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Williams wrenches not made in USA ?

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JeepsAreBuilt

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Well, I bought a set of Williams wrenches off Ebay.. and I thought they would be made in USA. I got the offset fractional combo wrench set..

The reason, I think they are not made in USA is because williams online pdf catalog does not say "made in usa" for those wrenches. Other wrenches, they have the "made in usa" stamp on the page. I found another set of williams wrenches on ebay, and the label on them said to be made in Argentina !
 
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wrenchr

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Some are and some are not. The bluepoint tools that are rebadged williams is all taiwan.
 
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SocketDeviler

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There's no country of origin stamped on the Williams ratchet/socket set I have but the replacement bit holder (for said set) I received from Williams was made in Taiwan as were a pair of Williams pliers I bought earlier this year.

Picture035.jpg
 
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Theo

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Some Williams tools are made "offshore". This could mean Asian, Europe or South America.

The Williams tools which are made in the USA are marked as such in the catalog.
 
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CAT_serviceman927

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The Supercombo wrenches are USA. The satin combination wrenches are imports. As for the rest, the catalog does list which are made in the US and which aren't as several people have stated. I also noticed you can tell by their part numbers. If you look through the catalog, most of the import wrenches start with 11 as the part number, i.e. 11xxx. US pliers start with PL while imports are 23xxx. US screwdrivers are SDR(S), imports are 24xxx.
 
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a390st

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I specifically asked and was told that is is likely that tools not labeled made in USA are made in overseas, and that some are made in Taiwan. I got interested when I was looking at their screwdrivers the other day. I have a few odd old Kobalt wrenches that were made by them in the USA. Some website said something like USA Williams for one category and Williams for another category. That tipped me off, and I shot off an e-mail.
 
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ImportTuner

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All my Williams wrenches are USA ... I have a small hand ratchet set with a few sockets and bits which does not have any markings (I suspect it is from offshore) ...
 
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CAT_serviceman927

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Merkava_4 said:
Some of those long pattern satin finish wrenches are Snap-on wrenches without the chrome. If it's a 1/2" wrench and it's 8 inches long with satin finish, it's a Snap-on.
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Merkava_4 said:
Williams 1162SC and Snap-on OEX16B ... same wrench.
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I am going off the newest JH Williams catalog on-line. The current satin finish combination wrenches Williams makes are imports. They are the same as the current Blue-Point Wrenches. The model you have listed "1162SC" is not in the current catalog I am referring too. I am not arguing with you, just saying what I am basing my info off of.
 
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paramudduck

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I have a couple of Williams ratchets that came with Taiwan labels. There is no country of origen on the ratchet.

They are very nice 60 tooth designs but off shore production.
 
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Theo

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Within the J.H. Williams product line they tried to offer a good, better, best solution in their major categories.

The "Good" tools are made in places line Taiwan.
The "Better" Tools are made in the US.
The "Best" tools (some of the Bahco branded stuff) are made in places like England, Portugal, Spain or Sweden.

Snap-on and it's subsidiaries are a very global company now.
 
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Theo

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wantedabiggergarage said:
Bahco, used to be a different name. They were known for Ergonomics being the first factor in their designs.
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They still are. Bahco is a part of the "J.H. Williams Tool Group" in North America. JHWTG is a combination of several brands owned by Snap-on, and typically sold via Industrial Distribution. Williams, Milford, CDI, and Bahco all the brands withing JHWTG.

I believe in Europe Bahco (while still being owned by Snap-on) operates as it's own business and has a more extensive product line.
 
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Merkava_4

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Williams_11116.jpg


Here's a screen shot of the latest Williams PDF.

These wrenches were not in the old Williams catalog BEFORE Snap-on bought them ... hint hint!
 
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paramudduck

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Wow I knew they were older style Blue point pattern. But 1930"s, I didn't think they were that older pattern!.
 
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wilbilt

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paramudduck said:
Wow I knew they were older style Blue point pattern. But 1930"s, I didn't think they were that older pattern!.
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Blue Point OEX-series wrenches became Snap-On OEX series in the '40s, I believe. Chad would know.

The Alloy Artifacts site has info. Scroll down to "Combination Wrenches".
http://alloy-artifacts.com/snapon-bluepoint-tools.html#bp-wrenches

I have a BP OEX40, which is listed as first being available in 1939.

Even more info:
"From its inception in 1923 through to the late 1940s the Blue Point brand had accounted for virtually all of the wrenches sold by Snap-On. Blue Point Tools had been created so that the company could expand its products while keeping the Snap-On mark focussed on sockets and drive tools, and this arrangement had worked very well for more than two decades. During this period the Snap-On and Blue Point trademarks had functioned as co-equal brands, with no suggestion that Blue Point tools were lesser or cheaper in any way. Actually, since there was no real overlap in the tools offered under each brand, direct comparisons were not possible.

The first hint of a realignment of the brands occurred in 1948 when the Snap-On brand took over the very successful OEX series of combination wrenches. This was strictly a change of the brand markings, as there was no apparent change to the specifications, model numbers, or pricing of the wrenches."

From this page: http://alloy-artifacts.com/snapon-bluepoint-tools.html#snapon-wrenches
 
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ImportTuner

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AutoTech

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CAT_serviceman927 said:
I have seen that set of Blue-Points on my dealers truck. I am 99% positive they are imports. I could be wrong though. We all make mistakes.
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Your NOT wrong CAT, The Blue Point wrenches are made in Taiwan. A guy at work bought a set and when he took the wrenches out of the plastic and turned them over they said made in taiwan and look identical to the stanleys at wal mart!
 
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ImportTuner

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AutoTech said:
Your NOT wrong CAT, The Blue Point wrenches are made in Taiwan. A guy at work bought a set and when he took the wrenches out of the plastic and turned them over they said made in taiwan and look identical to the stanleys at wal mart!
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That's gotta **** ... did he return them for Snap On's ... now, if they were alot cheaper, then it would not be as bad ... but I don't think the Snap On driver has anything cheap ...
 
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AutoTech

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ImportTuner said:
That's gotta **** ... did he return them for Snap On's ... now, if they were alot cheaper, then it would not be as bad ... but I don't think the Snap On driver has anything cheap ...
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No he didn't return them, didn't act like it even bothered him paying premium price for cheap wrenches. Blue Point used to be a great tool made by Par-X I believe but now there just cheap junk at premium prices!
 
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