Sorry, one more bit of trivia... Sidchrome is also owned and manufactured by
Stanley Mechanics Tools (see, I told you there were a lot of brands :-)) It
is Australia's equivalent to Proto. It was manufactured in Australia until
this past summer when, in a worldwide consolidation effort, Stanley moved
Sidchrome manufacturing to the same USA plants that make Husky, Proto, MAC,
etc. Again, same steel forgings, same specs, same machines in the same
plants. You begin to get the picture? Guys, I hate to tell you, but there
isn't as much difference as you think between most Made in USA wrenches and
drive tools (other than my earlier exception I mentioned on the ratchets).
And, contrary to appearances, there is no difference in quality specs
between the "less attractive" matte finish wrenches and the new, popular
full polish wrenches. Its just fashion. Ironically, the full polish (shiny
chrome looking) wrenches that are all the rage now were born decades ago out
of the requirement by the nuclear power industry. They required wrenches
that did not have any surface imperfections (like matte finish wrenches
have) where any particle of contamination could remain after being cleaned.
Bottom line: Most people are loyal to a certain brand as more a function of
sentimentality and emotion. The warranties for the major brands are all
basically the same. Now, Far East imports are a different matter...
Regards, Greg Hutmacher
>I've bought a few Metrinch sockets. They work very well on rounded bolts,
>better than my Sidchrome sockets. Sidchrome is an Aussie brand and
extremely
>good, lifetime guarantee etc. I wouldn't buy a set of Metrinch over
>Sidchrome but I'd certainly buy the odd Metrinch to get me over hassles
such
>as rounded flywheel bolts etc!
>Cheers,
>Neil
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