Thorsen

[mikew13]

I seen some older Thorsen wrenches at some place which I will leave unnamed. When did Thorsen start producing overseas and how did they rank amongst the USA brands when they were still made in USA? Are they desirable?

 

[MadMark]

I think they've been imported for a long time now, over 20 years.
But I can't think of any examples.

 

[chopper1]

From Alloy Artifacts]: In 1995 GC Thorsen was purchased from Elgin National by Katy Industries. (As Katy is a public company, numerous records of this transaction are reported online.) Under Katy the Thorsen Tool operations were separated from GC Electronics, and an annual report for 2000 listed Thorsen Tool as a value-added distributor, with tools sourced primarily from Asia. In 2001 Thorsen was acquired by Olympia Group, a distributor of hand tools and related products.

Thorsen had been around since the late 1920's and was one of the better manufacturers and rebranded for a few different companies.

 

[PowderKeg]

Personally, I'd rank Thorsen closer to the bottom of the US made tool pool - and I don't mean that as a bad thing really, when you consider the level of quality produced by numerous other US based tool companies back then. Thorsen made good "Joe Consumer" tools, IMHO right on par with Pendleton's value brands like Fleet, Challenger, Tru-Test, and at the same level as today's Craftsman and the like.

 

[MC1983]

Good info in this thread. I was also curious as to where Thorsen tools rank among other brands.

I recently bought a tool lot for some metric tools and I wanted to sell the SAE pieces to offset the cost. Any idea how I should price the stuff to move it?

Here is a picture of the stuff that is USA made I plan on selling. Brands include Thorsen, Kal, Husky, JS USA, Giller, Action.

 

[flathead74]

Some later Powr-Kraft was Thorsen made, after the better quality Wright stuff. I have examples with both names. I would agree that Thorsen was never top of the line, but they are still pretty good tools...and cheap to buy. I like mine and consider them affordable collectibles that I can use every day.

 

[chopper1]

Action was also made by Thorsen.