Do you get excited about tools? I know I do! Power tools, hand tools, specialty tools, they’re all in that same group of stuff we need but that are also cool. The top 15 best hand tool brands of all time let you do the job that’s needed and feel good about the tool you are using.
Some hand tool brand names are household knowledge, others may only be well known by those within certain industries. What makes a tool brand stand out is a mix of quality, innovative features, and how well that quality and those features do the job at hand.
Top 15 Best Hand Tool Brands of All Time!
1. Channellock
Channellock is a household name among hand tools. So much so that their main tool, adjustable tongue and groove pliers, have become more or less a generic tool name for that style of pliers. Their straight jaw 6.5 inch tongue and groove pliers are very likely to be found in most toolboxes of homeowners and craftsmen.
Originally founded by a blacksmith in 1886, the company has stayed in Pennsylvania, USA ever since. One of their engineers developed the tool that became synonymous with their brand in 1933. They are adjustable size pliers that change sizes by means of a tongue and groove configuration. The design allows optimum force to be applied throughout a variety of different sized objects. The company name was changed to Channellock in 1963.
Channellock tools can be found in the tool sets of auto mechanics, plumbers, home builders, homeowners, oil field workers, truckers, factory workers, and repairmen for almost any kind of machinery. They also make regular pliers, screwdrivers, wrenches, and specialty tools. They are sold online and in retail stores such as auto parts stores, hardware stores, and the big box stores.
2. Proto
Wrenches and torque wrenches are what Proto Industrial Tools are best known for. If you are using a very large, but precisely sized wrench, or are making use of a torque wrench, chances are good you are using a Proto tool. Their digital display electronic torque wrenches are some of the most precise large hand tools around.
Made in the USA since the 1880s, Proto Industrial Tools has manufacturing centers in Texas, North Caroline, and Ohio. You won’t find Proto tools in a box store, though. Proto sells to industry primarily through a network of distributors and specialty suppliers.
Proto’s large wrenches, screwdrivers, and torque tools are used in various industries including power plants, mining, aerospace, and infrastructure. It isn’t unusual to see a Proto tool however, in a general contractor’s or repairman’s set of tools. Wherever the job requires a large or heavy-duty hand tool that also needs to be very precise, that’s where you find their tools.
3. Armstrong
Armstrong is the maker behind the brand names Crescent, Gearwrench, and Campbell. If you’ve used their products, then you have liked them. Well designed tools have made the brand name Crescent virtually synonymous with small wrenches. The 10 inch adjustable wrench in your toolbox is likely from Crescent and your friends probably call any similar wrench a crescent wrench. That big, lockable jobsite storage box is also from Armstrong, the Jobox.
Founded in 1890 in Chicago, Illinois, Armstrong tools started out making bicycle parts. Now with two plants, one in Chicago and the other in Arkansas, Armstrong’s tool brands can be found through distributors or in hardware stores, giant box stores, and specialty tool shops.
Armstrong tools are used by workers from general handymen to aerospace engineers. Machinists, mechanics, repairmen, factory workers, home builders, and home owners are among the users of Armstrong tools. Besides the well deserved reputation for adjustable wrenches, Crescent single size wrenches and socket sets are in demand by many.
4. Martin Tools
Martin Tools and Sprockets is a well known name in factories, manufacturing, warehousing, power plants, and refineries for their power transmission and materials handling systems. But they also make industrial hand tools and hand tools for auto body repair. The 26.5 inch body pick being used to massage out the dent in your truck fender is probably a Martin tool.
Since 1951, Martin has been manufacturing tools and solutions in several locations throughout the USA and has expanded into other countries with locations in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and China. Their biggest business is handled in house, but their hand tools can be found through specialty that cater to auto body, metal working, and industrial repair and maintenance.
Martin’s company policy is to make the best things they can and to make a lot of it. Besides their name being all over industrial job sites, Martin tools are a preferred pick for metal working. Their hammers, spoons, picks, and body eggs make auto body repair easier to accomplish in the hands of a skilled craftsman.
5. Carlyle
Carlyle Professional Hand Tools is the premium brand name for tools from NAPA. Air tools and impact wrenches are some of the heavily used hand tools from Carlyle. The Carlyle ½ inch pneumatic impact wrench is a common site in car dealerships and tire stores.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, National Automotive Parts Association has been making automotive parts and tools since 1925. NAPA parts and tools like their Carlyle brand can be purchased online, in their own name stores, and in other stores handling tools used in the automotive industry.
In a car dealership service bay or a retail tire store, one of the dirtiest tools in the shop is going to be a Carlyle air powered impact wrench. They take hard use all day long and can be relied on to do the same thing the next day.
6. J.H. Williams
As part of the Snap-On family of tools, J. H. Williams Tool Group makes quality hand tools and precision instruments for a wide range of uses. A machinist or mechanic using a ½ inch socket driver to adjust, dismantle, or remount parts is the type of worker who would enjoy the J.H. Williams 15 ½ inch flex head ratchet driver.
J.H. Williams has been in existence since 1882 and was acquired by the Snap-On family of tools in 1993. Snap-On has been a provider of quality hand tools to many different types of industries for decades. They’re the tool truck people. You buy direct from the truck or they take your order when the truck visits your workplace. Also available online.
Small repair shops and large factories and all sorts of repair and manufacturing businesses in between use Snap-On and J.H. Williams tools to do their jobs right or better.
7. Blackhawk
Blackhawk Tools are now a part of the Proto Industrial brand line up, but they have a rich history of their own, too. Blackhawk 14 inch brake spring pliers are a good example of the specialty tools from this brand.
Part of the Stanley Proto brand of tools since 1993, Blackhawk was originally founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1919. Currently available in auto parts stores and online retailers, there is also a huge market for classic Blackhawk tools from previous decades. Online auction sites are where you would find those.
The Blackhawk brand has changed over the years. In addition to hand tools made in the USA, the brand markets tools manufactured in other countries such as Taiwan and Mexico. Their specialty automotive tools allow workers to accomplish tasks that would be difficult to do with general purpose tools.
8. Wright Tools
Wright Tools is a brand that might not be common knowledge outside of industries and manufacturing. Anyone repairing well used parts likes using the 12 point deep socket sets for ½ inch and other ratchets called Wright Drive Sockets. They grip worn edges and corners of nuts and bolts for safe and effective loosening and retightening.
In business since 1927, Wright Tools are made in Ohio, USA. Even the steel used in manufacturing is US supplied. Only available through specialty tool distributors, you won’t find these tools in a hardware or big box store.
What makes Wright Tools a top brand is their innovation and quality. Innovative in finding a better way to do the same job as other tools. Mechanics, repairmen, factories are aware of the high quality of these fine hand tools.
9. Wilde Tool
The Wilde Tool brand is not on a lot of classic tools lists, but there is good chance that if you have a house brand (like Western Auto) tool, it was made by Wilde. Now, Wilde sells under its own brand. Their 1 inch internal pipe wrench is a valuable tool for many plumbers and builders.
Founded in 1922 in Hiawatha, Kansas, Wilde Tools set the market on fire when they introduced the angled nose pliers. In 1931, they took regular pliers, and angled the nose, making them more usable in a wider variety of situations than regular pliers. Wilde was the maker behind many house brands of tools, such as Western Auto, Sears, and Montgomery Wards.
Nowadays, Wilde Tools are sold by specialty tool shops for specific trades such as electricians and plumbers. When a tradesman needs a specific tool for that one important job, a Wilde tool is often the one chosen.
10. Lang Tools
Another manufacturer that provided for house brands, Lang Tools is now part of the large Snap-On family of tools. Their current catalog of tools includes the extremely useful E-Z Grip ratcheting 6 point box wrenches. These have a slight offset and the grips are more like screwdriver handles than regular wrenches.
Founded in Racine, Wisconsin in 1932, Lang made tools under its own brand and for other house brands like sears. If you’re using a tap and die set or thread chaser with Craftsman on the box, it is probably a Lang tool. Under its on name, Lang is now sold through Snap-On tools.
Lots of different industries use Lang tools, but you are very likely to find them in toll box of a machinist, repairman, or auto mechanic. They are high quality and stand up to hard use.
11. Knipex Tools
Knipex Tools is a German tool maker that specializes in pliers. Specializing? Yes, and if want to see what that means to someone needing a great pair pliers, look at their 8 inch cutting pliers. It may be a little pricy for one set of pliers, but it works flawlessly, which is what a good tool should do.
Opened as a forge in 1882, Knipex has been a premier maker of specialty pliers since about the 1950s. They invented or reworked several specialty designs such as self locking water pump pliers and tools for the aerospace industry. Sold online and in stores catering to specialized industries.
Piano tuners, electricians, and rocket scientists all can put Knipex pliers to good use. Sometimes the best tool for a job is a specialty tool.
12. S K Tools
S. K. Tools are part of the Ideal Industries family of companies. Primarily offering wrenches, socket sets, and automotive tools, S. K. Tools is a good choice for specialty socket needs. If you need an external socket (female) for Torx Plus fasteners, it’s hard to beat their 13 piece ½ inch drive set.
Their headquarters are in Sycamore, Illinois. Founded in the early 1900s in Chicago, they started out making munitions for the US military. The company branched out to make tools for other brands and in the 1930s they began marketing tools under their own brand. Found online and in most stores that stock tools for auto mechanics.
Workers in the automotive industry such as mechanics, after market accessories installers, and van customizers are familiar with the quality of S K Tools. They are also sometimes one of the only tools available for certain jobs.
13. DeWalt
DeWalt has long been a provider of high quality heavy duty cordless power tools. Sometimes we forget they also make very good hand tools. A prime example is the 3/8 inch stubby socket driver that can be used in tight surrounding where other tools may not fit.
Based out of Maryland, DeWalt started operations in 1923. Assembled in the USA, some parts are made in other countries including China, Brazil, and Italy. DeWalt can be found almost anywhere. Online, giant box stores, discount stores, hardware stores, department stores.
One of the most used brands on construction sites for commercial and residential, DeWalt is among the go-to brands for construction workers everywhere.
14. Milwaukee Tool
Milwaukee Electric Tool Company is another brand better known for their power tools. Whether corded or battery powered, Milwaukee power tools are made for hard working people. Using their comfort grip fencing pliers, you can do almost everything necessary for installing fencing except digging post holes.
Located in Wisconsin, Milwaukee Tools began making tools in 1923. They can be found anywhere tools for professionals are sold, as well at some discount stores and online.
Enjoying a fine reputation in all of the trades associated with construction, Milwaukee tools are also a good choice for any home repair needs.
15. Tekton
Tekton makes tools auto mechanics appreciate. If you still change out your own sparkplugs, a 3 piece ½ inch socket set from Tekton makes that job go smoothly. Another valuable tools is the offset oxygen sensor socket, without which you might ruin your new sensor installing it.
Located in Grand Rapids, Michigan for more than the last 50 years, Tekton tools are sold on their own website and in auto parts stores.
With designs meant to make auto repair and maintenance easier, Tekton tools are a favorite in auto dealer service bays, mechanics shops, and home garages. For more info, see our homepage for reviews and more fantastic gear!
Interesting how may Snap-On owned companies got a mention but not S-O themselves.
No mention of Stahlwille? or Geodore? The best of the best is Stahlwille. You get what you pay for though..
Mentioned gearwrench but not Gearwrench..lol
Also No Astro Pneumatics, or Sunex. Maybe not good enough, but they feel great when I use them.
Klein Tools? Smh
Good Call…You won’t find an Electrician or Automotive Sparky (me) that doesn’t use Klein tools.
Seems they over looked several.
Must not have got their study results for true auto techs. No mention of cornwell Matco
Or mac. The latter of which is Stanley logistics
Hazet, Bahco, Stahlwille, Pastorino, Gedore, Snap-On, Usag, Facom, Quasi tutte sono apprezzate in ambito aviospaziale.