Last of the American Made Kobalts

It really is sad. I like Kobalt tools a lot, I have a 200~ piece socket set from them that I use all the time, plus most of my pliers and a few other things.

But, they're moving offshore. And today in my local store, they were clearing out all the USA made stuff to make way for the imports. I dont think Im gonna be buying very many tools from there anymore.

They had this huge four sided rack with hangers on three sides. Most of the tools were already gone when I got there, but these few wrenches and some 1/4" drive stuff were still hanging around, looking kinda lonely and like they needed a home. I dont have much money to toss around, and I rarely ever buy things on impulse, but I did here. I managed to find enough wrenches to almost make a complete set, and so I bought them. I got all 6 of these for $25.73.

When I left, there were like 3 standard wrenches left, and a few metric ones. And thats the last of it. Chinese stuff now. Damn.

But, these all proudly read "U.S.A" on the side, and feel good in my hands, and look nice in my toolbox. I think I'll get a lot of use out of them.

Oh well. Usually its nice to get new tools, but idk this time. The 11/16" wrench was $11.XX, on sale for like $2.68. The 1" was usually $16.XX, on sale for $5.XX. I wish they had more stuff, I woulda carted lots of stuff home. I thought about buying every last one they had and holding on to it for a while and then ebay-ing it, but decided there wouldn't be enough money in it to be worth it.

9/16" Wrench= $3.65
11/16" = $2.58
3/4" = 2.83
13/16" = 4.71
15/16" = 5.81

And on the receipt there's no 1" wrench, but I did apparently buy a 1/2" socket of some kind. Oh well, it was $4.47. (the 1" has a damaged label, the lady typed in the number. I guess she was off by a number or something. idk).

Anyway, if anyone needs some new wrenches, and possibly whatever else, your lowes might still have some. I should have gone earlier. Rant over.

Good deal. You do realize they are, or were, made by Danaher who also makes Craftsman tools at about the same level of quality. The kits for Kobalt ratchets are identical to Craftsman raised panel ratchets. The quality of the finish on both Kobalt and Craftsman has gone down in the last few years. The first Kobalts were made by the Williams company and they were great. Same design in the ratchets, just made better. I saw a well used 1/2 drive set in a pawn shop this past year and they really showed how the early sets were much better.

Your wrenches will give you good service. I've thought of getting some, but I thought of all the wrenches I have and decided against it.

KEH

The bad thing is the Kobalt junk you just brought are not as good as the original Kobalt's,,, maybe the 3rd go around will be better... I brought all the originals Kobalt wrenches I needed when they went to the junk you just brought... low bidder got the contract :wink:

Yes, KEH, they're almost identical.

Personally I like the Kobalts better, just because I have bad memories of working with some craftsmans, and besides, blue is my favorite color. I took some pictures with something better than my cell phone, to share. Sorry the craftsman wrench is so dirty, the whole taking-care-of-your-tools thing is something that I hadn't picked up until fairly recently...

Hobo, I kind of resent that.

I like my tools, Im proud of them, and I take care
of them. Im not a mechanic, and I dont turn
wrenches 40 hours a week, so they dont have to be
the best ones on the market or anything like that,
but they do everything that I ask of them, and Im
happy with them, and I like working with them. I
think of them as good tools, and theres nothing
wrong with them.

Ive worked with some real junk before, and its
never fun. If youde like to see what a real junk
wrench looks like, Ill post some pictures of the
K-mart wrenches that came with a toolbox that I
bought for $1.

You should go to garage sales. I have drawers full of wrenches Snap-on ,Craftsman , Williams, Proto,Bonney, Harley-Davidson [Husky], Mopar sockets. Several half inch drive ratchets.I have never paid more than 1.00 a wrench or 20 a set. I have over a hundred C clamps -paid 50 cents each.Probably have fifty hammers mostly ball peen [usually try to pay a dollar each]. More for auto body hammers[up to twenty each].Every Sat morning my collection grows for about five bucks.Lowes tools are not to my taste.

Last Thursday I looked at tools at a "Lowes"
All the Kobalts at that store were China made!

You have the latest models of Craftsman ratchet and Kobalt ratchet. The Craftsman has a plastic selector lever, the Kobalt has some type of metal.I have a early Craftsman 3/b drive I got new right after they came out with that design instead of the old good ones and it has a metal selector, probably bronze or brass. The flat area under the selector is machined out flat, the late ones are forged and appeat to be bead blasted. I have picked up used broken older Craftsman and insisted they rebuild it using the metal selector instead of the new plastic. They seem to work a little better. I have Kobalt i got used and it is machined under the lever also. Can't give you the date when they changed over.

KEH

Theres nothing wrong with tools from China. Go to Harbor Freight and get the 9 piece wrench set, usually runs $9. They're MUCH nicer than those Kobalt wrenches, geez the Kobalt folks didn't even polish 'em for you.

There are those who will say the Harbor Freight wrenches break, they're either liars or have never used them. I have 3 sets and I thrash on them. For instance to take the brake caliper off my car I put the 17mm wrench on the caliper and jack it up with my floor jack. Sometimes I don't get it aligned just right and the wrench will SPROING out sideways. I've never broken one of their wrenches, before I figured out the jack trick I put the wrench on (no space for an impact wrench) and beat on it with the 5# hammer. They GOOD wrenches, they feel good in your hand and work good and fit good...

I'll buy made in USA when the wrenches or better but I can't see anything about those Kobalt wrenches that tells me they're even as good as the Harbor Freight ones, never mind better.

I agree with ludwig! I use the floor jack trick myself once in a while