Tool Sets Reviews

I've been a carpenter for 25 years and have gone through my share of tool belts. This is with out a doubt the best I have owned. I will retire with this pouch and hand it down to my grand kids. It's well made and the pouches are nice sizes. If I had one thing I didn't like about it, it would be the hammer loop. It's too small and located in front. But I just took the old hammer loop of my old pouch. I'm sorry Amazon only has 5 stars to give.

I've have a set of these bags now for over 10 years and as far as I'm concerned, they'll probably last another 10. Unfortunately, I won't ever find out because someone broke into my job trailer and one of the things that they stole were my 10 year old pouches - which I think speaks more loudly than anything I could say.... They are a bit bulky, but are built like a tank - they will hold up to anything that you'll throw at them in normal construction - Only slight problem would be that you can't fit a 35' fat-max in the tape holder. A 25' works fine for almost everything that I have to do. You might not like some things about these, like the size or weight, but I don't think you'll hear anyone complain about the quality.

Thats what my coworkers nick named me because off all the tools I carry and the size of the rig. This is what I carry every day ,tape,knife, caulk box,small prybar, 2 pencils, sharpie,4 in one screwdriver, snips, dikes, speed square, combo square, nail set, all in their own holders.Depending on what I am doing I'll also carry, a second caulk box, 2 vise-grip c clamps, rock saw, rasp, and a 9 inch level, with every tool in its place. Very large and heavy but with the 5055 suspenders very comfortable. Great for framing and rocking but too large and bulky for trim and fine work. Thinking about buying the trimmers belt also. My old belts always tore, these show no signs and will last for a very long time. These belts are not for everybody because of the price, size, and weight. Try one on before you buy and make sure everything is adjusted, it took me a week to get the suspenders adjusted right, but have not changed them since.

Used this template guide set with my router and sign crafter. Worked well as expected, Bosch makes great tools.

Using products made specifically for other products, particularly from the same manufacturer, has always proven to be the right thing to do and these guides are a good example. There are "fits all" guides available but require some form of modification to the router. Not the Bosch guides. They install and interchange easily and quickly without tools or base replacements. If you need guides for your Bosch router you can't go wrong with this set. You'll even like the plastic case they're stored in.

It is a very nice set of template guides. Much easier to use than other guides because of the turn and snap in feature. But the main reason I bought this set of guides is because of the RA 1100 adapter which allows you to use porter cable and other 1 3/16" template guides. That was the main selling point for me.

The finished results is just what I wanted. The installation process is tidius. It more than doubles your time to install. But I was installing a very hard wood (Brazilian Redwood). The only complaint I have is every box of clips only contained 90 screws instead of the 100.
I bought 800 units and came up short 80 screws.

This system is well worth the extra cost and time involved, I used it on composit decking. This is a two person job with composites, I bought a Stanley Board Bender because composites have a natural "bow" that has to be straightened to maintain the 3/16 spacing. The finished deck without the visable screws looks great.

Once we got the biscuit cutter properly calibrated, the installation of the hidden fasteners went very smooth. Instructions were clear and give some helpful tips.

The screws are bright stainless steel. It would be an improvement to have them black so that they blend in with the black biscuit.

The box should indicate that you need a square drive bit for the screws.

This is my first set of what I would consider "real" chisels. I was a little skeptical with the price, but I took the plung. Glad I did. After sharpening this set has lived up to all my expectations. The only complaint I have is with the box the chisels come in. After about three openings the latch broke on the box, so now I have a big rubber band around the box. Not a problem. Overall I am completly satisfied with this purchase.

As a beginning woodworker, I wanted to start off with some sturdy tools that would make learning easier. These chisels are wonderful to work with: the handles fit well into my (small) hand, they arrived perfectly honed and ready to go, and the storage box sturdy as well. No regrets.

I bought this set after reading the other reviews, and I haven't been disappointed.

These are well-made chisels that took minimal time to flatten and hone. I have a set of Japanese bench chisels (from Grizzly) that I use for general work, so I re-ground the bevels to 19 degrees and use these as paring chisels -- long blades, sturdy handles, and razor-sharp. They hold an edge well and cut beautifully.

I like them so much that I bought the remaining sizes individually to complete the set.

Hello to those interested,
I feel it necessary to alert those interested in purchasing the 10" Hitachi dual compound saw. With my recent purchase and set up of this saw I was surprised to note the inability to compound to the left of any more than 30 degrees. With the addition of a tightening nut on the side of the chip guard which hits the fence when sliding!!! I believe this is an addition to the saw of recent months and may not be a problem on older models. I hope Hitachi will rectify this probblem ASAP.

Sincerely,

Richard W. Grieves d.b.a.
Cape Shorew Woodworking

This is a great saw. The cuts produced are as smooth as glass and really do not need any sanding. This beats all the other miter saws I have ever used and with its sliding capability it nearly eliminates the need for a radial arm saw. I use mine for general woodworking and home repair and have found it to be indispensable. Great saw and well worth the investment.

We have used the Hitachi 8 1/2" saw at work for a five or six years now. We have never had any problems at all with it. But when I decided to buy my own saw, I check out other brands, too. The Makita was a close second, but since I know of at least 3 people that have the Hitachi 10" and haven't had a single problem, that is what I chose. It has every feature that I would possibly need. It even has positive stops that aren't even listed on the specs. The saw that I received came with 2 blades... a 40 tooth and a 72 tooth. I highly recommend the Hitachi.

I love Irwin products,especially the bar clamps/spreaders. However this is one case where a little "not-taking-care-of-your-tools-so-great" actually pays off.

Let me explain. The bars, when new, are smooth and slick. When you tighten down on something really tight, they tend to slip a bit after a moment or two, not much but enough to be a pain. Now if you leave them out for a fortnight (as I have done by accident) a little rust appears on the bars surface. This rust actually HELPS-it gives the clamp part something to "bite" onto.

That being said, these are great little clamps-you can never have too many!

I have several of these, and they're wonderful: they clip onto a hook on your tool belt, they hold rock solid, and come off easily. The rubber pads do a lot to prevent marring the work, but use blocks on more delicate work to avoid damage.

My only complaint was that I dropped one onto a concrete floor and the plastic on the sides came off. The clamp still functions well, but occasionally the trigger falls of at inopportune moments.

Great Price & great product! You basicly pay for two large clamps then you get the two smaller clamps & the squeez-clamps for free! Where at Home Depot, Lowes or where ever
can you get such a great price + NO taxes & Free shipping!! I have used these clamps on & off for 20-30 years and they are just a necessary item in any shop for quick strong clamping as well as some glue jobs.

How better to spend your time than resting and looking through Tool-Crib's Catalogs. You can plan ahead then order, save money and spend your time more wisely than waiting in line at the store.

Don Reece King

Most original band saw fences are lousy at best, unless you buy more expensive saws. This is definitely a great improvement over my original Delta 14" band saw fence which came with the saw. It was easy to install and it works fine for what it is designed to do. Be prepared for a lot of adjustments to get it almost perfect though.

This fence didn't fit on my 18" delta band saw. I would be nice if the product literature would mention that.

The quality of some of the materials was disappointing. Kreg could at least have used stainless steel bolts and screws, and sturdier knobs.

The adjustment mechanism for drift was not as easy to use as it could be. One could make a drift fence in about the same time as it takes to adjust the fence.

The microadjuster would have a better feel if it was constructed of higher grade materials.

I give Kreg 4 stars for making an effort.
3 stars for the quality of the product.

I bought the Kreg fence from a local store as an upgrade to my existing 14 inch bandsaw. It installed on my saw very easily using the ample hardware supplied by Kreg, and is a well made and accurate device. It's well worth the few extra dollars over the standard Taiwanese fences sold as accessories by the major manufacturers.
Among the many things to like about this fance is the ease with which it can be removed and replaced in case you need the extra depth on the table. By way of explanation; you loose about 2 inches (a 14 inch saw becomes a 12 inch saw) if you leave the fence in place and just push it back to the frame. If you need those few inches though, they are easy to recover because of Kreg's mounting system. Drift is easily accomodated for, but I (surprisingly) find that with my saw well adjusted and a good blade in place, I can cut remarkably straight using the fence alone. A pleasant surprise! Kreg also put thought into placing T slots that make adding sub fences and a resaw attachment very easy, and also allow the fence to be turned on it's side if you need to lower the upper guides for cutting thin stock. Even the rule, which adjusts for zero offset and is easy to read is well designed. Everything about this fence is well thought-out, and it does it's main job of providing a stable and solid cutting guide just about perfectly.
The only real criticism I have is of the micro adjuster, which I find cumbersome and redundant, as does one of the other reviewers here. Maybe I'd find it useful if I was resawing a lot of veneer, but my saw isn't set up for that. Instead, save your money, buy just the fence, and you can't go wrong. I give the fence five stars because I feel
it looks good, installs easily and does it's job without a hitch, but the micro adjuster almost caused me to downgrade it to four. Just skip that piece, and you have the perfect small band saw fence.

I guess this set must be marketed at the kind of person who's kind of clueless about tools. You know: "I don't know what a Mac or a SnapOn is, and I don't know Craftsman from Craftmaster but I know the best plastic containers in my kitchen are made by Rubbermaid!"

Alrighty then. Well, then you know to expect that the quality of this set will be decent. And it is. Just. Not great. Nope, if you go down to Sears and get any of the same tools with the Craftsman name on them, they'll be better than their counterparts in this set. Or go to any decent department store with a tool department, and you'll find Stanley tools, which are at least as good as these, and probably cheaper.

Now, these tools do come in a spiffy little case. You can find the same types of tools in an almost as spiffy case at those same, aforementioned, department stores. But this one may be a bit spiffier. So if that's of prime importance to you, then maybe this set has your name on it. But I don't really understand why you'd value the case over the tools.

Bottom line: Adequate tools in a spiffy case, at a price you can better at your local department store. Nothing much to get excited about here.

Mostly everything you need for small jobs. Could use a needle nose pliers and a small adjustable wrench but it keeps you from running to the large tool box in the garage for small jobs and last minute requests especially late at night.

Good, sturdy, essential tools, that come housed in an exceptionally sturdy, highly portable and attractive carrying case. The marketing in the product description unnecessarily inflates the value by touting its 56 pieces (the fluff being nothing more than picture hangers, brads and wood screws!); it's a great kit without that lameness. Outstanding buy.

I bought my set of router bits about a year and a half ago. I find them to be very good for my purposes (I have a home shop and I'm not a pro by any stretch of the imagination). I deffinetly would buy a second set when this one wears out (a few years from now). If you use your router all the time (like a pro) then I would think about a more expensive set.

I choose this set over the hickoy set at home depot becase the price was less and it has better bits with more bearing options.
I made trim, and a counter top. I will use them for making a sign next. I loaned them to my friend and he bought his own set.

I read the other review and had to say that my set has preformed flawless. Ran 200 Board feet of oak trim. No problem never burned once. Box was damaged in shipping and the company sent out a new one in 2days!

I just received this tool set last week and have yet to put it to real use, but so far it seems great. All of the tools feel very sturdy, not light and flimsy like a lot of bargain tools. They sure feel like they will hold up through whatever abuse I manage to put them through. The set contains every hand tool I can imagine needing as just your average guy. At the price, it even makes sense to keep one in the car and one at home, you never know when you might need a 14mm socket while on the road,.

Such a good collection at such a good price,
that when my first set was stolen, I had no
hesitation in ordering a second.

This set is GREAT! It's got a TON of different wrenches and 3/8-inch drive sockets. This set is especially good as a gift for those people who are just moving in to their first home and don't have a ton of tools yet. It comes in a very nice custom plastic storage case with a spot for each tool, so its easy to carry around and put away so you can stay organized! This set has been a lifesaver around my house - I highly recommend it!