jsackin
Well-known member
I’m here in Vegas for the Sema show. Just for the first few days. Going for the tools but if you guys have any requests I’ll see what I can do.
SEMA 2025
- Thread starter jsackin
- Start date
RTM
Well-known member
Nacho Daddy, just off the strip, great Margaritas!
Oh wait, you wanted requests, not suggestions.
Oh wait, you wanted requests, not suggestions.
dnschmidt
Well-known member
See if Milwaukee has introduced anything new. NPS this year was dogshit.
neophyte
Well-known member
Post pictures of the new Harbor Freight tools that won’t show up in stores till 2030 or later.
brglasp
Active member
Post pictures of anything that sparks your interest!
Fedwrench
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Not sure what would end up at Epstein's but, Knipex, Mayhew, Ko-Ken, and perhaps SPTOOLUSA might be worth looking at. You can visit the SK Tools booth to see how far the mighty have fallen 
I would also recommend visiting the Astro Pneumatic booth to see their new releases. Hope you brought comfortable shoes and have fun. It's sensory overload at its finest. 
One Alibi: WERA
I would also recommend visiting the Astro Pneumatic booth to see their new releases. Hope you brought comfortable shoes and have fun. It's sensory overload at its finest. One Alibi: WERA
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kbuhagiar
Well-known member
Is this your first time? Whaddya think?
I went in 2018, had a blast.
drokihazan
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I wanna know if Icon has any more boxes coming. I'm really hoping for a slide-top cart so I don't have to pay a fortune to my Snap-On man. I'd also wanna know what new tools at SEMA feel like in the hand from someone who might use them, not just whatever a youtuber can briefly show on camera. Super interested in new offerings from Astro Pneumatic, Knipex, and Icon. Capri and Tekton if they've got booths. I should have just gone myself. Maybe next year.
I'm really hoping Milwaukee has a redesign of their 3/4 impact, and that Capri comes out with mid-length swivels.
I'm really hoping Milwaukee has a redesign of their 3/4 impact, and that Capri comes out with mid-length swivels.
mreisner
Well-known member
I'm also hoping for a new Milwaukee 3/4 Impact. In the interim I got a Hercules from Harbor Freight and must admit that I'm pretty impressed with it. Hi occasionally change tires on a semi truck and surprisingly my half inch Milwaukee with a 33 mm usually gets the lugs right off, but it sure hammers up the input end of the socket after a while.
mreisner
Well-known member
I would be interested to know more about the new Vim line of American made tools.
jeffmoss26
Well-known member
Make sure you visit the Klein booth for me!
four.cycle
Well-known member
Ask the guys at Tekton if and when they are ever actually going to produce that "Small Engine Kit" (EXP0008)
Thread 'Updated Tekton Small Engine Kit Coming soon' https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/updated-tekton-small-engine-kit-coming-soon.551885/
four.cycle
Well-known member
^ Thanks. Was out of town the last several days.
drokihazan
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omg, there's 30" deep Icons with Epiq-style drawer latches now. Does anyone know if they have a full modular system of the 30" cabinets coming? I'd be excited to sell my entire wall of Icon boxes for a 30" deep setup.
Draftpick1
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One video said they would release end of 2026 who know what they end up releasing i was interested til they said end of next year!
Steel_Rain
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If Flex Tools is there, find out if they are staying in business.
YesIHaveAHammer
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Ask Milwaukee for a better M12 charger.
Ask Knipex for a linesman shorter than 240mm (9.5").
Ask Knipex for a linesman shorter than 240mm (9.5").
Steel_Rain
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Also, I saw a teaser video of the Harbor Freight booth and it appeared like Icon is releasing new extra long screwdriver sets in a foam tray.
Get a pic?
Get a pic?
whateg01
Well-known member
I'll have to find that video. If this was available now I would probably have done that instead of the husky box I just bought.
Bigblue&Goldie
Well-known member
I can see them being a big hit with professional mechanics. I like the depth, 3 long drawers, power drawer, latches, etc. The gap between HF's offerings and the truck offerings has really closed in recent years.
whateg01
Well-known member
It's interesting to see that style of latch coming back. I never really understood why they went away except for a few brands. I keep calling them the grip latch style because that was what craftsman called them I think. I guess it was probably more expensive than other systems.
kbeefy
Well-known member
I always liked going to the new arrivals/awards section first.
Things I forgot to mention: Koken has the z-series 3/8 drive sockets in fractional. Met Shaviv, which is a deburring company. They had some interesting looking stuff for sheet metal guys. I didn’t spend much time talking to Harbor Freight. Vessel says their electric ratchet is coming out in December (maybe). Also does anyone use parallel jaw pliers? They had some from England that looked nice but their niche and kinda expensive.
whateg01
Well-known member
I've seen that car, or somebody that did the same thing!
Not part of SEMA show…
neophyte
Well-known member
I presume by “parallel jaw pliers from England”, you’re referring to Maun Industries.
Basically, that style of Parallel jaw plier was invented by William A. Bernard, who was issued a patent for the design in 1890.
Within a few years, Bernard had made an agreement with the William Schollhorn Company, to manufacture the pliers.
Schollhorn continued manufacturing the pliers up until the late 1940s, at which point Sargent Tools purchased the Schollhorn Company, and the pliers started being manufactured by Sargent.
Sargent still manufactures several variants of the parallel pliers, but their main business seems to be specialty crimpers.
Maun Industries seem to have gotten the technical information on the manufacture of the Bernard/Schollhorn designs, presumably during the 1940s, and probably currently manufacture the widest range of the original Bernard designs outside of Pakistan.
The Quality of the Pakistan made parallel jaw pliers can be questionable.
Maun is fairly reliable, but I would not call their pliers perfect.
For dome reason, maybe environmental reasons, Maun switched to zinc plating, rather than the original nickel plating, and the zinc causes more friction than the nickel plating, which tends to lower friction.
The Maun cutting edges are not always as sharp as is desirable, but duller edges seem to be mire common on the larger sizes, were sharper cutting edges may be less of an issue.
Maun still uses the original nut and bolt fastening system, which Sargent dropped decades ago for rivets.
The nut and bolt system allows the pliers to be taken apart for derusting, or modification.
Maun does seem to know how to properly harden the steel jaws, and the fit and finish, other than the zinc plating seems better than the more recent Sargent pliers I’ve seen.
Generally, I like parallel pliers, but the main issue is cost.
The pliers usually cost similar to Snap-On pliers from the prices I usually see, and the fit and finish likely isn’t as high quality, although the parallel design arguably has advantages.
If you’re thinking of stocking the pliers, the small sizes, (125mm?), are routinely stocked by jewelry suppliers, and used to be sold under the Grobet branding, until Grobet switched to Pakistani made pliers.
Some jewelry suppliers still sell the Maun pliers.
The larger sizes are more of a specialty item.
Both the 6-1/2” sizes, and 8” sizes with cutters have Nato stock numbers, and used to be used in armorer’s tool kits as a standard item for decades.
The 8” size with cutters is considered the standard fencing plier in Australia.
YesIHaveAHammer
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Nothing wrong per se, just rather unsatisfactory and seems they could do better if they wanted.
Slower than the M12-18FC, and not much more compact.
four.cycle
Well-known member
^ curious... a huge portion of the tools used by dentists and orthodontists are made in Pakistan - small pliers.
for those who don't know who he's talking about:
Maun / Maun Industries Ltd., Hamilton Road, Sutton in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire NG17 5LD, England / https://www.maunindustries.com/ / est. 1944 / pliers, cutters, tools /
I would think that would be a fairly limited market niche.
@jsackin -
I believe the last SEMA show I attended was 1984 - Las Vegas. It was miserably hot and dry. I met "Mr. T." (who was pitching for Turtle Wax.)
I was amazed by how short he was.
Everything at those shows is fake - everything - just a bunch of liars and posers all lookin' to tap your wallet.
(Gotta love wearin' the purple badge, eh?)
whateg01
Well-known member
Some of the vehicles look pretty real. Of course there's a lot of trucks to making them look good in a short amount of time, but I can see them. Never seen Bigfoot or the loch Ness monster. I don't know what you think a trade show is. Yeah it's all a sales thing. That's what make the world spin
Sounds like you went at the right time. Mr. T!
The best way I can explain Vegas is that you can walk into a restaurant that’s been crafted to look like a fancy French 1930’s bakery that’s exquisitely decorated with soaring ceilings and the waiters are dressed in white tuxedos and you order a croissant and they’ll serve you one on a fancy plate that they got from the gas station across the street.
whateg01
Well-known member
But it tastes better because it cost you $70!
M.Jay
Well-known member
Aww! A smart carrying his offspring on his back. Isn't nature beautiful?
Plus 30% mandatory tip. Gotta reward the waiter for walking to the gas station.
neophyte
Well-known member
Pakistan is the “affordable” location for the manufacturer of orthodontist, and surgical tools, not the only place.
There are at least one or two cities or regions in in Pakistan, were the vast majority of the local industry is the manufacture of pliers and surgical tools, and because of that, “surgical” stainless steel alloys seem to be in ready supply, and are used for the majority of tools.
The tools are not necessarily “perfect” though.
The British NHS has mentioned needing to have yo look over every surgical tool to check for burrs or other issues on new tools sourced from Pakistan to prevent metal splinters being left in patients, and to have to correct tools.
Some of the stainless tools, whether due yo lack of passivation, or bad alloys, are known to rust.
The springs used are sometimes bad, and know for breaking.
The hardness of the tools is not always great.
The steel allots used for the pressed sheet steel handles are sometimes way too soft, and known for bending.
The “surgical” parallel jaw pliers made in Pakistan seem to be better made than a number of the other parallel jaw pliers from Pakistan, but are also priced way higher.
Carbide jaws are sometimes available.
There must be some pliers that are made for regular use, and which are decent, but you have to tryst that whatever brand is selling the tools will correct things if there is an issue.
For some styles of parallel jaw pliers, Pakistan is really the only source nowadays.