🧰 Tool brand index

Bits and screwdrivers. Carries a lot of get-out-of-trouble products, such as the anti-cam-out liquid for turning a screw that is starting to round off.

A spanner and ring spanner specialist. The jaw geometry grips the flats of a bolt rather than the corners, which makes rounding less likely. Well balanced between price and precision.

A major name in OBD2 scan tools. Has models that go beyond reading and clearing error codes to service modes such as releasing an electronic parking brake.

The company that created the original adjustable wrench. Many models have slim jaws and a wide opening, so they fit into tight spaces.

Italian service tool maker. Known for supplying race paddocks including MotoGP, and the red roller cabinet has become the face of the brand.

The yellow tools you see most often on North American professional sites. Runs 20V MAX and FLEXVOLT, and the high-torque impact wrenches are popular with anyone dealing with wheel nuts.

Synonymous with the rotary tool. Change the bit and it will grind, cut or engrave. Now part of Bosch.

French service tool maker. Has supplied European carmakers for a long time and has been used in F1 pit lanes.

A full-range industrial tool maker. Covers torque products and tools for special environments such as non-sparking and insulated work.

Has long supplied factory tools for German cars. The dimensional tolerances on the sockets are tight, which suits work on European vehicles.

Formerly Hitachi Koki. Characterised by the Multi Volt battery, which covers both 18V and 36V from one pack with the tool deciding which voltage to draw. A Multi Volt pack will also run an 18V tool.

Pliers and nothing else. The Cobra water pump pliers and the Pliers Wrench, which can be used like a spanner, have no real equivalent elsewhere.

Japan's largest maker of hand tools for vehicle servicing, and an original equipment supplier to carmakers. The upper brand Nepros — mirror finish and a high-tooth-count ratchet — is treated as a class of its own, and the Digi-Ratche digital torque wrench is also theirs.

The company behind CRC 5-56. Makes lubricating, rust-preventing and cleaning chemicals — the thing you spray on a seized bolt before trying to undo it.

Built almost entirely around sockets, and strong in thin-wall and compact designs. Z-EAL is the upper series, with the play in the drive taken out so you can gain swing in a tight engine bay.

Like Snap-on, sells mainly from a van. Ratchets and sockets are the core business; in Japan you buy through a dealer.

German power tool maker. Well regarded for grinders and impact wrenches, and known for how carefully the safety clutch (kickback protection) is built.

The M18 FUEL impact wrench is a fixture in North American workshops. ONE-KEY and REDLINK let the tool and the battery communicate to manage overload.

Swiss hand tool maker. The hex keys and screwdrivers are held to a high standard of precision; everything is made in-house and carries a lifetime guarantee.

Small, precise power tools. Covers everything from model and miniature work to fine interior cutting, in palm-sized tools.

Synonymous with the pipe wrench. Plumbing tools are the core business, and the red-handled pipe wrench has become the industry's standard sizing.

Owns the home-centre brands SK11 and E-Value. Built to cover breadth at a controlled price, from power tools through to bits and workplace supplies.

High-precision tools for aerospace and automotive work. The approach to torque wrench calibration is rigorous, and it is used where manufacturer-specified torque is taken seriously.

A long-established name in tape measures and hand tools, and also the group that owns DEWALT, Mac Tools and FACOM. Has been making standard-issue toolboxes for a very long time.

Known for the tool truck model of driving a van round the workshops. The high-tooth-count ratchet (80 tooth) is a standard for its narrow swing arc. The prices are in a class of their own too.

Formerly Maeda Metal Industries. Ranges widely from large impact sockets to general service tools, and is also known for shear wrenches used in structural steelwork. The tool sets are practically composed.

A long-established maker of adjustable wrenches and ratchet wrenches. A forging company from Sanjo, with a deep range aimed at electrical and plumbing work.

Chemicals for servicing. The product mix — penetrating lubricants such as Rapid Penetrate, fuel additives — assumes a place on a workshop shelf.

A screwdriver and bit company. Known for a tip geometry that stops the screw head rounding (Lasertip) and for handle shapes that let you keep turning without regripping.

Precision screwdrivers and insulated tools. Was early to a full range of 1000V insulated tools, which you need when working on the high-voltage side of an EV or hybrid.

Makes tools under its own AP brand and sells them through its own stores. Covers the basics for the price, so many people assemble their first set here.

Makes both compressors and spray guns. The W-101, long the standard in body and paint work, has given way to the WIDER1 and KIWAMI, but the compressor that drives the air tools still comes from the same company.

Known for Neji-Saurus, the pliers that grip and turn a screw whose head has already rounded. Products aimed squarely at the moments that genuinely cause trouble during a repair.

A measuring instrument maker for automotive electrics. The range is confined to tools for looking at a car's electrical system — battery testers, circuit testers.

A general maker of measuring tools for site work: squares, spirit levels, digital calipers. The price range is wide enough that DIY and professional products sit on the same shelf.

Electrical installation tools and workplace supplies. Carries a broad range of on-site equipment: tool pouches, cable pulling gear, work lights.

Sells tool sets for vehicle servicing under the Pro-Auto brand. Much of the range leans towards special service tools aimed at a particular model or job.

Builds tools for car and motorcycle servicing under its own name and sells them through its own shops and online. Part numbers run in per-category blocks such as 10-4535, so the number itself is the search term. Hand tools, air tools, garage equipment and special service tools all come from the one supplier, which is why the name comes up when someone is putting a first workshop together.

Clamps, pullers and pipe wrenches — tools for clamping, drawing out and gripping. Has what you need for pulling bearings and pulleys during a repair.

The standard in tape measures and utility knives. Has widened into laser levels and head torches for site work.

A wholesaler of tools and workplace supplies that also runs its own TRUSCO brand. Deep in the things a workshop needs that are not tools — toolboxes, trolleys, workbenches.

Strong in electrical installation work. Was early to a dual mechanism that runs 14.4V and 18V in one tool, so the body can be replaced without replacing the batteries.

Aimed at construction sites. The business model is unusual — direct sales and rental rather than retail shelves — and tools, anchors and design support are sold together. Hammer drills are the core business.

Among the domestic share leaders in pliers and cutters. Strong on crimping and stripping for electrical work — the ones you reach for when working on wiring.

The domestic standard in screwdrivers. The ball-grip No.220 is a case of a handle shape becoming the standard itself, and the bits for power tools (Gosai bits) are theirs too.

Carries both tools for electronics and electrical work and tools for bicycle servicing. Best known for the tool set used in the practical exam for Japan's Class 2 Electrician licence.

The world's largest automotive parts supplier, which also makes power tools. The professional blue line and the DIY green line (Home & Garden) are completely separate. The hammer drill and the SDS-plus standard itself both originated at Bosch.

Japan's largest power tool maker, with more revenue coming from overseas than at home. Runs 18V (LXT) and 40Vmax (XGT) as two parallel systems, and the batteries do not cross between generations. Bare-tool part numbers and kit part numbers that include battery, charger and case are listed separately — the single easiest thing to get wrong when buying.

A jack specialist. Everything from hydraulic bottle jacks to floor jacks and transmission jacks — the range stays within tools that lift. Widely adopted in workshops.

Japan's largest maker of precision measuring instruments. Effectively the reference for calipers, micrometers and dial gauges — the place to go for measuring remaining rotor thickness or cylinder bore.

Floor jacks, jack stands, battery chargers and inverters sold as car accessories. Holds the price point you reach for first in a home centre.

Industrial air tool maker. Builds impact wrenches, drills and grinders to a durability standard that assumes use on a production line.

A specialist in plastic toolboxes. Products such as the Super Box and DOKATTO are strong enough to sit on, which is why they are used on site.

The domestic standard in multimeters. Has made both analogue and digital for a long time, and is the first stop for checking continuity and voltage in a car's electrics.

Formerly Ryobi's power tool division, transferred to Kyocera in 2018. Aimed squarely at buyers assembling a set at DIY prices, and also carries garden and cleaning products.

Feeler gauges, calipers and limit gauges. The standard choice for checking tappet clearance or a plug gap.

The company behind the Hi Cupla air coupler. More than the tools themselves, it is the fitting standard joining air hose to tool that is in widespread use.

Strong in clamp meters and data loggers. Current can be measured without cutting into the wiring, which is why they are used when chasing down parasitic draw.

A torque wrench specialist, and the company that sits on the standards side of tightening control in Japan. Offers preset, dial and digital types, and runs its own calibration service.

The domestic standard in air impact wrenches. The 12.7sq class used on tyre bays is usually chosen for its light weight and how quickly it spins up.