@superautobacs:
Do you know what suekage writes about Facom,Hazet + Stahlwille on
this page ??
Something about the finish ?
thanx !!! Here something about knipex + channellock....
http://www.suekage.co.jp/webmag/vol_8/index.htm
OK, here's the part on finishing:
*note that I've added my opinions as well, wherever I saw fit.
Yes, it's talking about the production process, more specifically, about the finishing processes.
Two categories exists:
-mirror polish (showy, gaudy, flashy ie. American style )
-fruit skin finish (tastefully cool, refined masculinity ie. European flavour )
They both have their pros and cons from the objective point of view:
-former is slippery when greasy, but cleans really easily
-latter provides better grip when greasy, but doesn't clean as easily.
It talks about how the two different finishes are acheived through different processing methods: buffing/vibratory barrel versus shot blasted/peened.
Japanese tool makers used to finish tools like the Europeans did, but since the onslaught of mirror finished American tools, they too have converted their processing to include more mirror polished tools. Facom, after the takeover from Stanley, have also reintroduced their lineup with all the flash.
The fruit skin finish is still well representated by Hazet and Stahlwille.
Looking at the safety aspect, using a greasy mirror-finished tool under high loads poses a greater threat for personal injury through accidental slips.
Snap-on has been the quentissential mirror finished tool-maker and apparently their flashy tools was not overly favoured when introduced into the European market. Snap-on's Eurotools division has since introduced a line for the European market to address this difference.
That's pretty much the gist of the finishing talk. Up above, it talked about point-drive style and corner-drive style sockets. In more common terms, the corner-drive style is synonymous with Snap-on's flank-drive style. The rest of the tool-makers, with the exception of Bonney's Loc-Rite, was almost exclusively point-drive style, until Snap-on's patent expired in the 80's.
Since the patent expiry, every tool maker has jumped on the bandwagon, producing some form of corner-drive style sockets and wrenches. Looks can be deceiving, however; not all are equally made in dimensions.
Low quality corner-drive tools may look appealing, giving you the sense that you're buying a modern, fastener-friendly tools, but it may actually be worse than a good quality point-drive style that has tighter tolerances and makes greater contact with the fastener itself. Hazet and a few select others are the only ones still producing point-drive tools. They haven't jumped onto the bandwagon; they can produce quality wrenches and sockets that offer great fit at close tolerances.