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HFT Ratchet Wrenchs.

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HFT Ratchet Wrenchs.

Postby KE4AVB » Mon Oct 08, 2018 7:12 am

I know how some like to bad mouth HFT but most of the Pittsburg hand tools I have brought from actually fairly good.

The 61396 7 pc SAE Combo Ratchet Wrenches that I just exchange due a failure of the 1/2 ratchet end I have used daily in my shop since Nov 2015 so I got 3 yrs out the first set. Now unlike some techs I don't cheater on my wrenches so I was a little surprised when the ratchet failed removing a nut in a confined space. It simply locked up. At least they have a lifetime that I can actually get honored unlike my Blackhawks that I had to replace. These wrenches actually out preformed the Blackhawk ones that once had. The Blackhawks failed by no longer holding the ratchet locked when it was suppose and just slipping a lot. These HFT ones has so never failed to hold.

I know tools do wear out from constant use so I expect a failure sooner than it happen. Now at one time I did use cheaters wrenches on wrenches but I since got a good selection of breaker bars now so I don't do that any more.

I could just be a lucky tech that only wear out constantly screwdrivers and have only broken a few tools over the years. And those were Flea market tools so the quality I knew was very poor to start with.
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Re: HFT Ratchet Wrenchs.

Postby RoyM » Mon Oct 08, 2018 10:39 am

I started out with cheap tools, I figured the guys wwith Snap-On and Proto had money to burn. Eventually I joined them, I was losing time with tools that didn't fit properly or failed resulting in skinned knuckles. I did run into problems with Snap-On quarter inch drive ratchets though, gave up on them and went to Sears.
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Re: HFT Ratchet Wrenchs.

Postby KE4AVB » Mon Oct 08, 2018 2:23 pm

I reckon it is the engineer in me that even when I buy cheaper tools I can tell if they are of half decent quality. Now my brother was a Snap-on and Mac buyer but he broke a lot tools by trying do more than the tools were capable of doing; using cheaters and so forth.

As I said seldom break a tool but I modify several every year to meet my requirements like the 12mm that ground into shape that I need to tighten an enrichment module on a Polaris ATV this morning. Those kinda of mods are better done on the cheaper tools. I got several other wrenches that I have turned into service wrenches as I need thin wrenches to access certain areas. All those are custom so no matter who makes them their lifetime warranty will not cover them. If I break them I just need to make new ones.

BTW I will not loan any those modified ones at all.
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Re: HFT Ratchet Wrenchs.

Postby wristpin » Sun Mar 08, 2020 9:57 am

When I need to modify a wrench I go to the local “second hand /thrift” store that usually has a bin of of cheapo wrenches ( we call them spanners) and find what I want there. My tool chest contains several going back many years but quite often I can’t remember what they were modified for!
My late father, a soldier, was sent on a course with Rolls Royce who supplied armoured cars to the army in the 1920s and related that at the end of each week the instructor would measure up open ended wrenches at random and express his displeasure in military language if anyone had “ strained” any in their allotted kit. Get caught twice and you were off the course!
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Re: HFT Ratchet Wrenchs.

Postby KE4AVB » Sun Mar 08, 2020 12:31 pm

I know you guys use torches to look inside gas tanks. :lol:
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Re: HFT Ratchet Wrenchs.

Postby RoyM » Sun Mar 08, 2020 12:38 pm

And drive with the hood up. :P Took me a while to figure that one out.
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