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Turning Wrenches.
Ricci.Wright
Member Posts: 5,128 ✭✭✭✭
Back in the late 1980"s and early 1990's I worked as a mechanic at two different dealerships. I had a decent sized Snap On roll around tool box with a top chest and a small roll around tray table. Most of my tools were Snap On with some Matco and some Mac. All good tools and even back then pretty pricy. I just looked at Snap On 1/4" socket sets on the "Big A" and was shocked. A 44 piece set is $1235.00!!!
How in the heck does a young mechanic get started these days. I know you don't have to buy Snap On, but still, you need good quality tools to do good quality work. I bet it would cost me fifty or sixty thousand dollars if I had to replace the tools I had back then.
Comments
As an electrician, I could fix anything with a pair of Channelloks, a Cresent wrench, a combination screwdriver, and a pair of Klien side cutters.
You can prob get that set for way less somewhere else. They ARE expensive however. You are paying for the quality and the warranty! The brands you mentioned are almost must haves if using for a living. You also get them off the truck so replacement is fast and easy.
It does cost 10s of thousands to get the tools required. That is why mechanics charge so much, well part of the reason.
Great giveaway Ricci…I could use that tool set. Please throw my name in the hat.
No Problem!! Shipping is going to be around $1500.00
If you can't fix it with a hammer, duct tape, and some WD-40, and you tried bailing wire and vise grips and it's still not fixed... it can't be fixed, or you have a computer problem.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
I will tell you how they get started. They tell their father what they want for their birthday!!! I bought Chris his snap on tool box, and some, "some" tools after he got all his certificates. The damn box alone was 7,500. I will tell you though, Donna and I did this because, he got his biology degree and then his masters. He didn't get the job he wanted, so he went back to college, to get his automotive degree. His passion was always working on cars and motorcycles. This was his graduation/birthday/Christmas present. He now has three boxes and over thirty thousand dollars worth of tools, that he is paying for on credit. I'm amazed at all the tools you need to work on cars.
I guess SnapOn will still let you pay a few bucks a week,I have a SnapOn roll around tool chest and a Harbor Freight US General roll around tool chest.I cant tell the difference in quality and the SnapOn probably cost 8 to 10 grand now, and the Harbor Freight was about 1000 bucks.
When I was working, the company paid me $.71 an hour for my tool allowance. I kept a darn nice set of tools. The problem was keeping other people out of my tool box! I caught a production foreman digging around in it. After HR got through with him, he didn't even look at a maintenance man's tools again!
I had a fair amount of tools. Rarely would I lend tools out and it was just a select few persons that I would.
If I needed to borrow a tool I always asked first, and would promptly return the tool clean and back in its place.
My son started his Snap-On tool set while in tech school. The Snap On route guy was allowed to offer a special price for the students and financing if needed. I'm sure he still has those tools and (tens) thousands of dollars more after 20+ years.
Over a lifetime I have collected a fair amount of tools . Most are older craftsman from sears and a good many Proto, Sk wayne Blackhawk and a few snap ones. Many of them are 30 to 45 years old or older. Still work better than the new stuff .
If you think the hand tools are expensive wait until you price some of the diagnostic tools that are needed..
Maybe Brandon will forgive $10,000 in tool costs for mechanic students.
Your a great dad oakie as your dad is also Chris is a lucky fellow
Since I turned 16 I have had a passion for working /repairing cars and i still do
But going to school was not going to happen lack of $$ shot down the idea
I started with a basic socket set from westerauto I ask for it only 16th birth Day even the 20.00 or so was lot for my parents to buy them
After I got my first job about two yrs in about I bought a basic craftsman too set 39.00 I think basic wrenches and 3/8 socket set
I truly felt I had hit the big time lol
Then I would add a few tools asoney allowed auctions sales from friends I was a truly scrounging guy looking for deals on tools years later the internet was a God send to me tools were dirt cheap compared to new at least the craftsman and similar makes .they have served me well 50 plus years rhe few I broke were replaced no questions
Over the years I have a a few proto and snap on and sk but 90% still working man's craftsman
I would have liked to have said I had a snap on collection and invested the cost of a house in them it was not to be
Now I am 66 yrs old my brain still likes to work on anything mechanical I still have a few old cars and trucks i enjoy sadly my old body just can't take the double jointed wrist flex elbow ona 360 swivel and of course being bent like a pretzel wedged under a dash board or car
But I try my best just my actual work time is like a cheap welder cycle time 10 minutes on 30 minutes recovery
But I have more tools that I could ever imagine I can only wish I had them all back when I was 20 or 30 even 40 yrs old for years making due with vise grips adjustabe wtench and a hammer and a hand full of sockets ua ot sucked but I managed lol
I will also suggest any up and coming mechanic watch some of the seasoned youtubers mechanics they have some great advice to just beginners on not going crazy on the tool trucks they will allow you to just go nuts on all the toys you could want Pay each week and month like a deal with the devel
They have a lot of great suggestions on it
As stated now you need tens of thousands of dollars in electronic computer dinostoc tools now nrw cars are out of my league now the computer smd countless sensors and sending units just pne bad or going bad shuts down evey thing and telly the back yard mechanic has been left behind like a old horse drawn buggy shop a hundred +yrs ago.
There is a fellow on youtube called south main auto in up state NY
I enjoy watching him I know countless more are as good if not better he even says that.
But he is good at what he does and makes good videos
I also have collected a fair amount of hand tools over the years. Most of mine are 45 to 50 year old Craftsman. I can distinctly remember my 25 year old brain that was thinking about making choices while shopping for tools.
Why in the world would I ever need to buy anything METRIC!! 😲
Yep my first metric tool was a 10m socket to take down transmissions at a uncles scrap / core busness I help with one summer when work was slow
Sadly it also added a whole new cost toy tool collection
But then again I remember thinking who the heck needs a personal computer at home
i thought what a waste of money boy I missed the boat and the entire dock on that one
When I lived in Chicago I found a good deal on Snap on tools and toolbox. They are still the first tools I pull out to work with.
Joe
I have two tool boxes,one has American size (SAE) the other has communist size (metric).
Years ago I brought a broken Craftsman ratchet wrench back to Sears & they replaced it with a reconditioned one. That one started skipping recently & I brought it to Lowes. They had me pick a new one off the rack ($79) & exchanged it for FREE.
Just remembered, 50 years ago I bought a Japanese, 3/8" socket set at JM Fields. I've worn out & replaced 2 sockets, but it still works fine.
Evicted a tenant last year and he left behind "Festools". Never heard of them but brought them back with me. WOW-A very expensive product!
I had double & triples of a lot of tools. This is what I ended up with after I left that life behind.
I sold off some of it. Seems like a lot but a week at a time over twenty some years is pretty doable.
Might have even scored a free t-shirt or hat at some point there! 🙄
You charge 16 tools, what do you get?
A small set of sockets, and deeper in debt.
During the 11/2 fire here, I lost ALL of my 'good' tools, big air compressor, welders, metal working tools, basically everything from the shop building. Itemized list of replacement cost was close to $100K. Those wrench sets that cost $20-40 forty years ago are now $80-200 for similar quality.
"Snap On 1/4" socket sets on the "Big A" and was shocked. A 44 piece set is $1235.00!!!"
Seems considerably overpriced. Lots of other choices that will be adequate for us 'older' mechanics. I spent $500 on TEKTON sets at my local tool guy's store and got more tools than I could carry easily.
You, my friend, are one luck son of a biscuit! Festool makes some great wood working tools.
German tools. High quality