*Thorsen Tools*

[zippi]

Who remembers this brand? Back in the late 70's my brother use to work for a delivery company called Ohio Valley Hardware. Sometimes when there was items that fell off the truck and got damaged or there was extra that was loaded on the truck the night before the drives would take it home. My brother would leave things at my front door from time to time. these were one of them. Would not have been my choice of brands but it was free.

 

[woody 73]

Just curious why it would not have been your choice of brands ? Back in the day Thorsen made some very nice tools, it was only when they started making them overseas that the quality started slipping. (by the way that one ratchet in the box is a Williams and that one is top notch in my book.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Nice American made tools. Don (d42jeep) has a huge stash of them.

 

[zippi]

Just curious why it would not have been your choice of brands ? Back in the day Thorsen made some very nice tools, it was only when they started making them overseas that the quality started slipping. (by the way that one ratchet in the box is a Williams and that one is top notch in my book.

When I was a kid my dad and older brother always shopped at Sears (Closed down 5 years ago) and Black & Decker and Craftsman was all they bought. Guess it rubbed off on me. Forgot about the ratchet going bad. I think I picked up the Williams at a yard sale years ago.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

We have an active Thorsen thread if you want to see more. See index in sticky.

 

[zippi]

We have an active Thorsen thread if you want to see more. See index in sticky.

Thanks. Just posted something on that thread.

 

[Rileysan]

Just curious why it would not have been your choice of brands ? Back in the day Thorsen made some very nice tools, it was only when they started making them overseas that the quality started slipping. (by the way that one ratchet in the box is a Williams and that one is top notch in my book.

My soapbox ...

Back in the 70s/80s, Thorsen would not have been my choice either. Not only did I not know anyone who owned Thorsen tools, I wasn't even aware the brand existed until the late 80s. Mind you, I was young but like so many of my contemporaries, I was heavily influenced by what was readily available in my local hardware/parts stores or advertising - which Sears Craftsman had a monopoly of ads on the TV.

Internet forums have changed all that by educating myself, and many thousands more people on the plethora of regional tool manufacturers with really great tools.

Nowadays it's easy to learn all you want to know about most tool manufacturers, and also easy to forget just how difficult most of that information was to find before high speed internet became common place less than 25 years ago.

Brian

 

[Provincial]

I first encountered Thorsen tools in the mid-1960's. Some were included in a "set" of tools a friend of the family gathered from pawn shops and second-hand stores for a birthday present to me after my brother and I bought a Model A Ford. These were all used tools, made well before the import era, and they were equal to Craftsman and similar brands in quality, with cosmetics being "practical." I don't abuse tools, and no Thorsen ever failed me.

 

[Jim Pelosi]

I got a Thorsen 1/2 drive socket set and a bunch of box wrenches when my National Guard unit was cleaning out some old trailers at the armory. They were tossing them in the garbage and I grabbed them. Been using them for years and I like them.

Sent from my moto e6 using Tapatalk

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Not glamorous but good functional stuff. I would pick them up cheap at flea markets in the 80s when I needed some work tools.

 

[DadsTools]

The Thorsen USA stuff still has a following.

 

[bobemmerich]

NICE! I heard of them way back in the 80's, but like most, C-Man or Stanley were the go-to. A parts store near me used to sell them along with S-K and K-D. All good, USA brands. I've since started buying sets of Thorsen just because I like them.
Most of my stuff is either USA K-D or Allen. My Snappy stuff and C-Mans are long but gone minus a few here and there.

 

[Rosco 62]

I started out mechanicing in the early 60's. I bought some Thorsen Tools at a hardware store in the town where I lived. I still have them and they have served me well. The tools that I purchased was a started set. They are still in my tool box.

 

[DLW875]

I have a Thorsen SAE 1/2" drive set that belonged to my grandfather. They seem like very nice tools.

 

[thehorse13]

I've noticed that thrifters/flippers/resellers have caught on to this brand in the last few years so the really nice old sets are starting to climb in price. I used to pay 5 bucks for the sets not long ago.

 

[d42jeep]

I've noticed that thrifters/flippers/resellers have caught on to this brand in the last few years so the really nice old sets are starting to climb in price. I used to pay 5 bucks for the sets not long ago.

I’m okay with that. See much more Thorsen here.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=328024

-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

[THREAD MARM MODE]

Guys, just another gentle reminder that we have a very good Thorsen thread. It was started by bonneyman in 2016. It is 43 pages long. It has 850 posts in it. Plenty of activity in 2020 and last activity just last month. This is how discussions and information get split and lost and before too long you can't remember which thread that post about my first tool-set or 80's quality or rising prices went. At my age, I am already far too easily confused!

See the Index in the Sticky.

[/THREAD MARM MODE]

 

[DD T/A]

I'm pretty sure mods can combine threads, they oughtta just add this to that thread....

 

[wayne55]

My first socket set (Thorsen) was obtained with Top Value stamps given out by the grocery store back in the early 1970's. Still have and use them.