Tools Made In Taiwan Vs. USA

[lardy1]

Those combination wrenches remind me of some Wilmar wrenches that my wife inherited. Not really known for high quality but those wrenches were actually pretty nice. They ended up in the auction along with several truckloads of **** she was left to deal with.

 

[four.cycle]

remind me of some Wilmar

They do.
As well as Taiwan-sourced Thorsen "TAT"

What does this make me think of?
Early 1970s -1980s Taiwan/China/U.S. machinations in the tool manufacturing and importing industry.

The wrenches look very generic.
The screwdriver handles are definitely a tell. Somebody was trying to create a brand.
The ends of the torx drivers look to ME like fairly good stuff - not the usual **** we were getting from Hong Kong and Japan in the early 70s.
The brown vinyl "briefcase" screams 1970s.

Interesting find for sure.

 

[nadogail]

Taiwan was, and is still considered by many, to be a part of China; but it has a very different political and economic culture.

 

[john.k]

Taiwan tools now are a lot more expensive than seemingly equal Chinese make ....My old tools were a bit knarly with all the chrome worn off from 60 years in a truck .......so I decided to buy Force brand Taiwan stuff ....only 3/8 and 1./2 mind you ,all my 3/4 and 1'' would cost a fortune to replace ,so it stays knarly........Anyhoo ,at 75 years old .I am unlikely to wear out any more tools

 

[Steve_P]

Taiwan tools now are a lot more expensive than seemingly equal Chinese make ....My old tools were a bit knarly with all the chrome worn off from 60 years in a truck .......so I decided to buy Force brand Taiwan stuff ....only 3/8 and 1./2 mind you ,all my 3/4 and 1'' would cost a fortune to replace ,so it stays knarly........Anyhoo ,at 75 years old .I am unlikely to wear out any more tools

Current labor cost in Taiwan is about 2X that of China. You may as well compare USA cost to Mexico, Mexico to India, China to Vietnam.....

 

[john.k]

I notice that mirror chrome plate boosts the price by a lot ,and is not something I want......Another thing I notice is ebay and temu prices are often more expensive than quality Taiwan made from a tool shop.

 

[BWWgarage]

I wa

Anyone familiar with the ProKit brand?

I just picked up this near-complete ProKit serviceman's toolkit at the flea market yesterday. It's much later (and much more foreign!) than my collecting habits, but I have a thing for anything (old US Army inspection layouts, boards, etc) with actual size tool outlines and, frankly, I would've bought it for that reason alone, even if it was empty. It was filthy and overstuffed with all kinds of rusty tools and other ****, none of them hanging, and I wasn't sure until I got it home how many of the tools would be original. After I weeded out all the extraneous tools and ****, I was surprised to find it missing only one screwdriver, six (6) combo wrenches - all under 1/2", and a pair of hook-nosed pliers.

I searched GJ and didn't find any mentions (other than the Eibach struts and springs brand).

Based on the vintage attache style case and its construction - vinyl over plywood, breakdown hinges, boards made of cardboard encapsulated in wipeable plastic with pot metal edging, etc, and the blatant branding strategy ("ProKit" as an abbreviated portmanteau of Professional Kit), I was thinking classic 1970's Taiwan import, but I was a little perplexed by the style, quality, and condition of the tools (I don't collect anything much past 1950), which didn't seem to match the more antiquated case.

s trying to figure out what this thread was brought back after a year ... but looking at your great find, I doesn’t matter why. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I was trying to figure out what this thread was brought back after a year ... but looking at your great find, I doesn’t matter why. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, and you're welcome. I had seen your thread, linked HERE, when I was looking for the most appropriate thread to post the find, but decided on this one instead.

 

[dnschmidt]

Made in Taiwan maybe good enough for the price point. They need to cut corners somewhere to meet the price for cheapskate like me to buy them vs truck brands.

Not true. I went to Taiwan as part of my job at STMicroelectronics for some discussions with TSMC. Being a tool freak I checked out the local tool city, yes it's an actual city, and the manufacturing is extremely automated far more so than most American factories. They don't need to cut corners because the machines are so efficient. That's why for many years I sold TOPTUL. There is nothing that I ever saw with respect to cutting corners.

 

[roofdweller49]

Not true. I went to Taiwan as part of my job at STMicroelectronics for some discussions with TSMC. Being a tool freak I checked out the local tool city, yes it's an actual city, and the manufacturing is extremely automated far more so than most American factories. They don't need to cut corners because the machines are so efficient. That's why for many years I sold TOPTUL. There is nothing that I ever saw with respect to cutting corners.

I really wish Toptul was more available stateside

Love the satin chrome, the nice overall finishing, and loved that their sockets weren't the typical long blank Taiwanese sockets

 

[dnschmidt]

I really wish Toptul was more available stateside

Love the satin chrome, the nice overall finishing, and loved that their sockets weren't the typical long blank Taiwanese sockets

The reason for this is that TOPTUL is not the primary business of ROTAR MACHINERY vibratory polishers are. That's why the finishing is so exceptional because metal finishing is their core business.

 

[winlinmac]

The Kabo ratcheting wrenches are superior to just about any foreign-made ratcheting wrench out there

 

[neophyte]

Not true. I went to Taiwan as part of my job at STMicroelectronics for some discussions with TSMC. Being a tool freak I checked out the local tool city, yes it's an actual city, and the manufacturing is extremely automated far more so than most American factories. They don't need to cut corners because the machines are so efficient. That's why for many years I sold TOPTUL. There is nothing that I ever saw with respect to cutting corners.

Videos I’ve seen from Klein make me think they have s highly automated production line for lloers, but there were no really good images, so they may prevent that as a trade secret.
Snap-On and Facom use a cold forging process for pliers as well, which is also likely highly automated.

 

[AEAdam]

If you asked me 5yrs ago, I would have said Taiwan remains a risky choice. They CAN make good tools, but sometimes do not. And there exists, even today, an inconsistency in quality (for example; recent reviews by TTC of 10 new Icon G2 ratchets).

The problem is, since COVID, I've seen similar quality variations from US manufacturers. So its really a "ya pays yer money and takes yer chances" situation.