The thing about tools is, no matter how many you have you'll always need more. You can get the Snap-On Richard Petty Special 10,000-Piece Gold Plated Grand Master Tool Set with Integral DVD Player and LCD Screen Snap-On Girl Calendar, and sure enough they'll invent a new fastener that requires a completely new set of sockets or bits before you make the first of those 3,000 easy monthly payments. For the less experienced do-it-yourselfer, sometimes just realizing you need a tool you don't have is half the battle. There are also people out there with Grand Master Tool Sets who never open the drawers except to show their friends. Dudes like this didn't have any tools before buying into the Grand Master Tool Set, nor will they continue to add to their collection after somehow writing off that $25,000 Snap-On payment. I'm sure most of us are somewhere in between these two extremes.
I started working on cars before I realized they would become my life's obsession. The first hand tool I bought was a standard SK 3/8-drive ratchet, pn 45170, from Penn Auto in Scranton, Penn. That family-owned small business is long gone now, but the ratchet is right in my tool box in the shop garage behind my house. It has never been rebuilt. And it joins about seven other ratchets of various flavors, along with innumerable sockets and extensions-like I said, you'll always need more.
Along the way, I've owned lots of lesser quality hand tools, most of them made in a communist holdout better known for cheesy fireworks and moo goo gaipan. Eventually, I replaced them all with SK or Facom tools, with a smattering of Hazet and Snap-On (I'm not brand loyal with tools). The reason for the high-quality, higher priced tools is simple: Efficiency. Whether you enjoy it or do it out of necessity, working on cars goes a lot smoother with the right stuff. Sockets and wrenches that fit well on the fasteners save us from rounded-off bolts and skinned knuckles. Ratchets that have good, smooth action and are easily reversed are just a joy to use. And when you're in a tight place and you have about 1/2 in. to move the ratchet, you will very much appreciate a fine-toothed action.
Our Tool(s) of the Month represent the perfect opportunity to replace that junky $10 ratchet and socket set you've struggled with for something really nice, without spending a ton of money. If you're going to work on cars, you'll need both 1/4- and 3/8-in. drive ratchets and socket sets, and these are the ones to get for high quality at a medium price. SK's Fine Tooth Palm Control ratchets are pure Facom technology, combining a 72-tooth mechanism and a compact ratchet head design that delivers the accessibility necessary to fit into tight work spaces. Torque is transferred through 17 teeth during use, with each tooth bearing only 6% of the drive load, providing strength and durability.
The thumbwheel reversing mechanism enables one-handed change of direction, while a free-wheeling back plate allows application of steadying pressure without accidental reversing. That may not sound like much on paper, but in the garage it's a mighty big help.
The sockets incorporate SK's SureGrip Hex Design, which drives the sides of the fastener hex, not the corners. This applies greater torque to the socket and thus the fastener, yielding increased strength and reduced fastener damage but also makes the sockets effective on partially rounded fasteners. The sockets, extensions and adapters also feature SK's highly polished SuperKrome finish for corrosion resistance and durability. The sets are packaged on a compact SureGrip plastic socket rail, which utilizes a spring-load steel ball retention system similar to a ratchet.
Since being acquired by Facom Tools of France in 1985, SK has been able to market some of Facom's excellent technology under its own name, and often at much lower pricing. SK is certainly an excellent tool manufacturer in its own right as well, having been at it since 1921. SK hand tools are sold at many local auto parts stores, and on the Internet. A quick google.com search will yield many vendors.
| Sk Fine Tooth Palm Control Ratchet And Socket Sets - Tool Of The Month