I hate to revive an old thread but I just bought some Elora tools and wanted to share my findings with everybody. I have always liked this brand Elora. It's rare to find here and when something turns up in an old hardware shop, I feel like I've found some hidden treasure.
I have had a number of elora bits and pieces for years and have been quite happy with them. I have most sizes of their 1/2" drive inhex sockets, some flare nut wrenches, a few half-moon wrenches, one combination wrench. All very nice and comparable in quality with any top brand like Hazet or Stahlwille.
When I won the ebay auction for this old 3/8 drive socket set from a guy in the UK I was delighted and looked forward to receiving it. When I opened the packaging, all the sockets were beautiful and in keeping with my expectations for Elora stuff. Cold war era, all marked made in West Germany with the old Elora "cloud" logo. You could tell that all the stuff was barely used.
Then I looked at the ratchet. (24 teeth!) The forging had some, bad ripple spots on the side of the head. Kind of like pits, but not from rust: definitely made that way. The action was all gummy from old lube, so I cleaned it all out and relubed it. That improved it a lot, but even so, it just has a really sub-standard ratcheting action. Not worn out, just inherently crappy. I just can't express my astonishment at how truly crude and poorly made it is. Any bargain store made in Taiwan ratchet could beat the snot out of it with one hand tied behind its back with a blindfold on. Well ok. So they can't make a good ratchet. Fine, but then I look at the sliding T. It's so loose on the head that it's useless as a spinner. Not worn out, just made that way. Then I try the 10" extension. More ripples in the forging like the ratchet and the male square is a poor fit and the sockets rattle back and forth on it. The male square is also too short so that the socket doesn't engage the ball properly and they fall off from their own weight. It is not worn out. There's no signs of wear on it. It's just reeeeeally crappy. Worse than made in China. Maybe the steel is really good and strong, but the execution leaves me utterly blown away by its sheer shittiness.
I am frankly the most disappointed ever in my life with a tool purchase.
Maybe the present Elora stuff is improved, but these old socket accessories will leave you saying OMFG. What useless garbage.
My Koken socketry leaves me impressed with its quiet competence, The Hazet stuff is super strong but with disappointing plating durability. My Snap-On stuff is exactly what you expect from S/O it's just untouchable.
Just thought I'd share...
