Online shops that aren't amazon?

Tool Talk
#1

I’m looking to beef up my tools based on this great post - but I don’t want to support Amazon, i hear lots of bad stuff about their business practices and how they treat their workers. What online shops are independently owned by people? I tried buying local (eg NOT home depot or sears) but can’t find Wiha and other good tools from them.

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#2

I’ve had good luck with kctoolco.com

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#3

Chadstoolbox.com is really good for German tools.

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#4

ACE hardware is a franchise owned chain as well as Do It stores, daily prices a about 10-15% over box stores but I find ACE often has fantastic sales. Example, I got a US made Craftsman 8 pc screwdriver set for $5 around the 4th of July, also picked up a DeWalt DCF887D2 for $170 + $50 gift card.

#5

If it is Wiha you are looking for - I believe that Chads no longer carries the brand (except for perhaps a few items they are closing out)

Zoro does carry Wiha - and often runs sales with 20, 25 or even 30% off - but you need to wait on one.
Perhaps if you sign in to the Zoro website - that might prompt them to put you on their email list for these sales offers

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#6

I like Harry Epstein, good source for bits, tooling etc. I have a set of USA made drill bits from them, and some De-Branded (cosmetic blemish) PEC squares on the way.

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#7

Thanks all. Great recommendations!

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#8

Be aware that Wiha’s pliers aren’t very good. They’ve recently started manufacturing them in India. Their screwdrivers are still excellent, though.

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#9

Thanks! I went with Knipex pliers wrench - they look fantastic :slight_smile:

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#10

Most of Wiha’s cutters and pliers are manufactured in Vietnam.
@jackieglassfull Knipex are my favorite for pliers, wrenches, or cutters.

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#11

We had tried the Knipex plier wrenches about 16 years ago and fell in love with them - soon I bought a variety of sizes and had them on all of our plumbing trucks - then even the carpenters wanted a pair. Knipex soon became our go-to pliers supplier. Toolguyd introduced me to NWS in 2011 - and I bought a few styles of their Fantastico pliers - finding them to also be high quality tools. We were less impressed with Wiha pliers - having tried a few pairs of their Inomic pliers back in 2009 for use in the shop. The ones we bought were made in Germany - but we thought they were a bit “delicate” for our application. To be fair - they may have been better suited for use on an electronics bench than for the shop machine maintenance tasks we had in mind for them

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