The new SK tools

[stevem5215]

And maybe Craftsman will be made again in the USA instead of somewhere else. Is that a bad thing ?

 

[square1]

Some S-K nostalgia...
Throughout high school I worked at a mom & pop hardware. The owners' graduation gift to me, since he knew I was leaving the store to work full time in a vehicle dealership, was all the tools I wanted to buy at cost. I picked out a medium size Kennedy tool box (not tool chest or cabinet, toolbox) and as many S-K tools as would fit in it. The owners' even let me make payments on the tools selected.

The 1st week at the dealership I was given a very nice Dealership Logo placard, which was proudly fastened to the lid of that Kennedy tool box.

Fast forward 46 years, last month I had a chance running with the long retired dealership owner. I showed him the toolbox, with his dealer placard, and all those (albeit many have come up missing through the years. A full set of SAE wrenches, 3/8" & 1/2" socket sets still are intact) S-K tools inside. His smile went to 11, mine too).

 

[Sportsman762]

In 2021 Hangzhou GreatStar Industrial who owns Shopvac bought SK tools. They shut down the Sycamore IL plant down late 2021. They moved some production to the underutilized Shopvac plant in Williamsport PA. The move did not go well and SK was essentially defunct until mid 2023. Some tools are USA made, but others are Chinese. There is no easy way to determine what is USA vs CN. I know the LP ratchets are USA and the X frame wrenches are now CN. The quality appears to be good so far for the CN tools. However SK thinks that they are worth the price of the USA made tools.

I have always been a fan of Wright Tools, They are made in Barberton, OH. Proto and Williams make some good USA tools as well but you need to check country of origin first as they offer some overseas products.

 

[crazyal]

A couple of days ago I got the SAE flex head ratcheting wrench set to test. They feel well made. I put one to the test by trying to loosen a bolt that I knew was too tight to budge without using a cheater bar. I put all of my weight on the wrench (3/4") and it handled it just fine. In extremely small lettering it said the wrenches were made in Taiwan, not China. I didn't try a cheater. But I still have to wonder if these wrenches are any better than the ones they sell under their Duratech brand name. The SK line could be machined to tighter specs and out of better quality steel. Hopefully they aren't the same wrench for close to 3x the price.

Here's a picture of the SK wrenches:

And the Duratech wrenchs:

 

[UOFan]

I bought a set of SK snap ring pliers from Amazon this year - about half the price of the Knipex that I actually wanted. But, I figured I would try to save some money, while not going completely to the bottom shelf.

Anyways, I'm pleasantly surprised by the quality. Recently taking apart a 3-ton floor jack I was putting significant strain on the tips, with zero issues. I was convinced that I was going to snap off or at least bend the tips...but it never happened.

So far, I am very pleased with the "new" SK tools.

 

[WM75Guy]

And maybe Craftsman will be made again in the USA instead of somewhere else. Is that a bad thing ?

I doubt that will happen anytime soon, they tried it and failed.

Craftsman factory in Texas shows challenges of reshoring manufacturing