Garage Gazette
TOOLS AND THE SHOP => MECHANIC HAND TOOLS WE USE => Topic started by: hickory n Steel on March 04, 2019, 12:46:36 PM
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I just bought a GOVT Surplus 1/4 set , and the blow moulded box says JS Technology inc.
They're a Danahar company so I'm not sure who actually makes these, but I couldn't pass up a new American made set like this for the price.
(https://i.postimg.cc/zD4c9GD7/s-l400-15.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
(https://i.postimg.cc/9MDjYg1Q/s-l400-16.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
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I have some JS stuff, I always thought they where put together from all different companies to make sets for the government. Your ratchet is a dead ringer for a Thorsen. The JS sockets I have are a dead ringer of SK.
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I have some JS stuff, I always thought they where put together from all different companies to make sets for the government. Your ratchet is a dead ringer for a Thorsen. The JS sockets I have are a dead ringer of SK.
Interesting, thanks for the info.
I wonder if some Thorsen Tooling was acquired by someone under the Danahar umbrella, Thorsen has been gone for quite a while now right ?
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Everything on Thorsen Tool.
http://alloy-artifacts.org/thorsen-manufacturing.html (http://alloy-artifacts.org/thorsen-manufacturing.html)
If I remember right Thorsen ended in the 90's.
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I have some JS stuff, I always thought they where put together from all different companies to make sets for the government. Your ratchet is a dead ringer for a Thorsen. The JS sockets I have are a dead ringer of SK.
I believe this to be true. A lot of stuff Danher used to fill govt contracts was just cobbled together and apparently sub contracted in some cases.
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Everything on Thorsen Tool.
http://alloy-artifacts.org/thorsen-manufacturing.html (http://alloy-artifacts.org/thorsen-manufacturing.html)
If I remember right Thorsen ended in the 90's.
Thanks, that's what I thought.
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Man dont make me feel old, the 90's was just a few years ago it feels like.....................
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Man, those last few years Thorson was total garbage. It makes sense, but I didn’t realize the same outfit was behind Murray. Talk about a real junk peddler.
It’s amazing how high the baseline for tool quality is now compared to back then. You’d have to really try these days to find tools as shitty as 80’s Thorson and Murray. Might find them at a dollar store, but that’d Be about the only place.
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Man, those last few years Thorson was total garbage. It makes sense, but I didn’t realize the same outfit was behind Murray. Talk about a real junk peddler.
It’s amazing how high the baseline for tool quality is now compared to back then. You’d have to really try these days to find tools as shitty as 80’s Thorson and Murray. Might find them at a dollar store, but that’d Be about the only place.
I've never heard of Murray but you make it sound on par with Oxwall.
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Man, those last few years Thorson was total garbage. It makes sense, but I didn’t realize the same outfit was behind Murray. Talk about a real junk peddler.
It’s amazing how high the baseline for tool quality is now compared to back then. You’d have to really try these days to find tools as shitty as 80’s Thorson and Murray. Might find them at a dollar store, but that’d Be about the only place.
One of my first socket sets was a thorsen set made over seas, all you had to do was show the sockets a bolt and boom!!!! cracked socket. :))
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Man, those last few years Thorson was total garbage. It makes sense, but I didn’t realize the same outfit was behind Murray. Talk about a real junk peddler.
It’s amazing how high the baseline for tool quality is now compared to back then. You’d have to really try these days to find tools as shitty as 80’s Thorson and Murray. Might find them at a dollar store, but that’d Be about the only place.
I've never heard of Murray but you make it sound on par with Oxwall.
I looked around on eBay and Google to find an example for you. Couldn’t find a single Murray tool example to show you.
My hypothesis is that it’s highly likely none of them survived through the 90’s. They eroded of there own free will and were reduced to little piles of rust colored dust. When you find an old toolbox at a swap meet and the smell of Communist shit takes your breath away, it’s likely the residual effects of an 80’s Murray or Thorson tool that died there.
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Man, those last few years Thorson was total garbage. It makes sense, but I didn’t realize the same outfit was behind Murray. Talk about a real junk peddler.
It’s amazing how high the baseline for tool quality is now compared to back then. You’d have to really try these days to find tools as shitty as 80’s Thorson and Murray. Might find them at a dollar store, but that’d Be about the only place.
One of my first socket sets was a thorsen set made over seas, all you had to do was show the sockets a bolt and boom!!!! cracked socket. :))
Only imported Thorsen I've experienced was a 5pc pliers set and they were you're typical cheap made in Taiwan pliers.
On par with the crappy orange grips from HF.
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A lot of the later Thorson stuff was Taiwan made. Bear in mind though, there’s a significant quality difference in 1980’s Taiwan and the stuff they put out today.
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A lot of the later Thorson stuff was Taiwan made. Bear in mind though, there’s a significant quality difference in 1980’s Taiwan and the stuff they put out today.
Absolutely, for the most part this is true.
Though some of the 80's - 90's Taiwan stuff is still being made as it was and sold in discount stores, general quality is up.
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It just arrived, and overall the quality seems pretty darn good.
Great fit and finish ball around, and it's a fairly smooth little ratchet.
I counted 44 teeth so I'm guessing this would be listed as a 42 ?
It doesn't look exactly like any Thorsen ratchets I could find a picture of, but I that doesn't really prove anything I guess.
(https://i.postimg.cc/V6ZHVVFY/IMG-20190307-115453366.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/ftXK35FF)
(https://i.postimg.cc/GmNF6nWg/IMG-20190307-115506815.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/qNs6CSM2)
(https://i.postimg.cc/MK6gp1n2/IMG-20190307-115558567.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/ThstkLjC)
(https://i.postimg.cc/0QHKKY9W/IMG-20190307-115624426.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/LYL8rZYL)
(https://i.postimg.cc/JhsyXTzf/IMG-20190307-115638878.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/t1HCQNPk)
I was surprised to find that the spinner handle has the female drive end on it, this is a feature i like the idea of but didn't have one and can now see how I like it in practice.
Seems like putting a little sliding T on the back would work well too.
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Hick, do the sockets just say USA on them? Or do the also have the JS
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Hick, do the sockets just say USA on them? Or do the also have the JS
the sockets and universal read
= JS USA =
Those closeout sockets from the cheap tool store were just marked = USA = and were marked much deeper.
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A bit of Googling turned up a pair of identical WILDE USA stamped ratchets.
I know they probably didn't make them, but they were identical.
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The ratchet looks Like a Stanley or an older Husky to me.
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The ratchet looks Like a Stanley or an older Husky to me.
The selector does match what I've seen with the Stanley professional 3/8 ratchets, not the 1/4 ratchets I've seen though.
Stanley is definitely a good fit for sure.
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It it turns out the spinner handle is 100% identical to the Blackhawk GW9550 , well that's another Stanley / Proto produced piece in this set..
I wouldn't be surprised if everything in this set was made by Stanley / PROTO.
Edit: the universal is a dead ringer for the GW 957A, I think this whole set probably was manufactured by Stanley / Proto.
On the outside the sockets don't match the Blackhawk GW 612m 12mm I have, but the machining on the inside definitely does.
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I had a JS ratchet that was a dead ringer for an S-K TUFF 1. At the time I didn't know it was a good design and a friend liked the fine action so I sold it to him. Now I know better.
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I had a JS ratchet that was a dead ringer for an S-K TUFF 1. At the time I didn't know it was a good design and a friend liked the fine action so I sold it to him. Now I know better.
We now you know if you ever see another one I guess.
The ratchet in my set is pretty nice in my opinion, the selector is steel and overall it operates smooth enough.
It's definitely smoother than that Blackhawk 1/4 you sent me, now it's got the thumb wheel which I like and practically speaking the ratchet works just fine so it won't be going anywhere.