SK X-Frame Wrenches - COO & Design Changes
- Thread starter CGarage
- Start date
Bubba Fett
Well-known member
I posted it because there is obviously some confusion about the COO of these wrenches, as per the video you posted earlier.
I was confused.
I appreciate the clarity. I definitely thought the video was implying the "new" X-frame wrenches at Lowes were somehow still made in the USA while also being $80 instead of $300.
16again
Well-known member
I bought the SAE and metric set today. I might try to find an older USA made 18mm and 19mm to complete the metric set and see if there's any difference. On the back of the box it says made in China. The ratchet mechanism feels nice and it does come in a nice foam tray. The wrenches are longer that SK's regular wrenches and I would say they're about the length of of their long pattern. Not quite an actual long set but slightly longer than a normal wrench. Time will tell if they're worth the money or junk.
The open ends are thicker that my Wrights but I don't know if that's because the wrenches were always wider or made wider because of lower quality steel. If anyone has a measurement of jaw thickness, I can measure these and compare.
The open ends are thicker that my Wrights but I don't know if that's because the wrenches were always wider or made wider because of lower quality steel. If anyone has a measurement of jaw thickness, I can measure these and compare.
jimbothecricket
Well-known member
Jeff's garage adventures on youtube made a video about these (not the Lowes set in particular). He bought a set that had some wrenches made in the USA and some not
jimbothecricket
Well-known member
Okay, but it does answer the questions of some other people on this thread. And it shows the Chinese and American made wrenches side-by-side
Packaging is clearly marked "Made in China". All wrenches have no COO on them.
Ratchet feels somewhat cheap for some reason. Can't describe it.
Ratchet feels somewhat cheap for some reason. Can't describe it.
dnschmidt
Well-known member
I never understood the attraction since these have never been reversible or had a flex head. They always seemed to be to be a cool looking version of the cheapest Gearwrench wrenches.
The fake carbon fiber on the tray is pretty tacky. Trying one out a little bit more, for the price I think it's alright but don't expect it to feel like an old SK. The ratchet just doesn't feel as precise (but maybe it's a bit mental).
I might end up taking the metric set back and try a set of Icon. The 16mm and 19 missing isn't a big deal since SAE can work on those. Missing the 18 really ***** though. John Deere really liked using 16 and 18mm so those sizes would be handy. Icon is around $40 more I think but is long pattern, reversible, offset and no skips.
Hard to beat the Icon really... I pretty much buy them for SAE exclusively since I really only play with metric fasteners
. For the $ I'm getting a no skip set and I don't have to deal with Lowes dropping SK at some point (which will happen).The ICON reversible ratcheting wrenches would be a large step up in quality and usability from X-Frames (regardless of USA or China origin).
I have a soft spot for SK since my first quality ratchet was a 45170. I want the company to continue and succeed but I believe SK is near the end or will eventually just be rebranded Chinese tools. Since the buyout, I have switched to buying mostly Wright or Snap-on. The X-frame wrenches were very much an impulse buy and not a need since I don't use ratcheting wrenches often. If I had a quality set, I would most likely use them more often though.
Sad really if you look at it. Seriously I can understand why people would want to go to HF. You're getting Taiwanese tools with a warranty you know you'll be able to use.
No way SK is going to be in Lowes more than a year or two. It has no good brand recognition with the Lowes demographic. At least they recognize Klein.
American Locomotive
Well-known member
I had X-Frames at my old job. I really liked them. The box ends were a little big on the smaller sizes, but the ultra fine ratchet was awesome, and they felt great in the hand. If they had made a flex head or reversible (or both) variant, they would have been killer.
I have yet to really use the X frames so I can't comment on if they're high quality or not. First impressions are that they are nice and the length is a bonus but I don't know the durability.
My comment about SK being near the end or being rebranded Chinese tools is more about big companies chasing profits like how Apex handled Armstrong and Gearwrench. Armstrong is no more and Gearwrench favors cutting costs more than improving quality. The GW approach isn't a bad business plan since most people compare price and don't use tools like I do. I just don't like seeing USA tool companies being watered down, made overseas, or closing doors but it's tougher to compete in today's market when the quality of oversea tools have vastly improved.
Fedwrench
ALLIANCE MEMBER
II think it's sad that the one thing that was truly an SK original in recent years is now produced in the PRC
II think it's sad that the one thing that was truly an SK original in recent years is now produced in the PRC
If it was a sustainable business model for them to be made in the U.S., they would have continued to do so.
Can’t have it both ways.
Made in USA now means $300 USD for a set of wrenches.
Not many takers in this high inflationary environment.
ChevyEFI
Well-known member
I think the Dual 80 ratchets with USA bodies and imported components were a good business model. SK should have followed that.II think it's sad that the one thing that was truly an SK original in recent years is now produced in the PRC
Bubba Fett
Well-known member
Maybe SK should have made some kind of deal with O-Reilly. The green color scheme would go well with them, and they could have been what Carlyle is to Napa.
SK was doomed. Some say Ideal didn't't have enough money to keep it going, but honestly I'm not sure how they would have survived in the midrange market. Government contracts probably were their best chance but that is a very difficult market to compete in too. I wish the SK name would just die rather than the current pathetic attempt to keep the name alive. I'd like to remember SK as a once good USA tool brand than a Chinese owned **** tool company.
Pathetic.
Pathetic.
This is kind of an ignorant post from you which surprises me.
The Chinese are more than capable of precision manufacturing. They have a Space program. Many of our most favored COO manufacturing countries do not have a space program or advanced technology programs.
You may not like it, but China is a near peer to the U.S. in terms of technology curve.
They can also manufacture at a greatly reduced cost.
A ratchet wrench is hardly a state of the art tool to make. Same with a socket.
rooster59
Well-known member
Chrome plating for tools, USA has environmental laws that add to the cost. China, I think as long as you’re in the good graces of the CCP you can just dump stuff down a hole or dilute it in a river. USA that’s jail.
I also wrongly believed that they were still manufactured here in America. I've always loved the look of them, to the point of almost purchasing a set, but for some reason always had this feeling in the back of my head that they were gimmiky. (sp.)
Country of origin doesn't weigh heavily in my day to day decision, as long as it's not purposely hidden. I'm also curious to see how they are.
Country of origin doesn't weigh heavily in my day to day decision, as long as it's not purposely hidden. I'm also curious to see how they are.
neophyte
Well-known member
Certain sections of Chinese industry are capable of producing world class goods.
Plenty of other segments of Chinese industry are rancid ****.
Admittedly, the same situation used to exist in US manufacturing as well.
The first fully Chinese made ball point pen was only produced around 2017.
Before that, the tips for the hundreds of millions of Chinese ball point pens had to be imported, with the rest of the components made in China.
Which part? And don't be surprised, you should talk to my wife . . . And since this thread has been mostly speculation, ignorance abounds.
Chinese labor is ~half the cost of Taiwan last I checked. As far as some hard to produce metallurgy, cmon, China makes more steel than all other countries combined. We aren't talking about some special rare aerospace titanium alloy, this is going to be a Cr-V alloy, and China has been producing that for 30++ years making sockets, wrenches..... And my Chinese HF Cr-V inch size impact sockets are surviving just as well as the Taiwanese ones that I wore out before them; meaning very well. To be clear, the Taiwanese ones are perfectly functional, but look beat to ****; so I use them for press duty now LOL.
And now someone with HF (Chinese) jack stands will tell me how all Chinese steel is ****. Yet they trust their life to it
Plating cost is a very tiny part of the total cost of producing something like a wrench or ratchet. In the US, you can put chrome plating waste down the sewer drain if you have a monitored drain and dilute it with enough water. I know this for a fact as my local chrome plater did this; and I knew one of the owners. They had a small operation, 8 guys, but everything went down a monitored drain. Yes, their water bill was $2k/month 10 years ago, but they ran the water all day; otherwise they sometimes forgot to turn it on, and that was more costly in the end when they exceeded their limits. "Dilution is the solution"
Otherwise, I am not disputing the fact that pollution is rampant in countries like China. But plating is a tiny cost of the product. Overall, production labor is 90% of the cost, and this is why low-cost high-labor items are produced in China, Vietnam, India.....
Chinese labor is ~half the cost of Taiwan last I checked. As far as some hard to produce metallurgy, cmon, China makes more steel than all other countries combined. We aren't talking about some special rare aerospace titanium alloy, this is going to be a Cr-V alloy, and China has been producing that for 30++ years making sockets, wrenches..... And my Chinese HF Cr-V inch size impact sockets are surviving just as well as the Taiwanese ones that I wore out before them; meaning very well. To be clear, the Taiwanese ones are perfectly functional, but look beat to ****; so I use them for press duty now LOL.
And now someone with HF (Chinese) jack stands will tell me how all Chinese steel is ****. Yet they trust their life to it
Nothing wrong with Chinese tools. The problem IMO is they're too common on the junk side which makes trusting or even identifying good tools hard.
The potential quality of the product is just too dang wide to trust.
Hohn
Well-known member
An environmental engineer once told me: "the solution to pollution is dilution." It stuck with me.
Hohn
Well-known member
Yeah, it's not that all Chinese tools are junk. Rather, it's that all junk tools seem to be Chinese.