We're getting a lot of new viewers with this episode, welcome! We test a lot of different power tools, not just air hammers. *But what is an air hammer?* Well, works like a hammer to bust things free. In automotive we use them to push ball-joints out, free corroded bolt-in wheel hubs or bust off rusted brake discs. Often places you don't have space to swing a sledge on anything that SHOULD have come off but isn't. Hope you guys like tools from the tool truck. Over the next several weeks we're including offerings from Mac, Snap-On, Mac, Mac, Cornwell, Snap-On, Matco, Snap-On, Matco, Snap-on & Matco! Torque of TTC is working for Astro Tools who also make air hammers (but not this .401" size). TTC is not the only testing out there, always consider multiple sources when looking at a tool!
I look forward to seeing how the snap on air hammer does. I spent a lot of beans on that tool, it'd be a shame if it got beat by some Amazon branded tool.
Personally, I've shyed away from the tool trucks and their exorbitant prices. Unless it's a specialty tool and they have it on the truck when I need it (18.5/19.5mm flip socket anyone?) I hardly step foot on their trucks. Besides, I've already spent too much and then way too much more. But I do enjoy watching the comparisons!
It seems similar to a rivet hammer. You can get riveting inserts for it. I personally haven't used this style of hammer/rivet gun and apparently they aren't excellent for installing rivets but it gets the job done!
@@CKBrutus bought mine a year or more but didn't use it until this summer when I had a set of brake discs so frozen I had to get the torch out and the Chief finished them off !
As a mechanic myself. HOW did I never think to do look up this kind of channel?! I always just needed a tool, and bought it where ever was most convenient, cheap or quick. You are doing a service for Mechanics, Do it yourselfers, and other skilled trade workers everywhere.
Back when I had more time I fixed pneumatic guns. Had 2 roofing nailers on the bench. One was a Ridgid and the other was a Porter Cable. Rebuilt the Ridgid first, and when I took apart the Porter Cable it has the exact same internals as the Ridgid even though the body was shaped differently. Ridgid rebuild kits were less expensive so every time I would get a Porter Cable in I saved the customer a little money with the Ridgid kit.
The Ingersoll Rand 114GQC Air Hammer ruclips.net/user/postUgkxqqoaX03nrziKwF7Bjjcc71YzLEleMvOS was just the tool I needed. I Use it to remove stuck bolts. If held at the right angle you can cut slightly into the bolt. Then turn the air hammer to where it will hammer the stuck bolt to unspin the bolt. Given a little practice it works great. This air hammer gives you the control needed to get the job done right. Very powerful yet still does not seem to have as much vibration as other guns I have used. One of the best I have gotten my hands on.
I used to work for a guy who was a VP of Engineering for a US Steel subsidiary, one that made semi-finished parts for other companies (he left and started his own company in a different field, which was when I worked for him). He told me a story about harrow blades, those round smooth or notched blades used by farmer, arranged in rows and pulled by tractors. They made identical, interchangeable blades for 2 companies to sell, (think John Deere and New Holland, but I don't remember the exact companies). The blades were not finalized, not smoothed and painted and the like, but could have been used 'as is'. While the blades were interchangeable, they were different in a subtle way. Company A paid for the blades by the count, so 100 blades cost say $1,000. Company B paid for the blades by weight, so say 20 blades cost $1,000. So, to maximize the profits for US Steel, they did the following: The Company A blades were made as thin as specification would allow, to use the least steel in each blade. Meanwhile, Company B blades were made as thick as possible, so that fewer blades wold be needed to be made. So, while the blades were interchangeable, the Company B blades were stronger, and would last longer, because more steel was used in each blade. So, 'made in the same factory' does not always mean identical.
@@danieldoucet9121 But the cheaper one is made with cheaper quality, less robust parts. Like less quality bearings/bushings/brushes to wear out faster, thinner metal housing, etc. I've had many a harbor freight tool and sure they do the job but they are not going to be doing many jobs without work needing to be done like new brushes on the motor or new bearings put in. I have some of their cordless drills and electric grinders and such and have replaced the motor brushes more times than I care to remember. That is why harbor freight actually has on their shelves the new brushes for the motors in their cordless drills and such. Most people would just throw the tool out and buy a new one which is what they really count on. The brushes are so cheaply made you can actually scrape them down with just your fingernail hence why they wear out so fast. Another example is Harbor freight brand 12 volt battery chargers, I've not had a one of those last more than a dozen battery charges before it is kaput so I do not buy any of those from them any more.
For frozen pizzas at the store, the ones that cost $1 and taste like cardboard are made at the same factory as the ones that cost more than $6 and use entirely different ingredients (dough, cheese, sauce, toppings, everything)
@@Diffidentone When it comes to cordless tools you certainly get what you pay for. I buy Snap On cordless stuff and they get used A LOT every day (I am a reefer van trailer tech). I have 1 charger that has kept the batteries charged for 3 years. Can't imagine getting only 12 charges. On the other hand, I have been using the same $50 30 piece wrench set for 26 years and the 9/16 just broke last week. The Snap On equivalent would be $1500. Both brands have lifetime warranty. Sorry, but no wrenches are worth that to me. Same as sockets, ratchets, etc. We have Canadian Tire brand here, all lifetime warranty, frequently come on sale for 50, 60, even 70% off. I literally have tools from them that are older than most of my co-workers.
15 years ago I remember that I had my $20 dollar for the kit in a case Hft 3/8th" air ratchet on the workbench, and a coworker put their $180 bare tool tool truck version down near it. I noticed the similarities, and when I looked closer I found it came out of the same mold, you could see where the mold for the metal shell was scratched, and both had the same scratches showing. The only difference was that the tool truck one had the brand name cast into the side of the gear case, while the Hft just had a sticker in that location. Looking close you could see that there was a removable puck in the mold that could be swapped out for different brands, and Hft just got the smooth generic version off the same machine. And his broke first lol
I remember reading an interview with Eric Smidt. When he took over as CEO in 2001 he talked about how HF could never survive under the current model at the time. That they would have to expand and improve quality. I wish I could find the evidence, but I'm fairly certain that some of the Pittsburgh line is made in the old Taiwan Craftsman factories.
I remember getting a couple emails that were letters from him. I think I remember one being printed in the flyer about expanding on availability of replacement parts.
You are putting pressure on tool manufacturers to check their prices and ensure quality vs cost is in line with the rest of the manufactures claims. Really dig the progress so far, been here since the beginning and I can say you have cornered the market for tool tests by far! All tool companies should be taking notes!!!
@@MrPePeLePuo I have to agree AVE's (older videos anywayt-haven't kept up) are the gold standard. This was excellently done as well however, i appreciate the lack of fluff and the attention paid by not only graphing the results, but then organizing the table for us more visual types.
They found the same thing with HF and Snap On floor jacks a couple of years ago but found the only difference was the paint and stickers. Oh and the 500 dollar mark up.
The floor jacks were sort of same subject different story. HF bought jacks from the same factory as Snap-On, then went on to advertise that on the front page of their flyers and website saying they are the same. Snap-On felt called out and sued over it. Simply buying from the same factory is normal business as usual, saying tools are exactly the same steps on some legal departments' toes whether that's justified or not. In this air hammer case, they don't even correctly point to a good comparison on the HF website. I sort of question whether it was on purpose to buy the Mac air hammer or dumb luck. Because they certainly point to other more comparable call out tools elsewhere on their site.
@@TorqueTestChannel That doesn't sound like the story I read at all. By the time Eric put it in the flyer that they were the same jack, the lawsuit was long over. The lawsuit was over copyrighted design elements (the patents on the jack design are long expired) of the jack being copied, and the court ruled they'd changed enough to not be copying snap-on's trademarked design elements. (you can make a les paul guitar, but not one with Gibson's trademarked headstock, because its a "design element".) Where can I read about harbor freight advertising them as "same as snap-on"?
From my experience in testing pneumatic and electric tools. I’ve seen that a lot of manufacturers will do what they call “branding” which is they buy from someone else test the tool and then engineering will ask for subtle changes to get the tool to run according to their standards. I think it’s great that you noticed that.
@heldgop They may be subject to a more rigorous quality control process as well. I know that is the case for Grizzly tools, the client has their own people go out to the factory and skim the best units from the production runs for their brand. Apparently the quality variance is pretty wide but the Grizzly branded ones seem better because the buyer is checking the units and taking the best ones.
2 people in my shop have the mac air hammer $550 canadian and they are always saying it's the best air hammer out there. Im pretty happy with my IR 118max right now. 180 for the kit when it went on sale
@@bad1971nova I agree, I bought snap-on air tools (not wrenches, sockets, or cordless) because I could get them fixed in or out of warranty no problem.
I mean if i could get life time warranty on air tools off the trucks where I live I would do that. But that's not the case for me it's usually 1 to 2 years I mainly have aircat and IR tools because they are cheap and reliable and have the same warranty as the trucks. Yes I have to send it in but I just buy a back air tool for cheaper then the tool trucks. 2 for the price of 1 ;)
That actually turned out to be a pretty interesting video, when you got into the subtle differences of essentially the same tools, and looking at the manuals to confirm suspicions. So I guess I have to decide if a trigger capable of slow speed is worth $145 to me...
@@emerkamp1 I've been using a Cheif air hammer professionally in a auto repair shop in the rust belt for close to a year now. It gets used extensively several or more days a week. Hasn't lost a bit of power yet. Quality so far has been great for the Chief in my case at least.
I've been using the Chief air hammer in a professional setting for about a year and a half now. Still Performs well. This review matches what I've noticed using it. Very powerful (and much quieter than the IR 114gqc it replaced), however trigger control is terrible. More of an on/off switch than any modular control. This is typically fine for 95% of applications in automotive though.
Anyone else remember when HF sold name brand tools? They used to have factory 2nd Hobart welders and New IR impact wrenches. Still have my IR impact wrench (I don't remember the number) that I got for $79 at HF many years ago, I love it.
well they got their name from buying unclaimed, damaged, insured, and whatever else shipping containers, and selling whatever was inside, in their stores. They were kinda like costco, just buying whatever was a really good deal, and reselling it. But now they are too big for that, so you dont see the name brand stuff anymore.
Hey Clay, big fans here. Thanks for stopping by! We're quoting one of your vids in one we're working on now and rightly shouting you out. Yeah, the Chief is a lot of beans per dollar.
@@bluesky-ud9wg other than the trigger assembly it's identical so unless the simpler trigger mechanism is somehow the weak link I think they'll perform the same.
I remember reading that HarborFreight said their floor jacks were the same as tool truck brands. That they buy directly from the manufacturer. So they can skip the cost of the middle man. So it applies to other products also. Maybe even some rejected designs they buy for cheap and save on the R&D costs.
I remember reading somewhere that Snap-On actually sued Harbor Freight over their Daytona jack because it looked exactly the same as one that Snap-On sold. Turns out, Harbor Freight was simply buying a pre-existing design option from the same company that produces Snap-On's jacks. Needless to say, Snap-On didn't win that lawsuit.
You have to be careful with that though. When outsourced, products can be spec’d out down to the washers. In woodworking, outside of Hammer, the stationary machinery companies moved to an outsourced model. The products all look the same in photographs but in person they are quite different from each other. So if you are looking at 98 individual parts, each part can have 100 options. And then from their, you can choose the tolerance, finish, alloy, weld quality, seasoning and so forth of that one option of that one part. I’ve gotten things like scissor lift carts and dollies from Harbor Freight. I got more miles out of them than what I paid for, but they were clearly spec’d waaaay down to get to that price point.
In my experience there are quite a few HF tools where the primary difference between them and the expensive equivalent is the fit and finish of the construction. Sometimes this makes a difference, sometimes it doesn't. Often there will be quite a bit of quality variation within a production run. But if you're short on money and your time is cheap you can often bring them up to snuff with fairly minor modifications.
Factory 2nds. There was a time when the name brand companies tool lines would be getting only the manufacturer’s top tier, most accurately made parts. The discount brands would get the lower tolerance/blemished stuff. In HF’s case, about 15 years ago, it seemed like they were buying the factory rejects exclusively. They’ve come a long way since then.
I doubt they were factory seconds. Very well may be made of steel and other materials that aren't of the sane quality/composition though. Harbor freight sells way to many identical tools for them to be factory seconds. I've also never seen marks on the cases where logos were ground off.
@@flagmichael I'm aware of that. No where on my comment did i say I think they are made in different shops. I disagree with the person who made the main comment though about HFs tools being factory seconds. Likely made in the same shop, with the same tools, same molds, but likely with different grade components(or maybe even the same for some parts)
I remember my dad telling me they had a school trip to factory that made fabric softeners. They literally had one giant vat in the middle, and from that, pipes that went to filling machines with each having different brand on it. Also some "cheap" or "unreputable" tools are actually pretty decent, like Lidl in EU for example. They are really, really cheap but actually very well made, and their Black line ("professional") feels to me as good as DeWalt for example.
I have the Chief air hammer. It's a beast. I've had decent luck with HF air tools. If they work out of the box, they will keep working for a very long time. The little air die grinders are a bargain...haven't worn one out yet.
Same here, except I'm pretty sure I got a bad angle grinder as it broke w/in a week. My air ratchets are all HF Central Pneumatic and most of them I've had over a year and they get used daily. Plus, for $20 if they break I'm not overly worried about it.
Yeah the cheap die grinders kick ass. I bought a nice blue point one off the tool truck for about 150 bucks and it crapped out within a year. Got it replaced and the replacement crapped out also while the harbor freight cheapo still worked and I bought it before the first blue point
I ended up buying my rolling tool chest at Harbor Freight, because it actually had better reviews online than the comparable one from the big brand. It was also a good deal cheaper, to the point that for the price of 1 of the big brand, I could buy 4 and still have enough to buy some matching accessories.
@@SpeedDemon88X I've used an IR, Cornwell Tools, Snap On, and I currently have a Matco air hammer. The Snap On and Matco seem to have the best triggers, but just from using them, I couldn't tell which one has more "power" Looking forward to finding out though.
Been buying alot of mayhew and lisle tools that matco and other tool trucks sell marked up. Same quality tools at a fraction the price, but the warranty isn't always as easy. HF is the easiest of box stores warranties so their products similar to tool truck quality would be great buys! Good find.
Depending on your driver, they probably have access to a 3rd party catalogue. I buy all sorts of tools, lisle, grey pneumatic, ezred etc etc from the trucks. The warranty obviously isn't as good, but the driver takes care of it 100%, no shipping things off to the US at 50% of the retail cost etc. Give it a shot.
@@-tr0n Not a bad idea at all, i know my snap on and cornwell dealer both have 3rd party catalogs. I have a broken mountian ratcheting wrench that i need replaced under warranty but can't get ahold of mfg or seller so i was looking to just buy the individual wrench, can't even find that online!
I saw this result coming a mile away. I will say that in the air hammer the nice trigger control in my world is who gives a crap. My world is Diesel mechanic. The nice quiet dainty air hammer usually finds itself in a shallow unmarked grave never to be heard from again. My arch enemy is nature's lock tight, RUST
My opinion is that as someone else also in diesel, is that either I need full power, or a I can tap it out with a normal hammer There really is no in-between
I picked up a freshly rebuilt Mac MPH1911 off the truck for $180, and have absolutely zero complaints at that price point. It's saved the day on more than enough occasions to pay for itself. If I wasn't getting a deal along with the convenience of the truck showing up every week, I was going to get the Ingersoll 119.
You know what would be another cool subject to test would be pry bars. Who makes the best pry bars that can hold up to the most pressure before being bent permanently or breaking.
One of my sons worked in a well-known tool manufacturing house in Montana. He said it was one of his favorite jobs. They made tools for a large number of tool companies, usually completing runs for more than one tool company (all of which I recognized when he mentioned them) in a single night. That is not to say they are identical. They each had their own specifications, including the steel they use.
I am retired from the tool business but my sons run the business now. A very good friend of mine and former neighbor is an executive at snap on tool if he hasn’t retired recently. I can assure you that the tool truck sellers probably don’t even realize that the namebrand tools that they sell are made by contract companies that make tools for everyone who so desires them. I sold tools from major manufacturers and I dealt with manufactures reps and once you get to know them you find out who their company makes tools for. When my former neighbor was a sales person for them he didn’t drive a tool truck he drove a regular car and called on big industry like steel mills. The exact tools that the truck seller sold he sold at 40% less. And I can understand why he was salaried and the tool truck guys needed to make a living so that’s why the tools for more. There’s a lot more to this than most people understand.
Congrats on winning the algorithm lottery! Good video, I figured there would be only be a couple factories that make some of these specialty tools. Special tools as in not used by most households - usually mechanics or shops only.
I just picked up the chief at my local HFT, I had to after watching this. If I don’t like it I have 90 days which they graciously give. Thank TTC for your hard work.
I have a (now older but still fully functional) Matco long barreled air hammer. It gets with it. Paid a lot less than the current Mac ("the times, they are a changin' "). The Harbor Freight tool will get most things done. Obviously, being the same basic tool. There have to be some design changes to avoid legal issues and saving costs as well. Unless you are constantly doing very controlled work, I'd be happy with it and there are constantly coupons and inside track club sales (Worth the cost if you buy many items there at all) of up to 35%, usually 20% off. It's where the rubber beats the toad, engineering a better trigger costs money. Ergonomics and pretty costs money for things like subtle improvements to the body/grip, etc. of tools and, of course, visual appeal. If you can live with the rougher trigger then, absolutely, the Harbor Freight is just fine. You need to be working with the tool and making money with it, in a way that requires the better trigger, to make spending that much more (plus another 20% for a coupon) really worth while and I can't see what that would be. It's an air hammer and you're buying one like that "for the beans." Use a smaller hammer if you need to have less power applied.
This is common with many things. Back when VCRs were in fashion the inner workings were all made by one company. The icemaker in my freezer works in about two hundred makes and models. Thanks.
Just like how LCD panels are only made by a very small number of companies. Despite being the common fighting flagship phone companies, iPhones have more than a few parts from Samsung. Samsung is one the few memory fabs as well.
One japanese company (YKK) makes currently 40% of all zips for all clothes in the world! Used to be more, but its competitor SBS has now about 25%, plus there's dozens of chinese ripoff companies with names like YQQ. Check your zippers, all the good ones will say YKK (and some of the bad ones --- YKK makes for all budgets/specifications, but all their competitors are at the low end).
"Little Bantam" and it's bigger air tool brothers have been made here in the Cleveland area for a very long time by Superior Tool Company. I love their stuff since discovering them in the late 70's. Great service as well.
I have both a Matco and a Snapon. The Matco only comes out when something makes me mad because it destroys everything I put it near. I daily drive the older version Matco which does a really good job 98% of the time.
This channel has made us guys and gals that use and buy these tools so happy..and also not wondering about who's who..can't deny real results!! Thaks ttc
The weirdest thing about the modern era is "no name" products being good, and the people who make them caring ZERO about having a brand. I think a lot of us would be fine buying some rando Chinese company product by a Chinese company name, but I think the actual issue is they want the brands to be disposable. Maybe they've learn all it takes is one bad product to kill your brand on Amazon and Ali baba, etc, so they made disposable brands. I have bought so many things, things like pet feeders, that have been fantastic, then you go to get a replacement and the brand is no longer around but you can clearly find the product under another company name with some searching.
Have you ever thought of comparing SDS Drills in chisel/hammer mode vs Air Hammers? I find it odd that the general belief is that a SDS plus drill in chisel/hammer mode can drive a ground rod, but a air hammer cannot. Really curious about the Ridgid Octane Rotary Hammer R86711B, actually these rotary hammers are something you could test with rotational torque as well , might be a new category for you!!
It should be no surprise at this point that tool trucks rebrand mass produced tools. That said as they continue to have the same manufacturing as lower priced options they will continue to loose business. The aura of the tool truck being superior isn’t there anymore because they are in many cases selling the same stuff as places with lower priced options. Channels like this have proven this time and time again.
I remember years ago a discussion (never proven that I am aware of) about two different, but very similar binoculars. At the time, the story was that where they were made had two different addresses. But those addresses were just different sides of the same large building in Asia somewhere... Might have been an urban legend, but it also might have just be smart marketing. ;-)
And the idea that the tool truck will come to you if you have any problems. But I never see the Snap-On truck that’s supposed to come to my workplace ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Really you are paying for the tool to be delivered to your shop once a week for like 1 year....waiting for the day you finally break down and decide you actually do need an air hammer.
Matco, Cornwell and Snap-on tire inflators are made by Astro Pneumatics. The only difference is label and plastic color. The three branded inflators are $129-$199 each. A no label Astro inflator is $29 on Ali-Express, $15ea if you by five. Aside from the actual hand tools, any power tool the big three tool makers make is made by other brands.
Ive looked pretty deep into tools before, I found that anything from Mac that’s not a hand tool can be found for less under a different brand. All their electric tools are just dewalt
"Big nasty" is a all or nothing style air hammer. No trigger control what so ever on that dude. I rarely have to use mine as my Matco takes care of most jobs here in rusty Minnesota.
Couple things to note, although designs are similar component quality can vary… longevity between the two tools could be much different. Second, patents on design can run their course. After that… it’s free game. That may not mean they’re not made in the same factory. Not saying they aren’t.
This is the video I have been waiting for ! Been dying to see how the Chief measured up. Full disclosure: I already own it. Got it a about a year or two ago under $100. Are you applying for the witness protection program now ? Maybe a body guard ?
11:54: “Subscribe to come along for the journey, that is if we haven’t been thrown into a van with a bag over our heads for even publishing this information…and check out our Amazon and T-Store links so that we can afford bail.” TTC: Come for the tool tests; stay for the subtly subversive sense of humor.
I knew a man that worked for a large tool manufacturer. A popular one. He told me that the only difference between the top dollar tools and the lower cost tool is the finish.
I bought that exact Mac Tools air hammer for $100 on eBay. It was listed as “broken” so I figured since air hammers are kind of “simple” I could fix it. I got it, threw some air on it and… I can’t find a damn thing wrong with it, lol. It works great and it was just a little dirty (grease) and looks almost brand new after I cleaned it up. No idea why the pawn shop listed it as “broken” but whatever. For $100 I got a sweeeeeet deal! 😎
9/10 these things blow air when there's an issue and it's just the hammer slug inside stuck for a second from sitting for awhile and oxidizing. A simple rap with a dead blow on the side and they start up. Look up any popular air hammer on amazon, 75% of the 1 star reviews are people blowing air with the trigger then sending it back like a bunch of bozo's. It's a steel slug in a steel cylinder, just get it moving!
@@TorqueTestChannel Yep! I ran a good amount of Mac Tools air tool oil (I got a giant bottle of it for $20 on eBay) through it when I first got it and like I said before, it’s never had any problems, it hits like a jackhammer and solves any problem I can throw at it. I think you’ve solved the mystery, if so many people return air hammers because they’re stuck (most likely because they’re dry) then I bet that pawn shop tested it on their air and it was stuck and marked it as “broken”. It’s rare to win one over a pawn shop 😆 so I’ll take a W when I can. Thanks for solving my little mystery, your explanation makes total sense. I’m gonna use this air hammer and just enjoy it, it’s a lot better than the $8 Harbor Freight air hammer it replaced. 😎 (BTW Great videos with amazing content! Keep up the great work!)
Big brand name companies sometimes market "special edition" tools for a particular vendor (like Home Depot, etc.) that look the same but may have some metal parts replaced by plastic or have some other cost-cutting difference. But as pointed out here, the cheaper items may also come from the same factory or even the same assembly line as the brand-name ones, which tells me that there can be a huge markup based solely on the branding. It's like art: a framed scribble might sell for two bucks, but if signed by Picasso it's worth a million.
A comedy channel, that does real deal tool reviews. I likey. Plus the witness protection comment seems eerily necessary........ Also, a big hammer with no finesse might sound cool, sometimes, amazing control, is better than absolute size.
When i was a kid i worked in a garage/bodyshop saturdays n hols. The cheap air chisel i was using stopped working, stripped it, i went under the bench hunting for spares and found a dead snap on, both identical. The boss looked in at what i was upto, was not amused at the £200 difference and gave the snapon van his “thoughts” that week. I was 14 at the time, I never got a competative price off the snapon van in that town for 20yrs.
It's actually pretty rare nowadays to find tools from tool truck brands that aren't just a branded tool from another manufacturer or in some cases from an actual tool manufacturing company.
I personally tested the HF Chief long barrel air hammer and SnapOn long barrel air hammer. Both were used to drive out inner and outer wheel bearing races on 40’ city transit bus…one per side and honestly the HF air hammer blasted the races out with alot let effort. Let it be noted though that the trigger control on the SnapOn was alot better than the HF but not enough to justify the price and especially in the Heavy Diesel Maintenance industry…BUT time will tell about durability.
It reminds me of a nice low profile floor jack that was available years ago at Costco for a little over $100. The exact identical model we had rolling on our shop floor, only rebranded as Matco was about $375 iirc.
HF has been on the rise over the last 5 years. I have one major complaint, bait and switch. You’ll see stellar reviews and months later the product changes for the worse keeping the same name, sku and price.
Similar tests have been done with the Earthquake 1/2” impact and initially it can out perform but lack of quality in materials and lack of finishing such as chamfering over air ports cause sweeper seals to wear out very quickly. There are a lot of manufacturers such as Milwaukee that are built in the same factory as other brands but different standards of quality are employed with the higher end tools. Harbor freight air hammers have been found to have debris from manufacturing process that was never cleaned before assembly. I have that MAC air hammer and I hate all things MAC as far as hand tools but I put that against any other air hammer in the shop when theirs fails they come borrow mine to finish the job.
I used to work for a parts house that sold and serviced these kinds of tools. We used to get exact copies of the name brand stuff from India. Mostly IR and CP. We got them for a dime a dozen basically but would have to wait months for them to be shipped by sea. The company is called Edicon and is in Mumbai India. They literally buy the name brand tool, take it apart, learn how to copy it and then sell it to the US market. We would get a bag of 100 o-rings for these tools for $5 and sell each individual o-ring for sometimes $10 or more. Same kind of mark up on other parts as well, and you really can’t tell a difference just by looking at these parts. We would get identical copies of CP rivet busters, impact guns and CP 1240 breakers also and sell them for half the cost of an actual CP. It was all hush hush and you have to have an account with them to see the prices.
I have that same mac air hammer. Love it. Plenty of power and easy control. I get the off brand is a better deal, but, the tool truck finances stuff. That makes it an easier purchase. 15 or 20 a week over time is especially easier on some guys than dropping 150 all at once. For example, the 20 year old that has been busting tires for a couple years and now they move up to brakes, alignment, whatever at a chain tire shop. He isn't making enough money to go out and drop a bunch of cash all at once for all the stuff he needs. And yes, the mac with the same hammer attachment works great for knocking rotors off that are rusted onto the hub. He moves up to brake jobs, he needs a socket set, brake spring pliers, caliper tool set, breaker bar, maybe a stubby impact, swivel impact sockets, and so on. Financing that stuff is alot easier on the up and coming kinda guy.
As an ASE and A&P mechanic, I will say that I agree. The Harbor Freight tools are 200% better for weekend warriors. As far as longevity and controllability, I would choose the style that brings the best control in MY hand weather it would be a tool truck, home depot, lowes, harbor freight, amazon, exc. At the end of the day, I can buy 1 tool truck tool or 3 harbor freight tools for the same price. I can only do as well as the tool allows while in my hands specifically. I do not misuse the tool and use as intended (i.e. a flat head screwdriver is NOT a chisel or pry bar) and I expect a warranty to come with a long waiting time if replacement is required.
Good info. I need a new air hammer. I've been using an old IR one. It was used when I got it well over 20 years ago. Still works like a champ but shes getting tired. Co worker has a Chief I'll have to check his out.
Same is true of many products. I 've worked in food retail. Example: Ice Cream in the UK is made mainly by a couple of companies, they also make the own brand stuff, although the recipes are slightly different, in one case many years ago I was working for Walls and we made ice cream for Lyons when they ran out of capacity.
Many years ago I wanted to get a fancy and expensive Skill worm drive. When it wasn't available the Sears manager showed me the Craftsman's saw was actually the same tool, simply branded differently. Replacement internal parts were the same, and could be ordered as such. Yowza!
There is often tool vids on how it’s made tv show. For some reason snap on let them show that the only difference in there sockets is that the factory sends off the snap on sockets to 1 more step that adds some needless detail grinds. The other ones didn’t look as nice, but were the same socket and probably sold at a surprisingly less amount. It always amazes me that people allow themselves to get ripped off by snap on constantly when there is so many better options available.
This was also the same for some Rigid and Ryobi tools. Exact same part numbers because the parts were listed as Ryobi/Rigid parts! Price difference was the warranty.
As someone who had to work in the OEM/ODM world of electronics, this doesn't surprise me. Sometimes the contracts would grant some exclusivity to the first ODM partner for a period of time or a number of units, then the ODM was free to shop it around. Also, since IP was a fleeting principle at best, you'll find a very close relative of someone operating ODM factory #1 churning out basically the same thing at ODM factory #2 a few miles away. It doesn't matter if it's electronics, tools, clothing, or shampoo - it will all get copied and sold under different names unless you manufacture yourself (and sometimes even then).
wrong question. How much leverage can different size breaker bars provide is appropriate. Torque would depend on force on the lever, which will depend on the person's weight, strength and amount of effort put in.
We're getting a lot of new viewers with this episode, welcome! We test a lot of different power tools, not just air hammers. *But what is an air hammer?* Well, works like a hammer to bust things free. In automotive we use them to push ball-joints out, free corroded bolt-in wheel hubs or bust off rusted brake discs. Often places you don't have space to swing a sledge on anything that SHOULD have come off but isn't.
Hope you guys like tools from the tool truck. Over the next several weeks we're including offerings from Mac, Snap-On, Mac, Mac, Cornwell, Snap-On, Matco, Snap-On, Matco, Snap-on & Matco! Torque of TTC is working for Astro Tools who also make air hammers (but not this .401" size). TTC is not the only testing out there, always consider multiple sources when looking at a tool!
I look forward to seeing how the snap on air hammer does. I spent a lot of beans on that tool, it'd be a shame if it got beat by some Amazon branded tool.
I can honestly say the sunex air hammer was not good at all maybe it was the shop air but the snap on never had a problem yet 🙊🙊🙊
When you say astro and ' not .401' you refer to the BIG NASTY!!! 🤣🤣🤣
If you mention Doug you have to say “this is the”
Personally, I've shyed away from the tool trucks and their exorbitant prices. Unless it's a specialty tool and they have it on the truck when I need it (18.5/19.5mm flip socket anyone?) I hardly step foot on their trucks. Besides, I've already spent too much and then way too much more.
But I do enjoy watching the comparisons!
Me, not knowing anything about air hammers, only here because of the algorithm: "Ah yes, BCS. Well done Harbor Freight."
😂 same
It seems similar to a rivet hammer. You can get riveting inserts for it. I personally haven't used this style of hammer/rivet gun and apparently they aren't excellent for installing rivets but it gets the job done!
Same
I'm just upset that I've worked in so many shops and had no idea this existed.
Lmfao
That chief is about to be sold out everywhere.
Cashier asks why im buying four
watch the price go up
$139.99 as of the posting date 10/29/2021. Let's watch and see what happens!
@@burtreynolds3143 bought my Chief 2 mos ago. I love it
@@CKBrutus bought mine a year or more but didn't use it until this summer when I had a set of brake discs so frozen I had to get the torch out and the Chief finished them off !
As a mechanic myself. HOW did I never think to do look up this kind of channel?! I always just needed a tool, and bought it where ever was most convenient, cheap or quick.
You are doing a service for Mechanics, Do it yourselfers, and other skilled trade workers everywhere.
Back when I had more time I fixed pneumatic guns. Had 2 roofing nailers on the bench. One was a Ridgid and the other was a Porter Cable. Rebuilt the Ridgid first, and when I took apart the Porter Cable it has the exact same internals as the Ridgid even though the body was shaped differently. Ridgid rebuild kits were less expensive so every time I would get a Porter Cable in I saved the customer a little money with the Ridgid kit.
I feel like this should be on ESPN 8, the Ocho.
dodge dip duck dive and dodge
I like where you went with this, but this deserves to be on ESPN2 at least
What are you doing here sir?
The Ingersoll Rand 114GQC Air Hammer ruclips.net/user/postUgkxqqoaX03nrziKwF7Bjjcc71YzLEleMvOS was just the tool I needed. I Use it to remove stuck bolts. If held at the right angle you can cut slightly into the bolt. Then turn the air hammer to where it will hammer the stuck bolt to unspin the bolt. Given a little practice it works great. This air hammer gives you the control needed to get the job done right. Very powerful yet still does not seem to have as much vibration as other guns I have used. One of the best I have gotten my hands on.
I used to work for a guy who was a VP of Engineering for a US Steel subsidiary, one that made semi-finished parts for other companies (he left and started his own company in a different field, which was when I worked for him).
He told me a story about harrow blades, those round smooth or notched blades used by farmer, arranged in rows and pulled by tractors.
They made identical, interchangeable blades for 2 companies to sell, (think John Deere and New Holland, but I don't remember the exact companies). The blades were not finalized, not smoothed and painted and the like, but could have been used 'as is'.
While the blades were interchangeable, they were different in a subtle way.
Company A paid for the blades by the count, so 100 blades cost say $1,000. Company B paid for the blades by weight, so say 20 blades cost $1,000.
So, to maximize the profits for US Steel, they did the following:
The Company A blades were made as thin as specification would allow, to use the least steel in each blade.
Meanwhile, Company B blades were made as thick as possible, so that fewer blades wold be needed to be made.
So, while the blades were interchangeable, the Company B blades were stronger, and would last longer, because more steel was used in each blade.
So, 'made in the same factory' does not always mean identical.
Yes, but you're talking about big hunks of metal compared to small tools comprising of smaller machined parts.
@@danieldoucet9121 But the cheaper one is made with cheaper quality, less robust parts. Like less quality bearings/bushings/brushes to wear out faster, thinner metal housing, etc.
I've had many a harbor freight tool and sure they do the job but they are not going to be doing many jobs without work needing to be done like new brushes on the motor or new bearings put in. I have some of their cordless drills and electric grinders and such and have replaced the motor brushes more times than I care to remember. That is why harbor freight actually has on their shelves the new brushes for the motors in their cordless drills and such. Most people would just throw the tool out and buy a new one which is what they really count on. The brushes are so cheaply made you can actually scrape them down with just your fingernail hence why they wear out so fast.
Another example is Harbor freight brand 12 volt battery chargers, I've not had a one of those last more than a dozen battery charges before it is kaput so I do not buy any of those from them any more.
For frozen pizzas at the store, the ones that cost $1 and taste like cardboard are made at the same factory as the ones that cost more than $6 and use entirely different ingredients (dough, cheese, sauce, toppings, everything)
@@Diffidentone When it comes to cordless tools you certainly get what you pay for. I buy Snap On cordless stuff and they get used A LOT every day (I am a reefer van trailer tech). I have 1 charger that has kept the batteries charged for 3 years. Can't imagine getting only 12 charges. On the other hand, I have been using the same $50 30 piece wrench set for 26 years and the 9/16 just broke last week. The Snap On equivalent would be $1500. Both brands have lifetime warranty. Sorry, but no wrenches are worth that to me. Same as sockets, ratchets, etc. We have Canadian Tire brand here, all lifetime warranty, frequently come on sale for 50, 60, even 70% off. I literally have tools from them that are older than most of my co-workers.
@@Kai-K What does cardboard taste like ?
15 years ago I remember that I had my $20 dollar for the kit in a case Hft 3/8th" air ratchet on the workbench, and a coworker put their $180 bare tool tool truck version down near it.
I noticed the similarities, and when I looked closer I found it came out of the same mold, you could see where the mold for the metal shell was scratched, and both had the same scratches showing.
The only difference was that the tool truck one had the brand name cast into the side of the gear case, while the Hft just had a sticker in that location.
Looking close you could see that there was a removable puck in the mold that could be swapped out for different brands, and Hft just got the smooth generic version off the same machine.
And his broke first lol
I remember reading an interview with Eric Smidt. When he took over as CEO in 2001 he talked about how HF could never survive under the current model at the time. That they would have to expand and improve quality. I wish I could find the evidence, but I'm fairly certain that some of the Pittsburgh line is made in the old Taiwan Craftsman factories.
I remember getting a couple emails that were letters from him.
I think I remember one being printed in the flyer about expanding on availability of replacement parts.
You are putting pressure on tool manufacturers to check their prices and ensure quality vs cost is in line with the rest of the manufactures claims. Really dig the progress so far, been here since the beginning and I can say you have cornered the market for tool tests by far! All tool companies should be taking notes!!!
BOLTR by AvE takes the cake for tool reviews but torque test is close ;)
@@MrPePeLePuo I have to agree AVE's (older videos anywayt-haven't kept up) are the gold standard. This was excellently done as well however, i appreciate the lack of fluff and the attention paid by not only graphing the results, but then organizing the table for us more visual types.
@@MrPePeLePuohe rambles on way too much.
They found the same thing with HF and Snap On floor jacks a couple of years ago but found the only difference was the paint and stickers. Oh and the 500 dollar mark up.
The floor jacks were sort of same subject different story. HF bought jacks from the same factory as Snap-On, then went on to advertise that on the front page of their flyers and website saying they are the same. Snap-On felt called out and sued over it. Simply buying from the same factory is normal business as usual, saying tools are exactly the same steps on some legal departments' toes whether that's justified or not. In this air hammer case, they don't even correctly point to a good comparison on the HF website. I sort of question whether it was on purpose to buy the Mac air hammer or dumb luck. Because they certainly point to other more comparable call out tools elsewhere on their site.
And walmart just started selling them for 170
But it says Snap On so it must be safer!!! /s
@@TorqueTestChannel My bet is dumb luck.
(Unless their legal dept. is that savvy to compare to the wrong thing on purpose.)
@@TorqueTestChannel That doesn't sound like the story I read at all. By the time Eric put it in the flyer that they were the same jack, the lawsuit was long over. The lawsuit was over copyrighted design elements (the patents on the jack design are long expired) of the jack being copied, and the court ruled they'd changed enough to not be copying snap-on's trademarked design elements. (you can make a les paul guitar, but not one with Gibson's trademarked headstock, because its a "design element".) Where can I read about harbor freight advertising them as "same as snap-on"?
From my experience in testing pneumatic and electric tools. I’ve seen that a lot of manufacturers will do what they call “branding” which is they buy from someone else test the tool and then engineering will ask for subtle changes to get the tool to run according to their standards. I think it’s great that you noticed that.
that's some very subtle changes there. Apart from trigger that is
This happens a lot with the popular "mini lathe", there is a lot of variation in those and it's hard to notice.
@heldgop They may be subject to a more rigorous quality control process as well. I know that is the case for Grizzly tools, the client has their own people go out to the factory and skim the best units from the production runs for their brand. Apparently the quality variance is pretty wide but the Grizzly branded ones seem better because the buyer is checking the units and taking the best ones.
I got a chief long barrel open box for $80 and I love it. More power than I’ll need, and I can break some concrete if I wanted to
Always that one guy that paid 10% of what everyone else paid on every tool video guaranteed lol
@@charlesdjones1 it’ll be you one day too!
@@formu1fan yes I've been that guy too lol
I can confirm that the chief trigger is brutal; It’s all or nothing when it comes to trying to lightly start hammering anything.
2 people in my shop have the mac air hammer $550 canadian and they are always saying it's the best air hammer out there.
Im pretty happy with my IR 118max right now.
180 for the kit when it went on sale
@@bad1971nova I agree, I bought snap-on air tools (not wrenches, sockets, or cordless) because I could get them fixed in or out of warranty no problem.
The Mac 20v impacts have a 3 year warranty.
@@mikeday8826 I have lifetime..
@@bad1971nova I guess you're special.
I mean if i could get life time warranty on air tools off the trucks where I live I would do that.
But that's not the case for me it's usually 1 to 2 years
I mainly have aircat and IR tools because they are cheap and reliable and have the same warranty as the trucks.
Yes I have to send it in but I just buy a back air tool for cheaper then the tool trucks. 2 for the price of 1 ;)
That actually turned out to be a pretty interesting video, when you got into the subtle differences of essentially the same tools, and looking at the manuals to confirm suspicions. So I guess I have to decide if a trigger capable of slow speed is worth $145 to me...
not really.
what you truly have to decide is whether a much worse trigger, and 700 psi more in max power is worth an additional 7$
if you buy the chief you can use the $145 to buy a low powered one like the sunex or harbor freight, or a nice air regulator
This still tells nothing about quality.
@@emerkamp1 I've been using a Cheif air hammer professionally in a auto repair shop in the rust belt for close to a year now. It gets used extensively several or more days a week. Hasn't lost a bit of power yet. Quality so far has been great for the Chief in my case at least.
I've been using the Chief air hammer in a professional setting for about a year and a half now. Still Performs well. This review matches what I've noticed using it. Very powerful (and much quieter than the IR 114gqc it replaced), however trigger control is terrible. More of an on/off switch than any modular control. This is typically fine for 95% of applications in automotive though.
Anyone else remember when HF sold name brand tools?
They used to have factory 2nd Hobart welders and New IR impact wrenches.
Still have my IR impact wrench (I don't remember the number) that I got for $79 at HF many years ago,
I love it.
That's interesting. Their product lineup is always evolving.
Didn't get it at HF but I love my IR-111 reactionless air ratchet.
Not sure why they never caught on,but I love not busting knuckles with it.
well they got their name from buying unclaimed, damaged, insured, and whatever else shipping containers, and selling whatever was inside, in their stores. They were kinda like costco, just buying whatever was a really good deal, and reselling it. But now they are too big for that, so you dont see the name brand stuff anymore.
I never saw that before
The name brand air hoses are gone and it don't take long for their hoses to sun rot.
I have tool truck air hammers and the Chief and I must say I was surprised by the power of the Chief especially for the price.
Hey Clay, big fans here. Thanks for stopping by! We're quoting one of your vids in one we're working on now and rightly shouting you out. Yeah, the Chief is a lot of beans per dollar.
Bruh!
Mississippi represent!
Longevity is the important thing though. How will it be in 2 years?
@@bluesky-ud9wg other than the trigger assembly it's identical so unless the simpler trigger mechanism is somehow the weak link I think they'll perform the same.
I remember reading that HarborFreight said their floor jacks were the same as tool truck brands. That they buy directly from the manufacturer. So they can skip the cost of the middle man. So it applies to other products also. Maybe even some rejected designs they buy for cheap and save on the R&D costs.
I remember reading somewhere that Snap-On actually sued Harbor Freight over their Daytona jack because it looked exactly the same as one that Snap-On sold. Turns out, Harbor Freight was simply buying a pre-existing design option from the same company that produces Snap-On's jacks. Needless to say, Snap-On didn't win that lawsuit.
Yep, it's a crapshoot sometimes but harbor freight can have some great tools sometimes.
You have to be careful with that though. When outsourced, products can be spec’d out down to the washers. In woodworking, outside of Hammer, the stationary machinery companies moved to an outsourced model. The products all look the same in photographs but in person they are quite different from each other. So if you are looking at 98 individual parts, each part can have 100 options. And then from their, you can choose the tolerance, finish, alloy, weld quality, seasoning and so forth of that one option of that one part. I’ve gotten things like scissor lift carts and dollies from Harbor Freight. I got more miles out of them than what I paid for, but they were clearly spec’d waaaay down to get to that price point.
In my experience there are quite a few HF tools where the primary difference between them and the expensive equivalent is the fit and finish of the construction. Sometimes this makes a difference, sometimes it doesn't. Often there will be quite a bit of quality variation within a production run. But if you're short on money and your time is cheap you can often bring them up to snuff with fairly minor modifications.
Factory 2nds. There was a time when the name brand companies tool lines would be getting only the manufacturer’s top tier, most accurately made parts. The discount brands would get the lower tolerance/blemished stuff. In HF’s case, about 15 years ago, it seemed like they were buying the factory rejects exclusively. They’ve come a long way since then.
I don’t know why that just blew my mind
I have mixed feelings about them moving up-market.
I doubt they were factory seconds. Very well may be made of steel and other materials that aren't of the sane quality/composition though. Harbor freight sells way to many identical tools for them to be factory seconds. I've also never seen marks on the cases where logos were ground off.
@@jonyemm Most tools are made in shops that make tools for multiple companies. My son worked in one of those.
@@flagmichael I'm aware of that. No where on my comment did i say I think they are made in different shops. I disagree with the person who made the main comment though about HFs tools being factory seconds. Likely made in the same shop, with the same tools, same molds, but likely with different grade components(or maybe even the same for some parts)
I remember my dad telling me they had a school trip to factory that made fabric softeners. They literally had one giant vat in the middle, and from that, pipes that went to filling machines with each having different brand on it.
Also some "cheap" or "unreputable" tools are actually pretty decent, like Lidl in EU for example. They are really, really cheap but actually very well made, and their Black line ("professional") feels to me as good as DeWalt for example.
I have the Chief air hammer. It's a beast. I've had decent luck with HF air tools. If they work out of the box, they will keep working for a very long time. The little air die grinders are a bargain...haven't worn one out yet.
Same here, except I'm pretty sure I got a bad angle grinder as it broke w/in a week. My air ratchets are all HF Central Pneumatic and most of them I've had over a year and they get used daily. Plus, for $20 if they break I'm not overly worried about it.
Yeah the cheap die grinders kick ass. I bought a nice blue point one off the tool truck for about 150 bucks and it crapped out within a year. Got it replaced and the replacement crapped out also while the harbor freight cheapo still worked and I bought it before the first blue point
My needle thingy died pretty quick 🥲
I ended up buying my rolling tool chest at Harbor Freight, because it actually had better reviews online than the comparable one from the big brand. It was also a good deal cheaper, to the point that for the price of 1 of the big brand, I could buy 4 and still have enough to buy some matching accessories.
cant wait for the snap on test. my rep is constantly bragging about their air hammer and how good it is.
It's the best I've ever used.
IMO it's much better than the aircat air hammer, which I THINK is the same company as Mac Tools air hammer
Someone correct me if I'm wrong
@@SpeedDemon88X I've used an IR, Cornwell Tools, Snap On, and I currently have a Matco air hammer. The Snap On and Matco seem to have the best triggers, but just from using them, I couldn't tell which one has more "power" Looking forward to finding out though.
Been buying alot of mayhew and lisle tools that matco and other tool trucks sell marked up. Same quality tools at a fraction the price, but the warranty isn't always as easy. HF is the easiest of box stores warranties so their products similar to tool truck quality would be great buys! Good find.
You just gotta purchase the warranty and FIND those diamonds in the rough there. Always tricky, but you get rewarded for your efforts when you find em
Depending on your driver, they probably have access to a 3rd party catalogue. I buy all sorts of tools, lisle, grey pneumatic, ezred etc etc from the trucks. The warranty obviously isn't as good, but the driver takes care of it 100%, no shipping things off to the US at 50% of the retail cost etc. Give it a shot.
@@-tr0n Not a bad idea at all, i know my snap on and cornwell dealer both have 3rd party catalogs. I have a broken mountian ratcheting wrench that i need replaced under warranty but can't get ahold of mfg or seller so i was looking to just buy the individual wrench, can't even find that online!
I saw this result coming a mile away. I will say that in the air hammer the nice trigger control in my world is who gives a crap. My world is Diesel mechanic. The nice quiet dainty air hammer usually finds itself in a shallow unmarked grave never to be heard from again. My arch enemy is nature's lock tight, RUST
MORE POWAH BABY!
I suggest patience and a combination of PT Blaster and an induction coil...
i love the way you speak
CP717 zip gun is the only way to go.
My opinion is that as someone else also in diesel, is that either I need full power, or a I can tap it out with a normal hammer
There really is no in-between
I picked up a freshly rebuilt Mac MPH1911 off the truck for $180, and have absolutely zero complaints at that price point. It's saved the day on more than enough occasions to pay for itself. If I wasn't getting a deal along with the convenience of the truck showing up every week, I was going to get the Ingersoll 119.
You know what would be another cool subject to test would be pry bars. Who makes the best pry bars that can hold up to the most pressure before being bent permanently or breaking.
I suggest asking Project Farm for this. But tests like this would be very dangerous considering the spring loads involved.
One of my sons worked in a well-known tool manufacturing house in Montana. He said it was one of his favorite jobs. They made tools for a large number of tool companies, usually completing runs for more than one tool company (all of which I recognized when he mentioned them) in a single night. That is not to say they are identical. They each had their own specifications, including the steel they use.
My boy just mentioned daddy Doug. Bless. 🙏
I am retired from the tool business but my sons run the business now. A very good friend of mine and former neighbor is an executive at snap on tool if he hasn’t retired recently. I can assure you that the tool truck sellers probably don’t even realize that the namebrand tools that they sell are made by contract companies that make tools for everyone who so desires them. I sold tools from major manufacturers and I dealt with manufactures reps and once you get to know them you find out who their company makes tools for. When my former neighbor was a sales person for them he didn’t drive a tool truck he drove a regular car and called on big industry like steel mills. The exact tools that the truck seller sold he sold at 40% less. And I can understand why he was salaried and the tool truck guys needed to make a living so that’s why the tools for more. There’s a lot more to this than most people understand.
Congrats on winning the algorithm lottery! Good video, I figured there would be only be a couple factories that make some of these specialty tools. Special tools as in not used by most households - usually mechanics or shops only.
I just picked up the chief at my local HFT, I had to after watching this. If I don’t like it I have 90 days which they graciously give. Thank TTC for your hard work.
I have noticed the exact same thing between the die grinders between chief and Mac. They are the exact same. At close to a 1/3rd of the price!
The aluminum body HF ones? They dont seem to last though
I have a (now older but still fully functional) Matco long barreled air hammer. It gets with it. Paid a lot less than the current Mac ("the times, they are a changin' ").
The Harbor Freight tool will get most things done. Obviously, being the same basic tool. There have to be some design changes to avoid legal issues and saving costs as well.
Unless you are constantly doing very controlled work, I'd be happy with it and there are constantly coupons and inside track club sales (Worth the cost if you buy many items there at all) of up to 35%, usually 20% off.
It's where the rubber beats the toad, engineering a better trigger costs money. Ergonomics and pretty costs money for things like subtle improvements to the body/grip, etc. of tools and, of course, visual appeal.
If you can live with the rougher trigger then, absolutely, the Harbor Freight is just fine. You need to be working with the tool and making money with it, in a way that requires the better trigger, to make spending that much more (plus another 20% for a coupon) really worth while and I can't see what that would be. It's an air hammer and you're buying one like that "for the beans." Use a smaller hammer if you need to have less power applied.
this is why I love makita, because they make their own tools and they care
And they aren’t owned by China yet
@@alexmills1329 lol they do manufacture it in China for everyone else, they keep the good stuff for the Japanese
@@alexmills1329 And yet still make everything for everyone outside of China in China, Mexico, Taiwan, Etc. Argument invalid.
Around here in Europe, Metabo is a good choice. I have several cordless tools from Metabo, the more expensive ones are still made in Germany.
i like metabo also have some of their drills and an angle grinder but they seem to have been merged with hitachi/hikoki rectently?
People are so convinced that expensive = better that there will always be suckers for this kind of "badge engineering."
This is common with many things. Back when VCRs were in fashion the inner workings were all made by one company. The icemaker in my freezer works in about two hundred makes and models. Thanks.
Just like how LCD panels are only made by a very small number of companies.
Despite being the common fighting flagship phone companies, iPhones have more than a few parts from Samsung. Samsung is one the few memory fabs as well.
One japanese company (YKK) makes currently 40% of all zips for all clothes in the world! Used to be more, but its competitor SBS has now about 25%, plus there's dozens of chinese ripoff companies with names like YQQ. Check your zippers, all the good ones will say YKK (and some of the bad ones --- YKK makes for all budgets/specifications, but all their competitors are at the low end).
"Little Bantam" and it's bigger air tool brothers have been made here in the Cleveland area for a very long time by Superior Tool Company. I love their stuff since discovering them in the late 70's. Great service as well.
I have both a Matco and a Snapon. The Matco only comes out when something makes me mad because it destroys everything I put it near. I daily drive the older version Matco which does a really good job 98% of the time.
This channel has made us guys and gals that use and buy these tools so happy..and also not wondering about who's who..can't deny real results!! Thaks ttc
Couldn’t you just add a flow control to the inlet on the chief to lower the output?
Of course, you can do it at the air regulator as well but the point is to be able to apply a softer impact on the fly as needed.
Yup.
I have a Snap-on long barrel with a rotating thing at the bottom to limit power. I love that gun!
The weirdest thing about the modern era is "no name" products being good, and the people who make them caring ZERO about having a brand. I think a lot of us would be fine buying some rando Chinese company product by a Chinese company name, but I think the actual issue is they want the brands to be disposable. Maybe they've learn all it takes is one bad product to kill your brand on Amazon and Ali baba, etc, so they made disposable brands. I have bought so many things, things like pet feeders, that have been fantastic, then you go to get a replacement and the brand is no longer around but you can clearly find the product under another company name with some searching.
When I worked in a shop my chief air hammer was my favorite tool. You feel like a viking using it on wheel bearings lmao
Have you ever thought of comparing SDS Drills in chisel/hammer mode vs Air Hammers? I find it odd that the general belief is that a SDS plus drill in chisel/hammer mode can drive a ground rod, but a air hammer cannot. Really curious about the Ridgid Octane Rotary Hammer R86711B, actually these rotary hammers are something you could test with rotational torque as well , might be a new category for you!!
That chief tool is great. I’ve used it to blast out ball joints and free up stuck intermediate shaft cv axles.
It should be no surprise at this point that tool trucks rebrand mass produced tools. That said as they continue to have the same manufacturing as lower priced options they will continue to loose business. The aura of the tool truck being superior isn’t there anymore because they are in many cases selling the same stuff as places with lower priced options. Channels like this have proven this time and time again.
"but but muh customer service"
You can buy every tool 3 times and come out ahead compared to name brand relabels 😂
Way late on this, but it should be well understood at this point tool truck prices are a convenience charge.
I remember years ago a discussion (never proven that I am aware of) about two different, but very similar binoculars. At the time, the story was that where they were made had two different addresses. But those addresses were just different sides of the same large building in Asia somewhere... Might have been an urban legend, but it also might have just be smart marketing. ;-)
Would love to see AVE do a teardown of both, looking at the fit and finish to see if maybe one might wear out faster than the other.
Yes
Absolutely
tool teardowns on my fireplace channel?? What, are you a Communist?
The mother fucking tools are twins....
I love that “the beans” is catching on
So really between these two, you're paying for better trigger control
And yet the $135 IR has better trigger control than either
And the idea that the tool truck will come to you if you have any problems. But I never see the Snap-On truck that’s supposed to come to my workplace ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Really you are paying for the tool to be delivered to your shop once a week for like 1 year....waiting for the day you finally break down and decide you actually do need an air hammer.
Matco, Cornwell and Snap-on tire inflators are made by Astro Pneumatics. The only difference is label and plastic color. The three branded inflators are $129-$199 each. A no label Astro inflator is $29 on Ali-Express, $15ea if you by five. Aside from the actual hand tools, any power tool the big three tool makers make is made by other brands.
This is sure to open a rabbit hole but I would love to see some aircraft rivet guns in these tests.
Ive looked pretty deep into tools before, I found that anything from Mac that’s not a hand tool can be found for less under a different brand. All their electric tools are just dewalt
How well does the HF stack up against Big Nasty?
"Big nasty" is a all or nothing style air hammer. No trigger control what so ever on that dude. I rarely have to use mine as my Matco takes care of most jobs here in rusty Minnesota.
Couple things to note, although designs are similar component quality can vary… longevity between the two tools could be much different. Second, patents on design can run their course. After that… it’s free game. That may not mean they’re not made in the same factory. Not saying they aren’t.
This is the video I have been waiting for !
Been dying to see how the Chief measured up.
Full disclosure: I already own it. Got it a about a year or two ago under $100.
Are you applying for the witness protection program now ?
Maybe a body guard ?
I used to work at mac as a repair technician. Dewalt and mac are the same thing and have the same exact internals. Same with the impacts 3/8 and 1/2
Snap-Chief. Nice work by Harbor Freight!
I don't know why I clicked, this couldn't be further from my interests but I'm glad somebody is being the watchdogs for these things.
11:54: “Subscribe to come along for the journey, that is if we haven’t been thrown into a van with a bag over our heads for even publishing this information…and check out our Amazon and T-Store links so that we can afford bail.”
TTC: Come for the tool tests; stay for the subtly subversive sense of humor.
I knew a man that worked for a large tool manufacturer. A popular one.
He told me that the only difference between the top dollar tools and the lower cost tool is the finish.
I can't wait to see the Snap-on and matco going head to head
I love my Matco MT2916. Best one I've owned to date. Awesome trigger control and hits hard!
I bought that exact Mac Tools air hammer for $100 on eBay. It was listed as “broken” so I figured since air hammers are kind of “simple” I could fix it. I got it, threw some air on it and… I can’t find a damn thing wrong with it, lol. It works great and it was just a little dirty (grease) and looks almost brand new after I cleaned it up. No idea why the pawn shop listed it as “broken” but whatever. For $100 I got a sweeeeeet deal! 😎
9/10 these things blow air when there's an issue and it's just the hammer slug inside stuck for a second from sitting for awhile and oxidizing. A simple rap with a dead blow on the side and they start up. Look up any popular air hammer on amazon, 75% of the 1 star reviews are people blowing air with the trigger then sending it back like a bunch of bozo's. It's a steel slug in a steel cylinder, just get it moving!
@@TorqueTestChannel Yep! I ran a good amount of Mac Tools air tool oil (I got a giant bottle of it for $20 on eBay) through it when I first got it and like I said before, it’s never had any problems, it hits like a jackhammer and solves any problem I can throw at it. I think you’ve solved the mystery, if so many people return air hammers because they’re stuck (most likely because they’re dry) then I bet that pawn shop tested it on their air and it was stuck and marked it as “broken”.
It’s rare to win one over a pawn shop 😆 so I’ll take a W when I can. Thanks for solving my little mystery, your explanation makes total sense. I’m gonna use this air hammer and just enjoy it, it’s a lot better than the $8 Harbor Freight air hammer it replaced. 😎
(BTW Great videos with amazing content! Keep up the great work!)
I swear my old short barrel snapon was stronger than my new IR long barrel.
Big brand name companies sometimes market "special edition" tools for a particular vendor (like Home Depot, etc.) that look the same but may have some metal parts replaced by plastic or have some other cost-cutting difference. But as pointed out here, the cheaper items may also come from the same factory or even the same assembly line as the brand-name ones, which tells me that there can be a huge markup based solely on the branding. It's like art: a framed scribble might sell for two bucks, but if signed by Picasso it's worth a million.
I’m gonna show this video to my Mac tools truck guy 🤣
Reminds me of the snap on floor jack debacle
Looks like a lot of overhead costs for that tool truck ripoff. Brand name must be raking in piles of cash off that nonsense.
never looked for this but glad is showed up. thank you and keep up the great work!
A comedy channel, that does real deal tool reviews. I likey. Plus the witness protection comment seems eerily necessary........
Also, a big hammer with no finesse might sound cool, sometimes, amazing control, is better than absolute size.
Something something something, a quote from your wife.
@@ralphshoop8822 something something a quote from an incel neckbeard.
me and a buddy at work discovered this a few weeks when i bought a chief. cool video!
Great work as always
When i was a kid i worked in a garage/bodyshop saturdays n hols. The cheap air chisel i was using stopped working, stripped it, i went under the bench hunting for spares and found a dead snap on, both identical. The boss looked in at what i was upto, was not amused at the £200 difference and gave the snapon van his “thoughts” that week. I was 14 at the time, I never got a competative price off the snapon van in that town for 20yrs.
2 bad HF didn't copy the SO one. That one does make a difference when it counts and I sure ain't no SO fan due to their insane markups.
maybe snap on can afford to control their chinese suppliers more?
@@MindBlowerWTF They own the Sioux Tools plant in North Carolina that makes it. There’s a reason that the HF product uses the “Chief” brand.
It's actually pretty rare nowadays to find tools from tool truck brands that aren't just a branded tool from another manufacturer or in some cases from an actual tool manufacturing company.
I love the donut media "give it the beans" reference 😂😂
And the Doug demuro 😂
I personally tested the HF Chief long barrel air hammer and SnapOn long barrel air hammer. Both were used to drive out inner and outer wheel bearing races on 40’ city transit bus…one per side and honestly the HF air hammer blasted the races out with alot let effort. Let it be noted though that the trigger control on the SnapOn was alot better than the HF but not enough to justify the price and especially in the Heavy Diesel Maintenance industry…BUT time will tell about durability.
TTC No one does it better
It reminds me of a nice low profile floor jack that was available years ago at Costco for a little over $100. The exact identical model we had rolling on our shop floor, only rebranded as Matco was about $375 iirc.
HF has been on the rise over the last 5 years.
I have one major complaint, bait and switch.
You’ll see stellar reviews and months later the product changes for the worse keeping the same name, sku and price.
Similar tests have been done with the Earthquake 1/2” impact and initially it can out perform but lack of quality in materials and lack of finishing such as chamfering over air ports cause sweeper seals to wear out very quickly. There are a lot of manufacturers such as Milwaukee that are built in the same factory as other brands but different standards of quality are employed with the higher end tools. Harbor freight air hammers have been found to have debris from manufacturing process that was never cleaned before assembly. I have that MAC air hammer and I hate all things MAC as far as hand tools but I put that against any other air hammer in the shop when theirs fails they come borrow mine to finish the job.
Show me the beans!
and Crank up the PSI Pixies!
I used to work for a parts house that sold and serviced these kinds of tools. We used to get exact copies of the name brand stuff from India. Mostly IR and CP. We got them for a dime a dozen basically but would have to wait months for them to be shipped by sea. The company is called Edicon and is in Mumbai India. They literally buy the name brand tool, take it apart, learn how to copy it and then sell it to the US market. We would get a bag of 100 o-rings for these tools for $5 and sell each individual o-ring for sometimes $10 or more. Same kind of mark up on other parts as well, and you really can’t tell a difference just by looking at these parts. We would get identical copies of CP rivet busters, impact guns and CP 1240 breakers also and sell them for half the cost of an actual CP. It was all hush hush and you have to have an account with them to see the prices.
Most of these high-dollar brands are pretty shit at this point.
The only decent things they make is hand tools.
. . . which the Taiwanese have mastered as well and sell for a hell of a lot less.
In the late 80s, I used to work at a sledgehammer factory. We made our brand, Mac, and Stanley. All the same hammers just painted different colors.
I have that same mac air hammer. Love it. Plenty of power and easy control. I get the off brand is a better deal, but, the tool truck finances stuff. That makes it an easier purchase. 15 or 20 a week over time is especially easier on some guys than dropping 150 all at once. For example, the 20 year old that has been busting tires for a couple years and now they move up to brakes, alignment, whatever at a chain tire shop. He isn't making enough money to go out and drop a bunch of cash all at once for all the stuff he needs. And yes, the mac with the same hammer attachment works great for knocking rotors off that are rusted onto the hub. He moves up to brake jobs, he needs a socket set, brake spring pliers, caliper tool set, breaker bar, maybe a stubby impact, swivel impact sockets, and so on. Financing that stuff is alot easier on the up and coming kinda guy.
As an ASE and A&P mechanic, I will say that I agree. The Harbor Freight tools are 200% better for weekend warriors. As far as longevity and controllability, I would choose the style that brings the best control in MY hand weather it would be a tool truck, home depot, lowes, harbor freight, amazon, exc. At the end of the day, I can buy 1 tool truck tool or 3 harbor freight tools for the same price. I can only do as well as the tool allows while in my hands specifically. I do not misuse the tool and use as intended (i.e. a flat head screwdriver is NOT a chisel or pry bar) and I expect a warranty to come with a long waiting time if replacement is required.
Good info. I need a new air hammer. I've been using an old IR one. It was used when I got it well over 20 years ago. Still works like a champ but shes getting tired. Co worker has a Chief I'll have to check his out.
Same is true of many products. I 've worked in food retail. Example: Ice Cream in the UK is made mainly by a couple of companies, they also make the own brand stuff, although the recipes are slightly different, in one case many years ago I was working for Walls and we made ice cream for Lyons when they ran out of capacity.
Took me until now to realize your logo says TTC. Nice. Love it.
Many years ago I wanted to get a fancy and expensive Skill worm drive. When it wasn't available the Sears manager showed me the Craftsman's saw was actually the same tool, simply branded differently. Replacement internal parts were the same, and could be ordered as such. Yowza!
There is often tool vids on how it’s made tv show. For some reason snap on let them show that the only difference in there sockets is that the factory sends off the snap on sockets to 1 more step that adds some needless detail grinds. The other ones didn’t look as nice, but were the same socket and probably sold at a surprisingly less amount. It always amazes me that people allow themselves to get ripped off by snap on constantly when there is so many better options available.
This was also the same for some Rigid and Ryobi tools. Exact same part numbers because the parts were listed as Ryobi/Rigid parts! Price difference was the warranty.
As someone who had to work in the OEM/ODM world of electronics, this doesn't surprise me. Sometimes the contracts would grant some exclusivity to the first ODM partner for a period of time or a number of units, then the ODM was free to shop it around. Also, since IP was a fleeting principle at best, you'll find a very close relative of someone operating ODM factory #1 churning out basically the same thing at ODM factory #2 a few miles away. It doesn't matter if it's electronics, tools, clothing, or shampoo - it will all get copied and sold under different names unless you manufacture yourself (and sometimes even then).
weird question but could you try using a breaker bar on your dyno to see how much more torque air/battery tools can produce than a breaker bar
wrong question. How much leverage can different size breaker bars provide is appropriate. Torque would depend on force on the lever, which will depend on the person's weight, strength and amount of effort put in.