Vulcan Tools (current production)

[bscman]

Our local farm store / ACE hardware just rebranded—out with the old Ace and Craftsman brand tools and in with Vulcan (supplied by Orgill).

Full aisle of wrenches, sockets, breaker bars, etc. I picked up a couple wrenches to toy with, and fill gaps for a roadside toolkit.

Overall quality seems middle of the road.
Narrow beam, mediocre finish. Functional… with “teeth” in the open end of the wrench.
Made in Taiwan

Just wondering if anyone knew anything about the brand or their lifetime warranty.
My search bar results are mostly vintage Vulcan with good reviews.

 

[mike93lx]

Looks like it's just another name, owned by some importer/distributor. I wouldn't be buying any of it expecting the lifetime warranty to be worth anything past the immediate future.

Mediocre tools are still mediocre regardless of warranty. If you really managed to break a wrench (who does that?) do you really want another of the same?

 

[KnurledNut]

Its one of Orgills (hardware distributor) brands.
Two suppliers I frequent switched over to the brand a couple years ago. Wide range of individual wrenches including jumbo sizes and ratcheting. Decent looking but can’t speak of performance. I have seen much worse.

 

[Treeman]

Learn something new here every week: https://www.orgill.com/index.aspx?tab=667

OP states the tools are functional and I suppose that is what matters. When I was a young stud, it seemed to me that building a home mechanic tool collection meant choosing a brand one could somewhat be in love with - a brand that one thought would be around for decades and retain it's quality. Even Sears Craftsman met that criteria in the distant past. Home Depot (Husky), Lowes (Kobalt), Gearwrench,etc. all failed to establish their tool lines as a dependable standard. There's only a handful of those left now in the professional/industrial lines. Maybe Harbor Freight will become the new standard? Like most things, I suppose the homeowner level tools now a days are just a commodity and brand is less important?

 

[four.cycle]

My search bar results are mostly vintage Vulcan with good reviews.

Your Google search results are probably leading you to:

Vulcan / Vulcan Tools, 2300 Kenmore Ave., Buffalo NY 14207 / division of United Greenfield Corp. / see Williams / see https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/vulcan-tools.30428/ /

The brand has been defunct for years.
My guess is that Orgill saw a name not in use that was formerly a recognized brand name and snatched it up.

 

[lardy1]

I've seen Vulcan tools on the shelf ina couple of places for quite awhile. There's a True-Value hardware that has a limited selection and there's a country store (It's called Amish but I'm not sure it is) up near some relatives that has a good sized selection. They cater to the farm community. So they're out there.

 

[vssjim]

Your Google search results are probably leading you to:

Vulcan / Vulcan Tools, 2300 Kenmore Ave., Buffalo NY 14207 / division of United Greenfield Corp. / see Williams / see https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/vulcan-tools.30428/ /

The brand has been defunct for years.
My guess is that Orgill saw a name not in use that was formerly a recognized brand name and snatched it up.

Were last used before Snap On bought Williams and Vulcan tool truck brand after TRW got tired of them. At one point I think the name came from a Williams building in Buffalo on Vulcan street

 

[Al Borland]

There is a GM Plant in Buffalo where Vulcan tools were made. They were acquired by JH Williams, who had their own factory.

 

[dnschmidt]

Your Google search results are probably leading you to:

Vulcan / Vulcan Tools, 2300 Kenmore Ave., Buffalo NY 14207 / division of United Greenfield Corp. / see Williams / see https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/vulcan-tools.30428/ /

The brand has been defunct for years.
My guess is that Orgill saw a name not in use that was formerly a recognized brand name and snatched it up.

Vulcan was identical to J. H. Williams prior to their being bought by Snap-On. Often I would order H. J. Williams from my industrial distributor back home in Pittsburgh and got Vulcan branded wrenches instead of Williams. They were obviously the same except for the branding obviously coming off of the same production line.

 

[woody 73]

Your Google search results are probably leading you to:

Vulcan / Vulcan Tools, 2300 Kenmore Ave., Buffalo NY 14207 / division of United Greenfield Corp. / see Williams / see https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/vulcan-tools.30428/ /

The brand has been defunct for years.
My guess is that Orgill saw a name not in use that was formerly a recognized brand name and snatched it up.

yes indeed ...

 

[rust in the eye]

Sad to see once respected brands diminished to this. Oh. well, most buyers today won't even remember the original.

 

[KnurledNut]

There is also a different company that used the name “Vulcan Brand”. I have a jack screw but they made all kinds of stuff including anvils. They were manufactured in Illinois.
https://archive.org/details/VulcanJackScrewsTrenchBracesAnvils/mode/1up

 

[KnurledNut]

Vulcan was identical to J. H. Williams prior to their being bought by Snap-On. Often I would order H. J. Williams from my industrial distributor back home in Pittsburgh and got Vulcan branded wrenches instead of Williams. They were obviously the same except for the branding obviously coming off of the same production line.

Vulcan also had tool trucks that would visit shops. Some of the tools had both Vulcan and Williams names stamped.