New SK Screwdrivers in Development - SureGrip

[The Rider]

Color me disappointed.

The German tool manufacturers - Wiha, Wera, Knipex et al have shown that it's entirely possible to make innovative, great looking tools without sacrificing utility or price point.

Making yet another range of vanilla, white bread screwdrivers & pliers but changing the color & logo is not innovation, it's imitation.

 

[mrholeshot]

yea, too bad if teh suregrip shafts are the same as the cmans... the old french shafts were vapor blasted on the tips and seem to be pretty damned strong from my experience.

I didn't like the old SK screwdrivers but they were still high quality units. You don't rebuild a company selling an inferior tool over what was sold when the company went under

 

[Theloniousmonk]

I didn't like the old SK screwdrivers but they were still high quality units. You don't rebuild a company selling an inferior tool over what was sold when the company went under

definitely not.

 

[4x4gearhead]

I always had great luck with my s-k screwdrivers with the green hard handles, the shanks in my experience were of comparable quality with snap on, I warranteed a shank only once and it was because I was prying something in my early days before I had prybars. I cant wait for s-k to come back I have had great experience with just about everything they make. Plus I at this point have some broken sockets that I had to replace with snap ons due to lack of warranty. These will work just fine at home.

 

[mikevango]

I know you guys got all excited and only looked at the pictures. If you read the flier it says

"These will both be assembled with industry leading sk produced shafts."

 

[Theloniousmonk]

But the words "Our" and "SK" seem to also mean "Ideal Corp"...

 

[mikevango]

But the words "Our" and "SK" seem to also mean "Ideal Corp"...

true. i guess time will tell. i am not going to hate something that is just speculation.

 

[mrholeshot]

I know you guys got all excited and only looked at the pictures. If you read the flier it says

"These will both be assembled with industry leading sk produced shafts."

There is a reason Screwdrivers and Pliers are coming first. Western Forge (aka,craftsman,husky, SK,etc) is beacuse Westen Forge only need to change the color of the plastic and lable craftsman as SK. They can call the shafts SK because SK and Western Forge are owned by Ideal. I like the Craftsman Pro and even more the Husky Pro. I like them because they are a lot for a little. I won't pay extra because they are green. Maybe SK is going to go into the discount tool business. Who knows

 

[mrholeshot]

true. i guess time will tell. i am not going to hate something that is just speculation.

I don't hate the Craftsman pro style screwdriver. I was looking for something extra special and higher quality than before. The last SK screwdrivers made I didn't like the grip but they were high quality. Facom I think (not 100%)

 

[4x4gearhead]

I don't hate the Craftsman pro style screwdriver. I was looking for something extra special and higher quality than before. The last SK screwdrivers made I didn't like the grip but they were high quality. Facom I think (not 100%)

They were ok, not much of the crafstman "professional" tool line deserves the title in my opinion. Better than the old school ones though.

 

[mrholeshot]

They were ok, not much of the crafstman "professional" tool line deserves the title in my opinion. Better than the old school ones though.

A spoon and a steak knife are more effective than a 28pc Craftsman clear handle set when it comes to removing and installing screws

 

[zer0cell]

I consider C-Man Pro good screwdrivers but don't try to sell them to me at an inflated price just because they have S-K on them and I'm sure that will be the case. For a company rebilding and trying to re-establish a solid reputation you don't want to be selling the other screwdriver with regular craftsman (WF) blades because they are garbage. It's obvious the pliers are Craftsman style as well and in my opinion arn't all that. They don't need to start off on a bad note and improve. They need to come out of the gate doing their very best to kick Snap-On's *** at a price point at about 1/2 the price of Snap-On which is still expensive. They won't make it selling craftsman at 2X what everyone is selling craftsman for.

Yeah, that's true... I agree.

 

[tatra]

the shoe is in the pic to sublimanally remind you that this is an american product and not asian..........no sandals............course the shoe is probably from asia............

 

[Flash21]

true. i guess time will tell. i am not going to hate something that is just speculation.

Me either - I'll wait and see what they come out with before I start being all 'disappointed'

The current trend indicates the USA made Cman Pro drivers are going to be Chinese before long.

I personally think that if they relabel the current Cman Pro drivers with a new dual durometer handle and the hard grips have the good shafts - that would be a good offering out of the gate.

I'm guessing they are trying to get to market soon and that means NOT redesigning everything up front. Once they get started, and start making some money, then they can start investing in some R&D if they so choose.

My main take-aways are the positives:

* Committed to USA manufacture
* Higher quality than previous SK drivers (that many people like)

Sounds good to me....

I'm with FedWrench though -- enough already, bring on the chrome. I hope we get to see a sneak peak at some impact sockets soon as well...

 

[rodm1]

If you have to pay $5 per tool and shipping for warranty service. The CM pro seems like a easy choice. For some reason my local SK dealer just dumped them for Allen tools.

 

[sk farmer]

the love of sk was short lived.i feel at home again with all the sk bashers coming out from the shadows again.

 

[otis66]

Hell with the similar that one looks like an exact copy of a craftsman pro scewdriver dont it ???

Yeah, the exact same screwdriver. I can't wait to buy a set.

 

[american lockpicker]

I want them to bring back the French made screwdrivers.

 

[toolnut]

I'm talking about the screwdriver on top having the same blade as the standard Craftsman.
I don't know anything about the Pro drivers, I've never used them.

The Cman Pros have a totally different blade than the standard Craftsman.

 

[Kirbot]

The Cman Pros have a totally different blade than the standard Craftsman.

I know, but the screwdriver on top in this picture appears to have a totally different blade than the one on the bottom.

 

[toolnut]

The Cman Pros definitely have a nice blade on them. More closely represented by the Snap on style blades.

 

[tonydanzah]

I know, but the screwdriver on top in this picture appears to have a totally different blade than the one on the bottom.

yeah one is a phillips

 

[Kirbot]

yeah one is a phillips

Yeeeaahh.....
Thats not quite what I meant.....

 

[toolnut]

I think the Craftsman Pros are worth checking out. The price is high but they usually run deals in the spring on the sets. I have a set of five and have had great success with them compared to the cheaper ones.

 

[Kirbot]

I think the Craftsman Pros are worth checking out. The price is high but they usually run deals in the spring on the sets. I have a set of five and have had great success with them compared to the cheaper ones.

They may very well be great, but it's still ashame to see all SK is doing is re-badging them

 

[Fedwrench]

All SK has to do ti fix this screwdriver screw up, is stick the pro series blades in a better rectangular green handle. That way no one ******* about the rebadged Craftsman pros or the weak basic Western Forge or Pratt Reed blades. Best of all, SK can have a unique screwdriver to start anew.

 

[bonneyman]

I always liked the feel of the new C-man design drivers, but was disappointed they didn't offer it as a 1/4" drive handle. The shape and grip of the handle would really have lent itself well to such a driver. Maybe the new S-K line will fix that deficiency?
In any case, everything is sounding good with what Ideal is doing with S-K so far. Just hope that trend continues. Outsourcing to Asia would NOT be a good move.

 

[otis66]

I have a set of the older SK screwdrivers they are made in France by Facom tools. Facom tools I believe is owned by Stanley/Proto/MAC now. SK went to WF to make there new screwdrivers.
Craftsman will prob change there pro screwdrivers to something China made like the new MATCO screwdrivers made in Tiawan.

 

[otis66]

Just doing a bit of research and Idea also owns Western-Forge. So I guess the Craftsman Screwdrivers are made by SK sort of.

 

[cf2004]

I always liked the feel of the new C-man design drivers, but was disappointed they didn't offer it as a 1/4" drive handle. The shape and grip of the handle would really have lent itself well to such a driver. Maybe the new S-K line will fix that deficiency?
In any case, everything is sounding good with what Ideal is doing with S-K so far. Just hope that trend continues. Outsourcing to Asia would NOT be a good move.

You could always make your own. buy an open stock screwdriver and pull the handle off of it and the drill out the handle big enough to fit whatever lenght of "1/4" driver you want. Grab an extention and cut to lenght. Pound it in the handle and boom, you got the 1/4" driver you always wanted. I did this to an extra snap on handle I had laying around. Works great.

 

[zer0cell]

You could always make your own. buy an open stock screwdriver and pull the handle off of it and the drill out the handle big enough to fit whatever lenght of "1/4" driver you want. Grab an extention and cut to lenght. Pound it in the handle and boom, you got the 1/4" driver you always wanted. I did this to an extra snap on handle I had laying around. Works great.

You could always buy some PB swiss shanks and then do as you suggest and drive them into the harbor freight handles... a match made in heaven right?