Garage Gazette
TOOLS AND THE SHOP => MECHANIC HAND TOOLS WE USE => Topic started by: highland512 on November 18, 2019, 12:55:15 PM
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I have always been a fan of these
facum I mean SK ratchets. When you find a NOS tuff1 the actions are smooth and butter right out of the box and only get better with time. They are a bit of a pain if you get the urge to disassemble and clean them and from my experience are picky when comes to what lube the prefer. When I find a tuff1 out in the wild I buy it, I guess Im a tuff1 snob. Usually the first thing I do is soak the the ratchet in parts cleaner for a few days, just spinning the action in both directions usually cleans out the factory lube and whatever else has collected in the head. I then let the head dry our and lube with...... wd-40. My shop is not heated and when the temps go below 20*F its the only product I have found that keeps the tuff1 running smooth, almost all other lubes put loads of drag in the action and the factory lube almost gums it up entirely in the cold plus it dosnt leave a mess. Here are a few examples I have in my tool box in the shop. I have 4 or 5 more but they are in the truck or in my house box, I know I have one marked JS but it didnt make this photo shoot. Notice the different SK stamping as well, I dont know what stamp line up with what years but my feeling is <SK> is the oldest, and S dot K being the newest. Anybody know differently?
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As S-K got licensing to make those from FACOM when they were owned by them (1985-2005) I'd tend to think the logos would be FACOM-era specific. I believe that S-K lost the licensing when they went independent again in 2005, which is why you can't buy them new or get rebuild kits for them from S-K. (But other brands of TUFF 1 kits fit).
FACOM was then bought by Stanley in 2005 - must have been right after S-K took flight. Thankfully! ;D
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Didn't you have this thread at the old GG? I think I contributed to that one, but I can't remember.
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my local sk store did not have tuff1 kits for a while. they did get some in and they are in new packages. now if they where new kits or nos i don't know but i do know i could get a kit not long ago.
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Nice line-up, highland! I still have a regular length 3/8" TUFF 1 which I use for those jobs that require low backdrag and have minimal swing area.
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Didn't you have this thread at the old GG? I think I contributed to that one, but I can't remember.
I think i had a post in the ratchet triple threat.
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my local sk store did not have tuff1 kits for a while. they did get some in and they are in new packages. now if they where new kits or nos i don't know but i do know i could get a kit not long ago.
When you say new packages are you saying Ideal packaged? My local guy was saying new tuff1 kits where no more.
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I got some 8 plus years ago at the flea. 1/4", 1/2" regular, and 1/2" long handle. Different sellers. Different times.
I "stole" the long handle for $5. It was freewheeling and appeared to have been taken apart then put back together. I knew they were tricky to put back together because I had played with that style before. You gamble that it is just a matter of putting it back together properly, and is not missing parts. Gamble paid off because all the parts were there when I took it apart - just not put back together properly.
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Found this KAL 1269 3/8" dr ratchet today. Made in USA. I assume made by SK and rebranded KAL since KAL didn't make their own tools.
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Found this KAL 1269 3/8" dr ratchet today. Made in USA. I assume made by SK and rebranded KAL since KAL didn't make their own tools.
Many years ago I ran into a guy liquidating Department of defense scrap from the local navy base. What the government was scrapping was literally dump truck loads of tools.
The main brands where Wright, Proto, SK, many more including KAL. My theory has always been that KAL was what SK stamped the stuff they never wanted to warranty. You take a KAL or SK wrench, socket, or ratchet and the only difference is the name stamp.
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Many years ago I ran into a guy liquidating Department of defense scrap from the local navy base. What the government was scrapping was literally dump truck loads of tools.
The main brands where Wright, Proto, SK, many more including KAL. My theory has always been that KAL was what SK stamped the stuff they never wanted to warranty. You take a KAL or SK wrench, socket, or ratchet and the only difference is the name stamp.
I have seen Williams tools with Kal on them and a large number of other KAL tools that said made in Japan on them
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Many years ago I ran into a guy liquidating Department of defense scrap from the local navy base. What the government was scrapping was literally dump truck loads of tools.
The main brands where Wright, Proto, SK, many more including KAL. My theory has always been that KAL was what SK stamped the stuff they never wanted to warranty. You take a KAL or SK wrench, socket, or ratchet and the only difference is the name stamp.
I have seen Williams tools with Kal on them and a large number of other KAL tools that said made in Japan on them
They had stuff made in the US and Japan.
I have a 6" pair of their linesman style pliers made in Japan and they are a well made tool.
At some point KAL started branding stuff PROAMERICA , I have 2 of their wrench sets and they are pretty nice for more affordably priced American made wrenches.
They're a lot like the matte finish Thorsen wrenches from the 70's.
I don't know if they ever used the Proamerica name or ratchets.
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...Many years ago I ran into a guy liquidating Department of defense scrap from the local navy base. What the government was scrapping was literally dump truck loads of tools.
Was that the naval base at Alameada near Oakland, California? Some guy bought a ton of the surplus from that closure and was selling it for awhile. Think the site was called Lotta Stuff.
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...Many years ago I ran into a guy liquidating Department of defense scrap from the local navy base. What the government was scrapping was literally dump truck loads of tools.
Was that the naval base at Alameada near Oakland, California? Some guy bought a ton of the surplus from that closure and was selling it for awhile. Think the site was called Lotta Stuff.
No, this was a Naval base in land locked southern Indiana.
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I had a JS clone years ago, but a friend of mine fell in love with it so I gave it to him. All I have now is the one standard length 3/8" drive, #45175.
A longer length 3/8" would be nice (saw one last year but left it and it was gone when I went back), but I think the perfect TUFF 1 would be the roto-head version. Have only seen one - in pictures.
In the interim I'm "surviving" with a roto-head I upgraded with one of the DT80 rebuild kits. :lol_hitting:
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I'm adding the 40975 to my 1/4 ratchet list.
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Just checked the 40975 off my list, that's probably the fastest I've ever checked a ratchet off my 1/4dr list.