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Tools of Japan

a57belair2

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Aug 14, 2024
Messages
83
Deen is alright, the black handles are made in Japan if that's any consolation šŸ˜…. For the most part they are good quality, tho I would say expensive for a mostly Taiwan tool.
Lesson learned for sure. Not bad tools just not great for the price. I for sure could have spent the money better. But I’ll do my best to get the money out of them!
 
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Achilleus

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May 30, 2011
Messages
160
Order in from Deen Tools, I was not aware when ordering that they are not Japanese made tool. A bit of a letdown for sure, had I known that I might not have ordered. That is 100% on me. Looking forward to seeing how I like these roto head ratchets. I got two that are 3/8 in a 1/4 body.IMG_3026.jpeg
I see you got some of those little 90-degree socket adapters! I use to think SO were the only ones to make those (expensive) little contraptions :whistle:
 

Achilleus

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Joined
May 30, 2011
Messages
160
are also manufactured in Germany by Hazet
KC Tool in Kansas City has them, if I'm not mistaken.
What do you guys use these for? I think the only time I used mine was to undo a nut that was below something, sticking upwards, and I could only access it from above. Like a U-shape extension bar.

It may have been for an EGR pipe on a LS400
 

nicks78camaro

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Joined
Dec 15, 2011
Messages
1,535
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
Coming up on 10 business days and still no shipping notification from KokenUSA. Man I gotta be honest, I can’t remember the last time I had to wait this long for something to be shipped out. This stuff was all ostensibly in stock, they just gotta pile it in a box and slap an automatically-generated shipping label on it.

You’d think Koken would want their sole US distributor to offer better service, especially since they have been making a big push into the North American market.


Authorized Koken distributors

 

rick carpenter

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Joined
Jan 20, 2011
Messages
3,786
Location
Huntsville, East Texas
Trusco 370MBK(toyo made)

KTC B3-10P 3/8 sockets set

Asahi Renowave wrenches full set( can't fit
them all 😢)

KTC BR390L

Tone KN-150G

Lobtex TG200NA

Lobtex UU-NA4150

Olfa/trusco LTD-08GCR giga Red( gorgeous šŸ˜)

Vessel bits

Everything else is craftsman Taiwan V series and other.

Doing a red/black themed vehicle specific box(Caldina GT-T). Some sizes will be removed as Im going over the vehicle to see what's actually needed.




PXL_20250302_102247436~2.jpgPXL_20250302_122810789~2.jpgPXL_20250302_122852963~2.jpgPXL_20250302_122944008~2.jpg
Nice haul. Yes, the Olfa Trusco LTD-08GCR is cool. Makes sense that Trusco would partnership with Olfa for that one. I prefer straight-up Olfa knives but some people might not have ever heard about Olfa but know the Trusco brand.
 

Andres26tnt

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Joined
May 11, 2018
Messages
994
Nice haul. Yes, the Olfa Trusco LTD-08GCR is cool. Makes sense that Trusco would partnership with Olfa for that one. I prefer straight-up Olfa knives but some people might not have ever heard about Olfa but know the Trusco brand.
Olfa partner with a lot of brands here, for the most part they provide blades. Everything has those black blades, I don't mind the other brands. Olfa makes great box cutters, but they also make some stinkers šŸ˜‚, I bought a few recently. Haven't showed all my stock here, own to many Japanese tools now šŸ˜…. The only thing I don't buy here is power tools, one are where the japanese are lacking imo.
 

rick carpenter

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Jan 20, 2011
Messages
3,786
Location
Huntsville, East Texas
Olfa partner with a lot of brands here, for the most part they provide blades. Everything has those black blades, I don't mind the other brands. Olfa makes great box cutters, but they also make some stinkers šŸ˜‚, I bought a few recently. Haven't showed all my stock here, own to many Japanese tools now šŸ˜…. The only thing I don't buy here is power tools, one are where the japanese are lacking imo.
I have two 9mm Olfas, had one 18mm Olfa, and had two Canary DC-190 box cutters at work til the 18mm and one of the Canarys got stolen last summer. I used the 18mm for breaking down freakin tons of boxes til I switched to the Canary (which is the best by far for boxes IMO). I use my 9mm's every day at work since they look nearly like pens in my pocket. I emailed Olfa and suggested they make some of their 9mm models' pocket clips look exactly like pen clips for EDC in the office.

I use an 18mm Olfa I have in the garage a lot. It's very humid in East Texas and one of my black blades surface-rusted in the knife so I use the stainless blades for general purpose.
 
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MWar

Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2015
Messages
5
Well, after two weeks of waiting KokenUSA got back to me and told me that a few of the items I ordered were on back order, hence the delay. I asked them to cancel the order, which they did, and I promptly reordered everything from Harry J Epstein’s. HJE’s prices are lower AND they had a 15% discount code so my total was less than with KokenUSA’s 25% off sale.

Seems like an honest mistake on KokenUSA’s part but I think I will steer clear in the future. Between the high prices and the slow shipping, not much reason for me to shop there.
FYI for anyone ordering from KokenUSA, I placed an order for double adjustable extension on 2/14 (hundreds in stock per website), I received no notice on shipping for 2+ weeks so I followed up on 3/3 asking if it had shipped. They did ship it the next day, but single adjustable item arrived on Friday 3/7 (much cheaper), I notified them same day of the incorrect item. They replied Monday saying when they confirm I have shipped the incorrect item back, then they will ship me the correct item, they also did not send a return label but asked if I wanted one? (wth). She also said that they only have 5 people working there and are a very small staff and are struggling to keep up. I would not order from this company again.

Edit: I another user who left a review on their Facebook page, he also received incorrect item and they wanted him to pay return shipping.
 
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Hakeem

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Jan 22, 2024
Messages
1,272
Location
Chicago
FYI for anyone ordering from KokenUSA, I placed an order for double adjustable extension on 2/14 (hundreds in stock per website), I received no notice on shipping for 2+ weeks so I followed up on 3/3 asking if it had shipped. They did ship it the next day, but single adjustable item arrived on Friday 3/7 (much cheaper), I notified them same day of the incorrect item. They replied Monday saying when they confirm I have shipped the incorrect item back, then they will ship me the correct item, they also did not send a return label but asked if I wanted one? (wth). She also said that they only have 5 people working there and are a very small staff and are struggling to keep up. I would not order from this company again.

Edit: I another user who left a review on their Facebook page, he also received incorrect item and they wanted him to pay return shipping.

Blaming shipping delays on staffing is pretty lame. How many people does it take to adequately staff a boutique tool webstore? It’s not like we’re talking McMaster Carr here.
 

four.cycle

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Joined
Oct 19, 2015
Messages
29,119
Location
Tacoma, Washington
Blaming shipping delays on staffing is pretty lame.
Blaming anything on staffing is lame, but unfortunately the retail buying public has come to accept it as the norm since Covid.
There is no excuse - other than the bean-counters wanting to reduce overhead costs by cutting staff - for the inexcusable decline in what was once known in a former age as "customer service". The current paradigm of "service *****" has become the status quo of today.
 

CHI_Tool&Die

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Jul 20, 2021
Messages
1,387
Location
Chicago, IL
Blaming shipping delays on staffing is pretty lame. How many people does it take to adequately staff a boutique tool webstore? It’s not like we’re talking McMaster Carr here.
I think KokenUSA is also Palmac. They’ve changed their shipping and return policies awhile back (Palmac) at the same time they increased the prices of everything by more than a small amount. I used to buy a lot of stuff from them. Once those changes rolled out and I started having shipping issues, I bounced.
 

Andres26tnt

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May 11, 2018
Messages
994
I think KokenUSA is also Palmac. They’ve changed their shipping and return policies awhile back (Palmac) at the same time they increased the prices of everything by more than a small amount. I used to buy a lot of stuff from them. Once those changes rolled out and I started having shipping issues, I bounced.
It is the same people, not sure why Koken choose them(nothing against palmac). They could have easily Started a small retail/shipping center in more affordable state. I'm guessing they wanted a test bed for sales.
 
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jsackin

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Nov 23, 2005
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Location
Kansas City Missouri
FYI on Ko-Ken.They are building a new wing to their manufacturing facility in Japan. Should be done spring/summer. This is to keep up with the demand. In the meantime there's going to be a little supply crunch here in the US but after that things should be moving much more smoothly. This is the reason a number of items have been backordered awhile from them.
 

HannibalLecter

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Aug 26, 2023
Messages
402
FYI on Ko-Ken.They are building a new wing to their manufacturing facility in Japan. Should be done spring/summer. This is to keep up with the demand. In the meantime there's going to be a little supply crunch here in the US but after that things should be moving much more smoothly. This is the reason a number of items have been backordered awhile from them.
I hope that at least they will entertain the thought to fill the gaps on their zeal series with a couple of 1/2 ratchets and more zeal sockets and stop producing these ugly 20 tooth count fossils
 

tamaraw

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Jun 6, 2022
Messages
843
Palmac is a 50+ year old industrial supplier and government contractor.

If they are blaming issues on "staffing issues", it sounds more like mismanagement issues.
 

CHI_Tool&Die

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Jul 20, 2021
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Location
Chicago, IL
It is the same people, not sure why Koken choose them(nothing against palmac). They could have easily Started a small retail/shipping center in more affordable state. I'm guessing they wanted a test bed for sales.
I used to buy heavily from Palmac. A lot of my Gedore tools came through them. Same with my Koken stuff. Then they increased the prices on all their German stuff so high that it was on par with or higher than KC Tool (but I justify my purchases with KC Tool because their customer service and shipping are amazing). I don’t know what happened but with the crazy price increases and the loss of free shipping on $200+ orders, Palmac lost my business.

I’m glad to see HJE and DRPD carrying Koken. Way better people to do business with.
 

ETJ

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Joined
Nov 23, 2023
Messages
128
Same. I'm assuming this isn't the same as Sun Flag? Anyone have a website link or tool Catalog?

I don't know where I got it, but I have a 3/4" drive chrome socket from them. That's how I knew they existed.
 

powerstrokin

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Joined
Jan 12, 2016
Messages
52
Well well well.. it looks like I finally found my people with this thread lol. My obsession with Japanese tools is out of hand, but here’s my latest haul! Hope you guys enjoy!
 

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Reed Prince

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May 30, 2017
Messages
593
Location
Northern Virginia USA
Well well well.. it looks like I finally found my people with this thread lol. My obsession with Japanese tools is out of hand, but here’s my latest haul! Hope you guys enjoy!
61Li3xjRoVL._AC_SL1500_.jpg
I see you have one of Vessel's G-grip handles. I have some G-grip drivers and am not convinced that the weighted, spinning cap is all that useful an innovation. It was interesting to note that the torx driver features a "magic spring". It looks like the same thing that Wiha offers. Maybe Wiha makes the blades for these tools?

Screenshot 2025-03-14 at 6.18.44 AM.jpg
 

Andres26tnt

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May 11, 2018
Messages
994
Well well well.. it looks like I finally found my people with this thread lol. My obsession with Japanese tools is out of hand, but here’s my latest haul! Hope you guys enjoy!
Nice driver, I also own those.

Only one I didn't like was the sunflag hybrid driver. Mine has a lot of issues with Clarence, most blades won't stay in place. Tried a bunch of different model blades. This is an issue many have, also plages the KTC black version (sunflag rebrand) that I own.
 

powerstrokin

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Joined
Jan 12, 2016
Messages
52
61Li3xjRoVL._AC_SL1500_.jpg
I see you have one of Vessel's G-grip handles. I have some G-grip drivers and am not convinced that the weighted, spinning cap is all that useful an innovation. It was interesting to note that the torx driver features a "magic spring". It looks like the same thing that Wiha offers. Maybe Wiha makes the blades for these tools?

Screenshot 2025-03-14 at 6.18.44 AM.jpg
I’m gonna be honest with you, I bought this one because I actually never seen that design before haha. I tend to buy tools I don’t really need, we probably all do hahah. I haven’t had a chance to use it yet, no clue if I’ll like it. Do other brands have that handle design?
 

Reed Prince

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Joined
May 30, 2017
Messages
593
Location
Northern Virginia USA
I’m gonna be honest with you, I bought this one because I actually never seen that design before haha. I tend to buy tools I don’t really need, we probably all do hahah. I haven’t had a chance to use it yet, no clue if I’ll like it. Do other brands have that handle design?
I think the handle design is only used by a few Vessel drivers. They might be discontinuing them, as I didn't see my Ph00 or your TX15 in the short list on Vessel's site.
Screenshot 2025-03-14 at 1.32.59 PM.jpg
 

Professor Gascan

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Dec 26, 2024
Messages
182
Found out a power tool shop about a mile from my house has a small selection of Vessel screwdrivers and bits in stock, and for a few bucks less than amazon. Snagged a set of impact +/- bits for 11 bucks and change to work on my motorbike. Also the Tone rh4h I ordered from amazon should be here sometime today. Nothing too exotic, but gets me adjacent to the cool kids table.
 

Qualitytools

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Apr 30, 2014
Messages
2,854
Location
SOCAL
I’m gonna be honest with you, I bought this one because I actually never seen that design before haha. I tend to buy tools I don’t really need, we probably all do hahah. I haven’t had a chance to use it yet, no clue if I’ll like it. Do other brands have that handle design?
So I noticed the handle on the VESSEL ā€œdifferentā€ shaped handle says Magic Spring. Do you or anyone know what that means or signify? I am curious about the design and the wording.
 
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