From what I've gathered, the new Greatstar S•K has split thier offerings into two lines: The 1st is thier DIY line, which you have purchased from Amazon and will be made in China(where Greatstar is from). The second is thier S•K Industrial line which is supposed to be like the classic S•K and made here in the USA. It's taken Greatstar a long time to get this far since they purchased S•K and moved the Headquarters to Williamsport, PA (About 1.5 hrs from me) and combined thier ShopVac facility with S•K. Sadly ShopVac just laid off over 80 employees and sent production to China last month. That can't be a good sign of things to come, but we'll have to wait and see I guess?
Look at Williams they got usa made tools which are great made by snapon but it's getting harder to get them but the twanezze one are all over the place
Some of the "USA made" will have tools in them that don't say Made in the USA because they're made in China, and they're mixed in with 1 or 2 USA stamped tools and charging you a premium.. I've seen it a dozen times already
😢 I never thought this day would come It happened to the old school husky obviously Craftsman I have a whole bunch of old stuff that I still used today because they're made in the USA end of built to last
I have a quarter inch set I bought over 50 years ago.. but I won't touch Chinese products unless I have exhausted all options.. I encourage everyone to do the same.. fjb
I bought almost a full set of SK sockets, made in USA, just as they were being purchased by the Chinese, but they couldn't quite get them all to me before they were taken over, so I got the remainder from Wera.
Back in the day SK made one of the nicest ratchets , very precision fine click. Their quality was always at par with the pro tool truck brands. A parts store near me sold them for over 40 years, but they got so pricey and the younger generation just wasn't buying them anymore. The Horrible Freight thing has ushered in a cheap pride-less tool buying culture. Good video.
Tekton makes good ratchets too. I feel ratchets are a personal thing. They're used a lot. Find one that feels great and buy it. Even if it's snap on. Just don't buy snap on sockets. 😅
I dont know why i would buy these over anything else available. I have several old sets that i like. Mainly the old sockets. They where ok. There quality dropped after they got bought and left Chicago. Mabe before? Its just a name now and i seriously doubt they will make anything in the US.
I don't know what is going on with SK tools website. On the SK tool website, they're selling a fraction of their tools, I guess maybe the last of the USA made SK tools, but neither the SK tool website nor the SK tool store on Amazon are selling any punch sets or hammers or other standard tools/accessories. I don't know who runs these websites, but they place some new pictures up and if you call customer service it's like a police officer interrogating a witness from a crime scene, they have not a clue in the world what is going on for the company they're work for and can't tell you any new news, it's like they forgot their own name.
Hopefully they're not going to be like Craftsman where just a small handful of tools ( not the most important ones either ) are sort of made here with global materials, and the rest imported. If the sockets aren't made here, where are the ratchets wrenches and screwdrivers going to be made ?
Sad to see anything SK say China on it..of they would've applied the truck avenue or sold the products somewhere, they would have stayed afloat..u can still buy sk American under the white label
Thank you for pointing this. Its a big shame that an iconic brand like SK sold out to China. Craftsman went to China and their tools are now crap. I will never buy SK again unless its made in the USA. When will this country learn not to gjve China the goose that lays the golden egg.
I think I'm with you. In reality what has happened is I've turned to buying used tools. To be technical, that isn't helping the local tax man, but all my cash stays with people who are located in the states. Over the years I buy less and less "stuff", I just don't get joy in buying things not made in USA. ....at this point I worry that my socks won't be USA made.
China has been #1 in the purchasing of the Highest Precision Machining tools, steel & equipment for over 20 years & have now been manufacturing The VERY Highest Quality tools & most important Electronics/robotics in manufacturing. My last trip there in 2008 I realized America was no longer the leading world Superpower. Since the mid 80's companies & corporations we thought of as AMERICAN all started cutting jobs here & relocating to & 3rd world nations. Our government failed or better yet sold out the American people in favor of the $$$.
I'm pretty sure these were corporate decisions to relocate their businesses off shore and not the government. Increase profits with lower labour costs. As for the highest quality, I haven't seen anything out of China that comes even vaguely close to Snap-on or Koken quality. Yes China can make reasonable quality stuff, I won't argue they don't. Can they match the best there is in hand tools? No, they don't even come close.
@@taintoolreview4188that happens with all brands though. I’ve seen people complain about chrome and stamping on US made Williams sets yet everyone thinks so highly of them.
I bought a sk ratchet years ago still have it in my desk because it broke shortly after and I went to take it back and the auto parts place no longer handles that brand can't get it replaced ( pice
They actually look better than the US made SK tools. I have a few sk socket sets and the chrome work leaves a lot to be desired. And they were sloppy with the broaching. Lots of left over material was squeezed out into the center of the socket. Not overly happy with the fit and finish of SK US made stuff. The new ones look nice but I will not support a 100 year old USA company that now belongs to China.
These new SK tool you just showed us on this video look good, but they're made in China which is an instant let down living here in the United States of America. They're many variables as to why US Manufacturing tool companies are closing down. US tool manufacturers have to deal with the Federal Government tax, the EPA, the Unions, business insurance companies to protect its business and workers, not to mention they're business competitors. When US products are manufactured in the US, they are expensive, why? The American tool companies have to make a profit to keep their nose above the water. Any time an American tool company/business closes its doors the business is outsourced and purchased by China or Tawain. Long story short, America is failing because for decades US Politicians didn't use their political powers to stop this kind of stuff and help US Manufactuing with business legislation laws to help protect and promote US Manufacturing. I watched a news video news of Japanese company wanting to purchase US Steel for $13 Billion dollars???? OMG!
