Recent content by Tomzbox

For any poor soul with a brain who wound up here. The rails spoken of here are USA made by VIM. They are the best plastic rails in most opinions. VIM makes them for Craftsman, Wright, NAPA, one of the tool trucks, and several others. They are very stiff and likely have fibers. The only...

The LPS3 may be what I've been looking for. Something between wax and oil is what I want. Sounds a little like marine fogging oil. Hey I "bake" mine too. The sun gets real hot here in summer so I set my black oxide tools outside oiled up like little sunbathers. I call it seasoning.

That's one fine looking socket. First company I've seen to put functional knurling on a socket down where your fingers want to be for spinning. I imagine everybody avoids it because stamping or rolling anywhere but at the square drive base where there's lots of metal will distort the socket...

So glad you cared. Tell ya what kid: I'll give ya 20 years to ponder on what's actually wrong and how we got here. If you have any good ideas on how to change course that'll be extra credit. If you've done anything to help I'll hand you the baton.

Yep Wright is overlooked. They have the industrial quality target they want everybody else that still want's a quality American tool can(and should) seek them out. Shouldn't expect them to come to you and still have reasonable prices. Really burns me to see all the hype for Harbor Freight...

This INOX is esoteric stuff here in the US. Can barely find anything on it. There's less available here than just a few years back. The German sellers on ebay are very helpful though. I took interest in Hazet because of the functional knurling on the sockets. The knurling on metric chrome...

Thanks Interceptor you saved me from a lotta heat. I was just hoping somebody here had hard evidence. The first tipoff is the slide on grips. SnapOn grips have added texture to make them more "special" but other than that exactly the same. I wouldn't be surprised if they(Wilde) had exclusively...

Dutchgray and maico thanks a lot for the Koken tip. Never heard of them. I think Japanese tools like this are the most overlooked here. I like Vessel JIS "Jawsfit" screwdrivers especially. They really mean business at the tip where it matters. Work better on Phillips heads than Phillips...

Interceptor there are so many different blacks now. Plus the original surface can be sand blasted to take a better coat. Cold or hot dip. "Black chrome"... it's a lot different. The newer SnapOn black ratchets look more to me like black chrome. I collect SnapOn industrial sockets within a 15...

Dave455 you are very lucky to have re-chroming as an easy option. Very surprised it's not highly regulated there as it is here in US. Getting rid of the byproducts is a big problem here. Had a small sculpture I did chromed and had to travel 2 hours to get there. Weeks later picked it up and they...

BK13 you and I are fine, OK. You gotta see how I took the "orange" as a jab. Anybody goes at me I come back 90% of the time. I'd expect anybody else to. OK I take it seriously maybe. The color has nothing to do with it. Black oxide is a conversion and stabilizing of the actual surface metal...

I didn't say I was sure did I? I won't bore you with my credentials. From a little checking I found that Wilde mainly produces for other companies. Not saying all SnapOns are by Wilde. If the trained eye looks closely at pics you"ll see the similarities. I did this years ago so specifics I...

I've been in manufacturing my whole life. It's in my blood. I know exactly what that rep meant about not being able to find decent labor. I've been in the same position. When you consider their production rate I can't imagine how they find enough people these days. Let's be honest we are getting...

Glad people noticed my remarks. But let me say I am a real American and have no interest in hurting anybody still making sparks in this country. I did not say they said "Whats the big deal" lightly. The needlenose were bought from one of the biggest sellers of Channellock on ebay. I contacted...

I haven't gotten any Wilde yet but pretty sure they make SnapOn. I prefer dipped handles to slide on though. You gotta admit Wilde's flush joints are nice. I'm surprised there's that much question on their quality.