Where do Dewalt Mechanic Tools rank?

[elMaestro]

Where is does Dewalt stand regarding mechanic tool sets? Above or below Husky? Stanley? Any and all help will be appreciated.

[paulengr]

Where is does Dewalt stand regarding mechanic tool sets? Above or below Husky? Stanley? Any and all help will be appreciated.

Are you trolling?

Stanley Black and Decker owns the Dewalt brand and brands their premium tools with it. By definition it is going to be a bit better than Stanley. The exception might be they have made a name for the Fatmax tape measure brand as a premium. It is sold as a cheap brand so it is positioned to be somewhere at the bottom end such as tools made for distribution by Walmart. SBD has other brands but currently they are marketing Craftsman as their mid grade. Husky is the HD house brand just like Kobalt is the Lowe’s house brand. The various tools are made by various companies and HD occasionally rotates manufacturers. So it’s a bit of a crap shoot but usually similar to the Craftsman brand but positioned to siphon off a few dollars of SBD royalty money.

There is a list of “who owns who” on the toolguyd web site that explains the relations of Chervon , TTI, SBD, Snapon, etc. It’s easy to compare tools made by the same company. They don’t hide their good/better/best. It’s much harder to compare say Dewalt to Milwaukee. For instance years ago SBD sold a great impact screwdriver set under the Stanley name then discontinued it. In the last couple years it reappeared branded Dewalt. Recently Milwaukee offered a set for a couple more bucks and I like it even better. These are good for two things. First if you have a rusty or stripped screw hit the screwdriver with a hammer to knock the rust off and cut new slots. Second they are good as beater screwdrivers...you know doing things with them that you are not supposed to do to screwdrivers like pry bars. Milwaukee has better tips. But both are pretty good and much better than a lot of what’s out there.

[elMaestro]

Thanks for taking out the time to explain. I was definitely not trolling. LOL. I was looking at three different mechanic sets that were about evenly priced and I was trying to go with the one that is of the best quality.  They are the Husky 230-piece Mechanic (H230MTS0) Tool Set  from Home Depot, the Stanley 201-piece Black Chrome Mechanic (STMT75402W) Tool Set from Walmart on clearance, and the Dewalt 173-piece Mechanic (DWMT41019) Tool Set from Costco. Quality-wise, which would you stick with?

[Igor Pak]

Well i would recommend Stanley tool set. Purchased one before. Ergonomically designed, decent quality, meet ANSI specs.

[paulengr]

SBD sells Stanley as a “budget” brand and Dewalt as “premium”. Husky is also “budget”. First can you return broken ones for replacement? You can even return Harbor Freight tools. If not, skip it. I know you can return Husky and Dewalt. Not sure on Stanley.

I’ll add more. First don’t ignore Harbor Freight or Northern. HF used to be Chinese junk. It’s fairly respectable now. Northern is “rich rednecks”. So just not HF, Lowe’s carries Craftsman which is another Stanley/Dewalt brand positioned midway between them. Husky is partly made by SBD, too. Let’s not forget Neiko and Tekton which are essentially Amazon house brands. I’d say they are midrange too. No issues with them either.

You can save money on “sets” but they often give you a lot of poor quality tools in a set so skip these. Sorry that’s just how it is. Plus you get that stupid giant blow molded box that takes up tons of space and is utter garbage.

Second here is the problem. You can never have enough tools. You will always run into some strange fastener or special situation. Start small with say just a good 3/8” socket set, an adjustable wrench, some screw drivers. Then as you get comfortable and need more, get more. Set a monthly budget. Put a running list on your phone. As you run into situations add things to your list. Then you can shop around and get a little at a time. You save money buying quality and getting just what you need, not a bunch of crappy tools and oddball bits you never use.

Buy six point sockets. 12 points are easier to get on but on bad/stripped nuts six point sockets grip better. This separates a lot of cheap tools from cheap but good quality. Next we have the laser/painted/etched vs stamped question on the labels. If you can get it go with stamped but this is rare. ALL other options no matter what they say come right off if the socket runs on something. They talk up their laser etched stuff but none of my high end socket labels that are not stamped are visible after six months.’Finally impact vs nonimpact. Nonimpact sockets are thinner and get in tight spaces better. Impact sockets are almost indestructible. If you ever intend on getting an impact wrench just buy the impact sockets and adapters now. They will be black oxide, ugly as sin, and tough as nails. So very good for what they are meant for.

In terms of ratchets this is the money spot. Shop around. Try them out. Look at the size of the head (thinner is better but raises price). Swivels can be nice but may make it harder to use. Extending handles are nice. There are dual head 3/8 & 1/4” heads. Handy. I have one. It does bulk it up though. Also get at least one breaker bar, longer is better. Get it I the biggest size sockets you use. You can always adapter down. Get an extension assortment. Ratcheting is nice...basically makes it a ratchet. Everything is interchangeable so maybe buy them all separate. Usually the ratchets that come in sets are crap. Sorry that’s just how it is.

In wrenches you want combination wrenches unless you have some special needs. It’s more expensive but get ratcheting box ends now and thank me later. You will be glad you did. One of the interesting sets if you want to explore is Klein and Harbor Freight make double box end wrenches where just 4-5 have most sizes. Gearwrench is an American (Apex Tool Group) brand, mostly American made. While you are at it Crescent is a sister company/brand and makes great adjustable wrenches and pliers.

Between the above three you can easily stay under $150 and have good quality stuff. Buy socket strips at HD and buy a tool box. On the wrenches I love a wrench roll. The Dickies brand one is really nice. I have both sizes but I only use the large. It holds all my wrenches SAE and metric with room to spare. In terms of tool boxes/bags I do electrical work so I have the electrician open top 12x12 bag. Fully loaded it’s almost uncomfortable to carry. Those giant 24” mechanics bags are insane. I have one strictly for my 1” to 2” wrenches. The sockets all fit in two Dewalt medium Toughsystem boxes. One for 1/4 and 3/8, one for 1/2” with impact wrenches in each plus a lot of adapters, Tory bits, hex bits, etc. Electrical service work requires an insane amount of tools, more than mechanics. We just don’t need as many really large tools.

In screwdrivers they sell these huge sets but the reality is you need one 1/4” or 3/8” “beater” (Milwaukee or Dewalt impact is better), one 1/4” flat blade decent length, a good length #2 Phillips, maybe stubbies but a small specialty one is better, and a set of “precision” screwdrivers. Hardened tips can’t be beat so this is where Wiha, Milwaukee, Dewalt are all you need to look at. Harbor Freight has some good ones too. Get one of those Allen (hex) sets too. There are excellent and American made ones.

Then there are regular, needle nose and maybe lineman’s pliers and diagonals. Again Crescent is a good name and reasonably priced without going German.

[frodien11]

On 6/5/2020 at 4:14 AM, paulengr said:

SBD sells Stanley as a “budget” brand and Dewalt as “premium”. Husky is also “budget”. First can you return broken ones for replacement? You can even return Harbor Freight tools. If not, skip it. I know you can return Husky and Dewalt. Not sure on Stanley.

I’ll add more. First don’t ignore Harbor Freight or Northern. HF used to be Chinese junk. It’s fairly respectable now. Northern is “rich rednecks”. So just not HF, Lowe’s carries Craftsman which is another Stanley/Dewalt brand positioned midway between them. Husky is partly made by SBD, too. Let’s not forget Neiko and Tekton which are essentially Amazon house brands. I’d say they are midrange too. No issues with them either.

You can save money on “sets” but they often give you a lot of poor quality tools in a set so skip these. Sorry that’s just how it is. Plus you get that stupid giant blow molded box that takes up tons of space and is utter garbage.

Second here is the problem. You can never have enough tools. You will always run into some strange fastener or special situation. Start small with say just a good 3/8” socket set, an adjustable wrench, some screw drivers. Then as you get comfortable and need more, get more. Set a monthly budget. Put a running list on your phone. As you run into situations add things to your list. Then you can shop around and get a little at a time. You save money buying quality and getting just what you need, not a bunch of crappy tools and oddball bits you never use.

Buy six point sockets. 12 points are easier to get on but on bad/stripped nuts six point sockets grip better. This separates a lot of cheap tools from cheap but good quality. Next we have the laser/painted/etched vs stamped question on the labels. If you can get it go with stamped but this is rare. ALL other options no matter what they say come right off if the socket runs on something. They talk up their laser etched stuff but none of my high end socket labels that are not stamped are visible after six months.’Finally impact vs nonimpact. Nonimpact sockets are thinner and get in tight spaces better. Impact sockets are almost indestructible. If you ever intend on getting an impact wrench just buy the impact sockets and adapters now. They will be black oxide, ugly as sin, and tough as nails. So very good for what they are meant for.

In terms of ratchets this is the money spot. Shop around. Try them out. Look at the size of the head (thinner is better but raises price). Swivels can be nice but may make it harder to use. Extending handles are nice. There are dual head 3/8 & 1/4” heads. Handy. I have one. It does bulk it up though. Also get at least one breaker bar, longer is better. Get it I the biggest size sockets you use. You can always adapter down. Get an extension assortment. Ratcheting is nice...basically makes it a ratchet. Everything is interchangeable so maybe buy them all separate. Usually the ratchets that come in sets are crap. Sorry that’s just how it is.

In wrenches you want combination wrenches unless you have some special needs. It’s more expensive but get ratcheting box ends now and thank me later. You will be glad you did. One of the interesting sets if you want to explore is Klein and Harbor Freight make double box end wrenches where just 4-5 have most sizes. Gearwrench is an American (Apex Tool Group) brand, mostly American made. While you are at it Crescent is a sister company/brand and makes great adjustable wrenches and pliers.

Between the above three you can easily stay under $150 and have good quality stuff. Buy socket strips at HD and buy a tool box. On the wrenches I love a wrench roll. The Dickies brand one is really nice. I have both sizes but I only use the large. It holds all my wrenches SAE and metric with room to spare. In terms of tool boxes/bags I do electrical work so I have the electrician open top 12x12 bag. Fully loaded it’s almost uncomfortable to carry. Those giant 24” mechanics bags are insane. I have one strictly for my 1” to 2” wrenches. The sockets all fit in two Dewalt medium Toughsystem boxes. One for 1/4 and 3/8, one for 1/2” with impact wrenches in each plus a lot of adapters, Tory bits, hex bits, etc. Electrical service work requires an insane amount of tools, more than mechanics. We just don’t need as many really large tools.

In screwdrivers they sell these huge sets but the reality is you need one 1/4” or 3/8” “beater” (Milwaukee or Dewalt impact is better), one 1/4” flat blade decent length, a good length #2 Phillips, maybe stubbies but a small specialty one is better, and a set of “precision” screwdrivers. Hardened tips can’t be beat so this is where Wiha, Milwaukee, Dewalt are all you need to look at. Harbor Freight has some good ones too. Get one of those Allen (hex) sets too. There are excellent and American made ones.

Then there are regular, needle nose and maybe lineman’s pliers and diagonals. Again Crescent is a good name and reasonably priced without going German.

 

[Eddie Talk]

last i checked, TightSpot had a longer warranty.

 

TightSpot makes tools for everyone from the housewife who hangs pictures all the way up to the heavy industrial/commercial construction workers

 

TightSpot is mostly light duty stuff. just fine for around the house on occasion, but not the kind of thing you want to make your living with everyday. commercial and industrial pros use milwaukee, dewalt, hilti, and bosch.

 

if its just for occasional hobby use, the makita is fine.

 

if your have to depend on a drill on a regular basis, get the milwaukee.

[James kelly]

So much information I learned Today that I never knew. Thank you guys for taking your time to explain all these things. 

[Altan]

On 3/7/2020 at 12:05 AM, paulengr said:

 

Are you trolling?

Stanley Black and Decker owns the Dewalt brand and brands their premium tools with it. By definition it is going to be a bit better than Stanley. The exception might be they have made a name for the Fatmax tape measure brand as a premium. It is sold as a cheap brand so it is positioned to be somewhere at the bottom end such as tools made for distribution by Walmart. SBD has other brands but currently they are marketing Craftsman as their mid grade. Husky is the HD house brand just like Kobalt is the Lowe’s house brand. The various tools are made by various companies and HD occasionally rotates manufacturers. So it’s a bit of a crap shoot but usually similar to the Craftsman brand but positioned to siphon off a few dollars of SBD royalty money.

There is a list of “who owns who” on the toolguyd web site that explains the relations of Chervon , TTI, SBD, Snapon, etc. It’s easy to compare tools made by the same company. They don’t hide their good/better/best. It’s much harder to compare say Dewalt to Milwaukee. For instance years ago SBD sold a great impact screwdriver set under the Stanley name then discontinued it. In the last couple years it reappeared branded Dewalt. Recently Milwaukee offered a set for a couple more bucks and I like it even better. These are good for two things. First if you have a rusty or stripped screw hit the screwdriver with a hammer to knock the rust off and cut new slots. Second they are good as beater screwdrivers...you know doing things with them that you are not supposed to do to screwdrivers like pry bars. Milwaukee has better tips. But both are pretty good and much better than a lot of what’s out there.

 

 

1) Not long ago DeWALT was a power tool manufacturer only and Stanley / Stanley Fatmax was just a hand tool manufacturer, when DeWALT started to introduce DeWALT branded hand tools (extreme copy of Stanley / Stanley Fatmax hand tools) more or less at the same time Stanley started to introduce power tools named Stanley Fatmax, Stanley has also power tools that are branded as just "Stanley" and they are compatible with DeWALT batteries. The difference between Stanley and Stanley Fatmax hand tools are the quality, durability and Stanley Fatmax hand tools were more detailed hand tools comparably, they also had Stanley Fatmax Extreme hand tools which I have a few of them and they were really extreme quality and more made with metal than plastic. They discontinued the Extreme line in name and merged it with Stanley Fatmax as the name was too long I think (looked like a person who had no connection with the tool world made the decision for that Extreme additional name), they also had Stanley Fatmax XL brand name for some hand tools which is also discontinued. 

 

2) When Stanley Fatmax power tools were introduced the tools were using black & yellow coloured copy of Porter Cable batteries, Stanley Black & Decker never talked about this compatibility between Porter Cable and Stanley Fatmax batteries, at all! The new Porter Cable cordless power tools were introduced only for North American market ( I am not sure about their old cordless tools ) and Stanley Fatmax for Australian and European market.

 

3) After Stanley Black & Decker acquired Craftsman brand things changed a bit. They made new Craftsman branded cordless power tools and also switched the Porter Cable compatible Stanley Fatmax batteries to Craftsman compatible Stanley Fatmax batteries ( Basically new version of Stanley Fatmax batteries were introduced ) Again Craftsman cordless tools for North American market and Stanley Fatmax tools for Australian and European market. In most cases the tools are just the same just one in red and other one in yellow colour. 

 

4) The switch from Porter Cable batteries to Craftsman batteries for Stanley Fatmax tools is a clear sign that Porter Cable is in the verge of death and SBD does not care about this brand at all. If you check the brand in the recent years you will see nothing new (almost), it is the same with Bostitch. These two are quite quiet! So, what SBD has done is to get Bostitch and use the brand to produce nail guns for DeWALT and later for their lower grade brand Craftsman (Stanley Fatmax outside the NA market) and to get the Porter Cable and use it to produce some routers for DeWALT and later for Craftsman / Stanley Fatmax. They have done the same to Facom / MacTools cordless ratchets as well. Now DeWALT offers these, too. 

 

5) DeWALT in mechanic tools is not the SBD premium brand Facom and MacTools are their premium brand(s). I said brand(s) because they are basically the same in cordless power tools, MacTools for North American market and Facom for European market. UK is confused to be in MacTools side or Facom side looool as you can see both here in UK as cordless power tools. Maybe with Brexit UK will be more MacTools'y than Facom'y, time will show. 

 

6) What SBD is doing is to keep 3 grades of tools as premium, medium and lower grades with 3 different brand names in North America ( Premium MacTools, Medium DeWALT and Lower Craftsman ) and the equal 3 grades with 3 different(?) brand names for EU market ( Premium Facom, Medium DeWALT and Lower Stanley Fatmax ) or  you can say it this way

 

MacTools = Facom

DeWALT 20V = DeWALT 18V

Craftsmanm = Stanley Fatmax

Bostitch and Porter Cable = Dead

 

7) You can only see some videos from Brazilian YouTubers mentioning about compatibility between Porter Cable batteries and Stanley Fatmax old batteries or between Craftsman batteries and Stanley Fatmax new batteries, and the question is why no American or European YouTuber has talked about it?! And how they kept it like a secret almost while we have this much communication through internet?! 

 

8 ) If you consider Bostitch and Porter Cable as dead or semi dead then you might say there are two types of batteries within the brand one the DeWALT one and the other one is the Craftsman / Stanley Fatmax one. So, the lower grade brands use one type of battery, the medium and premium brands use the other one. I do consider Black & Decker tools and batteries as Bosch Home and Garden ones with some exceptions from brands like Steinel that makes professional cordless glue gun using Bosch Home and Garden tool batteries!

 

9) These all show you that DeWALT ( SBD ) does have the intention of buying the other brands and melting them in DeWALT or Craftsman / Stanley Fatmax rather than going for a battery alliance with other brands like Metabo's CAS or Bosch's AmpShare and it is very unlikely to see it in future. 

 

[Altan]

I forgot to say that Stanley Fatmax tools are not available or introduced equally in EU countries, what I have noticed in the last 4-5 years is that mostly in Southern European countries more Stanley Fatmax branded cordless tools are introduced. 

 

A couple of years ago some reviewers claimed that Craftsman will introduce Toughsystem tool boxes that were first introduced as DeWALT. These boxes were introduced as Facom, MacTools, Stanley Fatmax and Vidmar, so having them branded as Stanley Fatmax made sense to see them as Craftsman branded as they both have the same battery and power tools. But what I see is that SBD has discontinued Stanley Fatmax Toughsystem tool boxes and instead they have made something similar to Craftsman newly introduced Tradestack tool boxes. 

[fm2176]

In the US, I'd [mostly] agree that both Bostitch and Porter Cable are dead in the water.  The exceptions being pneumatic fastening tools for the former and standalone or bench tools for the latter.  Bostitch, like Stanley FatMax, cordless tools were store exclusives over here.  You could get Bostitch 18v tools at Walmart or their incompatible 20v nailers and staplers at Lowe's.  I believe Walmart briefly carried the FatMax cordless tools, which were later found at Costco.   

 

Porter Cable was a much more ingrained brand when it came to both corded and cordless tools.  Their 18v system seemed to have potential but came at the wrong time, and when they introduced the 20v Max system, they had already lost their place in the SBD hierarchy.  When Craftsman was acquired, the death knoll for PC was all but sounded.  

 

As for mechanics tools, I'd say that both DeWalt and Milwaukee have decent ones that are easily as good as what the Craftsman Professional line used to offer, minus the "Made in the USA" thing, if that matters to those outside of America.  I have some of each, and they are ergonomic, well-polished, and simply work.

[Altan]

On 12/27/2023 at 6:16 PM, fm2176 said:

In the US, I'd [mostly] agree that both Bostitch and Porter Cable are dead in the water.  The exceptions being pneumatic fastening tools for the former and standalone or bench tools for the latter.  Bostitch, like Stanley FatMax, cordless tools were store exclusives over here.  You could get Bostitch 18v tools at Walmart or their incompatible 20v nailers and staplers at Lowe's.  I believe Walmart briefly carried the FatMax cordless tools, which were later found at Costco.   

 

Porter Cable was a much more ingrained brand when it came to both corded and cordless tools.  Their 18v system seemed to have potential but came at the wrong time, and when they introduced the 20v Max system, they had already lost their place in the SBD hierarchy.  When Craftsman was acquired, the death knoll for PC was all but sounded.  

 

As for mechanics tools, I'd say that both DeWalt and Milwaukee have decent ones that are easily as good as what the Craftsman Professional line used to offer, minus the "Made in the USA" thing, if that matters to those outside of America.  I have some of each, and they are ergonomic, well-polished, and simply work.

 

Mechanics power tools like wrenches, polisher and ratchets  or mechanics hand tools?! Old Craftsman hand tools are not comparable with DeWALT or Milwaukee's which are now mainly produced in Taiwan or China. They were the lowest quality of USA made of the time (at that time USA made was quality, now maybe 50% less, but still better than Taiwanese made and Taiwanese made better than Chinese made)   

 

[fm2176]

On 12/30/2023 at 10:06 AM, Altan said:

 

Mechanics power tools like wrenches, polisher and ratchets  or mechanics hand tools?! Old Craftsman hand tools are not comparable with DeWALT or Milwaukee's which are now mainly produced in Taiwan or China. They were the lowest quality of USA made of the time (at that time USA made was quality, now maybe 50% less, but still better than Taiwanese made and Taiwanese made better than Chinese made)    

 

Perhaps I shouldn't have stated "easily as good".  A more accurate thing to state about Milwaukee and DeWalt's mechanics tools (namely ratchets, sockets, and wrenches) is that they are the closest approximation that can be found.  They are fairly ergonomic, well-polished, and can be relatively easily found at places like Tractor Supply and Home Depot.  

 

The classic raised panel "Made in USA" Craftsman wrenches were rugged and could take a lot of abuse.  If I had to break out a 4-lb hammer to help convince a nut to turn, you could bet it was a Craftsman wrench getting beaten, while the Snap-On tools rested safely in the box.  The warranty was excellent back when you could just walk into a store and replace an individual wrench or ratchet.  Some stores were less scrupulous than others, though, and there were a few times where I walked in with a single broken punch and was given an entire set to replace it, or a raised panel rachet was out-of-stock, so a polished round head ratchet was given in exchange.  Later, they started rebuilding the ratchets, so it was possible that you might take a fairly new tool in and get a beat up 30-year-old tool back with new internals.

 

 

[Altan]

On 1/4/2024 at 7:31 AM, fm2176 said:

 

Perhaps I shouldn't have stated "easily as good".  A more accurate thing to state about Milwaukee and DeWalt's mechanics tools (namely ratchets, sockets, and wrenches) is that they are the closest approximation that can be found.  They are fairly ergonomic, well-polished, and can be relatively easily found at places like Tractor Supply and Home Depot.  

 

The classic raised panel "Made in USA" Craftsman wrenches were rugged and could take a lot of abuse.  If I had to break out a 4-lb hammer to help convince a nut to turn, you could bet it was a Craftsman wrench getting beaten, while the Snap-On tools rested safely in the box.  The warranty was excellent back when you could just walk into a store and replace an individual wrench or ratchet.  Some stores were less scrupulous than others, though, and there were a few times where I walked in with a single broken punch and was given an entire set to replace it, or a raised panel rachet was out-of-stock, so a polished round head ratchet was given in exchange.  Later, they started rebuilding the ratchets, so it was possible that you might take a fairly new tool in and get a beat up 30-year-old tool back with new internals.

 

 

 

I recently watched a video from an American YouTuber and he was using a tool made by Chinese and was so happy with the quality ( tbh I also was not expecting that quality from a complicated Chinese made tool ) then he said "American products can be as rubbish as Chinese products sometimes, but German products... erm.... no, I dont think Germans produce rubbish!" I was laughing like mad for this comment. I think there is a clear policy in Germany that does not allow producers to produce goods below a certain quality, ages ago I was reading about it.