Sad day in tool quality Matco

[echerbst]

I have been a tech for a long time and run my own shop and I am so disappointed in the quality of tools, especially Matco. I asked my truck guy today how he could sell such Chinese **** and he told me everything was guaranteed. I was like year guaranteed to be garbage and break in a month, I dont want to have to replace tools that often.

I had a few old sockets and wrenches that are over 10 years old that are finally worn out and its sad that I have to change them out for this new garbage. The best part is that the Matco guy doesent even know where the tools he sells comes from and how marked up his **** his.

On a happier note I called SK today and they are up and running making most of their sockets and wrenches that they originally made. They are not making any of there new stuff, like ratcheting wrenches yet. Which again ***** becasue those are the things i need to have warrantied.


Thats my rant for today.

 

[mrholeshot]

I feel your pain. MAC is even worse. It's getting to look like more each day that SK will be the great savior of tools. Even with them I think they will narrow the choices down to basic tools or just the hottest selling sets they had before. Express your displeasure with your wallet and only buy USA tools. Impossible to do on everything but with hand tools you can cover your bases.

 

[KTMGuy]

Express your displeasure with your wallet and only buy USA tools. Impossible to do on everything but with hand tools you can cover your bases.

 

[King Bojack]

I was like year guaranteed to be garbage and break in a month

Cuz he knows all he sold you was a guaranteed *************, now, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed I can do that for ya!

....

 

[rhastings80]

Does anything Matco that is currently selling as new have a COO (Country of Origin) stamped on it?

 

[HandyManny]

It's a common theme I keep hearing more and more about pro grade hand tools. I acquired nearly all of what I needed and used years ago and at a time when quality tools were still readily available in most places. So these days I only buy the occasional quick replacement for the few that get lost, stolen, or broken once in a while.

Not to worry though, luckily there are still alternatives availabe to most people these days. You just have to look.

 

[Toolhorder]

I don't get the OP. Most of their hand line is USA made by Danaher. If you don't buy the Silver Eagle stuff you're good to go.
Then he says something good about SK?
I don't get why everyone is so pro SK. The stuff to me was never at the level of the truck brands at least at the marketing level and I could never get warranty on it OR find it for sale unless I looked actively for it.
I have SK stuff second hand and for me it's less the C-man when I sell it. No warranty makes it useless in a pro's toolbox.

 

[HandyManny]

I don't get the OP. Most of their hand line is USA made by Danaher. If you don't buy the Silver Eagle stuff you're good to go.
Then he says something good about SK?
I don't get why everyone is so pro SK. The stuff to me was never at the level of the truck brands at least at the marketing level and I could never get warranty on it OR find it for sale unless I looked actively for it.
I have SK stuff second hand and for me it's less the C-man when I sell it. No warranty makes it useless in a pro's toolbox.

Marketing and actual quality/useability are two very different things. I've always found S-K to be every bit on the level of a professional grade truck brand tool. Also keep in mind that some (a few) high quality tool makers don't even express a warranty.

Personally for me, when it comes to basic hand tools, warranty is of little importance to me, because after many years I've rarely ever had to exercise a warranty on many hand tools.

As far as resale price goes or resale value goes I can't speak to that. I don't sell my tools off, mainly because I use them and have need for what I have in my arsenal.

 

[Toolhorder]

Marketing and actual quality/useability are two very different things. I've always found S-K to be every bit on the level of a professional grade truck brand tool. Also keep in mind that some (a few) high quality tool makers don't even express a warranty.

Personally for me, when it comes to basic hand tools, warranty is of little importance to me, because after many years I've rarely ever had to exercise a warranty on many hand tools.

As far as resale price goes or resale value goes I can't speak to that. I don't sell my tools off, mainly because I use them and have need for what I have in my arsenal.

That's why I said pro's toolbox. Warranty is the biggest deal for me. I don't want to buy anything more than once.

 

[echerbst]

My main issue is that the new hard line stuff, sockets and wrenches are **** compared to what they use to be. Most of the combo wrenches are still made in the US along with some of the sockets, like 3/8 swivel impacts, but most of the sockets are not made here anymore. They are very poor quality and do not last. This is the Matco line not Silver Eagle ****.
Ill post some pics of the difference between new and old stuff.

Nothing worse than having to give replace tools that were quality and lasted 15 years for garbage.

Like everyone said if I dont like dont buy it, so I dont. I have a complete tool box and dont need any new stuff, just sad after spending all that money with Matco on a full box of there stuff this is what it has come down to.

 

[echerbst]

SK wrenches and sockets are better quality than craftsman and equal to Matco stuff any day. Howerver if you had no support or service I dont blame you for not wanting them. They never marketed to auto techs or big box stores which was a big mistake in my opinion. I only lived a few minutes from there old factory in Chicago so I would just go over there for any replacement stuff back when they were open. Now will we have to see what Ideal with do with the name and hopefully put out some nice products.

 

[bsaint]

I like my Matco guy and the tools seem pretty good. The sockets tho seem a little soft.

 

[tonydanzah]

Does anything Matco that is currently selling as new have a COO (Country of Origin) stamped on it?

my impact sockets and any ratchet without a comfort grip, most bought within the last year

 

[mrholeshot]

Then he says something good about SK?
I don't get why everyone is so pro SK. The stuff to me was never at the level of the truck brands at least at the marketing level and I could never get warranty on it OR find it for sale unless I looked actively for it.
I have SK stuff second hand and for me it's less the C-man when I sell it. No warranty makes it useless in a pro's toolbox.

Doesn't matter what it sells for but rather the quality of the tool. I have SK ratchets from the 60's I bought new. While the style maybe a little dated the ratchets, sockets and wrenches are every bit as well made as anything you can buy off any tool truck. There has been a small window where no warranty has been available but the beauty of SK is I've only had to warranty a handful of things over the past half century. Most of those have been swivel sockets I've worn out. I've never broken an SK socket. If they never made another SK tool I'd still feel comfortable making a living with them.

Marketing was SK's downfall. Lets hope they don't fail this time around.

 

[treasureseeker]

I had a lot of Sk and in trying to sell the tools there was no passion for the brand. It all went for less than Craftsman. The items were purchased new in 2006 and most never been used. I kept the all steel torque wrenches and some other items. The torque wrenches and Wrenches I am impressed with.

 

[KEH]

I'm impressed with the quality of Wright tools. At one time Wright made ratchets for Matco.

KEH

 

[Lump]

I'm glad to hear good things about SK tools. I have bought a LOT of them as used tools this past year. They and Proto tools are among the largest quantities of brand names I found, other than Craftsman.

You know, the day may come when these used tools may be more important than they have been in the past. Or at least, I think about that now and then when I read threads like this on Garage Journal. Pro wrenchers may begin trying to find older used tools whenever they can to replace broken tools, rather than accept poor quality "free" replacements.

Wow, how depressing.

 

[HandyManny]

SK wrenches and sockets are better quality than craftsman and equal to Matco stuff any day. Howerver if you had no support or service I dont blame you for not wanting them. They never marketed to auto techs or big box stores which was a big mistake in my opinion. I only lived a few minutes from there old factory in Chicago so I would just go over there for any replacement stuff back when they were open. Now will we have to see what Ideal with do with the name and hopefully put out some nice products.

What do you mean? Automotive Techs, Aviation Mechanics, and really any Vessle repair tech, are the main trades that S-K Tools markets too actually. Although I see your point, they've never really marketed their stuff very well to their target trades people in comparison to say Snap-On, MAC, or Matco. S-K was founded on and existed mainly as a tool maker to the automotive service industry.

 

[HandyManny]

I'm impressed with the quality of Wright tools. At one time Wright made ratchets for Matco.

KEH

Wright makes great tools in general, but if you're an automotive tech or aircraft mechanic, try getting a Wright tool truck to pull into your place of business and sell you tools. Aint going to happen, because they don't service that way. They serve mainly the industrial market - mining, railway, manufacturing, logging, and oil rig/drilling industries. Sure you can use any of Wrights tools in the automotive service industry, or aerospace repair industry, but getting served by them is going to be the slight problem.

 

[HandyManny]

That's why I said pro's toolbox. Warranty is the biggest deal for me. I don't want to buy anything more than once.

If you peek inside many pro's tool chests, you'd be surprised to see that not every tool is a truck brand or a so-called professional grade tool. In years past long ago in the industry I saw that lot's of Pro's also use a few common pedestrian type tools that were bought right off the shelf. Myself included. What I'm saying is that not every tool I had or others had was a truck brand and those common brand tools served quite well.

 

[HandyManny]

Marketing was SK's downfall. Lets hope they don't fail this time around.

More like a lack of marketing is what lead to their downfall.

 

[mrholeshot]

More like a lack of marketing is what lead to their downfall.

Thats where I headed, lol

 

[Skin]

I don't get the OP. Most of their hand line is USA made by Danaher. If you don't buy the Silver Eagle stuff you're good to go.

I dont really get it either. Hope he actually posts pics.

Then he says something good about SK?
I don't get why everyone is so pro SK. The stuff to me was never at the level of the truck brands at least at the marketing level and I could never get warranty on it OR find it for sale unless I looked actively for it.
I have SK stuff second hand and for me it's less the C-man when I sell it. No warranty makes it useless in a pro's toolbox.

SK was so good they went belly up. Created a mythical status because at one time they were a large tool manufacturer. I'm in complete agreement with you though, the late SK was barely much better than Cman for substantially more money. People can talk about the SK tools from the 60s-80s all they like but they should remember every company had some really high quality product including Cman. Over the last 10 years their brand took a total dump in quality right in line with everyone else. I'll never forget the socket set i got, every single one was peeling. Looked like someone threw in some of that holiday string confetti stuff. Facom actually got them some of their better products in the last 10 years. I can only roll my eyes when people reminisce how fantastic their products were.

 

[Chadro]

I've never had any trouble out of my Matco tools, imported ones included. You people need to stop wasting your money on truck brand sockets.

 

[HandyManny]

I dont really get it either. Hope he actually posts pics.



SK was so good they went belly up. Created a mythical status because at one time they were a large tool manufacturer. I'm in complete agreement with you though, the late SK was barely much better than Cman for substantially more money. People can talk about the SK tools from the 60s-80s all they like but they should remember every company had some really high quality product including Cman. Over the last 10 years their brand took a total dump in quality right in line with everyone else. I'll never forget the socket set i got, every single one was peeling. Looked like someone threw in some of that holiday string confetti stuff. Facom actually got them some of their better products in the last 10 years. I can only roll my eyes when people reminisce how fantastic their products were.

I can somewhat appreciate what you may be saying about most of the newer S-K stuff. But then people also reminisce about how fantastic Craftsman used to be too across the brand line. Fact is that S-K and even older Craftsman were once a very good quality tool, tools that stood up to the rigors of daily use in a shop environment.

All I can say is that S-K was a very good pro grade tool even up until the last 15 years or so. All of my S-K stuff I own is anywhere from 50 years to 15 years old. Due to it's scarcity I am not really all that familiar with the recent (within 10 years or so) S-K hand tools, except the very few I'd occasionally see on the rack at Sears. To me those few S-K items at Sears recently were very overpriced. People still reminisce about the old S-K the way people still do about the old pebble grain Plomb tools. One day you'll have more reason to roll your eyes when brand like Snap-On and Williams takes the same turn downhill. It will likely happen too, if not already headed that way. Afterall those trucks are now starting to sell more Gearwrench hand tools to mechanics. Cheers

 

[mrholeshot]

I dont really get it either. Hope he actually posts pics.



SK was so good they went belly up. .

So that made them a bad tool??? Nothing Mythical about it. Lets see those peeling sockets

 

[wornoutoldman]

You can get used Snap on all day long on eBay for 50 cents on the dollar or better with a little patience. Flame Suit On

 

[Skin]

So that made them a bad tool??? Nothing Mythical about it. Lets see those peeling sockets

Sorry but when a thread fills up with people saying they were every bit as good as a truck brand and either the same people or others chime in agreement saying they were light years ahead of Cman or whatever brand you choose, i find fault with that stance. What they were producing in the last decade was not turning heads. They had quite a bit of exposure for not entirely unreasonable prices on the web [comparative to used truck brand stuff anyway]. If they were that good of a bargain they wouldnt have ended up as they did.

As far as the set i purchased it was 4 years ago, i of course didnt keep it. Instant return. I was pretty disgusted considering it was a couple hundred dollars or there abouts.

 

[Toolhorder]

What do you mean? Automotive Techs, Aviation Mechanics, and really any Vessle repair tech, are the main trades that S-K Tools markets too actually. Although I see your point, they've never really marketed their stuff very well to their target trades people in comparison to say Snap-On, MAC, or Matco. S-K was founded on and existed mainly as a tool maker to the automotive service industry.

I disagree with you here, NEVER seen a SK truck pull up at any dealer, shop I worked for. SK was always in the back on the truck in sporatic fashion as someone ordered it from a "tool web" style mag or the truck guy got them at a tool fair or something.
Had an independent tool dealer who could get the stuff and had sets whenever he got them.
My point is that if someone had SK on the truck it was limited selection and sometimes not at all. Warranty you were hit or miss.

Personally that's a lack of marketing and distributing and I can't deal with that when I use my tools for making money. If I'm down a socket I'll give my business to a dealer with a brand that's fully stocked on a truck every week.
I know I'll get flamed but SK is dead and they never were good for a professional mechanic. You see a lot of it used because it's not desireable just like C-man stuff.

 

[AZ_Catskinner]

Years ago we had an independent dealer who had SK as his main line on the truck. He never had a shortage of customers, and kept everyone happy.

Granted, he sold more to the millwrights, electricians and diesel shop guys than the dealerships and automotive shops, but he stayed in business just the same. I've still got a realy small ¼" drive set (spinner handle, 1/4", 5/16" and 3/8" sockets in a little bag) that my uncle bought me from the truck back in the late 70's.

When I started really turning wrenches, I got an SK 3/8 drive master set for Christmas. In twenty plus years, I've broken one socket and shredded one ratchet. Pretty good numbers for a set that's older than some of the current techs.

 

[Eric Nordstrom]

S-K Stands for slip-kill.
That was the joke at vo-tek.

 

[knocker]

Does anything Matco that is currently selling as new have a COO (Country of Origin) stamped on it?

I bought one of Matco's ratcheting serp. belt tools last month w/ made in the USA stamped into it.

 

[Lump]

When I was a young mechanic wanna-be (about 1973 or so), I worked as a tire buster at a Goodyear store. Snap On, Mac, and Cornwell trucks came around; but no other brands. SK Wayne tools started showing up in certain hardware stores in those days, and my dad had a friend who had some kind of part-time tool-selling franchise, who worked out of his garage. I remember my dad telling me that these "new" SK Wayne tools were really pretty darn good, and way cheaper than Mac (my Dad's favorite at the time). He bought some of them, and I do not remember any problems with any of them.

I cannot speak to newer SK tools.

But...do any of you guys ever find used Matco tools for sale? I have literally thousands of used tools that I bought last summer, including LOTS of "truck brand" tools. But I only have about 3-4 Matco tools out of that whole pile.

 

[Fedwrench]

Every brand too include truck brands have issues with quality. There are countless threads here about off centered wrenches, to sockets being mismatched. No brand is probably as good today as it was in the past.
I think some of you are hoping that the resurrected SK tools will be the answer to all of your tool problems from quality to country of origin. Time will tell how haapy everyone will be. However, I feel that as time has passed and the available supplies of old SK tools dried up, some memories of SK's performance and quality have perhaps blurred with age. I have many SK tools and they were solid mid priced tools that I could find at most auto parts stores (back when they were real parts stores). However, all was not perfect with SK. I never cared for their combination wrenches. I've always thought they were too heavy in the hips around the boxed end but, that's just me. A lot of the their wrenches were wavy from the size markings being stamped in perhaps with too much pressure.
I have automotive tools from most brands. I can't seem to find one brand that I feel makes everything perfectly. Matco is different from other tool truck brands as they only make their tool boxes. Their hardline items come from danaher factories and other tools are simply rebadged (fill in the blank KD, Lisle ,IR, OTC, Knipex, etc.) Does that make them bad, no. One example though of a Matco tool being better today than in the past is their ratchets. Matco's 60 or 88 tooth ratchets are a vast improvement over the older 36 tooth series. Yes, some are imported, so what? They perform outstandingly and will serve you well and that's what really counts.
I think all tool truck prices are insane but, the convience of truck to shop service, selection, weekly payments, and dealer service may make them a necessary evil. Use and enjoy your tools!!!

 

[diesel research]

All of my SK exposure has been with tools produced in the last 10 years. The only faults thus far was a single deep well socket that doesnt fit peg type socket holders and a few that were not polished on the inside. Neither of those mattered since I am a user, not a collector. I am not at all fond of most of their ratchets.

Quite a few survived DAILY use with an impact.

Not once in 7 years of working at various places in various parts of the globe did any tool truck stop by to service, so I've really grown used to not caring.

A little different for me since in most environments I did not have to provide my own tools and was simply provided by the company. That ranged anywhere from low end northern, to craftsmen "professional", to SK, armstrong, proto, snap on, and even wright. From there it allowed me to "sample" quite a bit and now that I provide my own, have absolutely no concerns about using SK.

If they said they were only warranting tools for 5 years, I would still keep using them and likely buy more if the time came. Excluding ratchets, only basic tool from them that I have broke was a 1-1/8 socket that was exclusively used on impacts. My ratchet experiences go against most GJ'ers, needless to say I'd rather own armstrong, snap on, or even taiwan.

 

[Wrenches of Death]

I've never had any trouble out of my Matco tools, imported ones included. You people need to stop wasting your money on truck brand sockets.

I had serious peeling chrome issues over the years with a large portion of their combination and double box end wrenches that I purchased in the early to mid 1980's. They'd cut you like a razor. No rust or anything. And not from nicks in the chrome. They'd just peel. You could use one today and everything was OK. A couple of days from now, you go to use it and it'd cut you.

All of the warranty replacements were OK, but that kind of ended my love affair with Matco tools.

I bought a couple of the then new "wide" Matco boxes in 1982 or 1983. The MB910 and MB920 tool boxes have served faithfully for getting close to thirty years. They look like ****, but they've been tough sob's.

WoD

 

[rhastings80]

Same here. In the past two years I have been going to flea markets and estate sales I think I have picked up only one Matco wrench and a couple of maroon screwdrivers. I see a ton of Proto/SK/Craftsmen though. I have been looking but just not finding Matco.

When I was a young mechanic wanna-be (about 1973 or so), I worked as a tire buster at a Goodyear store. Snap On, Mac, and Cornwell trucks came around; but no other brands. SK Wayne tools started showing up in certain hardware stores in those days, and my dad had a friend who had some kind of part-time tool-selling franchise, who worked out of his garage. I remember my dad telling me that these "new" SK Wayne tools were really pretty darn good, and way cheaper than Mac (my Dad's favorite at the time). He bought some of them, and I do not remember any problems with any of them.

I cannot speak to newer SK tools.

But...do any of you guys ever find used Matco tools for sale? I have literally thousands of used tools that I bought last summer, including LOTS of "truck brand" tools. But I only have about 3-4 Matco tools out of that whole pile.

 

[Ritter4.0]

I'm glad to hear good things about SK tools. I have bought a LOT of them as used tools this past year. They and Proto tools are among the largest quantities of brand names I found, other than Craftsman.

You know, the day may come when these used tools may be more important than they have been in the past. Or at least, I think about that now and then when I read threads like this on Garage Journal. Pro wrenchers may begin trying to find older used tools whenever they can to replace broken tools, rather than accept poor quality "free" replacements.

Wow, how depressing.

I hope that day holds off for a while. I like my deals on used quality tools.

 

[oilslick]

I was in market for a replacement air hammer, it was between Matco and SO. both priced about equal , both had balls, one said Taiwan, the Snap on said USA, I went USA and feel great!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Hammer1963]

It seems most of the hardline tools on my Matco dealers tool truck are made in the U.S.A. and if they are not they have the country of origin on the packaging they come in. The quality is good and that is the bigger issue. Not every tool produced by a tool co. today will be identical to the one produced 20 years ago, due to the simple fact that technology in tooling has changed, tool steels have changed, tool designs are usually different, not to mention the consolidation of "tool making" not tool brands and that is just the start of the list. And you can't blame it all on the people making them either, since there are less people in the industy due to down sizing.

When a automobile or any piece of machinery reguires only a few hand tools to repair vs. a vast amount of tools to repair it like today, it stands to reason that the resources used to produce said tools will be stretched to the limits considering there are less tool companies and I am refering to the companies that actually produce the "Tooling" for the tools, not tool brands, then that is also gonig to come into play.

I think the most mysterious part of the whole thread is this fan-fair for SK tools. For starters, I've owned them (note owned as in past tence) and they were never what I would call on par with Snap-on, Mac or Matco in design or quality. They always seemed to be more of a Craftsman and Easco type of competitor or maybe even the original Husky or Thorsen brand. Secondly, if they were so great why do you find so many of them still in the original faded packaging for sale ?

For those who believe the "new" SK tool company will be the savior of something, I hope you can purchase enough of an old tool name to keep them afloat. Keep in mind this thought. It's the tool itself that does the job, not the name on it