primarily curious about pro’s experience.
Wondering about recommendations for sheet metal hand tools. Mostly which brands are preferred? aviator Snips, 5 blade crimps, handheld seamers, etc.
My research says malco, possibly Midwest tools. Modern wiss (imported) seem not so good. Experience and Advice appreciated, thanks.
To start with - we were not professional “tin knockers” - as in running a sheet metal fabrication shop. I had an interest in a metal and pipe fabrication shop, a plumbing business, a cabinet and woodworking business and a remodeling/general contracting business.
In recent years Malco Products certainly seems to have become a bit of a major player in providing siding, sheet metal, HVAC and fence tools. They also have some relationship with Edma - a French maker of related tools. Of course - more recently Milwaukee and their rival Dewalt have been applying their name to things like snips,
Looking at an old tool inventory, we seemed to have had a mix of related tools from Malco, Midwest (including some with the Craftsman brand) and Wiss (USA-made) plus a smattering of tools from Stortz and Stubai.
To be honest, I don’t recall much feedback from the “troops.” For siding and things like gutter and downspout tools we seemed to have mostly Malco tools with a few from Klenk.
https://klenk.everhard.com/product-categories/sheet-metal-tools/
Thx for the feedback fred, I was hoping for a few people to chime in. I’ll try to remember to ask a few people locally. I’m in no hurry, just planning for the future so it’s buying what I really want for longevity (life) and not going to store and buying what I need for my current project when it comes up.
I’m by no means a metal worker, but I think that many hand tools should be regarded as having depreciable lives. I used to do gutter work; as I recall we used mostly US made Wiss and Craftsman snips and such. They would wear over time necessitating replacement.
As with others, I’m not a metal worker, I do metal roofs, window wraps, and flashing often enough though and I personally prefer Midwest aviator and tin snips. I have some Harbor Freight seamers, they work and are of OK quality but I can only recommend them for the price(dirt cheap), I have used better from Malco and Midwest but they are 10x the cost of HF.
1 Like
Around here most use Wiss, Malco and some seem to like the Milwaukeeones. I’ve used all and the Milwaukee are nice to use. I won’t use them enough to wear them out.Wiss are good and will last and almost exactly like the Malco. The Wiss I see here are made in USA and can be bought on sale for 9.99 or regular price ~12-13 dollars.
1 Like
I’ve been a sheet metel worker roofer and cladder for 15 years . Wiss last 1 maybe 2 jobs with weather they become blunt fast . Best tools for long lasting and real quality is fruend a German company and stubai quality expensive but last a life time this is all from excessive use every day
even have my name on my stubai so take from experience bud
1 Like