My Gedore sockets aren't rusted on the inside..

[spoon671]

..but my brand new Snap-on 3/8" drive metric deep sockets are.

Rust and corrosion. Fresh off the truck. After the other two threads I thought for sure these would be perfect, well with zero moving parts and all I would hope Snap-on would catch something like this that requires basically only looking at the thing with your eyes, and that's it. But anyway, surprise!

 

[getbent4x4]

the took lessons from craftsman how to cheapen their product.

 

[mr.lemons]

I've never bought off a snap on truck. Do you not get to see the tools before you buy them?

 

[spoon671]

Well funny you ask, the socket sets are wrapped in plastic but I still could have caught it. I bought a set of 1/2" drive deeps at the same time and they were wrapped but laying flat so I couldn't see, but the above pictured socket is from a set with the magnetic holder so the sockets were wrapped in plastic but also standing upright, so I definitely could have inspected them, but I didn't.

I don't normally buy off the truck, and I just happened on a truck in the parking lot of where I met a friend for lunch so I said oh **** let me bother these guys. I popped in as they were wrapping up their lunch and I wanted to grab tools quickly without delaying their arrival to wherever they are headed. But even if I weren't in a hurry I still may not have inspected, as I seriously didn't think there would be rust inside of brand new Snap-on sockets.

Will inspect going forward, for sure.

 

[Fluelikesymptoms]

Hmm, I have bought quite a few William's branded sockets within the last 3/4/5 months and none of them have yet to show rust or corrosion.

I would expect my William's sockets to be of less quality, or less detail oriented compared to the snap on counterparts.

I agree with all your posts criticizing SO, the ratchet handle, torque wrench head, now the sockets. When I pay snap on prices, I expect snap on quality. Otherwise, I would just buy gearwrench.

I have to say, as I mentioned in a response to your torque wrench, I am willing to bet money this is a "culture" problem in SO's manufacturing facilities.

The tight labor market here in the US, for quite a bit until recently, put all the power in the employees hands. The competition to hire and retain the biggest goofballs who have no business even working at a McDonald's, let alone a production plant, was very real. I'm willing to bet Snap On mass hired the laziest, careless, and most negative "talent" they possibly could just to fill open positions. Poor employees and a poor culture is cancerous and shows when the product reaches the consumers hands, especially when it comes to quality control. Factor in improperly maintained equipment by "engineers" and outdated jigs and you get crooked ratchet handles, torque wrench heads, and corroded sockets reaching consumers.

That said, your posts are starting to become a bit suspect... you have the benefit of the doubt, but that's alot of defective products in a short span of time. I would be contacting SO and informing them of all your recent issues. Maybe they will make it right, or maybe they have a tracking system to hold the responsible employees accountable to prevent future defects hitting the market.

 

[Dakkyz]

All my sockets even from my 2010 set have this brown wax or oil coating that is still deep inside the socket, strange that they have stopped doing this on newer sockets.

 

[seber]

I just looked at a large variety of sockets and measured the clearances. The one that originally were plated inside all have a lot of lost plating and now have excessive clearance. The inside is protected by grease and oil since that never gets wiped down like the outside. I'd say Snap-On got it right.

 

[454ragtop]

Hmmm, when I read the title I didn't see this coming.....
I'm no Snap On fanboy, but I have to wonder, why do you keep buying tools you don't like? Weird.

 

[mike93lx]

Don't even remember the last time I looked inside of a socket. Maybe I need to buy more expensive tools...

 

[Shane6377]

Hmmm, when I read the title I didn't see this coming.....
I'm no Snap On fanboy, but I have to wonder, why do you keep buying tools you don't like? Weird.

Agreed. OP what's your motivation here? Are you just trolling?


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[Tonyuk]

Remember you're paying extra for the brand name, not the quality.

Thats not to say snap-on's tools are bad quality, but they're nothing special.

 

[rijndael]

Don't even remember the last time I looked inside of a socket.

How would you verify you got out all of the polishing compound?

 

[mike93lx]

How would you verify you got out all of the polishing compound?

You don't have people to do that for you?

 

[rijndael]

Genius. I've gotta get the kids on that.

 

[VinceG]

Well sh@t I cant believe how nit picky people are. How the hell do you buy a new car? there are tons of imperfections.

 

[Wamsutta]

Me being a Snap-on affectionado connoisseur; I find all these latest imperfections embarrassing. How am I supposed to recommend Snap-on tools when their latest offerings are full of defects?

 

[zendriver]

Maybe the guy/gal whose job it is to inspect the inside of each and every one of the thousands of sockets made every day, dozed off for a minute from a little too much weed.

It's possible, over the years snap on has delivered a particular item that had some kind a defect, but maybe the purchaser just used the item and got on with life.

You could return it, so they can sell it to someone else.

Maybe that's what happened to you.

I agree I would be bummed to after shelling out good money

Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[mike93lx]

Me being a Snap-on affectionado connoisseur; I find all these latest imperfections embarrassing. How am I supposed to recommend Snap-on tools when their latest offerings are full of defects?

Crazy idea but if the product doesn't meet your standards, don't recommend it. That would be a normal person's approach.

 

[kythri]

Crazy idea but if the product doesn't meet your standards, don't recommend it. That would be a normal person's approach.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

Oh my gawd, I looked at my 1/2 drive SAE socket sets. A lot of them don't look so good, neither do I for that matter, but the newest set is 30 years old and the oldest is 60 years old. Maybe I should buy a new set of Mastercraft, they would be all shiny and pretty, NOT.

 

[dutchgray]

Those sockets would have been rust free when Snap-On made them, then they have sat somewhere with a damp atmosphere (probably on the truck) and got a bit of surface rust, which will not matter at all to the sockets after a few years of use.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

I'm surprised you keep buying Snap-On. Their offerings obviously aren't what you expect.

BTW: The few Snap-On tools I own I bought used. I'm sure I could find cosmetic flaws on all of them if I looked. I've been satisfied with using them and won't be claiming warranty if I ever break one.

 

[toolaholic]

I have 3 snap on products. A f80’3/8 ratchet, a 9 inch long 1/4 breaker bar and a 11/16 stubby wrench. I’m a proto, Armstrong / matco person but my limited snappys are ok.

 

[CR888]

I don't really see the issue, many of my sockets have a little surface rust on the inside. Its common as most brands don't chrome the inside, some paint them with silver paint which acts as a protective layer until its worn off from use. Maybe SO should spray some oil or something to keep them pristine for the modern tool jewelry standards the consumer has become. Its not a good look on top dollar tools to have surface rust but understanding 'why' will help you deal with it better. I promise those sockets will be fit for purpose and have a long service life. That little rust won't change that.

 

[Yarpo]

I've got some new williams USA sockets that showed up maybe a month ago that I've been trying to sell. All of them arrived with a light oil on the inside, evident by them attracting dust, sawdust, sand, metal shavings or w/e else is floating around the garage. No rust tho. I find it hard to imagine Snap On is sending out sockets looking like that, so as others stated I'm guessing it sat somewhere for a good while.

 

[Tallpilot]

All my sockets even from my 2010 set have this brown wax or oil coating that is still deep inside the socket, strange that they have stopped doing this on newer sockets.

I was thinking it’s paint but I guess it could be oily/wax like cosmoline. I have it on my sockets as well both Williams and Snap-on. I assume it is to prevent rust and it works well. I have mostly 2018 date codes. My guess is this batch didn’t get the coating on accident.

OP, what date code is on the socket? I would call the friendly folks in WI though. They will want to make it right.

 

[raiderhillbilly]

With SnapOn, It can't be called rust. At those prices, it is patina.

 

[spoon671]

..I have to say, as I mentioned in a response to your torque wrench, I am willing to bet money this is a "culture" problem in SO's manufacturing facilities.

The tight labor market here in the US...

This. Before I keep going I'll mention quickly that some people here obviously don't realize it but I am a Snap-on fanboy. That's why I keep buying. I also have a healthy collection of German tools, which is why I keep referencing them in comparison. What you typed up there is very interesting and I'm happy you mentioned it because I feel the exact same way about it. There are systemic issues that are plaguing US industries in ways that maybe are not affecting industries in Europe and Japan.

I have worked over the past few years in lots of facilities in many different states, most in the south, but that doesn't really matter. Culture varies from facility to facility, state to state. You can tell how much or how little the employees enjoy their jobs just by the speed at which they walk around, shoulders slumped or heads held high, laughing and joking with each other in the cafeteria at lunch or sitting quiet and depressed.

This, is exactly what I wanted to come out of these threads.. for people to be mindful of how corporations that feel so secure that they have our business that they recklessly cost cut. I mean, as far as Snap-on is concerned it's just a few crooked handles now, and to Mr. fanboys point that doesn't affect function so why nitpick? But in a short time it can change from just a few crooked handles, to worse.

We are paying for the quality. If the tools aren't what is being shown in the pictures or on the spec sheet, we need to send them back and have them send us one that is. It's not nitpicking. It's demanding from the corporation that they run their business responsibly. And to me, that means keeping technically sound people employed and tightening up on their jig and fixture maintenance, at least.

All my sockets even from my 2010 set have this brown wax or oil coating that is still deep inside the socket, strange that they have stopped doing this on newer sockets.

These do have a brown waxy oil on them, not sure if as thick as yours.

Hmmm, when I read the title I didn't see this coming.....
I'm no Snap On fanboy, but I have to wonder, why do you keep buying tools you don't like? Weird.

I am a Snap-on fanboy, admittedly. I'm also a German tool fanboy as well. I have a problem.

Well sh@t I cant believe how nit picky people are. How the hell do you buy a new car? there are tons of imperfections.

Believe me man, I size up the panel gaps on my cars before I buy them. It's a rough life.

 

[Yarpo]

I have worked over the past few years in lots of facilities in many different states, most in the south, but that doesn't really matter. Culture varies from facility to facility, state to state. You can tell how much or how little the employees enjoy their jobs just by the speed at which they walk around, shoulders slumped or heads held high, laughing and joking with each other in the cafeteria at lunch or sitting quiet and depressed.

You can absolutely gauge how one feels or how ones work atmosphere is by everything you mentioned above and then some, but have you been to the Snap-On factory? How do those employees walk around, how is the company atmosphere there? How do you know these things are plaguing our companies and are not plaguing companies in Europe or Japan? You simply don't and are speculating. I think that manufacturing and our work culture is changing but unless you have articles and sources to back up your idea, its all speculative. I love to read tho so feel free to share here or shoot me a pm if you come across something with substance.

This, is exactly what I wanted to come out of these threads.. for people to be mindful of how corporations that feel so secure that they have our business that they recklessly cost cut. I mean, as far as Snap-on is concerned it's just a few crooked handles now, and to Mr. fanboys point that doesn't affect function so why nitpick? But in a short time it can change from just a few crooked handles, to worse.

How do you know costs are being cut? I'm sure since you're a Snap on fan boy you're able to better predict the number of tools that come out of their factories per year, but you cant base anything on a sample size of 2. Probably why most people scoff at these threads and chalk the complaints up as nit picky. I'm sure you're not the only person who owns a Snap On ratchet that has high standards, right? Yet you don't have hundreds of users here reporting these same issues, there's no news articles or tool publications highlighting a massive increase in tools failing QC causing consumer uproar. As well as reading I love statistics and data, so either someone starts a thread and we can track QC issues, or we just chalk some issues up acceptable "failure", 2 out of how many thousand hard handle ratchets?

 

[brollona]

With SnapOn, It can't be called rust. At those prices, it is patina.

Ha, good one.

 

[Air21]

I second the motion for a GJ Six Sigma sub-forum! Statistical process control! TQM! CONTROL CHARTS!

 

[Dakkyz]

I was thinking it’s paint but I guess it could be oily/wax like cosmoline. I have it on my sockets as well both Williams and Snap-on. I assume it is to prevent rust and it works well. I have mostly 2018 date codes. My guess is this batch didn’t get the coating on accident.

Im pretty sure it's wax or oil, it still has the weird smell, I do believe it's some type of rust protection Ratchets, sockets, even the impacts had it applied.

 

[MikeF2316]

I bought a set of 1/4 drive flex sockets, non impact, from my Snap-on franchisee a couple of years back when they went on special. The 10 was seized solid, I could only get it to move with a vise and an extension for leverage. The 8 was sticky. I called and got new ones the next day. (I checked all the others, they were all fine.)

Plus I bought (at a different time) a ratcheting screwdriver that didn't feel right. That I took apart and reassembled, after which it felt right. I don't know what was incorrect, as it sprang apart when I disassembled it. But on that one, I'd bet it was returned after someone f'ed it up.

So it does happen.

 

[sweet victory]

I second the motion for a GJ Six Sigma sub-forum! Statistical process control! TQM! CONTROL CHARTS!

In Deming we trust.

 

[LXCam]

it still has the weird smell

I just couldn’t pass this up. I’ve been here for a while. I’ve got a few too many posts but my ratio of posting verses reading is probably 1:100

And I’ve seen my fair share of complaints when it comes to odd smells

But sniffing your sockets, that’s a new one on me.

 

[spoon671]

I was thinking it’s paint but I guess it could be oily/wax like cosmoline. I have it on my sockets as well both Williams and Snap-on. I assume it is to prevent rust and it works well. I have mostly 2018 date codes. My guess is this batch didn’t get the coating on accident.

OP, what date code is on the socket? I would call the friendly folks in WI though. They will want to make it right.

2018 date code. There was a sort of brownish greasy oil on the sockets, inside and out. Still the rust and corrosion though, not sure why.

 

[spoon671]

How do you know these things are plaguing our companies and are not plaguing companies in Europe or Japan? You simply don't and are speculating. I think that manufacturing and our work culture is changing but unless you have articles and sources to back up your idea, its all speculative.


How do you know costs are being cut? I'm sure since you're a Snap on fan boy you're able to better predict the number of tools that come out of their factories per year, but you cant base anything on a sample size of 2.

I get it, definitely fair points. Same question posed to you, though. What exactly makes you think manufacturing and work culture in America is changing? If you have experience working in facilities internationally, along side people of different cultures and backgrounds, and you sit in meetings and conference calls day after day with heads of facilities management and other facility executives, listening to them provide assessments on what struggles and inefficiencies they encounter on a day to day basis, it would probably help formulate an educated opinion and I wouldn't mind listening to you.

I assure you, I'm not just guessing. What makes me think this has been my experience in facilities, in various industries. I have been to manufacturing facilities and distribution centers all around America, Canada, Mexico, and Germany.

I've never worked in Japan though, I'd sure love to. I have actually worked at one Toyota facility, TABC in Long Beach, CA. This was Toyota's very first factory outside of Japan, and the very first Toyota facility in America. I can only speak from experience, and also history. Toyota pioneered the activity of structured continuous improvement, or "Kaizen". I don't want to derail this fine thread with Kaizen, but here's a link. It's just my experience.

I could be wrong about Snap-on, but I'm the one with photos. I'm the one sitting here with three straight orders, crooked handles and rusty sockets and ill-machined flex heads. Why don't you prove me wrong about Snap-on?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaizen

 

[spoon671]

Here are photos of a 19mm socket from the Williams set I keep in my mobile work toolbox. I've had these I think for at least a couple years. They came in a steel box with foam insert. I don't remember them having any grease or oil on them at all. Not the slightest.

I yanked them straight out of the box and slapped them on a cheap rail and tossed them in a Klein zipper pouch which is where they've lived since. They've spent their entire lives in San Francisco.. with the ocean right there where I can see it. Despite all that, no rust. Of course I've yanked them out here and there to do work in facilities.

Interestingly, the 19mm is unused LOL!

You can see date code on the socket. I also included date code on the ratchet from the same set. Not sure if they are different date codes or same date codes and just Williams stamping jig is out of adjustment. (heh)

 

[mikehaugen]

That 3/8 square drive is not broached in-line with the hex. [emoji41]

...sorry I had to

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[Yarpo]

I get it, definitely fair points. Same question posed to you, though. What exactly makes you think manufacturing and work culture in America is changing? If you have experience working in facilities internationally, along side people of different cultures and backgrounds, and you sit in meetings and conference calls day after day with heads of facilities management and other facility executives, listening to them provide assessments on what struggles and inefficiencies they encounter on a day to day basis, it would probably help formulate an educated opinion and I wouldn't mind listening to you.

I'm a college educated kid who ditched that and went into the trades, I went to school with hundreds of kids and know or keep in touch with probably 100-150 of them on facebook. Guess how many kids want to get up early and work outside, or in a factory or in any of the trades? Very few. It's an obvious change from times past, and one you could argue good or bad. There's tons of evidence behind that one which I'm sure you don't need sourced, but I'll link them below. I've worked in three different trades at this point and the number of kids I've seen throughout the years is minuscule. When I sat at lunch with the electricians or framers and was asked if I knew anyone who wanted work because it was impossible to find people, it only reaffirmed that idea.

https://www.adeccousa.com/employers/resources/skilled-trades-in-demand/

https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/201...hile-high-school-grads-line-up-for-university

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/201...-students-toward-trade-schools/5911548454565/

PS: Unfortunately I think this boarders on political and will get your thread nuked.

I assure you, I'm not just guessing. What makes me think this has been my experience in facilities, in various industries. I have been to manufacturing facilities and distribution centers all around America, Canada, Mexico, and Germany.

But what is the change? What cultural change are you seeing here that you don't see there? In reading the link below, do you think American business's are not incorporating kaizen and have excessive waste throughout the process? You didn't quite say, that's all.

I could be wrong about Snap-on, but I'm the one with photos. I'm the one sitting here with three straight orders, crooked handles and rusty sockets and ill-machined flex heads. Why don't you prove me wrong about Snap-on?

I don't own that many Snap On tools, maybe a dozen and most of them are in my work box. Most of them purchased in the last 8 months and none of them have issues. What would you like to see?

That 3/8 square drive is not broached in-line with the hex. [emoji41]

...sorry I had to

Good find, I'd send it back