Whats going on with sk tools.?

[JradM]

If you want some USA-made sockets and are worried about SK's future - why not Williams?

Check out Cryer Tool. It's way less expensive than SK and the sockets are good.

For SK, I doubtful there's any immediate cause for concern. Sure, there's a lot of hubbub about the acquisition by a Chinese company - but I doubt they bought it to shut down and that's certainly not what they are saying.

IF their plans aren't working out like they want in 5 years? Maybe sweat a little. But there's nothing immediate to be worried about in my opinion and predicting the future past that is beyond me.

 

[gatewaysysop]

As an Sk dealer I have been told, and it took awhile to be told this, they have deleted over 1500SKU's from their inventory. If they bring those items back they most likely will be asian made, most likely in China.
They were hoping to start shipping product this month, but I still haven't received any product yet. Hope to have some soon.
Sk has been very poor communicating to their dealers and distributor's as to what their actual plans are, personally I don't think they know what they will be doing.

This will come as zero surprise to anyone other than fanbois and brand zealots.

I really don't understand this argument that opinions not informed by direct personal experience are of no value. What happened to opinions based on the overwhelming majority of the available data? I know a lot of people who think jumping off a cliff is a bad idea and I share their opinion. None of us have tried it yet though, so does that mean we're not allowed to speak ill of jumping off a cliff, even though we've seen what happened to people who did? As I'm often repeating on here, some of the arguments people make really beggar belief.

I like my SK round head ratchets, but I won't own any LP90 ratchets. The weight of the available evidence is not in their favor, not by a long shot, and to date SK has done nothing to address widely reported issues with the product. I don't believe premium tool purchases should be a gamble, certainly not one with long odds.

 

[CHI_Tool&Die]

I like my SK round head ratchets, but I won't own any LP90 ratchets. The weight of the available evidence is not in their favor, not by a long shot, and to date SK has done nothing to address widely reported issues with the product. I don't believe premium tool purchases should be a gamble, certainly not one with long odds.

My SK round head ratchets are awesome. I didn’t jump on the LP wagon simply because there are so many other manufacturers that have been making pear head ratchets that work soooo well. And the initial impressions and reviews from guys with them were very damning. Unless you got the Steals and Deals bargain, I just don’t see why you’d have to have them. But, to each their own and I’m glad some guys here have enjoyed them thoroughly.

As to the website and stock, yeah they keep pushing the dates back and everything is on backorder. Something must have went to **** during the move that they aren’t even partially up and running.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

As a data point. I loved the size of the 3/8 lp90, but I constantly had binding issues to the point you had to rotate the anvil slightly to even make it change direction. I gave it to a lube tech, way better that what he had.

I had a single issue with a dual tooth drop in kit for one of my 3/8 round heads. SK fixed that for me. That long flex head 3/8 is my favorite ratchet. I really enjoy the sk round heads, and I worked with different lubes to satisfy the lp90. It just didnt work so I gave up. Shame as the head size was great.

 

[Dieselclunker]

As an Sk dealer I have been told, and it took awhile to be told this, they have deleted over 1500SKU's from their inventory. If they bring those items back they most likely will be asian made, most likely in China.
They were hoping to start shipping product this month, but I still haven't received any product yet. Hope to have some soon.
Sk has been very poor communicating to their dealers and distributor's as to what their actual plans are, personally I don't think they know what they will be doing.

BYE BYE SK

 

[drtyler]

BYE BYE SK

Many of the sku’s deleted were products not made by SK anyway and socket sets. SK had many overlapping socket set SKU’s, which probably needed thinning out years ago.

 

[lardy1]

But.....but.....but......China!!!!

SMH

 

[VolvoRyan]

I like my SK round head ratchets, but I won't own any LP90 ratchets. The weight of the available evidence is not in their favor, not by a long shot, and to date SK has done nothing to address widely reported issues with the product. I don't believe premium tool purchases should be a gamble, certainly not one with long odds.

LP90's got really good. One problem was the lube SK used. Get that out, and add a dab of SuperLube, and they're quite nice. Funny thing is I bought a brand new standard round head right when SK's sale was announced. That round head had the same lube and same problems. Clean and re-lube, and it felt like a classic round head should.

That said, LP90's were not cheap if not on sale. Snap-On was just a tippy-toe away in cost.

-Ryan

 

[VolvoRyan]

I think SK's former owner were terrible at picking who their customers were suppose to be. They didn't target professionals enough, they weren't that popular on the industrial side where 3/4" and up drive are common and too expensive for many homeowners. They seemed to try to go after government contracts where USA made were a requirement and people who wanted USA tools without the tool truck price. Too small of niche market to succeed.

Their marketing sucked and were too slow at releasing new products. Ideal could kept the 3870 around and released more versions of the X-frame ratchets. Instead they did none of that and took years to release new products. Ideal could have outsourced the tools but decided to keep them made in the USA so they didn't completely fail. I believe if Great Star outsources SK then that'll be the end of the line. There's not enough name recognition for SK and the market is already saturated with quality tools at decent prices.

Ideal strangled SK. Happens all the time. Each year a brand comes up short of its expectations, the parent company invests less money in the next year. Rinse and repeat. Vicious cycle.

When Sears disappeared, SK had no physical point of sale. Industry alone ain't gonna float your boat.

Most of SK's problems can be fixed with a big cash injection and proper marketing. That assumes there are customers. Everyone in my neck of the woods flies big American flags.... but they'll look at you funny if you suggest spending more than $5 on a wrench.

-Ryan

 

[B_Bimmer]

I'm thankful for the neat tools I picked up over the fall, but I do not believe SK will continue to be a sought after brand.

 

[Jtels85]

I’m late to the party, but I bought some LP90’s when they were first released. When the flex heads were later released, I picked up the 3/8” flex head.

The 1/4” drive would lock up from time to time and the 3/8” flex head would also bind under load and I had to play with it a bit to free it up. All six LP90 models I had needed 3-in-1 oil upon arrival.

After much frustration, I wound up throwing a couple of them in a box and have since forgotten about them. They’re comfortable ratchets and I appreciate the low profile head with low profile selector switch, especially compared to SnapOn and their bulky *** ratchets with that bulging switch. No thanks.

That being said, I prefer my GearWrench 84 tooth ratchets and may pick up a couple of Matco’s soon.

SK LP90’s get a bad rep and rightfully so. I too have seen multiple YouTube videos and forum discussion where people were having problems.

In my opinion, they’re awful ratchets. My Craftsman raised panel ratchets work better.

 

[setfocus]

Yeah it's too early to tell what will happen with SK but I'm not getting my hopes up

I've read about the issues with LP90 ratchets and it sounded like it was the early production ratchets that had most of the issues. I thought they had worked them out but maybe not. Snapon dual80 ratchets are my favorite for a pearhead, so I'll stick with them. Also tons of other good options for a good pearhead. Matco 88s, Mac axis, Koken, German ratchets, and lots of decent Taiwan made

I don't have any LP90s (or used any) but I love my 3/8 roundhead long flex ratchet for when I don't need a small ratchet head. The knurled handle feels good, love the classic look. Also have the x-frame wrenches and those are really nice. The mech feels better than the super expensive snapon ratcheting wrenches but I have to baby them because I don't know if I'll be able to warranty them down the road

 

[Steve_P]

I'm an SK fan and have spent thousands of $ with them over the last 10 years. My round head ratchets are awesome, as are my sockets, extensions, and few pliers. The one LP90 I purchased was junk. I have posted this before, but it would lock up, etc. I took it apart and watched it lock up and could not figure out the reason. Oil, lube.... didn't matter- the design or machining is no good. The 90T Tektons use almost an identical design, yet they work. Out of the box. Dry. Or with oil. Superlube makes the pawl stick and is NG. The only difference between SK and Tekton, is Tekton uses one additional spring on the selector mechanism- one on each side. If Tekton can get it right and SK can't, and SK has been in business ~100 years, and SK has never even tried to address the issue.... this just doesn't say much for SK. Hopefully the new ownership will actually address this.

SK needs to get their sh!t together and be able to ship a 90T ratchet that works 99.9% of the time out of the box. They haven't. Many people here have posted on this issue. If yours work, great, you got lucky. Many have not been lucky, including me.

 

[sparky 1971]

I've been one of the the lucky guys with the LP90's. I have a 12" 1/4" drive, 15" 3/8" drive, two 11" 3/8" drive flex heads, and a 15" 1/2" drive flex. Every one of them needed lubed to function properly, but that was it and now they all work phenomenally.

I am going to say shame on SK for not having them working properly right out of the package though. How hard would it be to lube them on the assembly line? Even better, when it's put together, spin the pawl, flip the direction lever and spin the pawl again? Throw the hard to work ratchets in a pile and when the junk pile is larger than the ready to go pile, QC might notice and try to find out what the problem is. That obviously didn't happen, now there are a whole bunch of people that are turned off from SK.

Now, as of yesterday, the SK website is even worse. They are blaming the supply chain, but I have a feeling there is more to it. There is no way they are out of every single product they sell. Back in November, they said January. In January, it was February. In February, it was March. Now March has come and gone and it's indefinite until they are back up and running. I wanted to give them a chance and joined the pro club. Ordered some extensions in January and I don't have them yet. I did order a couple of flare nut wrenches and the fixed head ratchets before the website said everything was sold out. I got those within a week of the orders.

 

[bob15]

BYE BYE SK

Over speculation? Makes zero sense.

Did you feel the same way when they were owned by the french?

 

[VolvoRyan]

I've been one of the the lucky guys with the LP90's. I have a 12" 1/4" drive, 15" 3/8" drive, two 11" 3/8" drive flex heads, and a 15" 1/2" drive flex. Every one of them needed lubed to function properly, but that was it and now they all work phenomenally.

I am going to say shame on SK for not having them working properly right out of the package though. How hard would it be to lube them on the assembly line? Even better, when it's put together, spin the pawl, flip the direction lever and spin the pawl again? Throw the hard to work ratchets in a pile and when the junk pile is larger than the ready to go pile, QC might notice and try to find out what the problem is. That obviously didn't happen, now there are a whole bunch of people that are turned off from SK.

Now, as of yesterday, the SK website is even worse. They are blaming the supply chain, but I have a feeling there is more to it. There is no way they are out of every single product they sell. Back in November, they said January. In January, it was February. In February, it was March. Now March has come and gone and it's indefinite until they are back up and running. I wanted to give them a chance and joined the pro club. Ordered some extensions in January and I don't have them yet. I did order a couple of flare nut wrenches and the fixed head ratchets before the website said everything was sold out. I got those within a week of the orders.

I think I own every LP90 SK makes/made except the 24" flex.. Not a dud in the bunch.... functionally..... though the standard 1/2" feels heavier than the equivalent round head.

Agree, it's lame that a number of them needed lubing out of the box. Love them or hate them, where SK truly messed up with the LP90 was the price. Unless it was Steals-n-Deals, or you knew one of the super secret discount codes, the LP90's were way too rich for SK's niche in the market. They were within, like, 10-15% of the tool trucks.

Who knows what's up for the future. They probably can't even find people to hire... because that's how things work now.

-Ryan

 

[Fly YX]

Built to last and back ordered for a lifetime. Is there new trademark.

 

[rancherbill]

I'm trying to build basic sets of all the US made tool companies (still in business) and sk is the last on my list but wondering if I should even bother......

My heads exploding trying to figure this out.

You want US tools made in a US factory, but you're wondering whether you should support a US tool manufacturer because they might change at an unspecified future date.

DON'T BUY from them and then it will be assured they won't be around later.

 

[ike]

I've never been a big SK fan, but recently got a thumb wheel ratchet because it appeared to be NOS. Hopefully they get **** sorted out, but if I were betting on it, I'd say the brand is done.

 

[rancherbill]

.... but if I were betting on it, I'd say the brand is done.

View attachment 1638853
View attachment 1638854

That's obviously a massively deficient product and they deserve to go out of business. Send it back.

With attitudes like yours it's easy to see why buy American doesn't work anymore just like the OP.

 

[ike]

Buy American doesn't work because I bought American and I hope they get their **** sorted out? Sorry that things don't look good for SK at the moment and their Chinese ownership isn't inspiring to me. Please explain how I'm the ******* here...

 

[rancherbill]

Buy American doesn't work because I bought American and I hope they get their **** sorted out? Sorry that things don't look good for SK at the moment and their Chinese ownership isn't inspiring to me. Please explain how I'm the ******* here...

You slammed them several ways. Anybody else here would be happy to get it, without mentioning that it was New Old Stock somehow implying the the new stuff was ****. There are lots of threads of new new stock on various brands the look like ****.

You are saying that the guy in the American Factory CANNOT AND WILL NOT MAKE GOOD STUFF anymore.

 

[ike]

Lol, what the hell man. I picked it up because it appeared to be NOS because it was under $30 and in great condition. If it appeared worn out, I wouldn't have paid that for it. I don't know how you assumed all that other **** you think I said, but you are completely wrong about it.

 

[Fly YX]

Maybe it doesn’t identify itself as NOS. Lighten up Francis.

 

[Kscardsfan]

Here’s my experience with SK as a relative late comer to their party. I really hasn’t heard much about them until I joined here at GJ. I started doing some homework and found out it was a quality brand with some awesome history behind it. Found out from a buddy that his late machinist/welder father only used SK tools for work and home and he had a lot of good stories and nostalgia about it as well. So I start buying some odds and ends used and it’s not bad stuff. This moves into watching the steaks and deals and getting an example of every drive size of LP90 before the buyout and getting to deal with all of SKs shipping and communications issues. Most of my invoices still showed they hadn’t shipped on the website last time I checked in on it, despite having the tools in hand. The LP90 series on the steals and deals was a great deal even if it needed to be cleaned and lubed. For full price I would’ve been beyond pissed about it, especially for being about the same price as a “name brand” tool truck option without the service and QC of a truck brand. Of all the ones I got, only one I felt needed the spring clip done to it, and I did it very slowly and progressively, reassembling it after each trimming to see how it felt. After that, I hit it with thinned down super lube and turned it watching tv to spread the lube around and help break in the gears. My other SK experiences have been buying older round heads used and dropping DT kits into them to make fine tooth ratchets on the cheap. I thought that was one of the hidden gems of the tool world until the supply of DT kits ran dry. I still have a few of them in 1/2” and use them to rebuild old garage sale finds into nice new ratchets for my friends as thank you gifts etc. My other SK stuff I have is some screwdrivers and miscellaneous sockets I need to organize and sell duplicates of on here. And an indexing pry bar that I absolutely love. I wish I had bought one in every size now. But my overall impression of SK was/is they were a great brand aiming at the wrong markets. They chased the professionals who were all deeply attached to their brand of choice already. They tried aiming at the leftover Craftsman/DIY/pro-sumer market, which is underserved by domestic manufacturers, but they still wanted to charge professional prices. And then they had some half assed attempts at industrial users and government contract sales that never seemed to matter much in a lot of cases. Just my thoughts.

 

[lardy1]

As I see it, Wayne, Dresser and Ideal all milked it for what they could wring out of it without substantial investment then sold it and here we are. Smack dab in the middle of yet another story of a US manufacturer struggling to survive and everyone crying about the Chinese. Sorry, but the Chinese played no role in the seeming demise of SK Tools. Corporate greed and consumer cheapism were enough without the help of them.

 

[dnschmidt]

As an Sk dealer I have been told, and it took awhile to be told this, they have deleted over 1500SKU's from their inventory. If they bring those items back they most likely will be asian made, most likely in China.
They were hoping to start shipping product this month, but I still haven't received any product yet. Hope to have some soon.
Sk has been very poor communicating to their dealers and distributor's as to what their actual plans are, personally I don't think they know what they will be doing.

I DON'T THINK THEY EVER KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING SO WHAT'S NEW.

 

[Professional Tool User]

As I see it, Wayne, Dresser and Ideal all milked it for what they could wring out of it without substantial investment then sold it and here we are. Smack dab in the middle of yet another story of a US manufacturer struggling to survive and everyone crying about the Chinese. Sorry, but the Chinese played no role in the seeming demise of SK Tools. Corporate greed and consumer cheapism were enough without the help of them.

It's not just about investment. SK has a lot of other problems. Ideal couldn't even come up with a logical marketing strategy. SK list prices are almost as high as Snap on. Snap on easily wins in the overall customer experience department. Taking forever to roll out new products is another one. A lot of people will get tired of waiting and go buy something else. The list goes on.

 

[vssjim]

As I see it, Wayne, Dresser and Ideal all milked it for what they could wring out of it without substantial investment then sold it and here we are. Smack dab in the middle of yet another story of a US manufacturer struggling to survive and everyone crying about the Chinese. Sorry, but the Chinese played no role in the seeming demise of SK Tools. Corporate greed and consumer cheapism were enough without the help of them.

I have been an SK customer for quit awhile it was when Dresser bought the Corp. that was Symington -Wayne and renamed them SK Tools dropping the Wayne. During that time SK under Dresser Industries was thriving and didn't have quality issues and promoted the hell out of SK Tools. Back in those days you could by SK in so many places and promoted in all types of magazines and race car sponsorships and even had a Miss SK Tools girl to go give out trophies etc. Anybody remember the SK Tools Golden Ratchet award to championship mechanics I think Dresser did good by SK Tools.

 

[Rickster]

Nick at JDTCo did a great SK rant on YouTube a while back.

 

[Dieselclunker]

Over speculation? Makes zero sense.

Did you feel the same way when they were owned by the french?

Mack Volvo Budweiser huge companies swallowed up by Chinese conglomerates, and your comparing Falcom to these ? WOW

 

[VolvoRyan]

Mack Volvo Budweiser huge companies swallowed up by Chinese conglomerates, and your comparing Falcom to these ? WOW

Funny that nobody is making these comparisons. Geely got Volvo from Ford when Ford sold all of their brands so they didn't *look* like they took part in the big buyout. Geely has been a pretty good steward of Volvo. Cars built at the Torslanda plant in Sweden are as good as ever... and I seem to have an example in the driveway of everything Torslanda made since Volvo discontinued the Amazon..... though I've a lead on an Amazon!

-Ryan

 

[Dieselclunker]

Funny that nobody is making these comparisons. Geely got Volvo from Ford when Ford sold all of their brands so they didn't *look* like they took part in the big buyout. Geely has been a pretty good steward of Volvo. Cars built at the Torslanda plant in Sweden are as good as ever... and I seem to have an example in the driveway of everything Torslanda made since Volvo discontinued the Amazon..... though I've a lead on an Amazon!

-Ryan

Trucks, read Mack> Volvo> Chinese Conglomerates your referring to falcom one company ?

 

[Dieselclunker]

Trucks, read Mack> Volvo> Chinese Conglomerates your referring to falcom one company ?

Volvo makes cars.....

 

[Dieselclunker]

Volvo makes cars.....

apples to oranges understand now?

 

[Dieselclunker]

apples to oranges understand now?

Anyways now you can have imported SK tools to work on your Volvo, you win !

 

[Dieselclunker]

As I see it, Wayne, Dresser and Ideal all milked it for what they could wring out of it without substantial investment then sold it and here we are. Smack dab in the middle of yet another story of a US manufacturer struggling to survive and everyone crying about the Chinese. Sorry, but the Chinese played no role in the seeming demise of SK Tools. Corporate greed and consumer cheapism were enough without the help of them.

don't think anyone said Chinese had a role in the demise of SK . They just have it now......

 

[Wrench97]

Volvo cars and Volvo trucks are different companies have been for some time.
AB Volvo >https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ They make Trucks, buses, construction equipment, marine and industrial engines, customer financing, insurance and related services, product related services under the Volvo , Terex Trucks, Renault Trucks, Prevost, Cellcentric, Dongfeng Trucks, Eicher, SDLG, Arquus, Nova Bus, Mack Truck brands.

AB Volvo sold the car division to Ford in 1999, Ford sold it in 2010.

 

[gatewaysysop]

How did a thread about SK tools current status end up as a discussion of Facom, Volvo, Stanley, Ford and Mack and who owns who, etc. ? Just ... wow.

 

[Wrench97]

AB Volvo is a publicly traded swedish company owned by the stock holders.