Bain Capital, a private equity company, acquired Apex Tool Group in early 2013. Apex Tool Group (ATG) owns Gearwrench, Crescent, and a number of other tool brands that cater to different industries.
Apex Tool Group has been the focus of news and credit ratings reports recently, and I found the implications to be concerning.
From what I can gather, it seems that Gearwrench and Crescent Tool’s parent company is saddled with debt, and is also considering selling their Sata tool brand to help generate cash,
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While some of the reports use extremely esoteric financial language, there are enough clues to provide context.
Let’s start by going back a few years.
Here’s what Apex Tool Group’s portfolio of tool brands looked like in 2014.
And here’s what it looks like now. Some of their brands were shuttered, but many were regrouped.
In 2017, Crescent Tools announced a new brand identity. Crescent essentially absorbed several formerly independent ATG brands – Lufkin, Wiss, Nicholson, and HK Porter.
Addition brands were folded into Crescent in the years since then, such as Jobox. Erem and Xcelite are now part of Weller.
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In 2019, ATG closed down Armstrong and Allen tool brands. ATG didn’t explicitly confirm this until directing Armstrong shoppers to replacement brands. They later launched Sata in the USA as an Amazon-exclusive line of lower priced mechanics tools. Sata tools are available internationally.
Last year, we posted about Bain Capital’s reported efforts in 2021 to sell Apex Tool Group to the Wanxiang Group, a Chinese company focused on the automotive industry.
It was reported that the deal fell through due to “a snag in valuation.”
A report in late 2021 said:
Apex’s inability to generate a material amount of earnings hampers recovery in key debt metrics, the ratings agency said in the report, adding that the owner Bain was unlikely to infuse much-needed cash so that debtholders could be made whole and Apex’s looming maturity profile could be solved.
An “inability to generate a material amount of earnings?” “Much-needed cash” that they presumably weren’t getting from their parent company or sales? This didn’t sound good.
Let’s fast forward a few years to 2024.
Back in February 2024, Apex Tool Group credit ratings was downgraded. Their debt exchange rating was downgraded to SD (selective default), and term loans due in 2029 and 2030 were given D (default) ratings.
A default happens when debts are not paid by a certain time or according to the terms of the loan. A loan rating is an assessment of a company’s ability to repay loans or other payment obligations – they’re essentially a measure of risk.
In March 2024, S&P Global upgraded the Apex Tool Group back to a rating of CCC+. This was an improvement, but suggests that ATG remains a high credit risk.
There are some plain-language assessments buried in the S&P Global analysis, including:
Though marginally improved, we continue to view Apex’s capital structure as unsustainable absent a significant improvement in its profitability.
According to a Bloomberg report in early April 2024, Apex Tool Group restructured some of their loans, paying less than originally promised to their creditors.
As an aside, Gearwrench, in their recent marketing campaign, has been advertising how their lower prices could help users avoid long-term debt associated with tool truck brands (such as Snap-on). There’s a bit of irony here, with reports suggesting their parent company needs a boost in sales to help pay off loans and long-term debt.
At the end of April 2024, Bloomberg reported that Bain Capital was considering the sale of Apex Tool Group’s “China business,” which “includes the Sata brand, at $300 million to $500 million.”
It was reported that the intent was to “offload non-core assets to raise cash.”
Sata launched on Amazon in late 2019, and became available at Lowe’s online store in early 2023.
On the Sata USA website, the company describes themselves as the fastest-growing premium-quality mechanics hand tool company in the world over the last 20 years. It seems potentially ominous that Bain Capital wants to “offload” Sata to “raise cash.”
It’s difficult to piece together a complete picture of what’s going on at Apex Tool Group, as they’re privately owned by Bain Capital.
But, none of what is revealed or suggested by financial analysts, ratings bodies, or business news reports sound good.
Debt is not necessarily bad for a company. However, it’s not a good sign when a company cannot pay back its debts in full.
Gearwrench is a solid tool brand, and Crescent is consistently decent. I highly doubt their stories are ending anytime soon, but all this news of debt, the fallen-through acquisition talks, and Bain now seeking to sell chunks of ATG is definitely concerning.
As a reminder, Apex Tool Group owner Bain Capital was also part owner of Toys R Us, which closed all stores and was liquidated in 2018.
Neighbor Joe
Bain Capital. Vulture capitalists. Not a fan of Apex Tools. Allen and Armstrong were great brands they choose to leave behind in the ashes as they focused on Gearwrench. But Bain is pure evil. To quote George Bailey “they believe the whole world revolves around them and their money.” They are in business to make money. Alot of money. How much? Toy R Us posted about 5% profit margin. Thay was not enough for the suits at Bain. Don’t be surprised if they gut Apex if a buyer cannot be found.
mikedt
Buy a company, saddle it debt, siphon off all the cash you can and pay it out as a dividend to the owners (VC firm), watch company go bankrupt . Repeat.
Farkleberry
Nicely stated. This is my assumption. As these great American tool companies saw increasing headwinds from cheap imports was the only option to sell out to a chop shop? Run up the debt, sell off any tooling overseas and liquidate all the real estate and office furniture just before bankruptcy?
Did Bain have some vision to find economies of scale, etc. by reorganizing these brands or was it always a plan to pull every last cent out of sinking ships?
I hope these banks wise up and any VC applications are scrutinized and cosigned by the parent company.
Not sure there’s an easy answer for keeping usually higher priced American made tools makers in business. I typically shop for the best value, which is still sometimes made in USA.
I’ve been shopping for some mechanics tools lately and the consensus seems to be that Gearwrench used to be a great value… quality Taiwan tools at low prices. Now they’re selling their Chinese junk that’s often inferior to others’ Chinese tools for same prices, and their Taiwan stuff is not price competitive with Tekton, Sunex, Icon, etc., if they still even offer it.
This fits with all the other brands I’ve trusted over the years until a noticed an obvious drop in quality and sure enough found an Apex logo on the back of packaging.
Farkleberry
Apex Tools… where great American tool brands go to die!
Ted
Not to split hairs but that’s not a typical VC strategy. VCs tend to deal with new ventures and typically focused in tech and healthcare. The strategy you are referring to is more commonly used by private equity with funding from the private debt markets.
peter
Ted: Exactly. It’s had to take folks seriously who don’t understand the basic difference between PE and VC.
The bottom line – and I have started several VC backed firms – is that PE like the sort being discussed here is focusing on distressed assets. Not healthy companies that are growing. Companies that have been mismanaged or simply are at the end of their lifecycle (it happens – horse carriages are no longer a market)
TomD
Exactly – it’s easy to blame PE for the collapse of a company, but they can only vulture companies that are already dead/dying.
People don’t understand just how long a moribund company can continue to be a going concert without it.
Not to say that PE liquidations are good, but they, like vultures, are only found around dying things. (PE does quite a bit of other non-liquidation stuff you never hear about – https://www.forbes.com/lists/largest-private-companies/ – almost certainly some of these names you recognize, like SpaceX or Uline or Mars or Publix or Fidelity).
Farkleberry
Thanks for the distinction between VC and PE. I think the original commenters’ general points may still be valid.
Lots of distressed companies attract financiers/owners who see an opportunity to chop up a sinking ship.
I’m sure the business savvy readers know of plenty of examples of solid, profitable companies who were bought and saddled with huge debts by new owners. The new owners didn’t invest a dime into expansion or modernization, they just sucked out cash like an ATM, then passed on the company to some sucker or watched it crumble into bankruptcy.
The real question is were the companies Apex, etc. bought sinking ships, formerly great companies who could have continued with the right management, or solid companies perfect for PE exploitation?
fred
I recall that when Toys R Us declared bankruptcy – it was reported that they had been paying something approaching a half a billion dollars a year just to service their debt. They once had been a cash cow. But the cow was loaded up with debt then milked dry. I think at the time of the Toys R Us bankruptcy – it was reported that something like 22% of Bain’s LBOs ended up with a visit to bankruptcy court.
The modern idiom seems to be that being profitable is OK – but that you somehow have to keep increasing that profit year over year (or worse yet – every quarter). The very idea of the LBO is often to buy a struggling or marginal company – using other people’s money – saddle the company with that new debt and try to pay off the debt through cost cutting or selling off the pieces. That may leave the company so strapped for cash that investment in manufacturing – let alone R&D – becomes problematical.
Stuart
ATG tools are good and some great.
We’ve seen Gearwrench and Crescent trying to break through at Home Depot, and they’ve made progress, but apparently not enough.
We’ve also seen the company trying to grow in the power tool accessories space at Lowe’s.
They’re heavily trying for independent sales as well.
I haven’t seen anything to suggest changes with other brands such as Weller.
ATG used to supply Craftsman at Sears and Kobalt at Lowe’s.
I don’t know if that partly explains their present situation at all.
Has Crescent innovated enough over the years? Gearwrench? Compared to more successful competitors?
With Bain and ATG financials masked, there are too few clues as to how they got to the present day situation.
Jim Felt
Ah yes. Mitt Romney’s old “stomping” ground. Or to quote Gordon Gecko “Greed is Good”.
Mark M.
It’s interesting from a business standpoint, but I don’t know why it would be “concerning”. Let’s say I own 10 rent houses…3 of them are wildly profitable, 4 of them do reasonably well, and 3 of them struggle. Maintenance comes due on all of them and I decide to sell the 3 poor performers and one of the mediocre ones, raise some cash which I use to service the remaining 6. Doesn’t mean my real estate portfolio sucks or that I’m in danger of bankruptcy. It’s just a cycle…you build up, sell off, build up again. Here, the only brand I care at all about is GearWrench, and I suspect it’s a high-flyer. Hard to see any situation where that goes away.
Stuart
This seems more like selling a car in order to pay the mortgage, after renegotiating certain bills to pay 90 cents for every dollar owed.
If a company is deemed too high a risk, they won’t be able to secure loans.
A lot of business activities are made possible with loans.
fred
Yep – and if you can’t adequately service debt that you have – need to constantly renegotiate payment terms – then you get in the proverbial pickle. In that spot, your suppliers will think twice about providing you the raw materials or sub-assemblies you need to make product. Your truckers may demand payment in advance of delivery etc. It can be quick to spiral down into Chapter 11 or even Chapter 7 status.
ATG going under would not be the end of the world. I was never a big consumer of the brands that they sold at retail outlets. But we had come to rely on them over the years for Cleco and Dotco pneumatics and bought Apex brand bits in bulk. If they vanished, I think that the marketplace would fill in the gaps – but would be the lesser for their loss. IMO – more competition – not only drives better pricing – but also can spur innovation. So, I’m hoping that selling off Sata is not the start of a slow death spiral.
Jody
If they cant find a buyer, high chance they load it with debt, increase their own dividends and bleed thr companies to death. Its in the Bain playbook.
Private Equity is about the return to investors at all cost. No one should be pleased with Bain outside of their investors
Scottie
And let us not forget Home Depot’s “Husky” line of tools.Apex is the supplier of the mechanic hand tools for Husky.So if Apex goes bust,all of the current Husky tools will be no more as Home Depot will have to find another supplier unless the buyer of Apex keeps their contract.Husky is nothing to write home about but they are one of the better Chinese/Taiwan produced tools through Apex.And their warranty is top notch.This is kind of like when Lowes came out with Kobalt,they had J.H. Williams as the supplier.Real top quality USA stuff.Now Kobalt is all totally Taiwan junk.
John Hagaman
Husky has always been a private brand, two guys department stores, years ago had them. Someone will pick up the name
PW
I don’t think Husky – the brand – is at risk at all. If Apex were to go under Home Depot would just find someone else’s hard-line tools to rebrand.
I doubt Apex even manufactures all the Husky hand tools. Chromed and mechanical tools probably, but half the items in Home Depot have a “Husky” version – from air compressors to kneeling pads.
fred
Husky was once an independent company started in 1924 – making wrenches, sockets etc. They were once a supplier to Williams. Then in 1929 the company was sold to Olsen – who sold it a few years later to the New Britain Tool Co. New Britain was sold (1970’s) to Litton Industries – who then divested its tool business (1980’s) selling off Husky and Blackhawk to National Hand Tool (then a supplier of Sears-Craftsman wrenches and sockets). In 1986 Stanley bought National Hand Tool. By 1992 Stanley was supplying Husky brand wrenches exclusively to Home Depot. At some point Stanley seems to have sold the brand name to Home Depot to be used by HD at their discretion. Today Husky brand products are manufactured by various companies under contract to HD.
Sam
So you mean to tell me that a company that largely relies on the marketing and promotions from Lowe’s is struggling again.
Get out. XD
But honestly, the fact that Lowe’s seems to be the dying place of so many brands. It’s sad. Metabo is struggling, flex struggles, toughbuilt on their website and app is a freaking dumpster fire. If Klein starts dipping I think it will become abundantly clear the cause of the struggle.
Matt
I don’t think the brands demand much respect anymore. By and large what a lot of us associate with ATG is them taking respected brands and cheapening them / taking them overseas (Danaher and the downfall of Craftsman/Sears, as but one example).
Slapping the Crescent name on a bunch of China stuff doesn’t make it a more attractive product. It cheapens the brand. That’s my perception of ATG. I get that brands like Husky and Kobalt play to a price point, and I’m ok with them being what they are – they’re honest about it. Gearwrench is really the same. I wont personally seek out their tools, but I’m ok buying them when needed.
They have a real uphill battle convincing any of us they’ve changed and actually improved something they touched though – which is what they would need to do to improve profits. In fact, really this just proves they don’t even have the capital to improve if they wanted to. Bain may just bleed them dry. Which would still be a shame because at the big box price point they’re an ok tool.
Nathan
When I read “sata hand tools are quality auto mechanic …” I knew something was off. I’ve seen a few but no wrench turner I know has any. Armstrong and Allen were well known imo. As is ddotco and cleco and wise.
Armatrong had a number of decent products that competed with the likes of snap on and mac. First fine tooth (greater than 60) ratchets I saw out and about were Armstrong. Gearwrech appears to be the Taiwan/Chinese made Armstrong today.
I don’t know sad but as soon as bain was involved this was coming. Those people should just be in jail for fraud.
PW
Another Bain “private equity” casualty.
The problem with all these brands for me is that they’re moving constantly down market with seemingly constantly slipping quality to match.
I honestly have bought a lot of stuff manufactured by Apex over the last decade – when I want something cheap and barely fit for purpose. Typically on sale for 30-50% off fake MSRP.
Even then I’ve returned a number of things for initial quality fails.
To my mind, that’s not the way to build a sustainable, profitable business. You want items that are desirable, command a premium, and can sell even while you maintain pricing discipline.
Current counter examples would be Milwaukee or Stihl.
You can’t do that without investment and long term thinking, which is exactly what PE starves you of. Not looking good IMO.
Stuart_T
I’m going from (possibly bad) memory here, but doesn’t Apex make the bits for the excellent MegaPro screwdrivers as well as Brownells Magna Tip gunsmithing bits?
fred
In our metal fabrication business (small production environment) we usually bought Apex bits in bulk. We found them to be of good quality (good fit and durability.) They also were the only readily available source for our needs for BNAE, Frearson and some other drive styles you won’t find at the local supply house or Home Depot.
Stuart
I don’t know, but they do still have a line of Apex industrial bits. It’s not in their brand portfolio, but you can still find them at industrial suppliers.
Stuart_T
I found the Apex industrial bits catalog (unfortunately one of those scrolling horizontal format things, like “manualslib” – ugh!) and some of the 1/4″ insert bit numbers start with “445–” , which is the same as some of the Brownells bits, so they would be an Apex product.
And, re fred’s comment re uncommon bit styles, yes, they show Frearson, Mortork, BNAE, Torq-Set etc. Fascinating.
JR Ramos
Bit production could easily go to some others if need be. I don’t know how many are left but it’s a relatively easy thing to manufacture. Recently I was somewhat surprised to hear that Rocky Mountain Twist actually manufactures their own (smaller outfit, does the Montana Brand on the side)…they are quite good and I suppose if the market was there they could pick up what Apex does if Apex were to disappear.
MS
No, MegaPro bits are manufactured at independent suppliers in Taiwan and Vietnam.
Joe E.
Apex is not only the current supplier for Husky, but also Duralast at AutoZone, Master Mechanic at True Value, Klutch at Northern Tool, Westward at Grainger, a few items now at Harbor Freight, and I’m sure others…
That’s a lot of shoes to fill for another company if Apex goes under.
Hon Cho
The ToolGuyd audience is overwhelmingly in the USA but the tool market goes well beyond the the USA. Yes, Apex Tool Group likely derives a large percentage of its revenue from sales in the USA but overall, the international market is larger and to get growth, companies have to look beyond Home Depot and Lowes in the USA for sales.
From what I can find online, Apex isn’t that big with about $1.6B in revenue. For comparison Stanley Black & Decker is about $15.8B, Snap-On is $4.7B and Harbor Freight is at $8B. With the smaller size and values of the ATG component companies and brands, I’d say Bain has plenty of wiggle room to shuffle and or sell bits and pieces of the portfolio to come out ok.
It’s just capitalism at work.
ITCD
I’m sure the gross receipts are much higher than that, they’re one of the biggest conglomerates besides SBD.
Big boxes aren’t the best place to get profitability from sales, but they’re a good spot to get much higher sales volume. Big boxes usually negotiate really aggressive discounts by leveraging their national presence and just the sheer volume of things they’re gonna order. My company supplies a big box store and they account for roughly half our total business in terms of volume but a pretty puny slice of the profits.
Lincoln
My father worked for Cooper Tools my whole life as an accountant, and was a big part of the merge between Cooper and Danahar. He was then a part of the buyout by Bain a few years later. He ultimately retired due to medical reasons, but I think he saw the writing on the wall with them too. Never have I heard him say anything good about Bain. To say I have nostalgia and a lot of sentimental value to some of the brands Apex owns would be an understatement. Just as many people feel about older craftsman that their parents/grandparents had. I grew up using a Lufkin tape, my old Nicholson hack saw, my Wiss scissors, some old crescent wrenchs, etc. Most of these I still have in a special place. I’ve been using my Weller soldering station for ever, and I specifically wanted a Weller because Cooper owned them. My first tool set that I used for years and years until I really got serious was an unbranded basic set Cooper sold to their employees, and my dad gave me, my brother, and my step brother for Christmas one year. Seeing Apex Tool group today certainly gives me mixed emotions.
fred
My personal tool collection – some bought by me starting in the 1950s – and some inherited form earlier times – are a mirror of the tool brand names that once dominated the US market. But brand recognition fades, consumer preferences change, business missteps happen, and change is the only certainty. The Harvard Business School – may at some future date – do a case study of what happened to all the tool brands that were predecessors to the ATG portfolio and what ultimately became of them via Bain Capital.
But for now, I still can remember some of these brands if I use my Allen (brand) hex wrenches, Apex bit holders, Armstrong wrenches, Bonney wrenches, Bridgeport screwdrivers, Campbell sheave blocks, Coes monkey wrenches, Cooper pliers, Crescent adjustable wrenches, Diamond hammer, Easco wrenches, Erem nippers, Gearwrench torque wrench, Herbrand plug wrench, Hunter screw holders, Jacobs chucks, K-D auto tools, Lufkin folding rulers, Matchless screwdriver, Nicholson files, OK-D valve spring compressor, Plumb lath hatchet, H.K. Porter bolt cutters, Ungar soldering iron, Utica gas pliers, Weller soldering irons, Wiss scissors, and Xcelite nut drivers.
MM
I think that a lot of the tools in the Cooper envelope were once very good: I too have a high opinion of Weller soldering irons, though that is based on the pro models they were selling 30 years ago. Brands like Plumb, Wiss, HK Porter, Nicholson, etc, were all excellent. But, I think that quality started slipping a long time ago.
My first job as a teenager in the 90’s was at a mom-n-pop owned Ace Hardware. We sold all those brands. We also had older examples which were for store use and not for sale. Even then I could see that what we sold was not as nice as the old used stuff we had in the back with the paint worn off from years of use. I don’t think being purchased by Bain helped things at all, but in my opinion the downward spiral started long before then.
fred
It was likely a combination of factors that resulted in the decline. As Stuart pointed out the end user is no longer (probably never was) the actual customer of the tool manufacturer. In a prior age it was the wholesaler – reselling to hardware stores. With the rise of mega-chains like Home Depot, large customers probably set the pace and requirements for price as much as quality. The drive to the lowest common denominator probably in part a result of the allure of the mass market that came with the DIY movement after WWII.
I take the example of Coes Wrench founded in 1888. Some of their assets were ultimately acquired by Crescent. Coes produced what was arguably the best monkey wrench for its day. Its market was to professional plumbers, millwrights and mechanics. I don’t believe that they ever made what might have been called a “cheap” model. The invention of the Crescent, Stillson and then Ridgid pipe wrenches – rather than price was likely more involved in the demise of the company.
Then looking at Wiss – who’s market shifted from the garment trade (once of the largest employers in NY City) to a more general audience. A pattern cutter or seamstress in NYCity probably had different expectations about their scissors than the discount store shopper in 1960. When the garment business fled the US – Wiss undoubtedly saw a decline in demand for high-end shears.
The same may well be true for Nicholson. Hand file use in an industrial setting probably peaked during the high-production years of WWII – with folks like Heller Bros., Nicholson and Simmons meeting the demand. So as the market changed after the war – so did Nicholson. Selling files at the discount store is way different than supplying the needs of shipyards building Liberty Ships at a 1 per day pace.
JR Ramos
That’s a great reflection about Wiss. The shift of the textiles and clothing industry overseas changed a lot of things. Laser cutting may have impacted part of that industry as well but we don’t have much left.
I think the rise of CNC and higher quality cutting tools may have impacted hand file use as well – they were still quite popular (and abused) through the 80s at least. But that’s also an excellent reflection about the industry of war – it was an incredible time period in so many ways and WWII literally changed the entire world in so many ways, some of which wasn’t really recognized for decades afterwards.
fred
As a boy in the 1940’s I remember visiting an aircraft production facility where an uncle worked. I was cautioned to stay away for some pots of molten lye where steel files loaded up with aluminum bits were dipped to clean them off. Picture that – or even letting a first grader walk around a manufacturing floor – in today’s environment. OSHA and the insurance carriers would have apoplexy.
JR Ramos
You can still do this in India. No shoes required, even. 🙂 I’ve seen so many cringe-worthy videos but one that stands out is a crew that was sand casting and several did not have shoes at all let alone any protective gear. The more I learn about the war and how it affected life the more amazed I become…just everything.
fred
The thing that I marveled at in India were the folks sitting and repairing umbrellas. I’m not talking about working on designer items – but those cheap junk compact ones that sell here for $4 or $5. At one level its marvelous in the sense that what you might find in multiples piled up in urban trash cans in the USA – after a windy thunderstorm is the source of employment and recycling in India.
MM
I think you nailed it: demand changes, and whom is doing the purchasing changes. I doubt if the accountant at a big-box store cares how quickly a file gets dull but the end user certainly cares, at least if they’re experienced, but unfortunately they are not the ones making the important decisions.
A change in the trades and how they work is absolutely a factor too. A good example I can recall pertains to Nicholson rasps. I had often read that their no. 49 & 50 rasps–originally made for shoemakers–were a highly recommended tool for shaping wooden gun stocks. I went looking for a pair but I kept seeing another story pop up over and over again: they were excellent–emphasis on the past tense. Apparently the ones made in the USA were top quality but at some point Nicholson outsourced production to Brazil, at which point their quality dropped so low that some dealers refused to sell them anymore. Trying to find a quality replacement lead to to learn about Liogier, who makes rasps by hand in France. They make a copies of the old Nicholsons, among other designs. I purchased a pair of those and they were an instant epiphany, and I went straight back and purchased several other shapes and sizes. But I digress: my point is that back when Nicholson was selling rasps to actual shoemakers they had to deliver quality, but that market has withered away just like the garment industry’s demand for quality scissors did.
fred
The old #50 patternmakers rasp was indeed pretty good. But in the 1990’s they were selling for $60 which was a lot of money compared to most rasps you might buy at the hardware store on Home Depot.
IMO they were never as good as hand-stitched rasps made by folks like Auriou (became Forge de Saint Jeury) or Liogier. Some Japanese’s rasps made for Luthiers are also suprisingly good at making smooth clean cuts. The Nicholsons – when they were USA-made did have a price advantage over the French and Japanese tools.
Today Narex (owned by TTS – the owners of Festool) also make hand stitched rasps that may be worth a try.
https://infinitytools.com/products/narex-10-hand-stitched-rasps
Tools forWorking Wood also sell copies of Nicholson #55 rasps:
https://toolsforworkingwood.com/store/item/GT-CMRASP.XX
JR Ramos
I have a couple of the old USA Nicholson and I’m glad I got them when I did after resisting the price for years. Had I any idea they would disappear I could have bought several more. I’ve found the Freidrich Dick files and rasps to be outstanding (I think they’re all still made in Germany but they may do some in Italy now as well). The Glardon-Vallorbe are also outstanding of course and the price isn’t terrible, considering. Pferd doesn’t seem to offer as much now and I was absolutely shocked to have received a couple of their files that were made in China now! They seem ok but not stellar…better than India or any of the Portugal or Mexico files. Whoever makes the little needle rasps that Woodcraft sells…those are also excellent and not just cheap “wax” rasps…those are Italy I believe. After using both, I think any of the good Swiss and German patternmaker rasps are superior to either of the Nicholson’s, but it’s not like those are bad at all. More often than not I find myself reaching for the half round “wood file” coarse cut from Pferd since I’m often cleaning up rather than hogging away.
Stuart_T
“I take the example of Coes Wrench founded in 1888. Some of their assets were ultimately acquired by Crescent. Coes produced what was arguably the best monkey wrench for its day. ”
I have an old monkey wrench marked “Atco Tool Company, Boston” about which I can find nothing but but it looks identical to a Coes and it is of excellent quality. The fixed (top) jaw is hardened, presumably to enable its use as a hammer and it looks like it may have been used as such occasionally.
fred
Could be a copy. Wikipedia says that the first Coes patent was granted in 1841. Coes was granted other patents being filed through the 1880’s to 1900. After they expired others presumably copied the design. The originals were made of steel – with wood (oak?) inserts on either side of the handle providing smooth grips. The examples that I own have an upper (fixed) jaw that is longer and extends back behind the lower jaw presumably to be used as a hammer head.
http://alloy-artifacts.org/coes-wrench-company.html
The hard head and use as a hammer may (who knows??) have inspired the murder weapon idea (as in: Colonel Mustard did it in the Conservatory with the Monkey Wrench) for the CLUE board game
JR Ramos
Very mixed feelings about this if they were to be sold to China or to disappear, but this feels a lot like the Porter Cable saga (except this is more along the lines of mismanagement on a long string of aspects over many years rather than something willful).
I remember in the early 90s when a lot of these companies were grouped and some were merged, it created a bit of a stir, but for the most part it was just changes in names and labeling. Products were still dependable high quality and worthy of their usually higher pricing. That was before the import market really started to ramp up and take over.
Over the last 15 years or better, however, so many of those products lost a lot of quality…some lost really a lot. Reducing the quality of the tools while trying to ride on the perception of the brand names established over decades, even if reducing the pricing somewhat, just never seems to end well. And in the face of both an increase in available import items and an increase in the quality of those import items….it’s easy to become irrelevant, as I think most ATG brands have become (or almost become), in my observation.
I don’t think Gearwrench has ever been a pro quality tool…they’ve always been what we used to call a middle quality or a tad better. They’ve expanded so much and they do have good or very good tools, and some standouts, but the marketing outweighed the quality and the after-sale service and warranty has not been consistent. And as they expanded there were a lot of tools that did suffer inexcusable quality issues or QC issues that ended up in packages for sale. To me, I think Gearwrench and Sata are on par with each other for similar items (actually I have suspected that maybe some are identical items produced by whoever does Sata’s tools).
Weller has been plagued by problems for years now. I don’t know if Erem and Xcelite are even very much known as brands anymore (actually I thought they’d been absorbed into Weller years before, but that was probably just the packaging scheme).
I still think of the general downfall of American file and rasp manufacturing as a big indicator of things. The choice to move almost all of Nicholson’s production to Mexico and China was a travesty, and then Simonds followed suit with Portugal and India. They’re all comparative crap and for whatever reasons, those countries can’t seem to produce high quality sharp, durable, well finished files. Brazil is/was about the same. This was really big, and from what I have gathered it had as much to do with investors/capital as it did shifts in the market and end users. If the Swiss and Italians (and the smidgen left in Germany and the region) can still put out the quality, there’s no reason the US couldn’t have continued and invested in the machinery upgrades. So now what was arguably the best quality file source, Nicholson, is no better than the majority of cheap imports from China (although all are still better than what still comes out of India). This example is a bit different than what we’ve seen with most of these other umbrella brands under ATG but it carries a similar root.
I think the often horrendous quality of recent Crescent/Lufkin products which are what most consumers see probably has had a disproportionate impact. And the pricing of Gearwrench, who clearly became the star player in the group, relies on marketing and people were quick to find out that several other import brands were “the same” quality and such at lower pricing. The brand names have become a house of cards maybe. I’ve tried to support these “USA” brands but in the last several years I just gave up and don’t even look at them anymore unless I need something right now and it’s on a peg and it looks like the better choice compared to other pegs. I did get a folding rule last summer, after hearing about the vast reduction in quality (and function), and my gosh, talk about a travesty…three stores and probably two dozen items and I was able to find two that weren’t just defective, but the quality is still poor. Those are rather special items from a manufacturing point of view, and not so common in use anymore, but gosh.
Nathan
If sold off it will be interesting what gets bought by whom. I figure crescent and grearerench name will live on. The others? Who knows.
I bet more of the industrial still will continue like dotco but I don’t see anyone I know buying any new dotco stuff if it’s made in China.
Stuart_T
@fred, re my Coes style monkey wrench,
Correction- mine is Atco Tool Works (not Company). It is the Coes “knife handle” style, with less overhang than the Coes on the back of the top jaw. Also, on the side, just above the handle is stamped, rather unevenly, “2184.” There is a little vertical slop in the lower jaw due to a small gap – maybe 1/8″ – below the knurled handle but as I think I’d have to remove the wooden panels in order to remove the screw adjusment to shim it, I haven’t bothered. I might be able to snap an “E”-ring on without disassembly. But it’s clearly a well-made tool. Might have belonged to my maternal grandfather so maybe is from the 1920’s or ’30’s.
fred
Atco Tool Works (I’ve seen references saying that they were located in Boston) – also made edge tools. Looking on eBay – you see some hatchets, chisels and drawknives from them.
Chester F
I had high hopes for Gear Wrench. I first saw them on Tools In Action at SEMA and thought they were going to come out with a ton of tools. They looked really good and for a great price. Then they became mostly an expensive tool truck brand and disappeared. Seems like idiots run that company now, I don’t see Gearwrench or Crescent anywhere anymore. Shame , they were off to a good start.