Ultimate Group Buy- Apex tooling auction

[DieselSaves]

http://www.myronbowling.com/Auctions/Apex-Tool-Group--LLC---ONLINE-ONLY-1001C50.html?LayoutID=23


Here's our big break! A manufacturing line up for grabs! Buy this and we can decide if we want to turn out tools at Craftsman quality, Snap On prices, and with Wrights name recognition, or just keep going with business as usual.

 

[plumber84]

It really is the end for ANY Apex USA made tools

 

[nickjj]

It really is the end for ANY Apex USA made tools

Presumably used by the 170 people laid off when the Armstrong/Allen lines were discontinued.

The other 200 or so at the plant must be making something?

That said what do Apex actually make?

 

[225]

Presumably used by the 170 people laid off when the Armstrong/Allen lines were discontinued.

The other 200 or so at the plant must be making something?

That said what do Apex actually make?

http://www.apextoolgroup.com/brands-faceting/handtool

 

[L.Cheapo]

18% buyer's premium + 8% sales tax.

Auctions are the second biggest scam going.

 

[nickjj]

http://www.apextoolgroup.com/brands-faceting/handtool

Do Gearwrench Crescent or Nicholson make anything in the USA??

 

[Fedwrench]

Do Gearwrench Crescent or Nicholson make anything in the USA??

Gearwrench: nothing that I'm aware of. Crescent: has morphed into a cheaper line than Gearwrench, again asian made. I have no idea about Nicholson.

My understanding is that the SC plant is now a distribution center and that they no longer make anything there.

 

[Htscheg]

My Nicholson files were usa made

 

[anndel]

My Nicholson files are made in USA but I got them from HJE. The ones I've seen at HD and Lowes are made in Mexico.

 

[1982fxr]

My Nicholson files were usa made

But how old are they?

 

[shanny19]

Whoever writes the Armstrong article for the 2045 version of Alloy Artifacts will kill for those pics.

 

[L.Cheapo]

But how old are they?

I'd like to know too. I've been struggling to find USA made needle files. Even the Nicholson's are made somewhere else.

 

[southalabama]

Bain Capital

 

[kelwar]

I have a set of grobet needle files that are made in the USA and they have been holding up pretty good.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

When Lowes had Crescent and Nicholson USA products on closeout a few years (?) back, I stocked up with plenty of extras. If the time ever came where I had to use an Asian made file; it would get rusted to hell from My tears.

But I may have to do some shopping for some modelers files. I like quality over price when it comes to a file. Any suggestions?

The Grobet catalog looks like a good place to start.

 

[metaldad]

nicholson is made in more than 1 country south of the border.
epstein's and cripe have had some nos.
and fleabay are offerings. i bought a box of nos simonds USA double cut 8'' last month

 

[L.Cheapo]

When Lowes had Crescent and Nicholson USA products on closeout a few years (?) back, I stocked up with plenty of extras. If the time ever came where I had to use an Asian made file; it would get rusted to hell from My tears.

But I may have to do some shopping for some modelers files. I like quality over price when it comes to a file. Any suggestions?

The Grobet catalog looks like a good place to start.

The only Grobet Swiss pattern files I can find (including their catalog) are made in Italy or Switzerland. Not the end of the world, but I'd prefer USA.

HJE doesn't currently have any in stock.

 

[930dreamer]

I won this box of files from an online auction, I think $12?

 

[neophyte]

You can still get certain specialty files like thread files that are made in the USA, but I’m not sure if there are any standard file manufacturers in the USA any more.

Nicholson owned some file manufacturers in South and Central America, and I think they shipped production there, or set up or farmed other production there.

I’m not sure that Simmons still has any file manufacturing in the USA anymore.

Switzerland, Germany, Italy all have file manufacturing that is supposedly well done. Poland, the Czech Republic, and other areas of Eastern Europe may also have decent production as well. France used to produce decent files, from MOB/Talabot. MOB set up and sold machinery to an Indian file manufacturer that produces files for a huge number of other tool brands including western ones, so I’m not sure whether MOB still produces files or not.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

The only Grobet Swiss pattern files I can find (including their catalog) are made in Italy or Switzerland. Not the end of the world, but I'd prefer USA.

HJE doesn't currently have any in stock.

That would work OK for Me; I would have no issues with files from Italy, Switzerland, Germany, or any other European, or North or South American country. I agree with USA as a preference, but feel fortunate to have access to the selections available from sources other than Asia.

Files happen to be one of My pet tools that I really enjoy using. I believe they receive better care than My Torque wrenches.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

Would the equipment being auctioned be considered obsolete by today's production standards? Would the majority of the 170 workers have lost their jobs anyway if this equipment had been updated with robotics? It is a depressing when 170 workers are put out of work; but what were the values used by the bean counters to come to the decision to shut this factory down.. Money talks and 170 workers walk??

We all have to form our own conclusions regarding these happenings. For Me, Apex has left a bitter taste regarding any future purchases.

Do I have all the answers?? Nope.. but I do have that bitter taste for Apex.

 

[neophyte]

Would the equipment being auctioned be considered obsolete by today's production standards? Would the majority of the 170 workers have lost their jobs anyway if this equipment had been updated with robotics? It is a depressing when 170 workers are put out of work; but what were the values used by the bean counters to come to the decision to shut this factory down.. Money talks and 170 workers walk??

We all have to form our own conclusions regarding these happenings. For Me, Apex has left a bitter taste regarding any future purchases.

Do I have all the answers?? Nope.. but I do have that bitter taste for Apex.

Some of the equipment appeared to be CNC machining centers.

For other tooling such as stamping and forging equipment, I’m not sure how much that type of tooling has been updated over the years. There are more modern processes like rotary and cold forging, but for hot forging, a lot of videos I’ve seen show companies using similar equipment to what was used decades ago. If robotics are added sometimes it’s just robotic arms interacting with older tools.

 

[WittHay]

Presumably used by the 170 people laid off when the Armstrong/Allen lines were discontinued.

The other 200 or so at the plant must be making something?

That said what do Apex actually make?

Apex owned brands that have US made items; Wiss aviation snips, HK Porter bolt cutters, Campbell chains and related lifting equipment

the last Nicholson files I bought were made in Mexico and Brazil. GearWrench (formally KD) stills has some US made specialty tools such as thread files and feeler guages but probably sourced from Lang or Lisle

 

[davethorik]

The stuff in that auction didn't look like enough machinery to support 170 people. Those machining centers looked pretty junky to me too...maybe they kept the good stuff.

 

[Bob-B]

One of the other auctions listed on the flyer is for Harvey Industries. We designed and built some work holding tooling for them a few years back, some powertrain part. We put a lot of effort into it, but never got it fully debugged. One day the plug got pulled on the project and it all went into our dumpster.