Good Deal - I think.....

[lovema75]

A member here recently recomended a Facom ratchet, and what a lovely tool it is, so I am now looking at thier sockets - but they aint cheap either...

[peter1961]

i bought a set like this about 4 or 5yrs ago but it contained more sockets and spanners, 18 deep drive sockets, 12 combo spanners. with fairly regular use so far no problems, good kit.

actually buying it though was a bit of a saga. rrp was £200 with £100 off if you bought online, now this was 4 or 5yrs ago and with my memory not being great it went something like this.

went to halfords hoping to buy with £100 cash but no it was only an online offer, ok' no sweat' nice try.
so stood at the till my wife bought it online there and then with her fancy phone, great i thought' i'll soon have my hands on my early christmas pressie.

NO !, for some reason the payment would'nt go through so the manager was called, after about 5mins faffing about with tills and phones my patience was starting to ebb slightly.
now to me this pickle could easily be sorted by me giving them £100 cash and letting them sort it out later, so i asked.

NO !!, they wer'nt allowed to do that. a few mins later with foot starting to tap' finally payment went through. happy again and actually getting a wee bit excited now i waited for my pressie, the manager himself went to get it, will i be lucky ?.

NO !!!, not in stock. the manager could tell by my body language that i was getting more than a little bit pee'd of by now. we went to the till where i was informed they would ring me when it arrived, 1-3 days.
i held my gob and turned to go, BUT WAIT, they have one on display' i can have that one can't i.

YES, my gloom now lifted and with socket set in hand we went to the till, everybody smiling now' buttons were pressed and, HANG ON somethings not right.

NO !!!!, that was it end of teather reached i was just about to give them a real broadside and walk out of the store with the socket set, also saying if you've a problem with that then ring the coppers you've got our address.

i was more than a little stunned when then i was told because we were actually in the store when we made the payment' that we were now entitled to a store discount of 20% "DON'T ASK". so in the end it only cost £80.

YES, father christmas did come early after all.

[MangoMan]

A lot of my Ratchet Spanners are Facom - Got them cheap when I worked selling Aircraft Tools..

[marinabrian]

Originally Posted by capese21

Halfords term "professional" is misleading though. A top quality socket would be hex pattern not bi hex.

Ok for light duty but come across a corroded nut or bolt and you will quite likely round it off. Hex pattern is what a pro would use from the outset.

it is no bargain at £80 imho but a fair enough price for a far east produced set.

I like Metrinch not cheap but top quality and do not slip and round off nuts!!

Ed

Metrinch, now there IS a recipe for rounded off knuckles

Bi-Hex sockets are required for a lot of jobs, and while single hex is useful for rusted old fasteners, I find having both essential.

I have a Britool socket set, dating from before the selling off of the brand, and they are bi-hex, and certainly not amateur quality, I paid £370+VAT nearly 20 years ago

Brian

[whitevanman]

My 1/2" set is made by Gedore, a present from my dad when I was about 20, still got most of it although the case liner has long gone south as it was only plastic.

Just gone on their site to find the one closest to mine is £450

[capese21]

Metrinch, now there IS a recipe for rounded off knuckles

Have you used them?? I doubt it as the design makes it pretty much impossible to slip and round off!!

Metrinch socets (not cheap copies) will still work when a standard bi hex socket has rounded off. They drive the flats of the nut or bolt not the corners. I know from using them extensively when stripping down my TR7 suspension. They are particularly good on very stubborn nuts or bolts.

My experience of them is excellent. The spanners are good to.

Ed

[marinabrian]

Originally Posted by capese21

Have you used them?? I doubt it as the design makes it pretty much impossible to slip and round off!!

Metrinch socets (not cheap copies) will still work when a standard bi hex socket has rounded off. They drive the flats of the nut or bolt not the corners. I know from using them extensively when stripping down my TR7 suspension. They are particularly good on very stubborn nuts or bolts.

My experience of them is excellent. The spanners are good to.

Ed

Of course I've used them, and wasn't at all impressed and that's why I don't use them now

Wall drive sockets are not my cup of tea to be perfectly honest, and these simply didn't live up to the hype surrounding them at launch.

I have top quality sockets of both imperial and metric sizes, my metrinch set lives buried in the "not fit for use" department of Marina Towers.

But if you like them, that's all that matters

Brian

[MangoMan]

Aren't those Metrinch those fancy, 'lost for a better word' shifting spanners that look a lot like water pump pliers...? Or am I thinking of something else???

[capese21]

Aren't those Metrinch those fancy, 'lost for a better word' shifting spanners that look a lot like water pump pliers...?

No they are sockets and spanners which drive the flats not the corners. nothing like water pump pliers.

I managed to round off a particularly stubborn nut. Nothing would shift it. I was recommended a Metrinch socket and it shifted it. I bought a set and have used them ever since.

A comprehensive set is around £220 so not hugely expensive.

Ed.
http://www.metrinch-tools.com/website/introductie.php

[BruLan]

Originally Posted by MangoMan

This has got to be a good deal for those that are looking.... And the Profesional stuff IS good! (With a Lifetime Guarantee)!

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/s...atalogId=10151

Excellent - their Professional Range is very very good - well spotted looks like (another) early Xmas present for me !!