For a long time I was a Grizzly fan. If there was a tool that I was buying new, it was likely to be from Grizzly. The thing I quickly learned was that there was a price point for quality. If the price was above around $100, then the product would be good out of the package. For less than $100, expect to interact with their excellent customer service.
I stumbled on Vevor as a low cost brand and gave them a try with a rotary table.
The table was precisely what I expected. I had to deburr parts of the inside, clean some metal out of the oil bath, but since then, perfection.
It was so good that I built mounts for a dividing plates and used it for cutting gears, worth every penny.
Then I purchased a hydraulic lift table. This goes from about 10 inches to 10 inches with a foot pedal. It locks in place at around 36 inches, a good working height. The wheels are heavy duty. I purchased the 500-pound version, but they have a 1000-pound version as well.
The lift table allows me to slide heavy things off workbenches to move into storage and back again.
Again, a great purchase for a reasonable price.
The trolley system is using a Vevor trolley and a Vevor chain hoist. Again good quality, good gravity.
Finally, for the railing I’m putting in, I picked up a manual pipe threading kit from Vevor. The build quality is wonderful; everything fits well. Tomorrow, after the beam is up, I’m going to be building a railing from 3/4 inch black pipe.
The threading kit was around $30, it comes with a 1/2 in, 3/4 in and 1 in die. All I’ll need in the next 10 years.
I can recommend them. They are all over Amazon.
Good to know there’s another option for moderately priced tools.
For “cheap but may be adequate” one of my options is Harbor Freight. There’s a store nearby, so I can see what I’m buying. I got beam trollies and chain hoists from them, they work fine. And I got a hydraulic press (12 ton I think) which is straight enough to work.
For anything requiring precision I’m likely to look elsewhere. For example, a 22 mm impact socket is close enough to work but just off enough to notice.
There used to be Enco Tools which was decent and good prices, but they seem to have disappeared. More recently I have used another mail order supplier that seems to be an industrial supply outfit (not Grainger, forgot the name, starts with M I think). They are interesting because they often offer an item in several grades, as in “Imported”, “US” and a brand name, 3 different prices. I’ve bought a caliper set from them that came from Pakistan at maybe 1/3rd the price of a Starrett set. For my skill level and the capabilities of my roughly 100 year old lathe, that seems to be sufficient. I can always upgrade if I want to do finer grade work.
Was it MSC? Between them, McMaster-Carr and Granger, they have catalog sales sort of cornered.
Yes, I just found that. MSC Direct. They have stuff I couldn’t find elsewhere; for example, I needed a couple of oil cups for my lathe (it has plain bearings, Babbitt I believe) and the old oil fillers were damaged.
Enco was purchased by MSC-Direct. I had an account with Enco which was transferred into MSC-Direct, so I get the “Enco” discount from them.
The company you are referring to is likely MSC-Direct.
They are a good company. I have been buying from them for years.
Vevor is better than anything I’ve purchased from Harbor Freight. They are on the same level as Grizzly, in my opinion.
I watched a few videos where tool guys purchased stuff off of Temu, and discussed the product they received. One particular item stood out. I forget exactly what it was, but the item, down to the packaging was identical to a Rockler woodworking product. The only difference was the Rockler logo was not on the packaging. The point being buy the tool appropriate for the work you are doing. There is no reason a no-brand foreign built square cannot compete with a top of the line name brand. It is a piece of metal with a 90° angle. Why spend hundreds?
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Another point is most of the big name tool makers have their stuff manufactured in factories overseas, or factories that make any number of brands products. Sears Craftsman was famous for that, you could buy a drill made in the same factory as DeWalt or Milwaukee, but it has the Craftsman logo on it. The factories probably do not bother changing the level of quality the put into the product because they are slapping a different logo on.
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Final point, re: tools and hardware. Manufacturing multiple versions of the same product is costly. Much easier to just change the label. Example. A Chinese screw/bolt company sold both grade 5 and grade 8 bolts. When tested, they were all grade 8. Why? Cheaper to just stamp the head different than to screw around with different hardening processes and steel formulations. The cost of changing the process far outweighed the cost of overbuilding the grade 5s. Don’t assume it’s any different with tools.
only tool Ive had bad luck with a Harbor freight is drill bits. every thing else has been good.
snapon is made overseas..
craftsman is chinese..
Ive had great luck with Husky tools from home depot. lifetime warranty.
broke two 3/8 drive ratchets(2foot pipe on both, heh) no issues replacing.
Im still looking for good drill bits that don’t cost stupid money
Drill bits are… well difficult to find good ones. I tend to purchase Bosch and get good results. Irwins are good for a few hours. The big tool brands (Dewalt, Milwaulkee, etc…) tend to have consumables that are not worth the funding. The companies that focus on the consumables (Freud is my go to for saw blades) cost more, but last a lot longer.
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I also like the Husky hand tools, and have had to replace one or two. The real difference between them and Snap-on or SK or Mac is those almost never break, and mechanics who rely on their tools for a living cannot afford to lose hours, or even days of productivity because a Craftsman wrench broke. Harry Homeowner can, and the lower price is worth the headache.
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As to where it is made, while would like to see my tools made in the USA, I am not going to reject a brand because it is made overseas. As long as it is made to the quality I want. If I am paying Snap-On prices, that wrench better withstand a very large amount of abuse before it breaks.
I found Milwaukee and Dewalt metal bits are good once… once.
I found a set of Bosch bits in the bargain bin at Tractor supply and they have been great so far. the 1/4 inch is about done but I abuse it.
I got suckered into buying a set “used by the military “ from this tool supplier.. they were ok but burned up eventually. Ive never had luck sharpening drill bits either..