New Low for SK

[mikebaker1129]

Just makes me buy more and more Wright Tool.

Well in reality SK is kinda Wright.
Wright makes most of SK’s sockets currently in the USA.
They are running a USA made line and an import line.
I received a few warranty items from them recently and all were quite good even the ratchet in the picture above, US made no but it is a decent ratchet and had very nice chrome.

 

[JEdiag]

Having spent a considerable amount of time in the trades, in my opinion, about 20% of the cost of a new house is unnecessary codes. About another 15% is new and/or increased taxes. Another 15% is insurance. Not just the cost of the insurance but the unnecessary regulations imposed by the insurance companies.

all this stuff is imposed little by little so no one notices.

Insurance... one of my favorite things. Of course along with regulations. The only thing I like better than insurance is forced insurance. Cant beat it.

 

[JEdiag]

Sounds like the only real solution is for the government to subsidize the building of millions of small “starter homes” and then sell them to people with limited means with nearly no money down.

As it was in postwar America, the private sector has no intention of doing this on their own.

One can buy a reasonably priced starter home today, but it has removable wheels under it

To some degree, if you price them out, then land costs, utilities, etc. Its gets expensive fast.

 

[JEdiag]

I think the issue is that in the US, Housing is viewed as an investment, not as a home. One’s house is nearly always the most valuable asset one owns, and it is expected that the value will appreciate with time. For housing to become more affordable means that millions of Americans would become less wealthy. Municipalities rely on property taxes for their revenue, and they would likely struggle and default. Real estate is a major industry in this country and they constitute a powerful lobby. Hell, our former president and likely next president was a real estate guy. I don’t really see any impactful legislation happening for that reason.

Ultra Low interest rates made real estate an attractive investment opportunity. I’m sure you all have heard about hedge funds like Blackrock buying up single family homes en masse, thereby reducing the available supply even further and driving prices up.

Of note - the fixed 30 year mortgage that is ubiquitous in USA is not found in other countries. I believe they have to refinance every 5 years or something like that, any GJers that know for sure, please correct me. I’m not sure of the effects this has on the local real estate markets but I’d imagine it make real estate a less attractive investment.

For the love of money........ I think we will wind up sinking our own ship.

 

[JEdiag]

Lack of building "affordable" homes. After the second world war, housing on the single family level was produced en-mass to provide for the post-war baby boom, and subsidized by the government with loans for returning service members.

As population has increased, so did housing demand. However rather than build what was needed most, what is typically built on a section of available land is what housing will generate the most return. This is not inherently bad, but it means the market distribution of housing is top heavy, with more premium real estate being constructed and less entry level. This shifts the median point of housing cost. As the median shifts, and more people are priced out of the market for housing, demand for rental increases. Again, this increased demand drives rental pricing higher. As populations grow via reproduction and immigration, if housing does not grow at the same rate, prices will rise.


This ignores the "scam" of wealth building in housing as part of the American dream. If I buy a house with a $100000 loan amount on a 30 year term today, at 7.5% interest, I will be paying $701/month. The problem here, is that 701 x 12 x30 = $252360. This means over a 30 year fixed mortgage on $100k, I will be paying 150% MORE than the house is worth for the property. Thus when it's time to sell, most buyers are going to expect the equity to have become 250k. Which works well and good, once. The issue is that same house which costs 100k 30 years ago HAS to be worth 250k to have any equity built. Luckily due to lack of low cost housing production, our 100k starter home is now "worth" 250k! The problem is a 250k loan at 7.5%, now makes the payment 1745 per month, for the same home I lived in for 30 years paying 701/month for. $628200 is the new pay off for a loan of $250,000, at the same terms as the first buyer. So in 60 years, our 100K value home is now "worth" ~$630k assuming people end up with the equity they paid for. Some do, some don't. But the demand to purchase housing is partially driven by the idea of the American dream being defined by home ownership, as to accrue wealth rather than expend it via renting. All of these numbers IGNORE demand, which has also risen. These are just the "break even" numbers to have in the house what you paid for it.

On top of all of this, is lending. Lending is a necessary evil. It is difficult to acquire the capital outright to purchase a home. Thus lenders provide liquidity for the cost of interest. The problem is that with long terms and low interest rates buyers can justify much larger expense because over the course of a mortgage cycle the additional cost of total purchase price does not radically change monthly payment.

Consider buying a Nissan. The local Nissan dealer will offer 120/month loans. 10 years, on a Sentra. So if a buyer wants, and can justify, a 20k loan amount at 7.5%, that's a $400/month payment at a 5 year term. BUT if one can stick with 400/month for 7 years perhaps we can get into an Altima rather than a Sentra for 20k? It's only $400 month! And that's within your payment budget!

The same thing applies to homes. As credit is extended on longer terms, one can accept higher initial cost despite overall higher cost, because the additional cost is split over so many payments. Thus whether one is buying, or building, a homes price is distorted by the prism of longer terms. This allows easier justification of higher home costs, and higher building costs, which in turn move the median home upwards in cost.



It's really less complicated than we all think. Too many people need entry level housing. We, as a society, didn't build a whole lot. Don't even mention **** like Gary, Indiana - the housing needs to be where the demand for workers exists. Building a bunch of small houses near abandoned WV coal mines isn't the fix here. So if one wishes to correct home and rent prices downwards, one of two things has to happen. 1 - build more entry level housing, or 2 - reduce the population which needs such housing to meet the availability of current stocks of entry level housing. This is what can be done within the current framework, without radically upending how the housing market works within the United States.

Well put.

 

[M6erfan]

Sounds like the only real solution is for the government to subsidize the building of millions of small “starter homes” and then sell them to people with limited means with nearly no money down.

Didn't California look into this this recently (for "unhoused persons'), and the per house price was something like $700,000?

Lol, yeah. Nope.

 

[Bubba Fett]

As housing prices go up, wealthy people and corporations become the only ones who can afford to buy them, and they do. Then they slap some paint on them and flip them, or rent them out for more than what the mortgage payment would have been. Or they turn them into Air BnB homes.

They are perfectly happy with the current market, because if regular people can't afford to buy their own homes, then they have no choice but to rent from the people that are buying up everything in the first place. It's an endless spiral, and it is not sustainable.

 

[zendriver]

Didn't California look into this this recently (for "unhoused persons'), and the per house price was something like $700,000?

Lol, yeah. Nope.

maybe

My point is, it’s really not gonna happen - most anywhere.

 

[zendriver]

To some degree, if you price them out, then land costs, utilities, etc. Its gets expensive fast.

Depends on how much money the government wants to pony up

It is the only real solution, but it’s not a viable one because it’s not going to happen. I guess I should’ve made that clear upfront.

Cheap houses will drive down the value of everything else and there is just too much in play here as others have stated the government probably can’t take on that much more debt anyway just to empty out rentals

 

[dnschmidt]

Insurance... one of my favorite things. Of course along with regulations. The only thing I like better than insurance is forced insurance. Cant beat it.

You either force insurance or society as a whole pays for the assholes that don't have any. Heath insurance is a perfect example with car insurance a close second. We either let the uninsured bleed to death (not the worst idea I've ever had) or we treat them in the hospital at everybody's expense. The best example of this is when an illegal immigrant gets hurt, quite likely as they are doing the most dangerous jobs, they go to the hospital to get treated where they get the same care as we that pay $1000/month for health insurance. We either turn into cold assed bastards or tolerate this. So far we have tolerated this but how much longer can this model hold up. Do I have an answer: NO. The problem is that nobody else does either.

 

[neophyte]

You either force insurance or society as a whole pays for the assholes that don't have any. Heath insurance is a perfect example with car insurance a close second. We either let the uninsured bleed to death (not the worst idea I've ever had) or we treat them in the hospital at everybody's expense. The best example of this is when an illegal immigrant gets hurt, quite likely as they are doing the most dangerous jobs, they go to the hospital to get treated where they get the same care as we that pay $1000/month for health insurance. We either turn into cold assed bastards or tolerate this. So far we have tolerated this but how much longer can this model hold up. Do I have an answer: NO. The problem is that nobody else does either.

You really don’t get anywhere near the same quality of treatment as an uninsured person, as you do if you have insurance, or if you get injured on a job working for a company with good worker’s comp insurance.
I’ve been thru all three situations.
Maybe you’re supposed to get the same treatment, but you don’t.
Hospitals milk worker’s comp insurance enough that you could probably get a MRI and X-Ray, and a consultation with a dermatologist, a plastic surgeon, and an infectious disease expert, for a paper cut, even if you don’t ask for it.

 

[Mb4]

You really don’t get anywhere near the same quality of treatment as an uninsured person, as you do if you have insurance, or if you get injured on a job working for a company with good worker’s comp insurance.
I’ve been thru all three situations.
Maybe you’re supposed to get the same treatment, but you don’t.
Hospitals milk worker’s comp insurance enough that you could probably get a MRI and X-Ray, and a consultation with a dermatologist, a plastic surgeon, and an infectious disease expert, for a paper cut, even if you don’t ask for it.

Yeah, and if you're a CareCaid combo you get an early death while a hospital employee tells your family "look on the bright side, he had a nice long life" as you croak at age 67.

 

[Mb4]

Why do we blame young people for not wanting to work?

Wouldn’t that be their parents fault?

The discussions on this board are always interesting and often amusing. Especially this one. Is someone seriously suggesting that the decline in American manufacturing is due to young people's poor work ethic? What a sick joke. The decline in American manufacturing is caused by poor political leadership and a corporate climate that incentivizes greed and quick profits over long-term stewardship of the business. End of discussion. Germany doesn't seem to have the problems that America has. They manufacture high quality tools and machinery in addition to being one of the world's largest steel producers. But their corporate culture and political leadership is superior to what has become the decay of this nation.

 

[zendriver]

The discussions on this board are always interesting and often amusing. Especially this one. Is someone seriously suggesting that the decline in American manufacturing is due to young people's poor work ethic? What a sick joke. The decline in American manufacturing is caused by poor political leadership and a corporate climate that incentivizes greed and quick profits over long-term stewardship of the business. End of discussion. Germany doesn't seem to have the problems that America has. They manufacture high quality tools and machinery in addition to being one of the world's largest steel producers. But their corporate culture and political leadership is superior to what has become the decay of this nation.

Are we drinking Fanta? Germany doesn't have any problems?

IMO Comparing anything between the two countries is like comparing a bowling ball to a tennis ball.
Germany has a strong MFG sector whereas the US has a massive service sector.

Germany is a fine country, but I have no envy of it.

 

[neophyte]

The discussions on this board are always interesting and often amusing. Especially this one. Is someone seriously suggesting that the decline in American manufacturing is due to young people's poor work ethic? What a sick joke. The decline in American manufacturing is caused by poor political leadership and a corporate climate that incentivizes greed and quick profits over long-term stewardship of the business. End of discussion. Germany doesn't seem to have the problems that America has. They manufacture high quality tools and machinery in addition to being one of the world's largest steel producers. But their corporate culture and political leadership is superior to what has become the decay of this nation.

I sort of wonder if the Thor Power Tool decision might have been one of the issues affection US manufacturing.

Thor Power Tool Co. v. Commissioner - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

You can’t easily manufacture items in bulk, and then warehouse those items or parts, and slowly write down the production cost of those parts over years, due to depreciation.
This might explain why repair parts for tools and other items are way less available then they used to be.
It would also require constant set up of different manufacturing steps, which adds greatly to manufacturing costs, as well as inconsistent parts.
It would also make manufacturing items at the cheapest possible production cost important, because then less capital is ******* in stock that doesn’t sell quickly.

 

[Bubba Fett]

The discussions on this board are always interesting and often amusing. Especially this one. Is someone seriously suggesting that the decline in American manufacturing is due to young people's poor work ethic? What a sick joke. The decline in American manufacturing is caused by poor political leadership and a corporate climate that incentivizes greed and quick profits over long-term stewardship of the business. End of discussion. Germany doesn't seem to have the problems that America has. They manufacture high quality tools and machinery in addition to being one of the world's largest steel producers. But their corporate culture and political leadership is superior to what has become the decay of this nation.

Germany subsidizes its manufacturing, and offers universal health care. They know that this is what has to happen if they want to stay competitive. A healthy society is a productive society.

 

[CHI_Tool&Die]

Most clothes are complete sh!t nowadays.
I grew up with an army surplus store that had been in business close to 100 years.
They literally had surplus clothing going back that far.
Clothing, and even military clothing, steadily declined in quality over the decades.
You can even see this in old photographs.
Clothing a 100 years ago, was made from better cloth.
The clothing also had extra cloth, because it was meant to be adjusted over time, if someone gained or lost weight, or if the clothing was given or sold to someone else.
Clothing was also much looser in cut, allowing it to be worn by a larger number of body types.
There were much better tailoring services available.
Most decent department stores had multiple tailors who would adjust a suit, or even regular clothing, within a week of the clothing being purchased.
Some stores still have this, but it’s a smaller number of high end stores, and it can take longer for adjustments to get made.
There also used to be tailoring services that were more readily available, such as “invisible weaving” were were new thread would get hand woven into worn or torn areas of suit fabric.
Good luck finding that easily available anymore.

Aa far as the $1400 cell phone goes, I suspect a lot of people use these instead of owning a separate computer in addition to a cell phone.
You also sort of need to replace your cell phone periodically.
You used to be able to just buy a new battery, but stand alone batteries used to cost more than it now costs to have Apple take your phone apart, and replace the more complex internal battery.
The operating systems for phones now also jerp getting “upgraded”, so the older phones in a lot of cases can’t even be used, or used easily, even if the phones would still function.
The “fancy phone” also has replaced multiple items you used to have or need, from a camera, to a music player, and a voice recorder, and a video recorder separate from the camera, and an address book and calendar, and phone book, etc.
Some people still own one of more of those things, way less than formerly.

You know, that is not a lie about fabrics and tailors. Same thing with cobblers. People just want to buy and move on. No one appreciates getting new life out of already purchased and worn items. Resoling my work boots is like the best thing ever - I get worn in uppers and a new sole. Perfect combo.

 

[Mb4]

You know, that is not a lie about fabrics and tailors. Same thing with cobblers. People just want to buy and move on.

I’m not sure that’s entirely true. Many people, I’d suspect a plurality if not a majority would rather buy things that can be repaired. Lots of people complain about a living disposable society, along with the **************** of *everything.” People just aren’t given the option because the corporations set the market.

 

[zendriver]

I’m not sure that’s entirely true. Many people, I’d suspect a plurality if not a majority would rather buy things that can be repaired. Lots of people complain about a living disposable society, along with the **************** of *everything.” People just aren’t given the option because the corporations set the market.

Corporations don't make a nickel, of something that is repaired.

Doesn't matter anyway. A consumer economy only functions when people are consuming.

 

[neophyte]

I’m not sure that’s entirely true. Many people, I’d suspect a plurality if not a majority would rather buy things that can be repaired. Lots of people complain about a living disposable society, along with the **************** of *everything.” People just aren’t given the option because the corporations set the market.

There has always been a place for cheap disposable goods, and sometimes a necessity.
Some people are just broke and need some clean clothes that will last a few weeks, or cheap tools that can get list, abused, or stolen.
The main issue is that instead of being a niche thing you have to go slightly out of your way to purchase, the cheap crappy stuff has taken over the market to the point were finding even semi decent quality can take some work.

 

[neophyte]

Corporations don't make a nickel, of something that is repaired.

Doesn't matter anyway. A consumer economy only functions when people are consuming.

Actually, if you get pricing right, a corporation can make a decent amount of money off of repair parts, and repair services.
Selling copies of manuals also used to be a way companies made money on older products, although I sort of object to this on things like power tolls, since the manuals usually contain instructions on safe use.
The markup on selling a fully assembled product is likely way lower than the markup on individual parts, even if you price the parts “fairly”.
I remember some wrench I saw for dome European piece if equipment, were the packaging was labelled “Made in Switzerland” and the gorged wrench inside said “Germany”.
Given European “Made in” legislation, this likely meant it cost as much to bag and label the wrench, as if did to forge, broach, harden, and plate the wrench, and there was still likely markup left for the distributor to sell the wrench to the customer, and to cover the import costs and shipping to the USA.
I suspect a clothing manufacturer could make money selling replacement buttons and linings and pockets, all of which likely wear out of get lost first.

 

[Freakazooid52]

Well in reality SK is kinda Wright.
Wright makes most of SK’s sockets currently in the USA.
They are running a USA made line and an import line.
I received a few warranty items from them recently and all were quite good even the ratchet in the picture above, US made no but it is a decent ratchet and had very nice chrome.

I keep reading this, that wright is making their sockets now. Never any proof except just some guy awhile ago mentioning it as possibility and now is spread as fact .

Anyone have real proof this happening besides word of mouth?

 

[zendriver]

Actually, if you get pricing right, a corporation can make a decent amount of money off of repair parts, and repair services.
Selling copies of manuals also used to be a way companies made money on older products, although I sort of object to this on things like power tolls, since the manuals usually contain instructions on safe use.
The markup on selling a fully assembled product is likely way lower than the markup on individual parts, even if you price the parts “fairly”.
I remember some wrench I saw for dome European piece if equipment, were the packaging was labelled “Made in Switzerland” and the gorged wrench inside said “Germany”.
Given European “Made in” legislation, this likely meant it cost as much to bag and label the wrench, as if did to forge, broach, harden, and plate the wrench, and there was still likely markup left for the distributor to sell the wrench to the customer, and to cover the import costs and shipping to the USA.
I suspect a clothing manufacturer could make money selling replacement buttons and linings and pockets, all of which likely wear out of get lost first.

Why do they do it the way they do it?

Seems like I read somewhere businesses like to make as much money as they can. I like to.

Clothing is the worst example anyway. Fashions change weekly with the results not good at all.

Inside the landfill of fast-fashion: "These clothes don't even come from here"

A massive, illegal mountain of trashed clothes in Chile is made primarily of fast-fashion items from all over the world.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[neophyte]

Why do they do it the way they do it?

Seems like I read somewhere businesses like to make as much money as they can. I like to.

Clothing is the worst example anyway. Fashions change weekly with the results not good at all.

Inside the landfill of fast-fashion: "These clothes don't even come from here"

A massive, illegal mountain of trashed clothes in Chile is made primarily of fast-fashion items from all over the world.

www.cbsnews.com

For parts, there was a United States Supreme Court case, that had a major impact concerning tax law and regulations and the ability to write down inventory.
This decision made producing and storing extra parts and inventory a tax liability, rather than an economical business decision.
Most book publishers used to print larger runs of books, and then warehouse the extra copies, making the actual cost of book printing lower, since a larger print run has way lower set ip costs than multiple print runs.
After the decision, extra unsold copies of books hot remaindered or pulped, meaning the books went out of print way quicker.

Thor Power Tool Co. v. Commissioner - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

For clothing, I’m not sure.
Skinny cut clothing is most likely about the cost of fabric, since skinny cut clothing uses way less fabric than former clothing cuts.
I suspect the “yoga pant” trend was the result of manufacturers having knitting machines for women's stocking that weren’t being used, so the fashion trend switched to slightly thicker “yoga pants” that could be made on the same machinery.

 

[KnurledNut]

This thread is a cluster.
Wonder if it can be moved to Free Parking.
Or at least renamed, “New Low for a Thread.”
Mods?

 

[zendriver]

This thread is a cluster.
Wonder if it can be moved to Free Parking.
Or at least renamed, “New Low for a Thread.”
Mods?

Apparently bashing SK gets tedious after a bit.

It's to be expected.

 

[908Jim]

Well in reality SK is kinda Wright.
Wright makes most of SK’s sockets currently in the USA.
They are running a USA made line and an import line.
I received a few warranty items from them recently and all were quite good even the ratchet in the picture above, US made no but it is a decent ratchet and had very nice chrome.

I keep hearing this but I've never really seen evidence of this. The "old" ideal owned SK videos made it look like a lot of this product was being made in Illinois. Do you have anything that substantiates this? I am not trying to give you a hard time, I just want to see for myself.

 

[drtyler]

I keep hearing this but I've never really seen evidence of this. The "old" ideal owned SK videos made it look like a lot of this product was being made in Illinois. Do you have anything that substantiates this? I am not trying to give you a hard time, I just want to see for myself.

The Ideal SK was made in Illinois.

The Great Star SK is not.

The GS SK sockets that are made in the USA are supposedly made by Wright. Nothing has been stated by SK that this is true or untrue.

The post which mentions this would be considered very reliable.

Epstein's Tool Gossip : Channellock's New Locking Pliers

Here is a little SK news, a guy on a FB SK tool group posted these pictures of a newly acquired wrench. So, you just had to make the S-K guys suicidal didn't you? If they price these accordingly I see nothing wrong with them. If they price them like S-K has always been priced they will follow...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[mikebaker1129]

I keep reading this, that wright is making their sockets now. Never any proof except just some guy awhile ago mentioning it as possibility and now is spread as fact .

Anyone have real proof this happening besides word of mouth?

I received some as warranty replacements.

 

[mikebaker1129]

I keep hearing this but I've never really seen evidence of this. The "old" ideal owned SK videos made it look like a lot of this product was being made in Illinois. Do you have anything that substantiates this? I am not trying to give you a hard time, I just want to see for myself.

Yes I received some warranty items from SK and they are clearly Wright with SK markings , except for the import ratchet, which is good quality.

 

[Freakazooid52]

Yes I received some warranty items from SK and they are clearly Wright with SK markings , except for the import ratchet, which is good quality.

Care to post pictures for proof? I believe you I'd just like to see what the new ones look like

 

[reader2580]

You know, that is not a lie about fabrics and tailors. Same thing with cobblers. People just want to buy and move on. No one appreciates getting new life out of already purchased and worn items. Resoling my work boots is like the best thing ever - I get worn in uppers and a new sole. Perfect combo.

I buy made in the USA polo shirts for $25 each. It would cost as much, or more than new, to get the shirt fixed than to buy a replacement. I would still have a worn shirt if I spent the money on repairs. Similarly, I had a pair of Thorogood work boots. They have molded rubber soles so really no replacing the soles. They ended with holes worn in the leather over the steel toes, and the seams started to come apart all over. The final straw was one of the tongues came out of the boot. There wasn't enough left of the boots at the end to get them fixed. They lasted a good decade or more.

Today's shoes aren't really designed to be repaired. Molded rubber soles generally can't be replaced. These are not the fancy dress shoes and wing tip shoes our fathers wore that had leather soles and heels that can be replaced.

 

[Meursault74]

I buy made in the USA polo shirts for $25 each. It would cost as much, or more than new, to get the shirt fixed than to buy a replacement. I would still have a worn shirt if I spent the money on repairs. Similarly, I had a pair of Thorogood work boots. They have molded rubber soles so really no replacing the soles. They ended with holes worn in the leather over the steel toes, and the seams started to come apart all over. The final straw was one of the tongues came out of the boot. There wasn't enough left of the boots at the end to get them fixed. They lasted a good decade or more.

Today's shoes aren't really designed to be repaired. Molded rubber soles generally can't be replaced. These are not the fancy dress shoes and wing tip shoes our fathers wore that had leather soles and heels that can be replaced.

I usually wear clothes until they develop holes. Then it's used for dirty work, then it gets used for shop rags.

Shoes wear out in so many ways. mine get worn out from the inside and outside. Aside from "Shoe gooing" a sole that's coming undone/separating a little early there's not much else to do to them that's worth it nowadays.

 

[cherrybomb]

Well, all of us at GJ need to have a garage.

-Ryan

Yeah! And don t forget,well stocked with tools

 

[mikebaker1129]

Here is a picture. Wright on the far left.
Wright/ SK in the middle.
SK on the right.
1/4 dr examples.
Wright/ SK on the left.
SK on the Right.
The sockets are recent warranties directly from SK Greatstar.

 

[mikebaker1129]

Care to post pictures for proof? I believe you I'd just like to see what the new ones look like

See my picture above

 

[Freakazooid52]

Here is a picture. Wright on the far left.
Wright/ SK in the middle.
SK on the right.
1/4 dr examples.
Wright/ SK on the left.
SK on the Right.
The sockets are recent warranties directly from SK Greatstar.

Well I'll be dipped I thought wright making some sockets was a myth but that proves it for now.

Wonder if this was a limited time deal while overseas products were made?

 

[vssjim]

Didn't California look into this this recently (for "unhoused persons'), and the per house price was something like $700,000?

Lol, yeah. Nope.

I think that was for condos they were going to convert from office buildings or hotel properties not even houses

 

[M6erfan]

I think that was for condos they were going to convert from office buildings or hotel properties not even houses

For the homeless though, right? And that rough number (maybe it was lower, but still extraordinarily high) was per unit IIRC. Anyway, I think they ditched the idea because of costs.

AFAIK, some cities are indeed housing homeless people in hotels and such, much to the chagrin of some residents. But they are 'sanctuary' cities (as long as 'too many' don't come).

 

[dawgn86]

The time is now to really give up on the dream that Sears or SK is going to produce made in USA hand tools.Us old timers can reminisce and tell the younger generation about going into Sears on a Saturday with Dad and look at tools or the neighborhood auto parts store with SK on the wall display.The old Craftsman, SK,Williams USA mean more to me now than ever.And now I don't ***** about the price of Proto or a Snapon ,it's my choice I guess,

Great post here... I am 62 years old and sadly many of us won't get to experience going to the Sears stores and walking up and down the Craftsman tool section or the auto parts stores with SK tools in the cool green metal boxes. I remember doing that with my Dad and grandfather and would do anything to do it one more time.

In college, I used to go to the Sears tool section and look almost weekly. Starting getting tools as presents on birthdays and Christmas and over the past 40 years accumulated a nice rolling box of Craftsman, Tekton and Gearwrench. I have also bought on Ebay several SK Tools.
My 85 yo Dad still has a bunch of Craftsman and SK tools that I will get one day. I will clean them up and start a collection for my son and grandsons.