Hello from S·K Hand Tools

[SK Eric]

Hello from S·K Hand Tools. As many of you know, we're in the process of re-building the S·K brand. A few years ago S·K went out of business after being bought and sold by several private equity groups. After it closed, a few companies, mostly Mexican and Chinese, put offers on the S·K name, but ultimately, Ideal Industries, a family owned electrical components manufacturer based in Sycamore, Illinois won the bidding. We like to think we won because we wanted to continue manufacturing here in the US--create a real tool company with innovative and high-quality products. In fewer than 6 months, we had moved much of the tooling and some of the few remaining people to Sycamore and began the long task of piecing the business back together. It has been a huge job, and one that we're still working hard on: The plant had been neglected just as the business had been, so just about every machine, punch, mill and lathe had to be re-built. We are just getting to the point now where we are releasing new, innovative products, and re-establishing a fleet of S·K trucks. I've been a lurker on this forum for a long time and I thought it was time to introduce myself.

Eric

 

[Lx460]

Awesome! We have an insider!

 

[Zrexxer]

Welcome, Eric. I for one appreciate Ideal's commitment to continue manufacturing in the US, especially when the alternative is so tempting to many industries. Hope you hang around and get involved here. We've had reps from a lot of major tool companies here over time, but it seems like most of them drift away after awhile.

 

[IFMJohn]

Get an S-K truck out around tacoma, WA! Please!

 

[upgrading]

Excellent.
Welcome.

 

[Hiball]

Welcome Eric, Thanks for Joining up and More importantly identifying yourself from the Get-Go. I can Appreciate what Ideal is trying to do with the SK Brand and Look forward to some New Innovation in the Product Line. I wish you the best of Luck here at GJ, Hopefully Past Performance wont be a indication of Future Results in regards to Tool brand Representatives that Join up.

 

[66354dream]

SK ROCKS!!!! welcome to the forum

 

[Marc Benjamin]

Insider? Pics or it aint true lol.

 

[rburke65]

Welcome Eric from Ohio. As a retired electrician I am aware of the name brand Ideal.

 

[n8n]

Welcome, good to see you here. Hope you hang out a bit. There's a good amount of love for SK here and you might find some constructive criticism as well that might help you be even better. (any chance of bringing back knurling on sockets? <G>)

 

[FJ 432]

God Bless America. Welcome.

 

[Shadowdog500]

Welcome to the forum!

Chris

 

[Caleb T]

Welcome Eric! I have been an SK fan since I started helping my dad work on cars many years ago with his mis-matched pieces of SK. I look forward to seeing new products! I respect the wonderful customer service, and the great USA quality.

 

[930dreamer]

Welcome to the GJ. I have a lot of S-K tools and think their great.

 

[n8n]

Oh just for the record... I have said this before here but will say it here again so you see it... my dad's had an old Kraeuter socket set since before I was born and my grandfather left me *his* 3/8" socket set... which is a 50's vintage SK set So yeah, I'm a little partial. My 1/2" drive is mostly SK, the 6 points were a gift from my awesome girlfriend and the 12 points were all purchased used some of them old enough that they're knurled. My 3/8" metric deeps are SK as well after I got sick of breaking my old USA Husky sockets. Looking to replace my Craftsman stuff with manufacturers that are still made in USA so I don't have to worry about getting cheap offshore stuff if/when I ever break and have to warranty something, so props to you for staying USA that actually does factor into my purchasing decisions. I am not completely anti-import as I have a few German and Taiwanese tools that I like and wouldn't be averse to some Ko-Ken, but I do prefer USA if the quality is the same as the offshore options to keep my neighbors working and also I *am* anti-Chinese products of questionable quality.

 

[bgoodwin]

Welcome, Eric. I have several SK brand tools that have helped me make a living and served me well for 30+ years. I'd also like to thank you and Ideal for the commitment to continued US production.

 

[David Paul]

Welcome. I'm sure you are aware of the SK group buy here several months ago. As a result I spent more $$$ then intended but was very happy with the SK products I received. After receiving the new tools, I went through all my old SK sockets, many 30+ years old to see if SK would warrantee the broken ones. Without question they did. As a result SK will now be my go to tool manufacture going forward. I did not realize the relationship between Ideal electrical tools which I have been impressed with and SK until a previous poster mentioned it. Makes perfict sense. I wish SK the best of luck keeping jobs in the USA.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Hi and welcome aboard Eric, as always, enjoy..

 

[meier motor sports]

cool. i didnt know sycamore was a local company (to me that is). lets have a plant tour.

 

[SK Eric]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. ^Let me talk to my boss about a plant tour for anybody that's in the Chicago area. It's pretty cool. The new S·K building is a five minute walk from Ideal, so maybe it could be a twofer. Ideal is putting plans together for a new plant--some of our manufacturing operations are in buildings that have been in constant use since the 1920s, so we're all pretty pumped about a new building.

 

[metalhead212121]

Welcome to the forum.

SK Eric- Can I ask you what your job title is with SK?

 

[countryroad82]

Welcome to the forum! If you happen to know a lady by the name of Lauren Hoth, please tell her thanks again for the cool swag she had sent to me, even though I didn't even ask for it!! I was just writing thanking Ideal for keeping an American company in America. Maybe we can help out with what we would like to see from the new SK.

 

[boostedgt]

havent bought any new SK stuff yet but they gave me great customer service on a ratchet rebuild kit a few months ago.

 

[zbyler]

Eric, welcome and thanks for introducing yourself. I had no idea that Ideal had purchased the SK brand. I have dealt with a bunch of Ideal products in the past so they are a relatively familiar company to me.

I don't personally own any SK tools but there are a few things on my list for the future!

 

[SK Eric]

Welcome to the forum.

SK Eric- Can I ask you what your job title is with SK?

I'm in marketing, but I'm an experienced auto technician.

Welcome to the forum! If you happen to know a lady by the name of Lauren Hoth, please tell her thanks again for the cool swag she had sent to me, even though I didn't even ask for it!! I was just writing thanking Ideal for keeping an American company in America. Maybe we can help out with what we would like to see from the new SK.

I'll definitely tell Lauren: she gets it done!

Insider? Pics or it aint true lol.

Lolz! Ok, Let me upload some to our G+ and FB page and link them here. Coming right up!

 

[SK Eric]

Okay, here are some shots. When you enter the building, we have a product display room (complete with tool truck, when it's not out on the road). Here are some screwdrivers that are actually not made in our Sycamore plant, but made by Western Forge in Colorado Springs, a sister company. If you look closely at the handles, I bet a few of you can guess who else we make screwdrivers for.

Storage on the North wall of our plant:

It was all hands on deck last week, boxing up X-Frame ratcheting wrench prototypes. If you could look further to the left, our fearless leader Joe was plugging away to beat the deadline.

See that wire? that's 1.5" thick and is being fed into one of our large extruders to become sockets. That machine is pretty bad-***. Maybe I'll do more on that later.

 

[SK Eric]

One more shot I took of unfinished ratchets:

https://scontent-lga.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/10449496_969526843065492_782608453183961196_n.jpg?oh=eff40f3491da6a3cb855a947b67de424&oe=55933695

 

[d.mcfarland]

Dam that's awesome ****.

 

[oak_park]

Welcome and Thanks! I'm in the western burbs but would be happy to attend a plant tour if one ever gets put together.

I've heard that S-K is working on a new ratchet, I hopeful we'll hear something soon. The regular #45170 is a workhorse that's been around years, but an additional product is needed to replace the loss of the former Facom fine tooth ratchets. A quick release would be a nice option too.

Thanks again for posting. I've love my S-K stuff, and look forward to future offerings. Also remember its sometimes a tough crowd here.

 

[bikeguy5]

Please tell us more about the socket extruder machine that is bad ***

 

[Marc Benjamin]

Awesome pics, now that's what I'm talking about!

 

[lilcraigford]

Please tell us more about the socket extruder machine that is bad ***

Thank you for the behind-the-scenes glimpse! I'd love to see more of this process if you get the chance.

I'm not too familiar with SK, other than in name, and I don't own any of your tools (yet). Joining this forum has really reinforced my long time impression of SK products being up there with the other big brands. Its great to hear that SK was adopted by a company that isn't going to drive a quality name into the ground by sending work overseas.

 

[n8n]

So do you ever get a paycheck or do you just take it home in green boxes every week?

Sent from my XT897 using Tapatalk

 

[SK Eric]

So do you ever get a paycheck or do you just take it home in green boxes every week?

The candy store is calling me. Did you ever buy a tool you know you'll never use?

https://scontent-lga.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/11048268_975262302491946_8249042144422464675_n.jpg?oh=1066ba5aaf8411fafa52d5e6b2217cba&oe=558608DC

 

[67King]

Cool, glad to have you. Been buying a lot of SK stuff over the past few months, mostly socket sets of all kinds of shapes and sizes (conventional, and internal drive ones), as well as screwdrivers. Very happy with them so far.

 

[BJ42LX]

Did you ever buy a tool you know you'll never use?

About three days after I joined GJ. It's been a problem ever since.

I'd be up for a factory tour, especially if there was an opportunity to buy from the company store. It's only a 12 hour drive for me...

 

[raiderhillbilly]

I love the SK brand and have tons of SK tools. I cant wait for the new ratchets and X-frame wrenches to come out. Western Forge needs to make some retro Green and white screwdriver handles and Some Green cerakote painted Impact sockets would be awesome too.

 

[IFMJohn]

I need more pry- i mean, screwdrivers. I love the way my you-know-who screwdrivers feel. Lets see if I can get a better deal on them [emoji14]. Time to go browse your website!

 

[XxToolAholicxX]

Hello Eric and welcome to Thee Garage Journal. It is a pleasure to have you here. I am glad that we have an American company that is dedicated to quality and keeping jobs right here in America. As we learn from history where mistakes are made I am sure S-K Tools have learned. I did take a business course once long ago and it thought us that a product can succeed if it is marketed the right way to consumers. S-K Tools need better marketing and availability to its consumer for it to succeed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am a ToolAholic,Sometimes I regret it,Especially when the ToolMan wont give me no credit

 

[lbgradwell]

Hello Eric and Welcome!
I am very happy that SK is now in the hands of a solid company dedicated to keeping production of this venerable brand in the USA.
Best wishes!