Snap on/ JH williams??

[andrewsnmorgan]

Please explain to me this JH williams brand.... I am a bit confused, I am assuming its like a lower quality snap on?? Is it any good? USA?

 

[chad99]

Jh Williams is snapon's industrial brand.The USA Williams is great quality,the Taiwan Williams is run of the mill quality.

 

[slip knot]

The older Williams tools were an industrial line and were great tools. I've got tons of older JH williams stuff and love it. Now the newer SO stuff?? I haven't had any experience with it.

 

[andrewsnmorgan]

Thank you.

 

[OEXL16B]

First you gotta separate USA Williams from Taiwan Williams. The USA Williams sockets are the same quality as Snap-on sockets and made in the same factory.

 

[chad99]

USA Williams is top notch..their supercombo wrenches are among the best currently made.
.period.

 

[bobcatdan]

Willams is a long respected brand, search "super ratchet". SO bought them sometime ago, I don't know when. There are basically two willams now, USA made and import. The import is the same as the blue point hand tools. The USA appears to be a mixture of willams design tools and older SO designs, like the 36 tooth ratchet and hard handle screwdrivers. Just watch the COO and you should be good to go.

 

[kidney]

I have some of their stuff and it's pretty good.

I use my orange handled pry bar set all the time.

 

[Ken81590]

Williams is more like Blue-point than anything, the tools and designs are identical.

 

[booya719]

Williams was one of the best industrial American tool brands period until it was bought out by Snap-on. Snap-on turned the name into a cheap Asian line of tools from Taiwan. I've also seen some Snap-on Williams wrenches made in Argentina.

"Williams - A division of Snap-on" actually means "Williams - Our old competitor who we bought out and turned into **** so buy our Snap-on if you want the good stuff."

I'm working on collecting some USA Williams sets before they become extinct. My favorite is the design from 1959 and onward, flat shank style with the 3 lines on each side of the logo.

 

[SCscoutguy]

Williams was one of the best industrial American tool brands period until it was bought out by Snap-on. Snap-on turned the name into a cheap Asian line of tools from Taiwan. I've also seen some Snap-on Williams wrenches made in Argentina.

"Williams - A division of Snap-on" actually means "Williams - Our old competitor who we bought out and turned into **** so buy our Snap-on if you want the good stuff."

I'm working on collecting some USA Williams sets before they become extinct. My favorite is the design from 1959 and onward, flat shank style with the 3 lines on each side of the logo.

This could not be further from the truth. Williams still makes the vast majority of their tools here in the USA and they are extremely well built. Yes they have a economy line of tools made in Taiwan that are exactly the same as Blue Point tools but I guess by your logic Snap On is cheap Asian **** because they to have a economy tool line in Blue Point. I wish people would do a little research and actually know what they are talking about instead of spreading wrong information so often.

 

[87FoRunner]

I have both imported and domestic Williams and find them high quality. They are not 'as good' as my snap on stuff, but I put them on par with gear wrench, sk, and other name brands. I am looking out to purchase some new pry bars soon from them.

 

[whelenfan]

I've got a few older williams tools and they are great.

 

[kippieland]

I have tools from both lines, import and domestic. I have some socket extensions that are Taiwan (got cheap off of ebay) and they great....but there just extensions, I can't speak to any other tools from Taiwan. I also have a 17mm Super Combo torquer combination wrench (fatter and longer then most combo wrenches) and a 1/2 ratchet....both USA made. The 17mm is the nicest wrench I own....nicer then my SK wrenches (and their really nice as well.) If I could afford a set I wouldn't blink a second before ordering. The 1/2 ratchet is also very nice and is by far the smoothest coarse ratchet I have.....blows my long Armstrong 1/2 out of the water, plus I got it off of ebay for $12 bucks!

 

[Rogue1987]

Williams was one of the best industrial American tool brands period until it was bought out by Snap-on. Snap-on turned the name into a cheap Asian line of tools from Taiwan. I've also seen some Snap-on Williams wrenches made in Argentina.

"Williams - A division of Snap-on" actually means "Williams - Our old competitor who we bought out and turned into **** so buy our Snap-on if you want the good stuff."

I'm working on collecting some USA Williams sets before they become extinct. My favorite is the design from 1959 and onward, flat shank style with the 3 lines on each side of the logo.

From my experience with current production USA made JH Williams stuff, none of what you said is completely true. Yes, they do have a taiwan line, but they also still have a fantastic line of USA tools.

 

[thammel]

...and, in my opinion, one of the best buys in tool boxes is the large williams sets. These are as good as the snap-on boxes but a LOT cheaper (in cost!)!

Tom

 

[OEXL16B]

Snap-on turned the name into a cheap Asian line of tools from Taiwan.

The catalog makes it easy to separate the USA tools from the Taiwan tools. The Taiwan tools are never on the same page as the USA tools.

 

[relic7680]

I was at a wholesaler the other day in Wichita and ran across some Taiwan Williams products...they do appear very similar to Blue Point; legit as far as the Asian stuff goes I guess. The USA Williams is excellent quality at bargain prices. I have a set of CAT branded SuperCombos and they are excellent.

 

[rick carpenter]

Got a set of JHW screwdrivers coming... have all confidence they'll be good.

 

[andrewsnmorgan]

Awesome information everyone.

 

[toolmaven]

Back in the day, J.H. Williams and Armstrong were the go-to industrial brands. They also made some machinist tools like lathe tool holders and boring bars. Some heavy pipefitter's tools like flange jacks & wedges, too. Armstrong is now in Apex, or whatever its morphing into now, along with Gear Wrench & KD and all of Cooper(?). Williams is owned by Snap-On, but I can't figure out if all current production is imported, or some things are still USA.

 

[therealwormey]

the thread is old so the info is past the use by date.

 

[Pumpman1968]

I have recently switched to Williams sealed head USA ratchets. They were beautiful out of the box, work smooth (with a little Super Lube) and feel comfortable in my hand. High quality tools.......I believe of an older Snap-On design........ at a VERY affordable price.

 

[TwoInch]

Back in the day, J.H. Williams and Armstrong were the go-to industrial brands. They also made some machinist tools like lathe tool holders and boring bars. Some heavy pipefitter's tools like flange jacks & wedges, too. Armstrong is now in Apex, or whatever its morphing into now, along with Gear Wrench & KD and all of Cooper(?). Williams is owned by Snap-On, but I can't figure out if all current production is imported, or some things are still USA.

old thread.

but a good portion of williams is still being produced in the USA. all williams part numbers that include letters are USA made, and all williams part numbers that are strictly numerical are asian, mostly taiwan if not all.

 

[pennsylvaniaboy]

so bumping an old thread....I want to get a 1/2 set of williams...deep and shallow. The deeps are 2 sockets shy of the shallows in matching. But they only make the 3/8 and 1-1/4 in the tiawan line. What are williams tiawan tools like?

 

[stevenhs]

Most blue point are made in taiwan or China. Few of blue point are made in US. .....Williams is half the price of snap on. And made in same factory

 

[AutoTeck84]

A buddy of mine is in school and got a Williams set from the SO guy. Idk if any of it is US made. All seen like good tools except the wrenches. To me the wrenches were more comparable to Walmart's Stanley brand. Hate them and I didn't care for the ratchets but that is probably just preference

 

[BioNerd]

I just got some williams locking pliers with china stamped in it, it was advertised as taiwan blue point snap on factory made.

I also have a set of metric DBE wrenches off Ebay, they are supposed to be made in the USA. they are engraved "JH Williams"

 

[pennsylvaniaboy]

Neither one of those really answered the question. Is the tiawan Williams junk? better than USA c-man?

 

[chadster1]

Neither one of those really answered the question. Is the tiawan Williams junk? better than USA c-man?

If you are talking about the Williams hand tool sets made in Taiwan, they are not junk. The sockets hold up very well to professional use. The ratchets, not so much.

 

[colin39]

Love my williams 3/4 ratchet

Use it quite a bit

 

[fatfillup]

Williams made tools for Lowes (Kolbalt) in the 90's. Excellent sockets and wrenches. I really like the wrenches and am trying to piece a set together but I don't see them often.

 

[Lefty 29]

I ordered a set of US made Williams 1/2" drive sockets from toolsdelivered.com. The quality of the chrome was bad and the sockets had different sized Williams logo and part number stampings. The logo on the 9/16 socket was smaller than the 1/2 socket. I sent them back without paying the restocking fee due to manufacturing defect, but had to eat the shipping fee. Oh well, lesson learned. Tools Delivered billed my CC as soon as I ordered them online. I got my CC bill in the mail before the order arrived.

 

[pennsylvaniaboy]

^^^^ that's a shame. That's the exact place I was goin to order from.

 

[Fedwrench]

^^^^ that's a shame. That's the exact place I was goin to order from.

It's not tools delivered.com fault. I have bought Williams sockets from various sources and have experienced similar things. Varying shades of chrome, a 21mm socket being taller than the 22mm socket, and different fonts. It doesn't make the tool less usable but, they should have more uniform QC enforcement.

 

[pennsylvaniaboy]

Makes me want to go all wright . It's like pricing for decent USA tools is Williams < wright< sk < tools trucks