'll have to get some, I also need to get some compressor oil although there is oil in it for the time being.

Another thing I'm going to have to get is a filter.