sk chrome on the inside of sockets?

[cbracer]

So I'm still deciding on what sockets to get. I keep looking at SK but always find pictures of sockets without chrome as in the picture below. Has anyone bought a set in the last 6 months that can verify if any of them are like this? Notice some of them are satin inside?

 

[vintagefan]

So I'm still deciding on what sockets to get. I keep looking at SK but always find pictures of sockets without chrome as in the picture below. Has anyone bought a set in the last 6 months that can verify if any of them are like this? Notice some of them are satin inside?

That's an anti-corrosion coating.

I've seen discrepancies between sockets anywhere from HF all the way up to Snap-on.

You don't want heavy chrome inside your sockets, one, because it will modify the dimensions of the socket, and two, because the stress it is put under will cause it to flake almost immediately.


I've been wrenching for quite some time, and only in the past year or so, and only on this forum, have I seen people getting so concerned about the finish on the inside of sockets. I'm not trying to say this in a mean way or anything, just that I really don't understand the concern.

If you look at any well used socket set, the inside looks NASTY after very little use... grease, rust, dirt, etc. from bolt heads get stuck in there right off the bat.


All this says to me is that SK started using an anti-corrosion coating on the inside of their sockets at some point in the past, and this set has some older and some newer sockets in it. Almost every USA socket manufacturer uses some form of this coating nowadays.


I think what happened here, is someone posted and got all worked up about the inside of his/her sockets, and then someone else read it and got the idea that it actually mattered, and it was just a snowball effect.


SK has made a decent amount of small changes in the recent past, and I don't honestly think any SK tool you get is going to be compromised in quality. The only difference IMO is slightly different cosmetics.


If you're purchasing the tools for a showpiece/tool collection as some on this board seem to do (no offense intended to anyone whatsoever, I just feel that is the truth), maybe you should step it up to brand new Snap-on or Wright. If you're planning on actually using them on dirty fasteners, I wouldn't worry about it too much, if at all. For that use, you WILL NOT find a better USA made value for your money than the SK master sets... there is just no other option at that price range/quality level/COO, period.

What you really need to ask, is whether finish discrepancies are worth spending twice as much on Wright or Proto, or four times as much on Snap-on (to you, of course, everyone's idea of worth is different).

 

[Skin]

So I'm still deciding on what sockets to get. I keep looking at SK but always find pictures of sockets without chrome as in the picture below. Has anyone bought a set in the last 6 months that can verify if any of them are like this? Notice some of them are satin inside?

this thread may go multiple pages, as others have in the past on this very subject, but the long and the short is that its paint and many many manufacturers do it so dont let it sway you one way or the other. Honestly the times you'll need such large chrome sockets are few and far between anyway.

 

[ChrisF250]

Yes I ordered a set of about 44 sockets 40 had chrome in the inside while the others had the dull coating. I do not think it matters at all since ive had sockets like this in the past and it was never an issue. To me the inside of the socket is only seen by a bolt. If my chance they do start to deteriorate I will warranty them

 

[cide1]

It bothers me in that somewhere a decision was made about this coating, that it either helped or hurt, and then it was applied to only some of the product line. If they can't apply a coating with any regularity, how good are they about heat treating? How tight are they on their tolerances?

The coating isn't that important, the mindset about the manufacturing process used indicated by the differences in coating are what concerns me.

As another data point, I have a large number of Craftsman sockets, and only a small number have this coating, and it is random sockets, with no sense of order. My gut tells me that they were made on different manufacturing lines or by a different manufacturers. I have a much smaller number of Snap-On sockets, and they all appear uniform.

 

[barcalo]

That's an anti-corrosion coating.

I've seen discrepancies between sockets anywhere from HF all the way up to Snap-on.

You don't want heavy chrome inside your sockets, one, because it will modify the dimensions of the socket, and two, because the stress it is put under will cause it to flake almost immediately.


I've been wrenching for quite some time, and only in the past year or so, and only on this forum, have I seen people getting so concerned about the finish on the inside of sockets. I'm not trying to say this in a mean way or anything, just that I really don't understand the concern.

If you look at any well used socket set, the inside looks NASTY after very little use... grease, rust, dirt, etc. from bolt heads get stuck in there right off the bat.


All this says to me is that SK started using an anti-corrosion coating on the inside of their sockets at some point in the past, and this set has some older and some newer sockets in it. Almost every USA socket manufacturer uses some form of this coating nowadays.


I think what happened here, is someone posted and got all worked up about the inside of his/her sockets, and then someone else read it and got the idea that it actually mattered, and it was just a snowball effect.


SK has made a decent amount of small changes in the recent past, and I don't honestly think any SK tool you get is going to be compromised in quality. The only difference IMO is slightly different cosmetics.


If you're purchasing the tools for a showpiece/tool collection as some on this board seem to do (no offense intended to anyone whatsoever, I just feel that is the truth), maybe you should step it up to brand new Snap-on or Wright. If you're planning on actually using them on dirty fasteners, I wouldn't worry about it too much, if at all. For that use, you WILL NOT find a better USA made value for your money than the SK master sets... there is just no other option at that price range/quality level/COO, period.

What you really need to ask, is whether finish discrepancies are worth spending twice as much on Wright or Proto, or four times as much on Snap-on (to you, of course, everyone's idea of worth is different).

As someone who both uses and collects tools, I agree with all said here. Good informative post.

 

[GSMotorrad]

I wouldn't care either way, but I would want my "set" to all match. All or nothing. Mixing different finishes seems pretty ghetto. Does anyone know which way is the newest "Ideal owned" SK Tools? That much variance in manufacturing doesn't inspire confidence overall.

I just want them all to be the same, especially if I bought it as a "Set".

 

[amolaver]

i have no insider knowledge, and this is total supposition, but it seems highly likely to me that one of those finishes is NOS pieces. that said, one of the primary reasons SK swirled down the drain was the QC issues they had near the end of their prior incarnation. point being - i wouldn't want any of that NOS. if i was set on SK, i'd wait until sets started appearing with a consistent finish.

ahm

 

[vintagefan]

i have no insider knowledge, and this is total supposition, but it seems highly likely to me that one of those finishes is NOS pieces. that said, one of the primary reasons SK swirled down the drain was the QC issues they had near the end of their prior incarnation. point being - i wouldn't want any of that NOS. if i was set on SK, i'd wait until sets started appearing with a consistent finish.

ahm

Other than cosmetic/finish issues, as of yet I haven't seen any significant indication that the NOS stuff has any problems other than blemishes.

I think that the overall quality of the steel and the forging is still there, just lazy things like not adjusting the tension properly on the rolling dies that stamp the size markings, for instance.

I do agree with you, that if I had a choice, it would be new production, but I wouldn't necessarily not purchase SK because of the chance I could get NOS, especially with the superb service I've gotten from them.

 

[cbracer]

So nobody actually knows why they are different. Everyone just wants to beat up on everyone else that it doesn't matter to the use of the tool. Agreed, the tool still works as advertised. But there is a reason and nobody knows.

What if this was your car, and you opened the passenger door and the door sill was anti-rust coating while the driver door sill was chromed. Wouldn't you want to know why?

 

[crewchief888]

i dont think i've ever looked inside a socket,
i've got a few more things i can worry about than the chrome, or lack of chrome inside a socket

to each his own.........

 

[trboxman]

HTH do you do an immersion plating without getting chrome in the inside of the socket?

 

[SMKS]

HTH do you do an immersion plating without getting chrome in the inside of the socket?

The coating could be applied after chroming. There may be chrome under the coating.

 

[vintagefan]

HTH do you do an immersion plating without getting chrome in the inside of the socket?

In standard plating, interior areas only get the slightest coating of chrome unless a custom anode is used.

The reason for the anti-corrosion coating is to supplement the thinner, less corrosion resistant plating on the inside of the socket.

So nobody actually knows why they are different. Everyone just wants to beat up on everyone else that it doesn't matter to the use of the tool. Agreed, the tool still works as advertised. But there is a reason and nobody knows.

What if this was your car, and you opened the passenger door and the door sill was anti-rust coating while the driver door sill was chromed. Wouldn't you want to know why?

I told you exactly why they are different. Some have an anti-rust coating, and some don't. At some point in the past, SK changed their production method. That is the reason.

I'm not beating up on everyone... I'm saying that this is a very small issue, and that sockets literally look like dog **** inside after only a couple uses on an older car. It just really won't matter if you use your sockets on a regular basis.

I also said that if you are buying your sockets solely for looks, then these may be the wrong sockets for you. That is also a truthful and honest statement, and not meant to beat up on anyone.

 

[Wakefield]

A little spray of WD 40 inside the socket helps keep it happy?

 

[GeorgiaHybrid]

Unless the bolts and nuts you are removing are starting to ***** and complain about chrome slivers, ignore the finish on the inside and use them. If your bolts and nuts are complaining, you need a shrink more than a pretty socket.....

 

[crewchief888]

Unless the bolts and nuts you are removing are starting to ***** and complain about chrome slivers, ignore the finish on the inside and use them. If your bolts and nuts are complaining, you need a shrink more than a pretty socket.....

:tard:

 

[kc-steve]

Good info Vintagefan! I feel good when I can just get the dirt and grease out from inside of used sockets, no matter how it looks.

Steve

 

[j.c.whitney]

I bought the SK94549 last December, all of the sockets have pretty much the same inside finish and there is very little variance on the depth of the size strikings or the recesses where the ball of the ratchet fits. Looks like plating rather than paint inside the sockets. I don't know if this set is old SK or new SK, it looks to be of high quality and the cost was reasonable. The insides of the sockets are not the gleaming SuperKrome finish like on the outside but they also aren't painted Seymour Silver.