Tools of Japan

[Bmxkelowna]

This is my Vessel/ king ttc/ tsunoda

 

[Bmxkelowna]

And finally my Nepros / KTC / Tone (don't mind the Tekton Allen bits or the Tribus ratcheting o2 wrench)

 

[Dave455]

Thanks!

I think I'm going to get the Z-Series just going by aesthetics alone.

Funny you should mention Stahlwille. I ordered the 14/17 wrench set the other day and it's supposed to be delivered in early February. I have access to a garage with tools but it'll be my first wrench set I've personally owned.

I’m sure you will like them. If you have a regular 1/4“ drive set, the Z Series is a sensible step up.

Yes, if you go for KoKen then you need to look elsewhere for wrenches. The Stahlwille are a good choice, especially if you get a set on a factory special. I use the No.23 Corona box end wrenches as my “go to” supplemented by the No.10 Motor open ends.

I forgot to mention that KoKen are switching to a fine tooth ratchet in the Z Series, which you may prefer.

 

[Fatboy148]

This is my Vessel/ king ttc/ tsunoda

Do you like the composite wood Vessels? I had Amazon send me some last year when they were selling the 6 piece set for $50.00 and I sent them back. I didn't think they offered anything over their blue handled Megadora and the Vessel and Craftsman Impacta that I already had. I recently ordered the four 4500's with the JIS style cross tips through Amazon Japan. Those are downright "****" if you're into that sort of thing!

 

[Mr. Tool]

The screwdrivers to the left of the melina are marked japan, but nothing else. I believe they are rosco’s, but not certain. I almost listed them as Kleins, based on their appearance. Thankfully I thought to double check. It surprised me that a manufacturer would allow someone to make something that is easily mistaken for their brand.
Have I found the tool collector’s equivalent to a knock-off Louis vitton purse. Lol

Klein tool dulipcates?

Earlier this morning I was at my local True Value store and I happened to just check out their tool selection and kinda surprised to come across this screwdriver set. Looks a lot like either, Klein duplicates or could possibly be made by Klein for a different manufacturer here known as...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[johnson_n]

I’m sure you will like them. If you have a regular 1/4“ drive set, the Z Series is a sensible step up.

Yes, if you go for KoKen then you need to look elsewhere for wrenches. The Stahlwille are a good choice, especially if you get a set on a factory special. I use the No.23 Corona box end wrenches as my “go to” supplemented by the No.10 Motor open ends.

I forgot to mention that KoKen are switching to a fine tooth ratchet in the Z Series, which you may prefer.

I got the Stahlwille 14/17 from an Amazon UK seller and they were $150 shipped which is about the same as amazon.de with lower product cost but higher shipping rate.

How many instances have you had where the shallow Zeal sockets were too shallow? I'm not sure to get the shallow or semi-deep first.

 

[Dave455]

I got the Stahlwille 14/17 from an Amazon UK seller and they were $150 shipped which is about the same as amazon.de with lower product cost but higher shipping rate.

How many instances have you had where the shallow Zeal sockets were too shallow? I'm not sure to get the shallow or semi-deep first.

Yes, you have to shop around. Before too long I expect the 2022 factory specials will be out, and there are usually some wrench sets included.

I’ve had a couple of occasions where the shallow Z Series were too shallow. Can’t hold it against them, as that’s what they are designed for.

To put some figures on it, the 17mm socket is 21mm deep. The square drive of the ratchet is 10.5, and an M10 nut (17mm a/f) is 7.5 deep. So, once you have more than 3mm of thread protruding from a nut, it’s going to prevent the socket seating to full depth. 3mm isn’t a lot on an M10.

Shallow or semi deep probably depends on what you do. If it’s all automotive, modern vehicle engine compt’s etc (the environment the Z Series was designed for) I’d probably go shallow.

For more general use (adjusting machines, putting coach screws into wood etc) I’d probably go semi deep. If you are going to get a full deep set eventually anyway, I would definitely go shallow.

 

[jmf535]

I recently got a variety of Koken sockets in 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 drive (Z-series, nut grip, semi-deep regular), and personally, if it was going to be my only/main set, I would get the regular stuff. The Z-series are a lot shallower/tighter than you think, which can lead to problems if you have damaged fasteners, or nuts with more than a couple of threads protruding past it, as Dave455 pointed out above. They do make an excellent addition to any collection, however.

Also, due to the tight tolerances, they do not play nice with all brands of ratchets, if you decide to expand your collection.

 

[Outahere]

Bought another pair of 10" Lobster adjustable (36mm max) pliers. Paid $53 at WesTorque.com.

 

[Jack_K]

My new Shinano 3" sander. It will be a lot better than the cheap one next to it which played up from the start.

 

[superautobacs]

Klein tool dulipcates?

Earlier this morning I was at my local True Value store and I happened to just check out their tool selection and kinda surprised to come across this screwdriver set. Looks a lot like either, Klein duplicates or could possibly be made by Klein for a different manufacturer here known as...

www.garagejournal.com

These Bridgeports were over a half century old

 

[superautobacs]

I recently got a variety of Koken sockets in 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 drive (Z-series, nut grip, semi-deep regular), and personally, if it was going to be my only/main set, I would get the regular stuff. The Z-series are a lot shallower/tighter than you think, which can lead to problems if you have damaged fasteners, or nuts with more than a couple of threads protruding past it, as Dave455 pointed out above. They do make an excellent addition to any collection, however.

Also, due to the tight tolerances, they do not play nice with all brands of ratchets, if you decide to expand your collection.

Case in point. Working under a vehicle the other day, Zeal sockets didn't play nice because of fasteners covered with undercoating. The applicator couldn't care less what he was spraying and just went wild with the gun
Regular sockets were able to fit with less fuss.





I'm not sure if I ever shared this one here.
Aluminum handled screwdrivers are a bit of an oddity. Niigata, one of Japan's hub for tool manufacturing, is located in central northern Japan. Some time in the 1990's, a total of 10 hand tool manufacturers collaborated to produce a series of tools called ALUTOOL, sponsored by the Niigata Prefecture Work Tools Cooperative.
.
ANEX, known for producing screwdrivers, bits, and accessories was one such company that participated in this project.
.
They offered a couple screwdrivers, this being one example. One theme of the ALUTOOL series is the use of an aluminum alloy called A7001 duralumin. In the case of screwdrivers there was no weight advantage, but there were wrenches, adjustable wrenches, pliers, etc that would've seen some definite weight savings. The ANEX screwdriver shanks were the standard chrome vanadium alloy steel variety.
.
A very rare NOS item that I purchased at #otanitoolstore in Osaka, Japan, before they closed down.

 

[johnson_n]

I took your guys' advice and ordered the regular Ko-ken sockets. The Nepros and OLFA stuff is from amazon.co.jp and the Ko-ken stuff is from Palmac.

The prices on these particular Ko-ken items are cheaper on Amazon Japan but the higher shipping costs (~$20) makes it about even with Palmac's free shipping and 5% off (-$10) with code mrsubaru5.

Brand Model Description KTC NBR390L Nepros 3/8" 90-Tooth Gear Long Ratchet KTC NBE38 Nepros 3/8" Quick Spinner Ko-ken PK3760/6 3/8" Sq. Drive, Extension Bar Set (32, 50, 75, 125, 150, 250mm / ~1.25, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10") Ko-ken 2771Z Z-Series 1/4" Sq. Drive Universal Joint Ko-ken 2772Z Z-Series 1/4" Sq. Drive Universal Double Joint Ko-ken 3772Z Z-Series 3/8" Sq. Drive Universal Double Joint Ko-ken RS3400M/12 3/8" Sq. Drive, 6-point Socket Set (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) OLFA 227B Speed Hyper AL OLFA 157EC DESIGN KNIFE PRO OLFA 141BS Workmanship Cutter OLFA 133k Disposal Can

 

[boom10ful]

Found a 24mm Nepros wrench on Amazon Warehouse Deals and bought a Trusco cantilever toolbox for work.

 

[Vicks]

Has anyone tried grinding down the ends of their engineer pliers once the very front portion of the teeth wear out/round out? Was thinking of carefully grinding down past the high wear spots to get freshly exposed teeth.

Don't think that'll work since you will lose the surface hardening of the teeth when you carefully grind them down.... the teeth will simply round off after few uses.

 

[jay70]

Does anyone use koken regular or zeal sockets with snap on ratchets? Sounds like the regular should be ok and the zeal might have issues?

Thinking about getting a full set of regular koken deep and shallow and a set of the shallow zeal if they fit ok with the snap on, not interested in changing to koken ratchets for now.

 

[mhejl]

Does anyone use koken regular or zeal sockets with snap on ratchets? Sounds like the regular should be ok and the zeal might have issues?

Thinking about getting a full set of regular koken deep and shallow and a set of the shallow zeal if they fit ok with the snap on, not interested in changing to koken ratchets for now.

I have Koken regulars (nut grips mostly) in 1/4 and 3/8 and Zeal short and mid in 3/8. No issues at all on about 50 Snap-On (mostly), Carlyle, Proto Precision 90, Icon, and Nepros ratchets. Also mostly no issues on SK, Snap-On, and Koken extensions both straight and wobble (see below).

For Snap-On/Williams USA 3/8 sockets and wobble-fix style extensions, the broaching mushroom at the bottom of the socket interferes with the "fix". Koken wobble-fix actually work better than Snap-on extensions - the drive end is shorter than Snap-On.

For the 3/8 short Zeal, up to 12mm won't "fix" on a Snap-On wobble-fix extension but they will with Koken wobble-fix.

 

[CGarage]

Case in point. Working under a vehicle the other day, Zeal sockets didn't play nice because of fasteners covered with undercoating. The applicator couldn't care less what he was spraying and just went wild with the gun
Regular sockets were able to fit with less fuss.





I'm not sure if I ever shared this one here.
Aluminum handled screwdrivers are a bit of an oddity. Niigata, one of Japan's hub for tool manufacturing, is located in central northern Japan. Some time in the 1990's, a total of 10 hand tool manufacturers collaborated to produce a series of tools called ALUTOOL, sponsored by the Niigata Prefecture Work Tools Cooperative.
.
ANEX, known for producing screwdrivers, bits, and accessories was one such company that participated in this project.
.
They offered a couple screwdrivers, this being one example. One theme of the ALUTOOL series is the use of an aluminum alloy called A7001 duralumin. In the case of screwdrivers there was no weight advantage, but there were wrenches, adjustable wrenches, pliers, etc that would've seen some definite weight savings. The ANEX screwdriver shanks were the standard chrome vanadium alloy steel variety.
.
A very rare NOS item that I purchased at #otanitoolstore in Osaka, Japan, before they closed down.

Awesome post.

What other areas in Japan are known for tool manufacturing?

This always interests me.

In Germany, it is Wuppertal.

 

[Dave455]

Does anyone use koken regular or zeal sockets with snap on ratchets? Sounds like the regular should be ok and the zeal might have issues?

Thinking about getting a full set of regular koken deep and shallow and a set of the shallow zeal if they fit ok with the snap on, not interested in changing to koken ratchets for now.

Yes, I do. For some specialised things (XZN and nut grip) I only own them by KoKen (regular). Absolutely fine with a Snap On ratchet, and Dual 80’s are better ratchet’s than KoKen.

 

[Bmxkelowna]

Does anyone have an Amazon link for the Asahi LVR4252 I can't seem to find it anywhere

 

[Reed Prince]

Does anyone have an Amazon link for the Asahi LVR4252 I can't seem to find it anywhere

I couldn't find it either, and I am pretty good at searching there. Only saw the 3/8" version.

 

[Bmxkelowna]

I couldn't find it either, and I am pretty good at searching there. Only saw the 3/8" version.

I got the 3/8" Version in yesterday and used it right away and I love it. I wish they made a longer version

 

[Jack_K]

Does anyone have an Amazon link for the Asahi LVR4252 I can't seem to find it anywhere

I can only find the amazon Japan listing which says currently unavailable

 

[johnson_n]

Does anyone have an Amazon link for the Asahi LVR4252 I can't seem to find it anywhere

No, but they're all over eBay for about 60 USD or 75 CAD.

 

[johnson_n]

Do kitchen tools count?

MAC Pro MTH-80 8" Chef's Knife
Takamura R2 Gyuto 210mm
Yoshikane Amekiri White 2 Gyuto 240mm Stainless Clad Nashiji Finish
Tojiro F-687 ITK Bread Knife 270mm

I got the paper catalog from Ko-ken USA yesterday (free with no shipping fee) and it's so much nicer to flip through pages than to look through the PDF. My Nepros NBR390L and spinner got shipped from Japan yesterday and is supposed to be delivered on Monday. Palmac order with RS3400M/12 socket set and universals is supposed to be delivered on Tuesday.

 

[hans109h]

This is my Vessel/ king ttc/ tsunoda

I bet there are plenty of times where that guy would come in really handy! I'll have to be on the lookout.

Hans

 

[Bmxkelowna]

I bet there are plenty of times where that guy would come in really handy! I'll have to be on the lookout.

Hans

Amazon | ベッセル(VESSEL) バッテリードライバー 5700BD | ドライバー

ベッセル(VESSEL) バッテリードライバー 5700BDがドライバーストアでいつでもお買い得。当日お急ぎ便対象商品は、当日お届け可能です。アマゾン配送商品は、通常配送無料（一部除く）。

www.amazon.co.jp

heres the link on amazon for it! i use it all the time for the battery terminals

 

[designer485]

Can anyone identify the manufacturer of this impact socket set? Metric, 1/2" drive.
Marked "Japan", "CR-V" and "45". Any ideas?

They look to be very well made, but have no manufacturer mark on them.

 

[Pistolero]

Just wondering if anyone knows about Rubicon screwdrivers, these brand is very popular back in the Philippines as a Japanese brand of screwdriver, we never hear anything about Vessel over there, but everyone just know Rubicon and its blade really last.

 

[Mr. Tool]

Amazon | ベッセル(VESSEL) バッテリードライバー 5700BD | ドライバー

ベッセル(VESSEL) バッテリードライバー 5700BDがドライバーストアでいつでもお買い得。当日お急ぎ便対象商品は、当日お届け可能です。アマゾン配送商品は、通常配送無料（一部除く）。

www.amazon.co.jp

heres the link on amazon for it! i use it all the time for the battery terminals

Thank for posting and sharing the link!

 

[johnson_n]

I got a Trusco Y-350 from Amazon today. It's smaller than I thought even though I knew the dimensions. The paint is vibrant and makes me want to collect them all. IIRC someone in this thread said they have 15 of them??

I just noticed they have a Y-410 which is a little bigger at about the same cost.

 

[kanai]

Does anyone have a favorite double box-end ratcheting wrench? Could be Japanese brand or maybe Taiwanese-made? Deen has some that I was thinking of but am open to suggestions. I may skip the traditional wrench and just buy ratcheting.

 

[kanai]

Just wondering if anyone knows about Rubicon screwdrivers, these brand is very popular back in the Philippines as a Japanese brand of screwdriver, we never hear anything about Vessel over there, but everyone just know Rubicon and its blade really last.

Does it say Made in Japan? Can you post some photos? It's not a brand we commonly see in Japan.

 

[Pistolero]

Does it say Made in Japan? Can you post some photos? It's not a brand we commonly see in Japan.

they are more traditional looking screwdriver

 

[jeepnut24]

Picked up a new Shinto rasp, soon to be put to work on a table I’m making…

 

[Vicks]

Picked up this set of Koken 1/2” Impact sockets and extension. The impact Uni joint is delayed by 2 weeks.

 

[mr.lemons]

 

[Billgluckman]

Anyone know a site that sells koken that accepts PayPal?

 

[steelespeed]

Are the Koken impact sockets laser etched AND engraved with the sizes?

 

[Jack_K]

Are the Koken impact sockets laser etched AND engraved with the sizes?

I recently bought a Koken 1 1/2 deep impact and it is both etched and engraved