GRANCO Tools

[Blacknwhitepit]

This seems to be one of the most forgotten and least mentioned of USA made tools (Up there with Wright).

While I have never owned any, they appear to be of good quality and inexpensive to buy at the flea markets.

Your experiences?

-BWP

 

[Merkava_4]

Your experiences?

I've never heard of them.

 

[MAD]

I always assumed that Granco was a house brand for Grainger since that is where I saw them, but that does not seem to be the case.

link:

http://www.grancoind.com/companyinfo.htm

 

[Uncle Buck]

I've never heard of them.

me too!..................

 

[Fedwrench]

They are all over the military. You can probably find them at any hock shop or flea market around a large military base. They show up on Ebay from time to time when people are selling GSA tools they have acquired somehow.

 

[ImportTuner]

I've never heard of them.

First time I heard of them ... there are sooo many brands out there ...

 

[Merkava_4]

http://www.grancoind.com/catalog/wrenches.pdf

Incase anyone's interested.

 

[Merkava_4]

http://www.grancoind.com/catalog.htm

Their catalog index.

 

[eschoendorff]

After looking at their catalog they don't seem to be anything special...

 

[Merkava_4]

Their flex sockets look pretty good; and their plastic handled ratchets and spin handles look interesting. . .

 

[eschoendorff]

Their flex sockets look pretty good; and their plastic handled ratchets and spin handles look interesting. . .

How's that? They are hawking regular SK-style round head ratchets and the flex sockets look just like everyone else's....

 

[Merkava_4]

How's that? They are hawking regular SK-style round head ratchets and the flex sockets look just like everyone else's....

Well. . . round head plastic handled ratchets are kind of scarce and their flex sockets look to have pressed in pins and thin walls. Not too shabby to me.

 

[wrenchr]

If you go to their home page it says they are discontinuing the socket line.

 

[Merkava_4]

If you go to their home page it says they are discontinuing the socket line.

Well, so much for that idea. . .

 

[wrenchr]

Not sure I would buy anything unless it is real cheap$$. I think they are not going to last much longer. Warranty could be a issue down the line.

 

[06Blueram]

I worked at Granco from 1984 to 1992 as a welder and lathe operator. All the tools were made in Grandview Mo. They were all GSA government orders. I don't think there in business anymore but they were quality made tools. They compared to snap-on.

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[XxToolAholicxX]

I worked at Granco from 1984 to 1992 as a welder and lathe operator. All the tools were made in Grandview Mo. They were all GSA government orders. I don't think there in business anymore but they were quality made tools. They compared to snap-on.

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Oh ****... You started some **** now with your last sentence you hurt lots of feelings now...

 

[Dingleburry]

Yeah cause snap on has some kind of super indestructible alloy. Which clearly makes them way way WAYYYYY better then any other brand out there. Which also justifies their price. Its just science. Duhh
And if theres any feelings hurt its more than likely the guys who "look" at their tools more than use their tools.

 

[Dingleburry]

Heres some "snap on industrial" aka "Williams" usa. All used once to thrice. With a 10" ratchet. No 6ft snipe or anything. Superior quality imo.
1/2" 9/16" 15/16"
All the used ones are like this. +1 for williams/snap on.

 

[06Blueram]

Some orders requested a snap-on part numbers to be modified. Once modified it was able to be restamped with our name. But mostly it was the QT strength testing,nickel and chrome thickness. GSA would send they're inspector out for testing and pull any tools out for testing just to make sure of the quality. Williams, Proto and Martian are all good tools you don't hear alot about.

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[1foxracing]

I recently purchased a Granco 1/4" drive metric socket set from Epsteins.
http://www.harryepstein.com/index.php/1-4-dr-11-pc-metric-socket-set.html

It's kind of a oddball set with mostly 12pt sockets except for the 5 & 14mm that are 6pt.
They are US made but I would compare them to Menards Master Force line then any other US manufacture. They have very shallow engravings and honestly I would grab any Taiwanese manufactured socket before these.

 

[T45]

Heres some "snap on industrial" aka "Williams" usa. All used once to thrice. With a 10" ratchet. No 6ft snipe or anything. Superior quality imo.
1/2" 9/16" 15/16"
All the used ones are like this. +1 for williams/snap on.

Honestly, those look like unimpressive, and suggest something else is going on.

 

[tawhite]

http://www.grancoind.com/catalog.htm

Their catalog index.

My SAE flare wrenches are GRANCO. Paid maybe $25 for the set in the mid-1990's. Finish is a bit rough, but they are very thick (both the handle and the wrench head). I don't think I could ever get them to spread with any kind of normal use.

taw

 

[gdocktor3]

Heres some "snap on industrial" aka "Williams" usa. All used once to thrice. With a 10" ratchet. No 6ft snipe or anything.
All the used ones are like this. +1 for williams/snap on.

Absolutely no way this statement is true.

 

[ganymede]

^^^
Looks kind of like they were used with an impact .

 

[woody 73]

I also thought impact use...

I see Granco from time to time nothing special but they get the job done.

 

[RedneckWelder]

My Williams/snap on sockets look nothing like that...and I actually use them daily as I have for the past two and a half years

 

[Al Borland]

They compared to snap-on.

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Because the Government pays $400 for hammers too???

 

[Revelations]

Because the Government pays $400 for hammers too???[emoji38]_hitti

Good one!

Sent from a Galaxy far far away.

 

[Dingleburry]

^^^
Looks kind of like they were used with an impact .

I also thought impact use...

I see Granco from time to time nothing special but they get the job done.

Bought brand new. Have never been used in an impact. Have never let anyone else use them either. Just a wright 10 inch ratchet. And some muscle.

 

[Al Borland]

I've got a few sockets that are beat-up like that. Did it shearing bolts off that wouldn't turn (On purpose). Just tighten until "Snap". Seems to do more damage than using on an impact.

 

[four.cycle]

Granco / Granco Industries Inc., 4009 E. 138th St., P.O. Box 171, Grandview, MO 64030-0171 / phone: (816) 966 9400 email: [email protected] / contract supplier for military / https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/granco-tools.14174/


Granco Industries NSN 5120-01-116-6047 23-pc 1/2" drive metric socket set

Granco Industries NSN 5120-01-116-6047 23-pc 1/2" drive metric socket set

This is a Granco NOS 23-piece 1/2" drive Metric 12-point socket set - sizes run from 10mm to 32mm (no skips)
Came across this set yesterday searching for some drift punches and gave these to my buddy (who will most likely be using them to do some work on a couple trucks here.) I found an NOS Indestro set that I like more.

It would appear from comments above that Granco was still offering products and a catalog as late as 2008, but discontinued their socket line in 2009.
Notwithstanding the comments above by 06blueram (see posts #16 and #20), I cannot help but notice the resemblance to sockets sold by other military contract suppliers, specificially JS Technology, ProAmerica, and Thorsen. (see second photo image.)

There is no question that Granco was outsourcing at least part of their product line:


Granco 11650 4-in adjustable wrench(photos ebay)

The odd wrenches, however, seem to have been made in house:

Granco 16130 9/16" flare nut/box end wrench (photo ebay)

Pure conjecture and speculation on my part, but it sure looks to me like Granco was stamping out some very specialized wrenches and torque adapters for the military, but outsourcing sockets (perhaps from National Hand Tools out of Dallas?) and (obviously) their adjustable wrenches from Western Forge. Just my lousy opinion, of course.

 

[TheRealZeus]

What four.cycle said..

 

[Tom "Python" Aycock]

Got my first Granco sockets today at the flea market. Never heard of that brand before. Glad y'all have this thread. Six 12pt metric 3/8 drive and two 12pt 1/4 drive. Bought them because I'd never seen any and because they looked Thorsenish...now I gotta spend the rest of my life finding a box and the missing pieces...