If I could describe KTC’s Nepros tool brand in one sentence, it would be to say that they offer high quality tools with exquisite aesthetics that are not suited for light wallets.
And now, Nepros has Artisan Gold ratchets.
From what I’ve seen in marketing copy, the Nepros Artisan Gold ratchets, drive tools, sockets, and accessories are gold-plated and feature “superior adhesion, durability, and scratch resistance over standard chrome plating.”
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This suggests that, in addition to the tools’ flashy appearance, there are also functional benefits.
The ratchets are available in 3/8″ (above) and 1/4″ (below) sizes.
Nepros is far from being the first brand to do this.
Even Harbor Freight has gone the Midas-touch approach, with a gold-plated Icon ratchet. (Harbor Freight’s gold-plated Icon 3/8″ ratchet is currently still available for $70.)
Okay, so let’s talk pricing.
Nepros’ gold-plated 3/8″ ratchet is priced at $120, and their 1/4″ ratchet is $80. Both have 90-tooth gearing.
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If that’s too rich for you, the chrome 3/8″ ratchet is $96, and the chrome 1/4″ ratchet is $59.
I purchased a selection of Nepros tools last year for testing and review purposes, and they are indeed every bit as beautiful as everyone says. They work very well, but I always feel terrible when dinging, dropping, or knocking them around.
While the gold-plated ratchets are fully functional, and according to marketing copy the finish might be even better than their typical high-polished chrome, the Artisan collection tools might be better suited as collector’s pieces.
Jared
Thanks for the ratchet coverage! I’ve drooled over Nepros tools, but I struggle to imagine actually using them and scarring them up. I had no idea the gold-coated versions were actually intended to be MORE durable – that’s interesting!
MM
It sounds sketchy to me. Chrome is used for industrial applications to increase wear resistance. It is extremely hard and scratch resistant and thus it gets used on things like the rods on hydraulic cylinders or lining the inside of a rifle barrel–and tools of course. Gold is extremely soft, so that doesn’t make any sense. The coating may be something gold colored, like Titanium Nitride–that is indeed a very hard and wear resistant finish. But it’s not atomic number 79.
Real gold plated ratchets are not new. I’ve seen them from Craftsman years ago (75th anniversary model), Snap-On, and presumably others too, they are usually packed in a fancy gift box. I remember Snap-On had a set with a ratchet and a matching gold-plated tire pressure gauge.
Jared
If you’re buying a gold ratchet, it might as well be a nice one to start with!
Good point. The lower legs on my dirt bike forks are titanium nitride -coated. They certainly look gold, but contain none.
When I follow the link, I’m not seeing any claims about the coating actually containing gold on their webpage. It’s just described as “Artisan Gold”.
MM
That’s what I noticed too. I did a little bit of searching and I couldn’t find any official adcopy of any sort on the site. Like you wrote, it just says “Artisan Gold” as the name of the tool which doesn’t really mean anything.
I did see on a 3rd party site (drpd.cc) a description which mentioned “Ion Plating (iP) technology provides superior adhesion, durability, and scratch resistance over standard chrome plating”
That makes me even more sure that this is not real gold.
Big Richard
I’ve got some Bondhus GoldGuard hex keys that are plated with real 14K gold, so it is possible. It also equally possible it is some sort of Ti-N coating like you see on drill bits as you guys have said.
MM
It’s certainly possible to gold-plate tools. Snap-On clearly advertised their gold-plated tools as being 24k plated. Craftsman’s old 75th anniversary commemorative ratchet was clearly advertised as being 22k gold plated.
But the problem here is that these Nepros ratchets are advertised has having a harder finish than Chrome. And that just doesn’t make logical sense if they are plated with real gold. But it does make perfect sense if they are plated with TiN or something like that. It looks like gold, and it *is* harder than Chrome.
Big Richard
Agreed, no question that gold is not renowned for its hardness.
I initially just read it as their ion plating technology is more durable/resistant than traditional plating technologies, not necessarily that gold is more durable/resistant than chrome. But then I saw this:
“Standard chrome plated tools measure around 700HV on the Vickers hardness scale; nepros iP tools measure 1500-2000HV – over double!”
So they are indeed stating that their “gold” is harder than chrome. And lets be honest, if it was real gold, they would advertise it as real gold and list its Karat weight as a selling point.
Stuart
“Ion plating” simply refers to the method used, which is a type of physical vapor deposition process.
Titanium nitride, TiN, is also applied via physical vapor deposition.
Usually in a vacuum chamber, the plating material is vaporized with electrical energy and then sputtered onto a prepared substrate material to which an opposite charge is applied.
Even though raw gold is soft, a gold finish can be durable.
With a lot of finishes, the bond between surface layer and substrate will lend a lot of properties to the surface layer.
There are also hard gold finishes, such as in electrical applications where contacts need to be highly conductive but also durable.
There are a lot of industrial processes and materials properties that will break preconceptions. For instance, the surface layer of anodized aluminum is aluminum oxide, with the single crystal form being sapphire.
Pure gold is soft and malleable, but gold coatings don’t have to be.
The claims for ion-plated gold are new to me, with far higher hardness than I’ve read about for hard gold coatings before.
MM
@Stuart
Gold ion vapor deposition has been used for a long time to coat nonconductive materials such as plastics or organic things (i.e. an insect) before examining them under a scanning electron microscope.
I don’t buy that this is actual gold. It’s far too hard–in fact, the quoted hardness of 1500-2000 Vickers just so happens to match TiN. And it’s also strange there is no mention of karat value. Is there any marketing material that actually says it is gold, or is there just a vague reference to “Artisan Gold Finish”? Have you been able to ask a representative if the finish is genuine gold or if it is a different material which is gold colored?
Koko The Talking Ape
Right. Actually, the only place I see the words “gold-plated” is in Stuart’s post above.
But if these tools are coated with Ti-N or something, why are they so much more expensive? They’re almost 30% more than the chrome-plated versions.
I’ve seen all sorts of tools with Ti-N coatings, and I think they weren’t much more expensive than the uncoated. I could be wrong.
MM
@Koko
I’m not sure about the price, it could just be artifical inflation of the price as a premium product. They have a lot of “artisan gold” tools in their catalog so I would think they’re doing enough volume to keep the costs down.
I went to the Kyoto Tool Co (KTC)’s Japanese website, and here’s what it has to say about the finish for the 3/8 “gold” ratchet:
Vacuum plating “iP (ion plating)” born from space development technology is used for surface treatment. The 4-layer structure of nickel x 2 + chrome + iP has excellent wear resistance and decorativeness, and has both beauty and function at a high level.
and
Gold, which was adopted for the first time in the history of Nepros, is a color with excellent visibility that makes the hand tool stand out in the dark and prevents misplacement or loss during work.
It is important to note that they write “Gold” in Katakana–a phonetic alphabet–literally “gō-ru-do” rather than using the usual and extremely common kanji character, 金, meaning metallic gold. They are talking about the color gold, not gold metal.
I think it’s also worth pointing out that the first three steps of their “4-layer structure” are the same that any standard chrome-plated wrench or ratchet would go through. The only difference the last “ion coating” step. I’m betting they just take their normal chrome tools and then vapor deposit TinN on them.
Nathan
Well when Snap On and MAC and I forget whom else started selling gold ratchets which were supposedly meant for things like commorative items.
Like guy at work got a gold one for his 20th anniversary. etc. So that’s about the only point i see to any of them.
also aside from aesthetic I just don’t see a need for anything nepros makes. But looking at KTC tools it’s apparently their main and only name brand. so that makes some sense now.
Koko The Talking Ape
How could gold plating have greater “durability and scratch resistance” than chrome? Gold is pretty soft.
Skyy
It’s not actually gold. It’s Ion Plating from space craft tech. Just a golden color. They’ve had it in Black, Deep Blue, and now Golden.
Stuart
Gold can be ion-played.
MM
Yes, but gold is not harder than Chrome. Quite the opposite.
Dave the tool
I believe Stuart needs to have Nepro send him the whole set of their Gold Plated tools to test and evaluate them. After which Stuart can do a giveaway because that’s the only way these would make it into my toolbox!…lol
Koko The Talking Ape
Yes, except I think they should send their entire set to ME, and also their entire tool catalog. 🙂
Dave the tool
“Wrench in luxury”…good one Stuart! Looking forward to get these as I have been “chomping at the bit” to wear my new Versace Diamond Studded Mechanics gloves but haven’t found the right tools..until now!
Jared
Nepros tools are certainly more luxury than necessity, but are they really so outlandish? These seem like Snap-on prices.
Dave the tool
At least with Snap On, Mac, Matco their customer service, tool warranty and replacement is built into their pricing. Until I see Nepro trucks driving around town their pricing just seems absurd!
Jared
True, the tool trucks offer something Nepros doesn’t. If you’re not working out of an automotive shop though, I think it’s still pure luxury.
With a tool truck brand you pay extra for the service (which if you aren’t on a truck route, you won’t likely use). With Nepros you are still paying extra for a tool that just turns bolts – but with exquisite detail!
Matt
I actually bought the 3/8 gold ratchet last week. I bought it via ebay and it shipped from Japan and arrived yesterday.
It’s a very well made ratchet but i doubt i’ll ever use it as it’s just too nice.
It’ll sit at my desk in its display case for me to look at and dream about getting a full nepros set!
tim Rowledge
Somehow gold plated everything seems tacky to me. Very redolent of “I’m poor and tasteless but want to look flash”. Very oligarch. Very trump.
Stuart
Please refrain from politics.
Nathan
that gold plate is probably a 10K electroplate if I were to guess. and no I wouldn’t call it wear resistance either I’d be surprised by that.
It might however be slicker. I could see that not scoring as fast as chrome on the inside of sockets. but I don’t know how that would work out on strain
Plain grainy
Off Tolic; Just noticed all 3 sizes of Flexvolt batteries are not available online(Home Depot). They did lower the Flexvolt 6.0 2 pack to $179, down from $258. Supply chain issues?
Plain grainy
You can order one 6 ah Flexvolt w/ 6 amp charger(Black) for $229.(Home Depot). I assume other dealers like Acme, Toolnut have batteries in stock.
JML
I could even rationalize (slightly) gold-colored Titanium Nitride over the steel, but real gold for something to actually be used? Nope.
Franco Calcagni
There are collectors of every kind, so why not ratchets? Or if you want to use it and have the money, why not.
I have 1 Nepros 3/8 ratchet, no sockets. I bought it new about 10 years ago, it was more expensive than your average Craftsman, Gearwrench, and other mid to high end ratchets, but definitely less than than SO, Matco or other truck brands.
I have maybe a dozen or more 3/8 ratchets and this ratchet has a nice feel in the hand, nice balance. The ratchet is very fine teeth and very low drag. Of all my ratchets, it is easily my #1 or possibly there might be another, which does not come to mind, that could be its equal. When I bought it, yes, it was more expensive than alternatives, but not exaggeratedly more.
I am surprised that the gold plated is not excessively more than the regular one. The really fancy wood handle ones go for real crazy prices and I would say or almost exclusively for collectors…can’t see someone using them.
Reed Prince
A relatively new USA source for Nepros is DRPD. They are a bicycle tools-focused company that has recently become a full range dealer for nice Japanese and European brands. Unlike most domestic sources, they say they don’t drop ship.
They have a thead on GJ, and I am pasting a recent post.
“Hey guys, sorry for the lack of updates, we’ve been busy busy busy working to expand our offerings! Some quick things to note:
Teamed up with KTC/nepros to offer a bunch of exclusive socket and bit socket sets that offer improved size coverage with little-to-no sizing gaps. Not sure about you guys… but it’s a big pet peeve when a set has sizing gaps – inevitably you will need the missing size(s), with an infinitely higher probability of that happening if you don’t actually own those sizes. These sets come in official KTC/nepros packaging and are available on our site now.
Ko-ken is now available. We just launched Ko-ken this week after taking photos for the website. LMK if we are missing any of your favorite Ko-ken tools – we are still getting comfortable with the full catalog and I’m sure we’ve overlooked some key items.
Continuing to expand our PB Swiss offerings and working hard to maintain consistent inventory in stock and ready to ship. We’ll have another large shipment arriving in March.”
fred
DRPD looks like an interesting source.
Palmac is another source for Ko_Ken – and had been giving 5% off using a promo code MrSubaru5
https://palmac.net/
OldDominionDIYer
Pretty but useless at least that’s my view. Doesn’t seem the least bit practical and frankly it doesn’t appeal to me. Thanks for the article, at least these are one set of ratchets I’m not the least bit interested in.
Adam
I only pull out the golden wrenches when I’m working on my golden throne
Plain grainy
What do you get your favorite mechanic on his Golden wedding anniversary?
Skyy
I buy nice tools to use them. I want to look like I care about quality tools on a job, and I want to feel good when I use my tools. I have the Navy Blue 3/8 from 2018, and the Golden 1/4″. They’re my ratchets every single time, no matter the job.
Dingle
“I purchased a selection of Nepros tools last year for testing and review purposes…”
Hi Stuart, where can we find the review for these tools?
Stuart
I’m still working with them.
More premium tools take quite a bit longer for me to evaluate.
I can tell you that they’re absolutely phenomenal. But are they worth the money? Who should buy them? This takes a lot more time to answer.
chireetools.com
i think is Vacuum Metalizing, is more like a golden chromed plate we did before for our podger ratchets, but it has nothing to do with gold just color is golden.