Is Japan a player?

adrian44 · Mar 25, 2012

Over the years I don't think I've ever come across Japanese made hand hand tools. Are there any brands from Japan making screw drivers, hex keys, pliers etc? Just curious.

Skin · Mar 25, 2012

Vessel for screwdrivers. Koken has a pretty wide selection of sockets and drive tools. KTC has many lines and some premium brands under them. Just dont expect the stuff to be super cheap.

Outlawmws · Mar 25, 2012

Japan makes good tools, but i don't think you see that many over here. Most of what I see are dykes and needle nose/electronics type tools. Back in the 50's and early 60's there was a lot of cheap **** abound. I doubt much is left.

srmofo · Mar 25, 2012

Im not scared of a japanese tool. In fact, Im bidding on some jap c clamps right now. Unfortunately I dont know of any brands specifically.

If you cant tell I missed WW2 by a few decades, but I understand the old timers views nonetheless, I just dont share them.

Jack Olsen · Mar 25, 2012

I recently got these on ebay. Apparently they're all Japanese:

mrobins297aaa · Mar 25, 2012

in the 60's the stuff made in japan was mostly junk, just like some of the stuff from china today.......remember Honda became famous for there motor cycles not there cars.
at least the way i remember it

jk47 · Mar 25, 2012

adrian44 said:
Over the years I don't think I've ever come across Japanese made hand hand tools. Are there any brands from Japan making screw drivers, hex keys, pliers etc? Just curious.

Lots...

blue dog · Mar 25, 2012

I own that Nepros adjustable in JK47's avatar, it is a thing of beauty.

Knuckle Buster · Mar 25, 2012

I still have a set of combination wrenches my dad bought me for Christmas in early 80's. They are Fuller, made in Japan. They held up fine, but I later bought a set of Blackhawks that are about 1/3 longer.

Stick Figure · Mar 25, 2012

Don't forget Craftsman

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2828

I do have a couple sets of Vessel screwdrivers, and based on those I wouldn't shy away from other tool offerings from Japan. Of course I also only buy Japanese built Toyota's so my view may be slightly skewed.

iroc409 · Mar 25, 2012

Japanese woodworking tools are generally well-regarded.

spv · Mar 25, 2012

You really should check out the Nepros thread. Out of the box they are a thing of beauty. I also have a bunch of KTC and Koken. In fact I prefer Japanese tools over all others. German are my second choice. I have never rounded a bolt with my Japanese tools. They really get "contact points" and tight tolerances.

Sick Puppy · Mar 25, 2012

Koken are awesome.

Aigo spanners are pretty good - sadly bankrupt now, distributors here have replaced them with Taiwanese Worldwide wrenches, no comparison...

Nepros, Vessel, all are renowned for their quality - check out the threads on TOTOW, nepros, any title with Japan in it... Ooh, while I remember, how about Mitutoyo micrometers?

Frankstools, Levelchrome, UKTools, Quattrojon here all have Japanese brands.

One thing from Japan I haven't seen though are ratchet wrenches. Anyone know why? :headscrat

Monte · Mar 25, 2012

bobcatdan · Mar 25, 2012

I don't know if I own Japanesse tools, but generally regrad anything from Japan to be good. The japanesse have a strong work ethic and a lot of pride in what they do. Early imports from a Japan got a bad rap, but remember we leveled that country and it took a while for them to rebuild. The only tools I have seen in person was truecraft that where made in Japan and they looked fine.

waterboy12 · Mar 25, 2012

My at300c is stamped japan. Made in 1982.

Skin · Mar 25, 2012

Sick Puppy said:
One thing from Japan I haven't seen though are ratchet wrenches. Anyone know why?

KTC sells them including an ultra long double box with a ratcheting flex end. That particular style cost a small fortune though at around $60-$100 per wrench.

http://ktc.jp/catalog/index/ktc_ratchet_boxend.html
http://ktc.jp/catalog/html/mr15l-10f~19f.php

adrian44 · Mar 25, 2012

Thank you VERY much for the great replies!

Now I want this thing more than I ever wanted any woman! :drool:

http://www.engineer.jp/en/products/dr51e.html

Any idea where to purchase online?

jk47 · Mar 25, 2012

Sick Puppy said:
Koken are awesome.

Aigo spanners are pretty good - sadly bankrupt now, distributors here have replaced them with Taiwanese Worldwide wrenches, no comparison...

Nepros, Vessel, all are renowned for their quality - check out the threads on TOTOW, nepros, any title with Japan in it... Ooh, while I remember, how about Mitutoyo micrometers?

Frankstools, Levelchrome, UKTools, Quattrojon here all have Japanese brands.

One thing from Japan I haven't seen though are ratchet wrenches. Anyone know why?

http://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/ehimemachine/tmsr1a05sp.html
street price $80 USD

http://translate.google.com/transla...ing.yahoo.co.jp/ehimemachine/tmsr1af05sp.html
street price $110 USD

http://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/ehimemachine/tmsr2a05sp.html?ccode=ofv&pos=2&model=
street price $105 USD

but I believe all are made in Taiwan to KTC's spec. I believe Superautobacs knows more about the ratcheting wrenches.

mofo62 · Mar 25, 2012

.

Wao! Monte.Thanks for information.nice work! :thumbup:

V!

shoturtle · Mar 25, 2012

Also estwing has some nail claws made in japan, you can find them at Home Depot actually. So you can find made in Japan in the US, but not to common though.

IngyHere · Mar 26, 2012

Buy the Japanese Vessel screwdrivers here: http://www.vesseltools.com/ . They are the authorized Vessel distributors in the US.

INTERESTINGLY, many people do not know that Japan flew its own screw design for phillips-style screws. They were built to the Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) specification and have heads slightly different from traditional Western phillips screws. So, the Vessel screwdrivers conform to the JIS spec, not Western specs. Now, these are very similar, but in situations of tight tolerance, you will find that the traditional phillips screwdrivers can strip out JIS screws. (I don't know about the opposite.) That is why on some older Toyotas or Hondas one can find carb screws that are half stripped -- because someone used the wrong screwdriver on them.

More info is here: JIS Screws are not Phillips!

Juddy · Mar 26, 2012

I've used plenty of Koken hand tools and think they are of a very good quality. I've still got a 1/2 ratchet that I have abused over they years and have never had a problem with it and because of this i wouldnt hessatate to buy any tool that is made in Japan.
I've never used their air tools before but I just got given a brand new 3/4 Koken rattle gun and am interested if people have had good experience with their air tools? List price in Australia is $1100 for it so it would want to be good!

IngyHere · Mar 26, 2012

Juddy said:
... I've never used their air tools before but I just got given a brand new 3/4 Koken rattle gun and am interested if people have had good experience with their air tools? ...

Japanese air tools are awesome, IMHO. Ultra powerful, reliable and made tight. Interestingly, anyone can buy Japanese air ratchets from Sioux Tools, a division of Snap-On. I have three in different sizes, and they rock. Since it's almost impossible to find air tools made in the USA anymore at a reasonable price, I opted for Japanese precision.

Take a look:

http://www.siouxtools.com/force_assembly_ratchet.php

The price is right, too: Between $100 and $150 each. That's a lot better value than some junky Third World IR tool.

jk47 · Mar 26, 2012

IngyHere said:
Buy the Japanese Vessel screwdrivers here: http://www.vesseltools.com/ . They are the authorized Vessel distributors in the US.

INTERESTINGLY, many people do not know that Japan flew its own screw design for phillips-style screws. They were built to the Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) specification and have heads slightly different from traditional Western phillips screws. So, the Vessel screwdrivers conform to the JIS spec, not Western specs. Now, these are very similar, but in situations of tight tolerance, you will find that the traditional phillips screwdrivers can strip out JIS screws. (I don't know about the opposite.) That is why on some older Toyotas or Hondas one can find carb screws that are half stripped -- because someone used the wrong screwdriver on them.

More info is here: JIS Screws are not Phillips!

Actually Vessel is no longer "JIS", because the standard has gone the way of the dodo bird or something like that...

http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28491&highlight=vessel+screwdriver&page=5

post #96

tradesmanschoice · Mar 28, 2012

These TOP adjustable wrenches are great, better than most mainstream brands here in europe.

http://www.tradesmanschoice.com/catalog/TOP/HY-38S.html

IngyHere · Mar 31, 2012

jk47 said:
Actually Vessel is no longer "JIS", because the standard has gone the way of the dodo bird or something like that...

http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28491&highlight=vessel+screwdriver&page=5

post #96

True, the original JIS spec was superceded in 2008 with an updated spec. Vessel still claims, though, to my knowledge, that their screwdrivers effectively conform to both older and newer specs. So, like a good piece of software, it's supposedly backward compatible.

:willy_nil

Hawk321 · Mar 31, 2012

@monte....

Wo zum Teufel hast du all diese Links her???? Herrschaftszeiten.

Monte · Mar 31, 2012

Hawk321 said:
@monte....

Wo zum Teufel hast du all diese Links her???? Herrschaftszeiten.

Internet research....

btw: What´s that for a language ???

Hawk321 · Apr 1, 2012

@Monte

Can't translate "Herrschaftszeiten"...wanted to post some clischee german words hahahaha

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