Thanks guys. Ill keep it USA made. Thats really why i started the thread because i thought may be a Chinese brand might not cut it. Appreciate all the replies.
I needed thread chaser back in May when I had my engine out of the car. I wanted to clean the threads before installing the head bolts. I thought I wa sgoing to have to purchase a chaser. Fortunately, friend had a set that came from a Ford engine plant. I borrowed.
I've got a MAC set,..junk but based on my experience with MAC tools I'm not surprised. But you can also cut 3 grooves thru some Allen head bolts of the desired size and accomplish the same thing for next to nothing
That's a Google image and kind of a nasty cut but that's the idea. A dremel tool with the cutoff wheel , bench grinder with a square shoulder wheel, electric side grinder etc I hate changing attachments so I have multiple inline air grinders with carbide burrs, sandpaper rolls, cutoff wheels etc
The craftsman set is the same as Snap On. https://www.sears.com/craftsman-40-...gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CPLDqK_8hN4CFaO4swod0LkHIA
Craftsman and the Snap On are the same,made by the same people...I know this because I have both kits. As far as tap and dies Irwin supposedly makes it for some of the other brands.
My Cornwell set looks the same as the others, except that it came with the course and fine metric sizes (53 piece set). I suspect that all of them in the red blow molded case are coming out of the same made in the U.S.A.factory.
Taps and dies are different than thread chasers. Taps and dies are designed to cut (or form) new threads into a hole or shaft. Thread chasers are designed to clean up and hopefully reform bad threads. The grooves in the chasers are there so that dirt and a small amount material can be removed and not pressed into the existing threads.