Tools of Japan

[Outahere]

Amazon is cracking down on counterfeiters, and a legal expert says consumers should be 'cautiously optimistic'

Amazon says attempts to create seller accounts by counterfeiters were down nearly 90% from 2020 to 2022 thanks to its efforts.

www.digitalcommerce360.com

Amazon acknowledges the serious nature of the counterfeit problem on the platform. It spent $1.2 billion and employed 15,000 people to fight fraud on the marketplace in 2022, per the report. Counterfeit products are a “huge problem,” according to Robert Freund, a lawyer who works on ecommerce and social media marketing cases.

In 2022, Amazon said its Counterfeit Crimes Unit pursued more than 1,300 counterfeiting criminals in the U.S., U.K., EU, and China, and disposed of more than 6 million counterfeit products. While that’s progress, Freund says it also shows the difficulty of wiping out counterfeits completely.

 

[Steve_P]

I like Olfas for many applications but after trying out a number of 9mm models I ended up preferring metal bodied NT Cutters.

I agree and love the metal body 9mm NT cutters. I must've discovered them here several years ago, bought a few for myself, and ended up buying a bunch of them and giving them away as Christmas presents. Every time I use them, several times a week, I appreciate them so much; I haven't touched any of my cheap plastic disposable ones since. I have a few Olfa 18mm cutters and they're very nice, but I recently bought a Fiskars and like it much better; it's more substantial feeling and doesn't have the open end like the Olfa.

 

[kyrbz]

ARS brand telescoping pruner/picker/saw

 

[Dave455]

My KTC BRSW3L arrived today, along with some trim clip tools.

All I can say is “Wow”! Until you handle these you don’t realise how good the machining is. Incredibly tight tolerances.

I hadn’t really thought about it till now, but to make a decent roto head ratchet, the “arms” have to be machined so as to be convex about two axes.

I don’t begrudge any of the makers the cost now!


Large, Medium and Small!

KoKen, Snap On, and KTC Roto Heads.

The KoKen is superbly rugged.

The Snap On is awesome, but this one is little used. Mainly because Snap On has become so costly. I got this one on a deal, but for the replacement cost I could buy almost four of the KTC’s. I also realised that roto heads don’t really work without a handle you can grip. The Snap On hard handle works best, but that’s even more expensive!

The KTC obviously won’t take the torque of the others. I’ll accept that to gain the compact head.

 

[rick carpenter]

My KTC BRSW3L arrived today, along with some trim clip tools.

All I can say is “Wow”! Until you handle these you don’t realise how good the machining is. Incredibly tight tolerances.

I hadn’t really thought about it till now, but to make a decent roto head ratchet, the “arms” have to be machined so as to be convex about two axes.

I don’t begrudge any of the makers the cost now!


Large, Medium and Small!

KoKen, Snap On, and KTC Roto Heads.

The KoKen is superbly rugged.

The Snap On is awesome, but this one is little used. Mainly because Snap On has become so costly. I got this one on a deal, but for the replacement cost I could buy almost four of the KTC’s. I also realised that roto heads don’t really work without a handle you can grip. The Snap On hard handle works best, but that’s even more expensive!

The KTC obviously won’t take the torque of the others. I’ll accept that to gain the compact head.

I've always wondered why they don't make spark plug wrenches with this head style.

 

[bongkar_YES_pasang_NO]

how do you manage to use those roto ratchets to work like a screwdriver with those metal handle?

my guess they're slippery on that situation. CMIIW

My KTC BRSW3L arrived today, along with some trim clip tools.

All I can say is “Wow”! Until you handle these you don’t realise how good the machining is. Incredibly tight tolerances.

I hadn’t really thought about it till now, but to make a decent roto head ratchet, the “arms” have to be machined so as to be convex about two axes.

I don’t begrudge any of the makers the cost now!


Large, Medium and Small!

KoKen, Snap On, and KTC Roto Heads.

The KoKen is superbly rugged.

The Snap On is awesome, but this one is little used. Mainly because Snap On has become so costly. I got this one on a deal, but for the replacement cost I could buy almost four of the KTC’s. I also realised that roto heads don’t really work without a handle you can grip. The Snap On hard handle works best, but that’s even more expensive!

The KTC obviously won’t take the torque of the others. I’ll accept that to gain the compact head.

 

[Dave455]

how do you manage to use those roto ratchets to work like a screwdriver with those metal handle?

my guess they're slippery on that situation. CMIIW

The smooth Snap On can be difficult. It’s O.K. with clean hands, but with oily hands almost impossible. If you’re going down the Snap On route you really need the “hard handle” which works beautifully either way.

The new KTC has, I hope, got just enough knurling. Ultimately though, I wanted this for getting into tight spaces, so I’m happy with the compromise. Most of the time I’m using these at some sort of intermediate angle anyway.

KoKen offer the usual three handle styles on their roto head ratchets. I’d avoid the smooth, even though I prefer it in the regular ratchets.


The knurled KoKen has enough knurling for about 3 ratchets! You can use it any way you like without problems. I have screwdrivers that don’t offer grip as good as this!

 

[ecotec]

how do you manage to use those roto ratchets to work like a screwdriver with those metal handle?

my guess they're slippery on that situation. CMIIW

I don’t use my 1/4” Snap-on roto ratchet much, because it doesn’t have a comfort grip. Even with gloves on it’s slippery.

My 3/8” roto-ratchet has the comfort handle, and it is great.

I prefer the regular metal Snap-on handles… except for roto-ratchets.

I have considered putting shrink tube on the 1/4”, but wondered if it would rust under it.

Edit… I put some heat shrink on the 1/4”.

 

[Pinemarten]

UPS delivered this today. I really like the ball end screwdriver profile, so when I saw Amazon would ship it free from Amazon Japan, I pulled the trigger! Itought it was a good deal for under $14. It even has the ceramic ball inside, so it will be more difficult to electrocute myself.

 

[Reed Prince]

A nice package arrived today.



When I decided to buy this on April 29, it was not in stock at DRPD and so I bought directly from Nepros, as I have in the past. Nepros/KTC has excellent prices, but a six week wait is not uncommon in my experience.




This time, my tool was apparently part of a larger shipment from Japan to Chicago, as my package was delivered by UPS, not DHL, and had a West Chicago return address. This turns out to be the same address as their "authorized warranty station", although PSI Innovations doesn't seem to have much else to do with hand tools.

 

[tamaraw]

Some very interesting ratchets/socket from KTC in this video starting at about 15:47:

The ratchets look like they use nepros internals but with more angular styling and a wider skeletonized handle. The sockets have a unique lobed/splined external profile

 

[F-22]

Some very interesting ratchets/socket from KTC in this video starting at about 15:47:

The ratchets look like they use nepros internals but with more angular styling and a wider skeletonized handle. The sockets have a unique lobed/splined external profile

Not a big fan of the odd design (especially the angular head). The holes in the handle are probably for a better balance. I see he tried the ratcheting many times and seemed like he was comparing it to the regular Nepros ratchet, so I assume it's an improved mechanism inside as well.

Always so nice to see Japanese innovation.

The Koken part was interesting too. Wish we had such hand tool presentations near me (there's probably some in Germany).

 

[cbracer]

Some very interesting ratchets/socket from KTC in this video starting at about 15:47:

The ratchets look like they use nepros internals but with more angular styling and a wider skeletonized handle. The sockets have a unique lobed/splined external profile

I really like those sockets. I don't care for the design of the handle, but I really enjoy the lighter weight of such a tool. If only it was made with the Zeal backdrag instead of the Nepros. I found the 1/4" similar between Zeal and Nepros, but on the 3/8" the backdrag of the Nepros 90t was way higher than the Zeal 72t.

 

[Jack_K]

Latest Koken purchase, there was a 22% off ebay sale so I "had" to buy them. I had wanted a Koken sticker but hadn't realised that the metal cased sets were the way.

It is interesting that the cases are a totally different design, the impact one being a cheap design with paint already rubbing off.





The extra space should be able to hold my minimax 3/8 drive metric impact sockets.

 

[Toyo72]

The Koken part was interesting too. Wish we had such hand tool presentations near me (there's probably some in Germany).

The Koken van setup was neat!

 

[toddmorr]

Been beating the living daylights out of this 22mm mid length Koken 1/2 drive impact on some LX470 shock mounts over the last 2 days. The Gearwrench impacts I just sold would have been really wallowed out compared to these Kokens. I'm pleased...

 

[F-22]

Latest Koken purchase, there was a 22% off ebay sale so I "had" to buy them. I had wanted a Koken sticker but hadn't realised that the metal cased sets were the way.

It is interesting that the cases are a totally different design, the impact one being a cheap design with paint already rubbing off.





The extra space should be able to hold my minimax 3/8 drive metric impact sockets.

Hope they're not switching over to the bent sheet metal boxes like the bottom one. Its still metal, but the top one is so much nicer!

 

[garfieldzzz]

Ive got a different set of impact sockets from Koken which have the same proper case as well as my attack driver.
**** part of the set itself is it skipped the 18mm and 24mm

 

[Toyo72]

I posted over in the Amazon Deals thread, but in case anyone is in the market, currently the Koken 3725Z 3/8 Z-series ratchet is $36.42 with free shipping from Amazon Japan, via Amazon US. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005I7HVYS/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Jeff]

Small Koken score for Father's Day.


My eyes couldn't compute how small that rachet actually is.

 

[BlackVersa2]

Mitutoyo 117-107 uni micrometer 0-1" with flat and pin anvils. Reads .0001", carbide face, friction thimble.
Had a 20% off code for Zoro so I picked this up for a hair over $150. Free shipping took approximately 19 hours, that is impressive.

 

[rick carpenter]

Small Koken score for Father's Day.


My eyes couldn't compute how small that rachet actually is.

I want to see a locking flex comfort grip version!

For realsies though: +1 !

 

[Samuel D]

I posted over in the Amazon Deals thread, but in case anyone is in the market, currently the Koken 3725Z 3/8 Z-series ratchet is $36.42 with free shipping from Amazon Japan, via Amazon US. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005I7HVYS/?tag=atomicindus08-20

It’s showing up as pretty cheap on Amazon Japan for shipping to Europe too. Is this a model that Koken has recently discontinued or something?

Might be just me, but I really wish Koken made the Z-series ratchets with a polished or knurled handle for greater long—term durability.

 

[Madjik Man]

It’s showing up as pretty cheap on Amazon Japan for shipping to Europe too. Is this a model that Koken has recently discontinued or something?

Might be just me, but I really wish Koken made the Z-series ratchets with a polished or knurled handle for greater long—term durability.

It’s not discontinued. And agreed, the grips on the Z Series aren’t bad, they’re just very short in length for my XL hands.

 

[jgeoffr]

Picked up some additional Japanese pliers and wrenches (and a random Crescent wrench).

Tsunoda TH150CNC and TH-125NC cutting pliers, Tsunoda SNP-150 sharp nose pliers, IPS THS-190 ultrathin slip pliers, Fujiya FLS-43G-F adjustible wrench, and an Engineer TWM-08 110mm "pocket" stubby wrench.

 

[rick carpenter]

What are the Japanese go-to electricians tools (except for screwdrivers) brands? Marvel? Tsunoda? ______?

 

[Toyo72]

Might be just me, but I really wish Koken made the Z-series ratchets with a polished or knurled handle for greater long—term durability.

Not just you. I'm in the same camp, preferring tools with handles with no durability issues and easier to keep clean.

 

[cbracer]

Not just you. I'm in the same camp, preferring tools with handles with no durability issues and easier to keep clean.

My PB Swiss santoprene screw drivers stay somewhat dirty no matter how I clean them, so I understand your concern. I'm not sure that I've ever seen a Z-series ratchet handle not be durable. I guess people assume the black part is hard to keep clean and won't last, but is there anyone with pictures of it showing a lot of abuse? Please post pics. Originally I too preferred all metal handles but now after using many different ratchets I prefer the newer Facom handles first, then Koken Z-series second. I feel the Koken black handles are a little short in length for my large hands.

 

[Outahere]

I find it strange that Koken offers three grip styles in their standard ratchets, but offer only one grip style in their premium Z-line ratchets.

 

[toddmorr]

Use the heck out of my 3/8 zeal ratchet and that handle looks almost like new, no wear issues at all. Far better wear than the comfort grip SO ratchets

 

[Dave455]

I find it strange that Koken offers three grip styles in their standard ratchets, but offer only one grip style in their premium Z-line ratchets.

I think that the answer is that the Z series isn’t really their “premium” line, but rather their “compact” line. And that’s really the answer for the folks who say the handles are too small - they are designed that way.

I have to admit though, that I don’t really like the Z series handles either. I’m happy with the size, but I’d be happier with a steel handle.

 

[ecotec]

Does the Z line ratchet have a shorter anvil than a normal ratchet?

I guess, what I am getting at, is… if you use a Z socket with a normal ratchet, does the anvil protrude into the socket too far?

I have the extra shorts in 3/8” impact (MAC and Cornwell), but I don’t have extra shorts in chrome or, obviously, in sizes other than 3/8”… so, I am considering these in 1/4” and 3/8”.

 

[GeoBruin]

My Koken Attack Driver arrived the other day. It was my father's day sale purchase. Anyway, I got the version with the hex bits but the hex is larger than a typical 1/4" hex like most of my bits. Is it possible to use a sleeve or adapter of some kind or is it better to just find larger bits specifically for the driver?

 

[Outahere]

......I’m happy with the size, but I’d be happier with a steel handle.

Same here.

 

[tamaraw]

My Koken Attack Driver arrived the other day. It was my father's day sale purchase. Anyway, I got the version with the hex bits but the hex is larger than a typical 1/4" hex like most of my bits. Is it possible to use a sleeve or adapter of some kind or is it better to just find larger bits specifically for the driver?

The three most common hex sizes are 5/32"/4mm for precision work, 1/4" for most applications, and 5/16" for heavier duty applications. (There are also larger sizes too).

What you have is likely the beefier 5/16" hex drive for impact use. The attack driver should have a square drive (either 3/8" or 1/2" depending upon model), so just pull the hex adapter socket off the end and put a different size on instead.

 

[GeoBruin]

The three most common hex sizes are 5/32"/4mm for precision work, 1/4" for most applications, and 5/16" for heavier duty applications. (There are also larger sizes too).

What you have is likely the beefier 5/16" hex drive for impact use. The attack driver should have a square drive (either 3/8" or 1/2" depending upon model), so just pull the hex adapter socket off the end and put a different size on instead.

We'll I'll be damned. Thanks.

 

[Dave455]

Does the Z line ratchet have a shorter anvil than a normal ratchet?

I guess, what I am getting at, is… if you use a Z socket with a normal ratchet, does the anvil protrude into the socket too far?

I have the extra shorts in 3/8” impact (MAC and Cornwell), but I don’t have extra shorts in chrome or, obviously, in sizes other than 3/8”… so, I am considering these in 1/4” and 3/8”.

No, it’s about the same.

Regular ratchet + Z Series socket

Z Series ratchet with Z Series socket

The socket to ratchet fit is superb with both - zero wobble at the joint, but I think that’s predominantly a factor of the socket, which has a different detent design to the regular.

 

[merkyworks]

Z Series

 

[ecotec]

You guys are killing me.

Is there a 4th of July sale?

 

[tamaraw]

We'll I'll be damned. Thanks.

Plus you can use it with a normal square drive impact socket too!

If you want a matching 1/4" hex adapter, the 3/8" square model is 3137 and the 1/2" square model is 4137