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Recommend a good socket set

Mention of Bahco above - there is one thing they are likely the best at, and that is the adjustable wrench. Yes the hideous imprecise angler-fish of spanners...

But in small sizes, Bahco make wonderfully-precise ones that are very utile for some tasks - Exhibit A below.
Bahco 8069 and 8070... approaching £50s worth, so not an impulse purchase given that's a 150mm scale - but splendidly precise, utile, and they'll see me out.

IMG_6447_Bahco_600px.jpg
 
martin clark said:
Mention of Bahco above - there is one thing they are likely the best at, and that is the adjustable wrench. Yes the hideous imprecise angler-fish of spanners...

But in small sizes, Bahco make wonderfully-precise ones that are very utile for some tasks - Exhibit A below.
Bahco 8069 and 8070... approaching £50s worth, so not an impulse purchase given that's a 150mm scale - but splendidly precise, utile, and they'll see me out.

IMG_6447_Bahco_600px.jpg
Click to expand...

I have a 12" Bahco adjustable as back up in the van, it doubles up as a second hammer. I use Rothenberger adjustables as I require a wider than standard jaw opening, their 6" adjustable with a 34mm jaw is one of my most used bits of kit, they also have slimmer jaws so will get into awkward spaces which is a must for me.
 
Aethelist said:
No mention of Facom?

I've a set of sockets from 30 years ago and they're still as good and shiny as the day they were made.

Not been used all that much mind.


https://www.facom.com/uk/our-brand/History-of-FACOM-1918-1920.html
Click to expand...

I’ve got a 30 year old (fuuuuck... I remember buying it with some of my 21st birthday money...) 3/8ths Facom set, it got a lot of use when I was doing up and servicing my knackered old bikes and cars, and then again when I was doing bike track days and it’s still in really good nick, I replaced the ratchet mech about 10 years ago (was about tenner iirc) the rubber grips are bit hard now and I had to put some epoxy into the grip of the hinged handle because it was slipping.

But I’ve just looked how much the equivalent set is now...:eek:

https://www.misterworker.com/en-gb/facom/base-of-3-8-bits-sockets--j451ep/6719.html

Fun fact, Halfords Professional spanners and screwdrivers used to be Facom.

Oh, and I have one titanium Facom 15mm combination spanner I found on the floor of a pit garage at Oulton Park when I was last to leave after a track day... lovely thing.
 
amd500 said:
Teng Tools are excellent.
Click to expand...

Teng also made Halfords socket sets for a while.

I honestly don’t know why my brain retains this information, my mate used to be a branch manager of Halfords in Runcorn in the early 90’s and he had the staff discount toolset of the gods, so he obviously imparted the knowledge, but why this kind of crap sticks in there, rather than stuff that could earn me a living...?

Oh, and Halfords torque wrenches are made by Norbar.

FML.
 
I have a Gedore 1/2" drive AF/Metric set bought for me by Mrs Mull 40+ years ago. Apart from me having to add a 10mm socket plus a couple of large sockets.. it's been exceptionally useful. Also very ..very strong. Somewhere along the way the ratchet handle was used with a long tube as an extension.to shift something or other.. The ratchet handle is now slightly bent.. but still works perfectly. I have no idea if they are still in production.. but demned good bet for a used purchase.
For smaller sizes, I use any old tat.
 
The ancient Elora socket set wot I bought with a zillion books of Green Shield stamps is still going strong, although the metal box is in somewhat less than optimal condition. Should it disappear for some reason I would go straight to Halfords & get a set of their stuff.
 
I'm big fan of Halfords Advanced 200 piece set

My cars got some tricky spots to get to and that one set alone has got me to 90% or more of them so far. It's crept up in price lately though. Get a trade card or borrow a mates if you can.

They've been cleverly tweaking the set for years so an older one won't be the same as a new one.

Note that Norbar make Halfords torque wrenches too...and with Halfords trade card they're a good bit cheaper than buying the Norbar equivalent.
 
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mixture of whatever was cheapest at the time of need - No name from the car factors, halfords, Wera, Facom..... my goto is Wera
 
My 40+ year-old Britool sockets and spanners have served me well. The ratchet went walkabout and has been replaced as has one of the sockets. Don't get much use these days. I've gone from DIY car servicing, a failed MGA restoration project and farm machinery repairs to paying for garage repairs, and only have a battery mower to look after.

Last repair job was replacing the rings and piston on my old strimmer so I could sell it on. Even that job was mostly Allen keys and screwdriver.
 
Never owned a socket set. I am more of a theoretical physicist than a practical one.

The Bahco set looks pretty though.
 
A mechanic mate used the top end Halfords sockets with a Snapon ratchet and was very happy with them. The ratchets had a particularly fine gearing in them so were great even where only a small movement of the ratchet is possible. Lifetime warranty on the ratchets and sockets meant he never had a worry.
 
When I was working in civvie aviation for about ten years, I saw incredible snobbery attached to tool kits. There were guys with £20-30k of Snap-On gear who could probably strip a 747 without needing to borrow anything from anyone. The Snap-On van visited the hangar every week, and lots of shiny stuff was sold.

I just bought the bare minimum to get me through. On a work’s trip to the States I bought some Craftsman socket sets and still have them. Very well made, and a Billy Bargain price over there.

Trouble is, all the airliner work I did was with imperial tools, so I bought Halfords’ stuff for cars and cycles. The only issue so far has been the chrome plating on a couple of sockets coming away. That has NEVER happened with any of my Snap-On or Craftsman tools, no matter how hard they’ve been used.
 
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