Tools of Japan

[superautobacs]

....
Another question that i have is about the steel used for the tools.
Many manufacturers from Japan are using S58C steel. This AFAIK simple carbon steel. Quite an old material. European manufacturers are using Cr-Vanadium or Cr-Vanadium-Molybdenum. What do you think and know about this?

Interesting question about materials.
As far as I can see, S58C and other varying alloys, including CrV are used in the manufacturing of pliers in Japan. IIRC, Knipex has several different alloys to choose from. Depending on the purpose of the tool, the appropriate steel alloy is chosen. I see no difference in that regard with Japanese plier makers.

These were part of one the general tool sets Toyota offers for dealership workshops, not from a car tool set.

Ahh, gotcha. Makes sense now.

 

[superautobacs]

Tone Tools advertisement

 

[andermt]

Picked these up today in SuperAutobacs in Tokyo.
All are 3/8 drive. Ratchet is 80mm long.

 

[sensei_]

mind if we ask how much?

 

[andermt]

It was about 5700yen.

 

[Mr. Tool]

These arrived this past Saturday morning!

 

[Mr. Tool]

Here's the rest of the goodies!

 

[gmt]

These arrived this past Saturday morning!

Mr. Tool, nice power grip screwdrivers. I have a set and love them.

 

[mercucho]

Mr. Tool

Very nice screwdrivers.

That magnificent finish have the Ko-ken tools.

 

[mercucho]

These arrived this Monday.

 

[Monte]

the wrench looks awesome !

 

[mercucho]

the wrench looks awesome !

It is a large adjustable wrench. Range from 12 to 49 mm and with very good workmanship.

 

[superautobacs]

Picked these up today in SuperAutobacs in Tokyo.

If you're unsatisfied with your purchases from Superautobacs, I'm always authorized to do the returns for you



Merchucho,

Cool driver you got. KTC and Anex offers similar items too:

KTC:

Anex:

 

[Mr. Tool]

These are different, unique and so cool!

Where did you get these at?

These arrived this Monday.

 

[mercucho]

These are different, unique and so cool!

Where did you get these at?

I bought them at Japanese store Rakuten Global Market: http://global.rakuten.com/en/

 

[Mr. Tool]

Yes, know all about Rakuten and you could probably find just about any tool from Japan at their website but I definitely will not purchase through them since they don't offer Paypal. I only purchase from places that offer Paypal only. For me it has to do with security issue's and trust. I personally don't like the idea of giving my credit card number to just "any site"!

 

[mercucho]

Olfa cutter and spare blades:

 

[jteck75]

Bought an Uryu UW-401 1" impact gun at a machine shop liquidation auction today,for 2 bills. This thing is built like a tank,and is smooth as silk,I was very impressed!

 

[Frankstools]

Tool of the Day, Engineer Screwdrivers

 

[Frankstools]

Fellow Garage Journel Members, there is a 10% off sale now at frankstools.com
Very good buys to be had.
frank

 

[Mr. Tool]

Thanks Frank!

I'm going to check it out!

Fellow Garage Journel Members, there is a 10% off sale now at frankstools.com
Very good buys to be had.
frank

 

[BK13]

Fellow Garage Journel Members, there is a 10% off sale now at frankstools.com
Very good buys to be had.
frank

Oh you are such an enabler! I can already feel my resistance fading...

 

[Hawk321]

Damn it I want one of those Nepros ratchtes in a wooden box.

 

[superautobacs]

I now have my first Kuken air tool in my hands, thanks to Frank at Frankstools. I was looking for an upgrade for my rather old Husky (made in Japan) 1/2" drive impact wrench, and this one had been in my radar for some time as they appear in some hand tool catalogues (Ko-ken and KTC). I later found out that Kuken has many Japanese industrial and commercial companies as customers. That fact alone is a reassuring feeling when you're making a decision to purchase a tool that virtually has no following here. So, I thought I'd give it a try.

Here's some pics and a couple videos I put up. Once I get some use from it, I'll post more opinions.

After taking it out of the box, I decided to just take a video using my cell phone cam just to show the size and anything I felt worthy of filming.

if you view them on Youtube, you can read some more product description:

<object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ffb3hJz4Y-o?version=3&hl=en_GB&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ffb3hJz4Y-o?version=3&hl=en_GB&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

<object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kC_YCm8Hi-Q?hl=en_GB&version=3&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kC_YCm8Hi-Q?hl=en_GB&version=3&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>



I also received a NT Cutter from Frank. Since I was already in the mood, I decided to do a little unboxing video...first time to do something like this.

Again, viewing it on youtube will show more product description:

<object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PqFkeUkSjeg?hl=en_GB&version=3&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PqFkeUkSjeg?hl=en_GB&version=3&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

 

[Monte]

Very nice looking !! Does it work with air or is it hoseless ?
The japanese make some really nice air tools it seems....Kuken, Fuji, Sp Air, Shinano etc....and a lot of companies seem to source the higher end/quality tools from there.....Blue Point, Wurth, Chicago Pneumatic etc....

 

[Olafur]

Very nice looking !! Does it work with air or is it hoseless ?

I think it's driven by zero point energy.

--
Thanks for the videos superautobacs, very good looking wrench!

 

[Frankstools]

Kuken is the air tool on the market inovative hammer design. Highest class available

 

[IngyHere]

I now have my first Kuken air tool in my hands, thanks to Frank at Frankstools. ... Kuken has many Japanese industrial and commercial companies as customers.

That is a mighty fine looking tool. You won't have to worry about it falling apart like the cheap IR stuff, either.

 

[IngyHere]

Check out these KTC Top pliers!

 

[superautobacs]

I've been using the Kuken impact for 3 weeks now and so far so good. I'm guessing that the gun has loosened wheels off of 30 vehicles and about 97% of the wheel bolts that it encounters (BMW's), it'll loosen it without a problem. I had maybe 3 or 4 occasions where I had to resort to my old, heavy gun.

This gun is a pleasure to use. It's light, compact, and very quiet. Unlike other guns I've tried, the teasing trigger actually works pretty well and allows for good control. More notably, the vibrations you feel through your hand is much less than the other guns I've tried. It's like a precision tool; not an unwieldly impact gun. IMO, it's in its own class and there's no comparison to the other standard impact guns out there.

Check out these KTC Top pliers!

Those are TOP brand; not KTC

 

[mercucho]

Asahi LIGHTOOL 3/8" sq. ratchet LVR3175:

Comparison with Ko-ken ratchet 3/8" 3753N:

And their weights...

Ko-ken: 323 g:

And Asahi: 167 g:

 

[mercucho]

Those are TOP brand; not KTC

+

 

[mercucho]

I now have my first Kuken air tool in my hands, thanks to Frank at Frankstools. I was looking for an upgrade for my rather old Husky (made in Japan) 1/2" drive impact wrench, and this one had been in my radar for some time as they appear in some hand tool catalogues (Ko-ken and KTC). I later found out that Kuken has many Japanese industrial and commercial companies as customers. That fact alone is a reassuring feeling when you're making a decision to purchase a tool that virtually has no following here. So, I thought I'd give it a try.


After taking it out of the box, I decided to just take a video using my cell phone cam just to show the size and anything I felt worthy of filming.

if you view them on Youtube, you can read some more product description:

This gun looks great.

 

[cosmik binturong]

This gun looks great.

it looks so great that it almost gives me the, mmmm, *need* to go "air" instead of Li-ion battery...

we'll either go with the new Bosch GDX-18v-Li or this + an air compressor too... choices...

 

[loranger]

Wow! Very nice impact, but waaaaayyy over my budget!

 

[Frankstools]

Glad you like it, they are in a class of their own.

Frank

 

[cosmik binturong]

regarding the Kūken 1600 series, what would the major differences be between the two models: KW-1600PRO-i and KW-1600Spro beside the less than 200g difference and rubbery cover color?

and why would one choose one model versus the other...
(or, more specifically for superautobacs, why did you choose the yellow one instead of the green one? )

(tried to bring the discussion around the new *need* for air tools that i discovered i now have and was met with a sarcastic glance by my beloved one... oh the irony of having a girlfriend that knows a bit about what it entails to buy *one* air tool! )

 

[Frankstools]

regarding the Kūken 1600 series, what would the major differences be between the two models: KW-1600PRO-i and KW-1600Spro beside the less than 200g difference and rubbery cover color?

and why would one choose one model versus the other...
(or, more specifically for superautobacs, why did you choose the yellow one instead of the green one? )

(tried to bring the discussion around the new *need* for air tools that i discovered i now have and was met with a sarcastic glance by my beloved one... oh the irony of having a girlfriend that knows a bit about what it entails to buy *one* air tool! )

The difference is the size, besides it weighing less. Its more compact in most dimentions. Kuken I not the type of company that sells tools just for looks, first class construction.... There are no others like them. If you use one of them, you wont go back to the traditional wrenches. Frank

 

[superautobacs]

Cosmik,

For some reason the Pro-i is much less documented compared to the Spro so I didn't give much thought it. I glanced at the Pro-i, but nothing really enticed me to pay the extra $50. The Spro was a big enough upgrade for me anyway so I was content with that.




My main go-to impact socket for removing wheel bolts is the Ko-ken thin-wall wheel socket. I've been using this for 5 months without issues. I've realized that because of the necked down shaft of the Ko-ken impact, it's more prone to twisting. Occasionally, when I encounter a wheel bolt that's really stuck on, I resort to a deep well, standard-wall impact socket and it comes loose 99% of the time.

 

[superautobacs]

Some tool company advertisements:

Asahi:

Anex:

Tsunoda:

Nepros:

Engineer:

Keiba: