Posted: 11/10/2011 6:25:22 PM EDT
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yes or no or why?
They seem to be made in the USA What has been the trend in quality? |
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Quoted: S-K will not interchange with Craftsman  What do you mean? I love my SK stuff. I picked up the vast majority of it from a wholesaler who took pity on me while I was in college. He knew I was fixing my cars myself because I had to and that the tool purchase literally took food off the table. He hooked me up with prices that Craftsman could only beat during the after chirstmas sales. |
| I've always heard that sk, matco, snap-on, proto and wright are basically the same quality. Their were a few others but I cant remember them. I know the proto and matco tools I have are very good. The kobalts I have are not bad, certainly worth the price anyways. |
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Quoted: Quoted: S-K will not interchange with Craftsman What do you mean? I love my SK stuff. I picked up the vast majority of it from a wholesaler who took pity on me while I was in college. He knew I was fixing my cars myself because I had to and that the tool purchase literally took food off the table. He hooked me up with prices that Craftsman could only beat during the after chirstmas sales. Go ask Kclog30 about his "Will Snap-On work with Craftsman" thread.....   |
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Quoted: I thought SK was out of business? Either way, I have some sockets and a buddy swears by them. got a shit ton of them at the pawn shop. seems like great quality. I also have Husky, SnapOn, and Matco tools. I am not a mechanic, just a shadetree type. It is my understanding that they did go out of biz. The current owner recently bought the rights/dies and is now manufacturing them again in the USA using the original specs. |
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Out of business so good luck with a warranty.
Let me help. Wrenches= snap-on flank drive plus,end of story.Yes expensive but are the best. Sockets= gray pneumatic makes a damn good impact socket and a hell of a price. Screw drivers=gear wrench,also gear wrench is good for chrome socket kits.Got those for the wife and usually use them instead of lugging my shit home. Pliers=i like matco. Name a tool and i can tell you the best buy,i have been buying tools for 20 years and have used every brand available,even cheap shit from harbor freight. If you are a home repair guy i would suggest gear wrench and gray pneumatic for everything.Unbeatable value and i have not broken anything yet.I am lucky to have a tool guy that deals in this stuff but it is available online. |
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Quoted:
I've always heard that sk, matco, snap-on, proto and wright are basically the same quality. Their were a few others but I cant remember them. I know the proto and matco tools I have are very good. The kobalts I have are not bad, certainly worth the price anyways. I have always heard that if you file down the firing pin on an AR-15 you can make it full automatic Seriously there is nothing wrong with S-K tools Last I knew they were made by Western Forge eta Wiki says I am wrong about WF http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SK_Hand_Tools |
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Quoted: My Dad's favorite brand of mechanics tools, so I have quit a few. We never broke any Same here. My Dad had a lot of S-K that I inherited, still working as good as ever. When I was doing assembly work at a factory I was destroying no-name 3/8" ratchets once a month. One day I made the comment about buying yet another ratchet to my Dad. A few days later he gave me a new S-K, and it lasted 3 years of constant use. Still using it today in my shop.... |
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Couple of things. sk tools
SK did go out of business and file bankruptcy. They were bought out by Ideal Industries. They are not making all the tools that they use to, so if you have a warranty issue and they don't make it anymore, you're SOL. New warranty policy, " SK Hand Tool LLC products, except as otherwise specified, are warranted under normal use and service against defects in materials and workmanship for the expected life of the tool. This warranty does not cover wear from normal use, or any problems caused by misuse, abuse, modification or improper maintenance of the tool." What does this mean to you, the owner? In plain English, if you use the tool the way it was not designed for, there is no warranty. Period. As use a chrome socket on a air ratchet or impact wrench. They use to overlook stuff like that and warranty everything but the new company IS NOT doing that anymore. They look at EVERYTHING. |
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wiki:History
SK was founded as the Sherman-Klove Company, specializing in screw-machine products, by Mason H. Sherman and Roger Klove. The company was founded in the early 1900s to supply munitions in WWI, and made mortar housings in a screw machine plant on Harrison Street in Chicago.[2] During the 1920s SK operated primarily as a contract company, making tools for other companies including Craftsman (tools).[3] Business thrived, they made specialty screw machine products that did well until the depression. William S. Sherman (W.S.), Mason's son, came to SK after graduating college in 1927 and was eventually a major owner of the company. One of the products the company made was socket wrenches for Hinsdale Socket and Wrench Company. The Hinsdale Company went out of business during the great depression leaving Sherman-Klove with a large inventory of this product, they then redesigned the product and changed the company name to S-K Tools.[4] Theodore Rueb, an engineer for the Sherman-Klove Company, went on to developed a new mechanism for a very successful line of ratchets, scaled from 1/4-drive up to 3/4-drive. The "round-head" ratchet has remained one of the most popular ratchet styles in the seven decades since S-K's first development, and many modern ratchets are little changed from the earliest design. SK invented and received a patent for the round head ratchet wrench,[5] which remains a mainstay of their, and every major competitor's product line today. In 1962, SK, along with manufacturing partner Lectrolite Corp., of Defiance, OH was bought out by Symington-Wayne. That company was later bought out by Dresser Industries. In 1985 SK became part of Facom Tools.[6] Following a takeover by Stanley Tools in 2005 of their former parent company, French based Facom Tools, they became independent through a management buyout.[7]  In June, 2010, the company declared bankruptcy. * On August 23, 2010, it was announced that two days later, on August 25, 2010, Ideal Industries would acquire SK.[9][10
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Quoted: Couple of things. sk tools SK did go out of business and file bankruptcy. They were bought out by Ideal Industries. They are not making all the tools that they use to, so if you have a warranty issue and they don't make it anymore, you're SOL. New warranty policy, " SK Hand Tool LLC products, except as otherwise specified, are warranted under normal use and service against defects in materials and workmanship for the expected life of the tool. This warranty does not cover wear from normal use, or any problems caused by misuse, abuse, modification or improper maintenance of the tool." What does this mean to you, the owner? In plain English, if you use the tool the way it was not designed for, there is no warranty. Period. As use a chrome socket on a air ratchet or impact wrench. They use to overlook stuff like that and warranty everything but the new company IS NOT doing that anymore. They look at EVERYTHING. That's been their basic warranty policy since I can remember. Granted, that only dates back to about 01 or 02, but nothing new there. |
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Quoted:
Out of business so good luck with a warranty. Let me help. Wrenches= snap-on flank drive plus,end of story.Yes expensive but are the best. Sockets= gray pneumatic makes a damn good impact socket and a hell of a price. Screw drivers=gear wrench,also gear wrench is good for chrome socket kits.Got those for the wife and usually use them instead of lugging my shit home. Pliers=i like matco. Name a tool and i can tell you the best buy,i have been buying tools for 20 years and have used every brand available,even cheap shit from harbor freight. If you are a home repair guy i would suggest gear wrench and gray pneumatic for everything.Unbeatable value and i have not broken anything yet.I am lucky to have a tool guy that deals in this stuff but it is available online. 20 years that's impressive. I still have my original craftsman tool set and box from.............................................1972, I'm sure there are others who can beat that. Still have old S-K shit along with Williams, Matco, Snap-On etc. |
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Couple of things. sk tools SK did go out of business and file bankruptcy. They were bought out by Ideal Industries. They are not making all the tools that they use to, so if you have a warranty issue and they don't make it anymore, you're SOL. New warranty policy, " SK Hand Tool LLC products, except as otherwise specified, are warranted under normal use and service against defects in materials and workmanship for the expected life of the tool. This warranty does not cover wear from normal use, or any problems caused by misuse, abuse, modification or improper maintenance of the tool." What does this mean to you, the owner? In plain English, if you use the tool the way it was not designed for, there is no warranty. Period. As use a chrome socket on a air ratchet or impact wrench. They use to overlook stuff like that and warranty everything but the new company IS NOT doing that anymore. They look at EVERYTHING. That's been their basic warranty policy since I can remember. Granted, that only dates back to about 01 or 02, but nothing new there. It has been longer than that but they would warranty stuff that should not have been. They were VERY lax on the policy. The new owners are not however. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Damnit, I have a nice SK 1/2 drive ratchet with a cracked open head. Do I have to mail the tool to them to get them to do a warranty evaluation, or do they still have local vendors that could do warranty replacements? You may have local vendors that will do it but you will have to call and see. If there are ANY hammer marks on it they are not going to honor it though. The new owners are tough on warranty. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Damnit, I have a nice SK 1/2 drive ratchet with a cracked open head. Do I have to mail the tool to them to get them to do a warranty evaluation, or do they still have local vendors that could do warranty replacements? You may have local vendors that will do it but you will have to call and see. If there are ANY hammer marks on it they are not going to honor it though. The new owners are tough on warranty. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile So, basically, an admission of using a pipe on it would void the warranty? That would suck if (that) is the case, I don't think I know a single skilled tradesman that would be averse to putting a reasonably sized pipe on a "professional" quality ratchet like snapon/cornwall/&c. |
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I was looking for a good set of tools and started doing some research. This may not be completely correct because my memory sucks but there are only 3 tool manufactures in the world in the American market. Two make quality tools and the other makes all the cheap crap. They have bought out all the smaller companies but still sell under their brand. Williams is owned by snap-on etc. Husky use to be made in the same plant that snap-on were but they started making them in the cheap plant some time ago. The information is out there just start hanging out on the tool forums.
EDIT to say that just because they are made in the same plant does not mean they are of equal quality. Yet, they are much better than the crappy plant. I can buy Klein wire strippers and they are identical to craftsman and etc except with different labels. |
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Damnit, I have a nice SK 1/2 drive ratchet with a cracked open head. Do I have to mail the tool to them to get them to do a warranty evaluation, or do they still have local vendors that could do warranty replacements? You may have local vendors that will do it but you will have to call and see. If there are ANY hammer marks on it they are not going to honor it though. The new owners are tough on warranty. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile So, basically, an admission of using a pipe on it would void the warranty? That would suck if (that) is the case, I don't think I know a single skilled tradesman that would be averse to putting a reasonably sized pipe on a "professional" quality ratchet like snapon/cornwall/&c. You won't have to admit anything. They look at it and say yes or no. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |