Snap-On Tools responds......

[LeeRevell]

I had noted in the thread about Harbor Freight tools that I e-mailed Snap-on Tools with a couple questions. Here is their response:

Thank-you for your email. All Snap-on branded wrenches, ratchets and sockets are made in the USA. All of the Snap-on branded tool storage units sold in the USA are made in the USA. If you want to know where a specific tool is made, you can visit the Snapon.com web catalog at Store.snapon.com. The web catalog displays the Country of Origin for all items on the product detail pages. Click the "Specification" tab and the Country of Origin is listed near the bottom.

Thanks,

- webmaster

 

[akrvbob]

Thanks for taking the time to do that Lee. All too often it is just impossible to buy anything but Chinese but knowing there is an option is a very good thing.
Bob

 

[anm]

Thanks for taking the time to do that Lee. All too often it is just impossible to buy anything but Chinese but knowing there is an option is a very good thing.
Bob

Yes, I second that!

 

[highdesertranger]

most of snap on tools are made in the USA. until now the only thing I found made somewhere else, is their promotional stuff. now I know people are gong to say snap on is way to expensive. but if you look around at garage sales, flea markets, swap meets, and pawn shops. you can find them for a reasonable price. also older craftsman, sk, mac, matco, crescent wrench, channel lock, klien, and others I can't think of right now are fine tools. much better then the junk you get from harbor freight. plus it's better for the environment. you are reusing something that was made years ago. you know the three r's, reduce, reuse, recycle. highdesertranger

 

[johnny b]

Just an FYI.
I looked into the "where are my tools made" question a few years ago. This is what I found in May of 2010:
MAJOR U.S. MANUFACTURERS:
1) STANLEY
a) MAC Tools (Top End)
b) Proto Tools (High Quality Industrial)
c) Black Hawk (High Quality but mostly made in Taiwan)
d) Husky (Home Depot store brand)
e) Stanley (Wal-Mart and Discounters)

2) DANAHER:
a) Matco Tools (Top End)
b) Armstrong Tools (High Quality Industrial)
c) Silver Eagle (High Quality but mostly made in Taiwan)
d) Grey Pneumatic (Industrial quality but mostly made in Taiwan)
e) Kobalt (Lowes Store Brand)
f) Craftsman (Sears Store Brand)
g) NAPA (Napa Store Brand)
h) Allen
i) Gear Wrench
j) K-D Tools
UPDATE- Dannaher formed a joint venture with Cooper industries and created Apex Tools later in 2010. Craftsman were made by this entity. Last year/early this year Apex sold to Bain Group, so Craftsman no longer owned by Dannaher (probably still made in same factory, though).

3) SNAP-ON
a) Snap-On Tools (Top End)
b) JH Williams Tools (High Quality Industrial)
c) Blue Point (High Quality but mostly made in Taiwan)
d) Branded hand tools for New Holland and others - mostly Taiwan
e) Bahco
f) Sioux Tools
g) ATI Tools

MINOR PLAYERS BUT STILL LARGE

4) S-K (once part of Facom (Euro)- now independent. Starting to see S-K tool trucks competing with Snap-On / Mac / Matco / Cornwell)
5) Cornwell (Image similar to Mac / Matco / Snap-on. Claims quality of comparable levels - however your mileage may vary)
6) Wright tools. (Can compete easily at the Matco / Mac / Proto / Armstrong levels of quality)
7) Lisle tools (much smaller - but many almost unique tools)

 

[highdesertranger]

wow johnny b that's some good research. if I must buy something not made here then Taiwan, Korea, Europe, etc, are a lot better than china. highdesertranger

 

[highdesertranger]

well they didn't use harbor freight tools to put a man in space and I am willing to bet half the technology they used they stole from us. highdesertranger

 

[LeeRevell]

The Chinese CAN make good products, IF the US vendor holds them to good QC standards. Without careful control though, they will cheap out on us.
AVOID anything Pakistani-made though. Pure garbage!

 

[wagoneer]

on a small side note 30 years ago When working the Alameda flea next to a huge naval base I bought a set of snap-on tools with a green finish,I figure military. 20 bucks. Get home and going through the cache I discover they are not 3/8 th. or 1/2" but a size between govt. wanting to stop the pilfering . It did feel funny to buy these as something did not appear correct.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I have no doubt that if the American company wrote their contracts specifying a certain standard of quality, specifying penalties for not providing that quality, and conducted rigorous quality control testing, the chinese could do it, it just wouldn't be as cheap.

I'm going to stray into what some might see as politics, here.

China has an oddly mixed economy. I understand that the Chinese military actually OWNS some of the factories. The profits those factories make are used to finance weapons for the military.

Too, I understand that China uses a lot of prison labor in their factories. Given that their prisons hold not only murderers and rapists but also political dissidents and democracy activists as well, I find that troubling. Might as well call a spade a spade and call it slave labor.

For those reasons as well as the quality issues, I try to avoid buying Chinese whenever possible. It ain't always possible.

And if we stopped buying Chinese, the Chinese wouldn't be able to buy US government bonds and underwrite our national debt. Hell of a mess, ain't it?

Regards
John

 

[highdesertranger]

how soon we forget Tiananmen square. have you seen what's going on in Hong Kong we will see how that turns out. I don't blame anybody, except people who buy the junk. highdesertranger

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

craftsman and stanley tools are outsourcing to china. what some of them do is outsource most but not all of thier products and then keep the made in usa marketing. stanley in particular was actually taken to court by ftc for putting the origin as usa on the non usa products...