I learned the chrome tools / impact wrench lesson with an ancient (this was a LONG time ago) USA Craftsman chrome 1/2" universal joint; and my employer's impact wrench 'cause I didn't own one at the time.
Not only did the U-joint shatter, but it lacerated my hand when it exploded.
I started-out with a total mish-mash of tool brands--Craftsman, mostly, but Government surplus stuff, no-name Asian stuff...you name it, I probably had some of that. Brands I'd never heard of before, looking and feeling rinky-diink mixed in with some "good stuff".
I have this policy: If a tool breaks, and has a warranty, I get it replaced and carry on. If a tool breaks, and I see my own blood, I get it replaced, sell it or give it away, and in the meantime I get a better tool from a Famous Supplier (generally Mac or Snappy, sometimes MATCO.) I didn't realize back then that there's the whole "industrial" tool market, professional-grade tools at ~2/3 or less the price of the "tool truck" brands. (Williams, owned by Snap-On; Proto, owned by the same folks who own Mac; Armstrong, owned at one time by the folks who owned MATCO but Armstrong is out-of-business now and MATCO got sold-off again, Wright, still independent after all these years, and of course SK which is marketed as "mechanics" tools but priced like the industrial brands--way less than the Tool Trucks.)
Not only did the U-joint shatter, but it lacerated my hand when it exploded.
I started-out with a total mish-mash of tool brands--Craftsman, mostly, but Government surplus stuff, no-name Asian stuff...you name it, I probably had some of that. Brands I'd never heard of before, looking and feeling rinky-diink mixed in with some "good stuff".
I have this policy: If a tool breaks, and has a warranty, I get it replaced and carry on. If a tool breaks, and I see my own blood, I get it replaced, sell it or give it away, and in the meantime I get a better tool from a Famous Supplier (generally Mac or Snappy, sometimes MATCO.) I didn't realize back then that there's the whole "industrial" tool market, professional-grade tools at ~2/3 or less the price of the "tool truck" brands. (Williams, owned by Snap-On; Proto, owned by the same folks who own Mac; Armstrong, owned at one time by the folks who owned MATCO but Armstrong is out-of-business now and MATCO got sold-off again, Wright, still independent after all these years, and of course SK which is marketed as "mechanics" tools but priced like the industrial brands--way less than the Tool Trucks.)