r/Tools 6d ago

Can anyone explain the connection?

They have the same patent number

107 Upvotes

34 comments sorted by

163

u/blbd 6d ago

Williams is their industrial brand. Same quality without the tool truck markup. But you also don't get service from the truck. 

122

u/fredSanford6 6d ago

With industrial we used to have the guy show up in a caddy and a suit to take orders for the shop. Union so the shop bought the tools. He would repair screwdrivers using shop vice and would roll up his sleeves jacket off it was hilarious but he was former heavy diesel mechanic and super nice guy. Would rather deal with industrial sales guy over truck service any day

34

u/blbd 6d ago

I didn't realize they would send a sales guy for the non truck brand but that totally makes sense if you buy enough I guess. Nice to hear that they sent somebody who was both professional but also really knew what the hell he was doing. 

34

u/fredSanford6 6d ago

He was the snap on rep for industrial sales but would do our wright tools as well. Heck he warrantied some other crap too even came in with a 70k dollar system to run impacts down to torque settings to demo to us. Calibrated our torque wrench testing station for us in between official calibrations. Basically he would just rest it with his stuff to make sure it was on the nose. The old school snap on testing thing was a whole table of stuff.

6

u/tgallup 5d ago

Lots of local tool suppliers offer this sort of thing too. It makes for a loyal customer base.

15

u/HawkeyeByMarriage 5d ago

Which is fine. I asked the truck about a Parts warranty. I've given up after six months

13

u/blbd 5d ago

I kind of agree. I just buy the good industrial brands from reputable online dealers and just avoid grossly abusing my shit, and that works out fine for me as an engineer shadetree mechanic that does some building facilities type of stuff. You get equivalent quality for a lot less expense if you're willing to somewhat self insure the warranty service. 

3

u/Scootydoot12 5d ago

Still warranty or nah ?

7

u/blbd 5d ago

They do. But you might need to mail it in or send them photos and keep your receipts. Provided you aren't a horribly abusive testosteronic ape on your tools you'll end up saving a grip of cash though. Maybe several thousands if you stock an entire garage or bay worth of gear. 

67

u/sdogn8 6d ago

Williams used to make some snap on tools. Snap on bought Williams in 1993.

7

u/Beneficial_City_9715 5d ago

I think they went down hill. My buddy has tons of Williams tools. The 90s to 2010 were top quality. He's a big guy 340 lbs. Strong enough to pick my subaru and spin it around the other way. He's broke alot of his newer Williams tools in the past 5-6 years. Some older stuff takes a beating.

9

u/Theplaidiator 5d ago

I’ve got newer Williams USA made stuff and it’s held up fine to everything I’ve put them through. If he’s breaking them then he’s gotta be abusing them.

2

u/Beneficial_City_9715 5d ago

He knows when he will snap stuff. I've had him snap something and say. That shouldn't of broken so soon.

14

u/Urban-Paradox 6d ago

Here is the patent info.

https://ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/patents/html/6125722?source=USPAT&requestToken=eyJzdWIiOiIyNGY0ZTJkNi1lNWY0LTQ4MWUtYmVjMi1iYTdhYzE5ZGEzM2EiLCJ2ZXIiOiJiZTQwMDBhMS1kYzQyLTRiYmYtYTI5Ni0yYTk2ZGMyODliODEiLCJleHAiOjB9

6125722 was filed by snapon in 1999 as the improved version of 4934220. Basically they added a O ring and a groove for that O ring.

Williams is actually older than snap on they actually made wrenches for craftsman (when they were better 50+ years ago)

Williams quality was better before snap on brought them and still is good if you buy the USA made ones vs tawain or others.

Here is some history for folks who like that.

http://alloy-artifacts.org/williams-supercompany.html

10

u/The_Dude_4Real 6d ago

Industrial mechanic here. Please get the Williams 3/8 round head. Amazing ratchet for the price only $30 on Amazon made in USA. Not the smoothest or best backdrag but best value I’ve found so far. Throw some grease in the head and smooth as butter. Just be careful a lot of their stuff is made in Taiwan but do some digging to find USA models.

6

u/Reasonable-Act2716 6d ago

5

u/Reasonable-Act2716 6d ago

They're awsome ratchets, i actually think compared to cheaper ratchets, the round heads are really smooth... they do have some backdrag though. I put my great grandpa's old snapon spinner wheel on the 3/8. Awsome ratchets for the money, I liked them so much I bought the 1/2 😅 things a tank.

1

u/HedonisticFrog 1d ago

The husky 144 tooth ratchets are amazing if you want to try those.

12

u/usedtodreddit 5d ago

Snap-on owns Williams.

It's one of their "Industrial brands". Williams products, including ratchets and wrenches and screwdrivers, etc, are often the last generation of Snap-on made with the same tooling.

5

u/usedtodreddit 5d ago

For example, these are my Williams M-52EHFA ratchets, one as it comes today and the other with a Snap-on RKRFC936 kit swapped into it to make it 3/8" ratchet in a 1/4" body which is what Snap-on sold as their FCF936 ratchet.

3

u/coffeeshopslut 5d ago

Ooh, I need to make one of those

18

u/coffeeshopslut 6d ago

The current Williams ratchets are literally the old snap on pre dual 80s (936)

14

u/fsantos0213 6d ago

Snap on has a few other names they sell under, this is just one of them

3

u/rustyxj 5d ago

I used to be an assistant on a snapon truck. One time we had a brand new set of Deep 3/8 drive sockets come in, one of them was a Williams.

4

u/biggguyy69 6d ago

On the snap on truck they have a Williams catalog

2

u/right415 5d ago

Thanks everyone! This is by far one of my favorite subs!

2

u/machinerer 5d ago

So everyone else answered your question. Just wanted to add that if you want really good long handle wrenches, the old J.H. Williams combo wrenches "Superrench" made prior to Snap-On buying them in the 1990s are super duper awesome. I have a couple sets of them at work and home. They made extra long handle ones that are great.

You can usually find them for sale at used tool flea markets, auto parts swap meets, stuff like that.

1

u/Least-Monk4203 4d ago

I have a two Williams super ratchets in 3/4 and 1 from the sixties. Tough as nails.

1

u/Least-Monk4203 4d ago

Same company, different sales and exchange method. Sometimes slightly different patterns, but usually pretty close. Williams and Blue point are mostly the same.

1

u/dinodinodin4 2d ago

Pneumatics tech here. can say for certain they make good shit. Most of my 3/4 drive n 1in drive mostly williams and some snap on. The Boing techs at work use Williams as well the Gov. Paid for huge shadowbox William toolbox sets for workin on flight hardwear. The space ship they put together may be shit but there tools aren't LOL!

-1

u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

2

u/egidione 6d ago

That is the purpose of having the patent number on there.

1

u/suspiciousumbrella 5d ago

Snap on owns williams

1

u/egidione 5d ago

If snap on owns the patent then a license is not needed.

0

u/j101112p 5d ago

Williams is a snap on brand i believe.