Wright Tools Disappointment (Transforms to Respect)

[CHI_Tool&Die]

Chrome 6 is really toxic and many plating shops don't have good industrial hygiene.

When I started as an apprentice I used to have to swing by the platers to drop-off/pick-up parts. I would never want that job. It looked like I stepped back into the Gilded Age but with modern machines buzzing overhead. I can’t see how those guys have any longevity in life just off all the **** they were exposed to daily.

 

[mreisner]

2010's or so.

 

[Ohio Andy]

What year did it start

Federal govt has a publication in 2004 about this.

Here in Ohio, there are things going back to 2008 with compliance by 2010:

Regulatory | Ohio Association of Metal Finishers

www.oamf.org

2012: I do not remember how long to be in compliance.

Federal Register :: Request Access

www.federalregister.gov

More updates are in process, or were started near (or I think after) 2020 directly targeting chrome finishing (pretty sure).

 

[zendriver]

So, does Snap On send their tools to Mexico, to be chrome plated?

Not sure what all the talk of chrome is about.

 

[mikey03]

Federal govt has a publication in 2004 about this.

Here in Ohio, there are things going back to 2008 with compliance by 2010:

Regulatory | Ohio Association of Metal Finishers

www.oamf.org

2012: I do not remember how long to be in compliance.

Federal Register :: Request Access

www.federalregister.gov

More updates are in process, or were started near (or I think after) 2020 directly targeting chrome finishing (pretty sure).

Damn so now we gotta buy pre ban wrenches if we want the good stuff

 

[GrayFlattop]

When I started as an apprentice I used to have to swing by the platers to drop-off/pick-up parts. I would never want that job. It looked like I stepped back into the Gilded Age but with modern machines buzzing overhead. I can’t see how those guys have any longevity in life just off all the **** they were exposed to daily.

The acrid, nasty smell would away bug me whenever I visited a plater. The raw, feeling in my throat lasted for hours. Give me smell of oil and machine tools any day.

 

[Firebrick43]

I have had several Snap on wrenches that peeled chrome, even pre hexavalent ban. I have a 32mm SK that has never been used and peeled but I didn't get it warrantied before they sold out.

 

[gte718p]

When I started as an apprentice I used to have to swing by the platers to drop-off/pick-up parts. I would never want that job. It looked like I stepped back into the Gilded Age but with modern machines buzzing overhead. I can’t see how those guys have any longevity in life just off all the **** they were exposed to daily.

The didn't have good life expectancy. They also affected the communities around them with extremely high cancer rates. Hence why the worst offenders are no longer available in the US. As long as it is in someone elses neighborhood, folks can complain their chrome isn't as good as the old days. However, if the plater was in their backyard they would be screaming bloddy murder.

 

[Etchase]

Generally the plating on the vast majority of tools today seems better than ever to me. Wright is an exception.

 

[mreisner]

So, does Snap On send their tools to Mexico, to be chrome plated?

Not sure what all the talk of chrome is about.

Nope, in house trivalent.

 

[Wrench-Polisher]

This is why I prefer black oxide or phosphate finish. Phosphate especially drinks oil like crazy. Im a gun guy so this is a no brainer for me.
Wont look good in your tool box on the internet because its not nice and polished and greasy looking. And listen if you collect tools Im cool with that, I support you and I dont judge you.
Sadly my tools are not in a climate controlled environment and they are much better off being soaked in oil.

 

[zendriver]

Nope, in house trivalent.

OK, is the Chrome quality the same, better or worse than when they use the old stuff?

Not understanding what the problem is with one type of chrome versus the other

 

[1982fxr]

OK, is the Chrome quality the same, better or worse than when they use the old stuff?

Not understanding what the problem is with one type of chrome versus the other

With tools and chrome made in USA motorcycle parts, modern chrome looks duller than cheap import stuff.

It's not as brilliant when side by side. At least the stuff I have.

 

[mreisner]

The newer Snap-on Trivalent stuff is pretty good but they did have some flaking problems on occasion. I have some Mac Tools rbrt wrenches and the Chrome does seem more brilliant on them, made in Taiwan.

 

[Toold_up]

This is why I prefer black oxide or phosphate finish. Phosphate especially drinks oil like crazy. Im a gun guy so this is a no brainer for me.
Wont look good in your tool box on the internet because its not nice and polished and greasy looking. And listen if you collect tools Im cool with that, I support you and I dont judge you.
Sadly my tools are not in a climate controlled environment and they are much better off being soaked in oil.

Hilarious considering your username!

I like black oxide as well, but I'd like to see some nitride finished tools. I think that would be a cost effective treatment for tools.

 

[Toold_up]

With tools and chrome made in USA motorcycle parts, modern chrome looks duller than cheap import stuff.

It's not as brilliant when side by side. At least the stuff I have.

Yes. Show chrome!

The 1970s choppers had the ultimate chome jobs. It's very sad Browns closed up shop.

 

[Wrench-Polisher]

Hilarious considering your username!

I like black oxide as well, but I'd like to see some nitride finished tools. I think that would be a cost effective treatment for tools.

Ah yes thank you! I am quite proud of my name, it is tongue in cheek. I am an accountant in a forum full of professionals and enthusiasts who use their wrenches every day, and there is me who never used them for a living or extensively.

 

[rust in the eye]

They're saving money by using the same forging blank for several sizes. Thus the obvious appearance that the 10mm end is cut on a 12 or 13mm blank and the "lobster claw" appearance.

It's not a good look.

That would imply that different size wrenches be same length. I don't see that in my Wrights but the smaller sizes do have a bit of heavy looking open end.

 

[rust in the eye]

When I started as an apprentice I used to have to swing by the platers to drop-off/pick-up parts. I would never want that job. It looked like I stepped back into the Gilded Age but with modern machines buzzing overhead. I can’t see how those guys have any longevity in life just off all the **** they were exposed to daily.

A summer job as a teenager was driving a delivery truck for a hard chrome outfit. The shop was a vile, nasty place to be. All of those tanks full of bubbling caustic chemicals were open to the air. I spent minutes a day there and that was too much for me. I can't imagine any of those guys to be alive today. The place is still in business.

 

[CHI_Tool&Die]

A summer job as a teenager was driving a delivery truck for a hard chrome outfit. The shop was a vile, nasty place to be. All of those tanks full of bubbling caustic chemicals were open to the air. I spent minutes a day there and that was too much for me. I can't imagine any of those guys to be alive today. The place is still in business.

Was it in Schiller Park? Both of the players I used to run to were in Schiller and both were just not a fun place to be.

 

[terrific]

I genuinely dislike chrome. I hate being blinded when the sun reflects off
my tools.

 

[rust in the eye]

Was it in Schiller Park? Both of the players I used to run to were in Schiller and both were just not a fun place to be.

Nope, Hausner Hard Chrome, Elk Grove

 

[ecotec]

We had a chrome and other plating place (Electro Plating Services) locally that was oozing chemicals onto our major cross town freeway (696). Hexavalent chromium, trichloroethylene and forever chemicals was leaking out of their basement and coming out of the retaining wall of the freeway.

I did some electrical in some mom and pop chroming and anodizing shops in the 1990’s. Those places were all environmental disasters.

Most of those places closed down when the owners retired or died. Their kids did not want the liability of inheriting them. They were worried about being on the hook for environmental damages. They got sold off and gutted.

 

[Winterborne]

Received the final warranty wrench from Wright today
Second photo with 10-24 nut

 

[redwrench60]

Now, quit staring at them wrenches and put em’ to work!

 

[seber]

I did some design work for an aerospace company working on the B2. All the guys in the plating department had permanently dyed blue fingers. Government jobs get a pass from the EPA.

 

[Hakeem]

Received the final warranty wrench from Wright today
Second photo with 10-24 nut

Looks like two equally functional wrenches. What was the warranty claim for?

 

[Winterborne]

This next wrench I am not sure off. The 3/8 open end looks odd, almost like a shallow broach. Perhaps I am just picking up the variation in the polished portion

This photo shows the lobster claw a bit more clearly, and many members have confirmed it is a known issue with Wright. While it may not affect functionality, it is a forging QC defect that should have never left the factory.

 

[Toold_up]

I did some design work for an aerospace company working on the B2. All the guys in the plating department had permanently dyed blue fingers. Government jobs get a pass from the EPA.

Blue from dykem?

 

[mreisner]

We had a chrome and other plating place (Electro Plating Services) locally that was oozing chemicals onto our major cross town freeway (696). Hexavalent chromium, trichloroethylene and forever chemicals was leaking out of their basement and coming out of the retaining wall of the freeway.

I did some electrical in some mom and pop chroming and anodizing shops in the 1990’s. Those places were all environmental disasters.

Most of those places closed down when the owners retired or died. Their kids did not want the liability of inheriting them. They were worried about being on the hook for environmental damages. They got sold off and gutted.

That old crook moved 2 miles from me, buried a bunch of barrels on his place up here. Tjcking Time Bomb I would assume.

 

[seber]

Blue from dykem?

Blue from hexavalent chrome poisoning.

 

[Rinspeed]

We had a chrome and other plating place (Electro Plating Services) locally that was oozing chemicals onto our major cross town freeway (696). Hexavalent chromium, trichloroethylene and forever chemicals was leaking out of their basement and coming out of the retaining wall of the freeway.

I did some electrical in some mom and pop chroming and anodizing shops in the 1990’s. Those places were all environmental disasters.

Most of those places closed down when the owners retired or died. Their kids did not want the liability of inheriting them. They were worried about being on the hook for environmental damages. They got sold off and gutted.

Local place was using a lot of trichlor for vapor degreasing, as many companies were back then. Rumor has it they got permission from the EPA to bury the used stuff. They cleaned the site up eight years ago and the total cost was over $6 million.