MATCO Tools

ajstoner21

ajstoner21

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Andrew
I am starting night classes at an A&P school, and was wondering if anyone had any experience with MATCO tools? They have a "kit" and a discount deal set up for students in this A&P school, so I am probably going to get their kit.

Any experience? Any comments about their tools in general?
 
Have you priced the equivalent Craftsman set?
ajstoner21 said:
I am starting night classes at an A&P school, and was wondering if anyone had any experience with MATCO tools? They have a "kit" and a discount deal set up for students in this A&P school, so I am probably going to get their kit.

Any experience? Any comments about their tools in general?
Click to expand...
 
ajstoner21 said:
I am starting night classes at an A&P school, and was wondering if anyone had any experience with MATCO tools? They have a "kit" and a discount deal set up for students in this A&P school, so I am probably going to get their kit.

Any experience? Any comments about their tools in general?
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They are actually pretty good tools, for todays standards, they are not as good as Proto, or Snapon, but they are better than Crapman/sears.

but they have a fat feel.
 
I didn't personally check, but the school said the equivalent Sears/craftsman set would be about $700, and with MATCO (and their discount) it would be $1000
 
ajstoner21 said:
I didn't personally check, but the school said the equivalent Sears/craftsman set would be about $700, and with MATCO (and their discount) it would be $1000
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watch e-bay.. get good wrenches and sockets (Proto or
Snapon) because they have a thinner wall and fit the MS / AN nuts and bolts better.

but the local hardware store will have hacksaws and the other stuff.

Get Wiss tin snips, (right/left and straight0 Not the serrated type the auto mechanics use, and sterrett mikes calipers

never buy a set some manufacturers make better wrenches than sockets and the other way around.

All you really need in real world is a 1/4" set of sockets 6 & 12 point shallow and deep. a 7/8' deep spark plug socket, and a 3" 6" and 12" extension in 1/2" drive, plus a torque wrench that will do 25' pounds.

We are not diesel mechs, we seldom use 1/2" drive sockets, so just buy what you need. not the whole set.

You do need a
short wrench set 1/4 thru 1" , screwdriver set, I use a multi use (changable tip) and stubbies) from Snapon. a set of allens, a timing light. a spark plug gapper, and a cleaner, feeler gauge set .002 thru .050" a ggod mirror, a set of safety wire pliers, dikes, duck bills, and lineman type, needle nose,

http://www.aircraft-tool.com/
 
Of course after a while you will gather a vital set of modified tools....for the 4th nut on the vac pump, for the inaccessible bolt on some intake manifolds, for the tach drive nut, for the 0-200 sump nuts etc etc!
 
ajstoner21 said:
I am starting night classes at an A&P school, and was wondering if anyone had any experience with MATCO tools? They have a "kit" and a discount deal set up for students in this A&P school, so I am probably going to get their kit.

Any experience? Any comments about their tools in general?
Click to expand...
They are more expensive than Craftsman.
I have been using Craftsman since 1985 when I got my A&P license. :wink2:
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
http://www.stillmadeinusa.com/tools.html

http://www.armstrongtools.com/clientextensions/danaher/pages/default.aspx

http://www.wrighttool.com/online_catalog.asp
Made Entirely in the U.S.A.
From the design and engineering to the forging and finishing, all work on Wright tools is performed in the United States by skilled American workers. We do not use foreign blanks or forgings. Even the steel we use is American-made.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110531103237AAeErBz
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I wish I could get my 9/16 armstrong ratchet wrench repaired.
 
Tom-D said:
Have you seen the new crapman tools.
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They've been crap for a decade, ever since they went to the cheap socket and wrench forgings with "fluffy" (fat is not "PC":rolleyes:) walls on everything that I can never get in tight spaces.

Snap On are what I mostly buy, although the MAC guy always has the extractors I use, the mini volcano on a pedestal ones, they are the best extractors I have ever come across. Proto is alright as well, but their tools have always felt awkward and cumbersome in my hands, especially the rachets, but for Big wrenches they make very good ones considerably cheaper than Snap On. Proto was always a premium industrial tool more so than a mechanics tool, probably because there's no Proto Truck to come by the shop. The wrenches from MAC are good as well, but Snap On has their patented "Flank Drive" system of how the sockets and box wrences bind near the center of the flats on the head or nut of the fastener. You'll spin most sockets on a somewhat rounded off corner where the Snap On gets it Off. They also have new rachets (well, a few years old) that have like 72 tooth count rachets which means you can still get some action with very little throw. If you plan on using your A&P ticket for a job, I highly recommend you start an account with the Snap On man. Call him up, he may give a student discount. The difference in tools is in the details, and the details can s-t you to tears if they're not right. Sockets and rachets though, there is nothing that compares to Snap On for fitting fasteners.
Oh yeah, Cornwall has some pretty decent tools as well...

Before you buy though, check the pawn shops, I buy used Snap Ons anywhere I can find them, doesn't matter how crappy of condition they're in because the Snap On man will give me a new one for it.

Oh yeah, don't forget to get a looong, like 2-3 foot long 1/4" extension... there are times it will save you so much skin off your knuckles...
 
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If you can find older craftsman tools they are much better, they make a fair second set. But if you are a professional, and you need tools you want the best, that is if you are or want to be the best. Nothing wrong with pawn shop tools if you know what brands you want and what they are worth. Usually if you find a mixed set of good tools it will be all the right stuff, that some other guy collected over time. ... Like it was pointed out each brand has a best. A Mac wrench has 10% higher failure point than anyone else. Dave
 
Ddayle said:
If you can find older craftsman tools they are much better, they make a fair second set. But if you are a professional, and you need tools you want the best, that is if you are or want to be the best. Nothing wrong with pawn shop tools if you know what brands you want and what they are worth. Usually if you find a mixed set of good tools it will be all the right stuff, that some other guy collected over time. ... Like it was pointed out each brand has a best. A Mac wrench has 10% higher failure point than anyone else. Dave
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And yet we still manage to break them...:yikes: "What do you mean I'm not supposed to beat on a 7/16 wrench with a 5lb deadblow?":rofl::rofl::rofl:
For a pro who uses his tools to make a living, what you want is a tool company that has a delivery truck. Snap On, Mac, Matco, Cornwall, they come to you, so when you break/need a critical tool to get a job done, you call them up, tell them what you need and go to work on something that doesn't require that tool. Snap On man delivers and you're golden to finish the other project and you lost no productive time. Craftsman tool, besides not fitting, you have to go to the store and buy/exchange them. If I'm turning wrenches flat rate, most jobs I pull about $60hr, so if I have to go to Sears and exchange a tool in the middle of a job, I'm gonna lose 2 hrs, so that "free exchange lifetime waranty cost me $120+ gas.
 
MATCO tools are fine. I have an assortment of SnapOn, Matco, Craftsman plus a few other random companies floating around in my box. I do prefer buying from someone with a local dealer that makes regular rounds to our shop. Much better that having to drive somewhere for a replacement if something breaks.
 
I used to swear by Craftsman, but (as noted above) they are no longer what they were. Since K-Mart bought Sears (!), they have dramatically accelerated the race to mediocrity, trading in the reputation.

Bought a set of "Craftsman" flare nut wrenches at Sears a few months back, because I needed good ones. The Craftsman ones were not meaningfully better than the "use 'em once" set from Harbor Freight - and then I saw (for the first time on a Craftsman hand tool) those three magic words: "Made in China."

Sigh.
 
SCCutler said:
I used to swear by Craftsman, but (as noted above) they are no longer what they were. Since K-Mart bought Sears (!), they have dramatically accelerated the race to mediocrity, trading in the reputation.

Bought a set of "Craftsman" flare nut wrenches at Sears a few months back, because I needed good ones. The Craftsman ones were not meaningfully better than the "use 'em once" set from Harbor Freight - and then I saw (for the first time on a Craftsman hand tool) those three magic words: "Made in China."

Sigh.
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I have some 50-60 vintage craftsman wrenches, they are the finest tool made, when you tap them on a hard surface they actually ring like a bell, true tempered steel.

I use my old craftsman 1-1/8 dropped end box wrench and a 6' cheater pipe to pull the nuts off the motor home wheels, there isn't any wrench on the market that will take that torque.
 
When I was a mechanic I liked Snap-on the best because they had the thinnest walls and fit the best. Matco and Mac were a little thicker. One good decision I made when I was young and wrenching was spend as much as I could afford on quality tools. You will be ahead in the long run. Take advantage of the discounts offered at school...they will be the best deal.
 
drizzt76 said:
When I was a mechanic I liked Snap-on the best because they had the thinnest walls and fit the best. Matco and Mac were a little thicker. One good decision I made when I was young and wrenching was spend as much as I could afford on quality tools. You will be ahead in the long run. Take advantage of the discounts offered at school...they will be the best deal.
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Thing I noticed early on was when other sockets, wrenches and scredrivers would slip, often I could get them off with a Snap On, and the walls are the thinnest.
 
I have a 62 year lifetime collection of mostly Snap On tools. They are for the most part the best. The problem is that many of these tools were sold to me for BIG bucks at the time I bought them, with the understanding that they were covered by an UNCONDITIONAL guarantee. They do not honor this as they used to when I bought most of them.

If I were starting over again, I'm not sure what I would buy, but it wouldn't be all Snap On. I would buy their combination wrenches and their ratchets, but I think I would be buying everything else somewhere else. I expect that Matco would be one of my top choices if I were starting the process over again. I consider them a medium quality tool, but they are acceptable.

My $0.02,
Doc
 
MBDiagMan said:
I have a 62 year lifetime collection of mostly Snap On tools. They are for the most part the best. The problem is that many of these tools were sold to me for BIG bucks at the time I bought them, with the understanding that they were covered by an UNCONDITIONAL guarantee. They do not honor this as they used to when I bought most of them.

If I were starting over again, I'm not sure what I would buy, but it wouldn't be all Snap On. I would buy their combination wrenches and their ratchets, but I think I would be buying everything else somewhere else. I expect that Matco would be one of my top choices if I were starting the process over again. I consider them a medium quality tool, but they are acceptable.

My $0.02,
Doc
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All you really need anyway, is a roll of duct tape, a can of WD 40, and a hammer.

If it moves and it should not, duct tape it, if don't move and it is supposed to, squirt WD 40 on it, if it still won't move, hit it with the hammer.
 
Tom-D said:
All you really need anyway, is a roll of duct tape, a can of WD 40, and a hammer.

If it moves and it should not, duct tape it, if don't move and it is supposed to, squirt WD 40 on it, if it still won't move, hit it with the hammer.
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Sounds like an engineering motto that should be on my wall! ha!
 
Congratulations on A&P school, I went to A&P school with Snap on tool in the 70s. Today I have mostly Snap on today (a lot of originals) and a mixture of other brands. I have found that certain companies tools do specialized jobs better than others. The problem we have here in Hooterville is that some of the other tool guys just wont show up. Many of their broken tools end up in the scrap metal because of lack of service. There is a certain value added when the tool guy shows up to take care of your needs. Thank you Snap on.

Kevin
 
Many moons ago we lost our Snap-on dealer and no one was coming out to the shop. So I got a number on another Snap-on dealer and he couldn't make it to the shop but offered to stop by my house and fix us up. He came out a couple times until another guy was hired. I was impressed by the professionalism.
 
It really depends on where you are going to be working and what dealers are in the area. For me, Snap-on is just a useless, expensive mail-order tool distributor. Our local dealer won't even return a call if its about warranty. Head office dishes out the "all dealers are independent" BS. Only way to get warranty is to mail it back to Wisconsin. No sense in paying a huge premium and being left high and dry. At least the industrial brands can be swapped over the counter.
 
As others have said, good metal and fabrication methods allow for stronger smaller smaller tools. And sometimes you really want the clearance. I knew folks that cared about the number of teeth in the rachets.

On the other hand, if I needed to take a wrench and grind the box end open or heat it with a torch and bend it, or in any other way mangle it to do a job, that was what Craftsman tools were for.

There were a lot of unrecognizable tools in my rollaway.
 
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