****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
A bit pricey for what it is, but all Black Box stuff is expensive. I got this mainly for the screwdrivers, which are better quality than ones in most PC/Electronics tool kits. The handles are cellulose acetate, and have a hexagonal shape with minor fluting and rounded edges. That makes them comfortable enough to grip without digging into your hands, yet it isn't likely to roll off the table. The needle nose pliers and diagonal cutters are also good quality. Not the best, but certainly better than others I've used. The adjustable wrench is great for rounding off bolts and nuts, and is somewhat out of place, but they are best used to hold nuts while screwing in the bolts. A set of wrenches and/or sockets would be better for turning bolts. The tweezers and three-pronged retrievers are decent. The chip extractor and chip pusher will rarely be used unless you are building your own circuit boards. The wire stripper/crimper is the same one you see in most kits, and is decent, but not great at all. The soldering iron appears to be fine, but honestly I haven't used it. If you can get it on sale, go for it.Grandson really enjoyed this set, and used it well.technician was thrilledI'm amazed they still make the exact kit I used, I might buy another one for nostalgia. And I don't think anybody is swapping DRAM DIPs to fix 201 parity errors on POST anymore, so the IC extractor and inserters might leave room for some good pliers and a multi-bit screwdriver.The larger of the two nut drivers is sized to take the five screws out of the back of the original IBM brand PCs. The smaller nut driver is for the nut that held down the ISA cards in the back of the IBMs. The little slot in the tip of the soldering tool is to bend the legs on ICs when you solder in new parts.This is a good sized kit for small repairs. Has enough tools without being bulky. I still have a couple of these tools rattling around after 35 years.These may not be super expensive tools, but without serious abuse they should last a long time. The best part is it's a very nice "complete kit". These would make a good gift for a kid heading out of the house (college or first apartment) and who has no tools (just add a hammer).. or for a young person wanting to do some electronics tinkering. I'm a broadcast engineer, and these are handy to grab when I need to do something quickly and don't want to lug around my big pro kit.Decent little kit that I can pull out when I don't need my big toolbox. Fairly decent assortment of tools and they seem to be of decent quality. Handy to keep around for quick repairs.
