SK Tools is bankrupt

And they were very clean indeed. One on wooden crate base.

Often manufacturing companies have backup - to keep the line going 24/7. Waiting for a gear to be made or such - shutting down the line can be bad.

Mart> >

Reply to
Martin Eastburn
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NICE 36" Rockford Planer (called a shaper erroniously)

Gunner

I am the Sword of my Family and the Shield of my Nation. If sent, I will crush everything you have built, burn everything you love, and kill every one of you. (Hebrew quote)

Reply to
Gunner Asch

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=========== In some cases it is, however this sequence frequently results from the application of the G+W "buy-ruin-sell" paradigm, aka called milking the cash cow [to death].

From the above referenced news reports, one problem was apparently a union that refused to work for minimum wage and no benefits. This seems to have been compounded by a massive debt for the first management LBO in 2005, which most likely came due with a balloon note, and quite likely a mortgage on the plant and grounds.

I am sure Ideal moved the unique tools, jigs, fixtures, etc. and sold off the duplicate/obsolete stuff. By combining several tool lines ideal should be able to get reasonable plant and machine utilization, and production volume.

Even if none of the union SK employees are employed by Ideal, if Ideal recreates the same hostile/advisarial/exploitative work environment, they will have the same types of labor problems within a year.

-- Unka George (George McDuffee) .............................. The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there. L. P. Hartley (1895-1972), British author. The Go-Between, Prologue (1953).

Reply to
F. George McDuffee

I also looked at the listings, have not found anything of interest to me. A few cabinets looked kind of nice, but I already have enough cabinets.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus9310

I still use the 1/4" drive set I bought in 1949 in Chicago. It's still complete and in great shape. In a very nice metal box. ...lew...

Reply to
Lewis Hartswick

The vast number of my shop and rollaway boxes are filled with SK

I am the Sword of my Family and the Shield of my Nation. If sent, I will crush everything you have built, burn everything you love, and kill every one of you. (Hebrew quote)

Reply to
Gunner Asch
[ ... ]

I have a 1/4" set which I bought new back around 1974 or so, another set (not quite complete -- missing the screwdriver handle) from an estate sale about six to eight years ago or so, and a 1/2" drive set (from a hamfest or flea market). Glad to have all of them.

Both 1/4" sets have the deep-wall sockets along with the normal ones. The 1/2" set only has the normal sockets -- no room for the deep-wall ones. :-(

The first 1/4" set has spot-welded metal partitions to divide it up (as does the 1/2" set) while the second 1/4" set has a molded black plastic insert for dividers. All have the same hammertone green paint job. :-)

Enjoy, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

Need a programmer?

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Gunner

I am the Sword of my Family and the Shield of my Nation. If sent, I will crush everything you have built, burn everything you love, and kill every one of you. (Hebrew quote)

Reply to
Gunner Asch

It already has a control. I am not sure what it does exactly, I have not brought it home yet.

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Reply to
Ignoramus9310

I imagine somebody is still using the one they stole from me in the 1980s.

Reply to
Richard J Kinch

It sets temp only from the looks of it.

Set the temp, and YOU have to turn it off and on when necessary to get the proper temps, lags, etc etc for heat treating and item

So if you need a programmer/control...simply ask and Ill sell or trade you one.

Gunner

"Confiscating wealth from those who have earned it, inherited it, or got lucky is never going to help 'the poor.' Poverty isn't caused by some people having more money than others, just as obesity isn't caused by McDonald's serving super-sized orders of French fries Poverty, like obesity, is caused by the life choices that dictate results." - John Tucci,

Reply to
Gunner Asch

...

That's how mine works. is your unit plug'n'play. i don't need a project.

Karl

Reply to
Karl Townsend

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I've got some Klein crimper/strippers that are pretty much crap too, and a couple pairs of a different design that are excellent. They make some really great tools, and one or two that all I can say is, "What were they thinking?" The funny thing is the one design of strippers they have that I really like and have a pair of in each tool pouch I have since found alternative private labels of it from Napa and Walmart. I think I recall seeing one with an Ideal label on it too. Who I wonder actually made it?

Love those Klein rubber handle screwdrivers.

Klein plays the game though. They used to have a reputation for awesome leather pouches "Made in USA." I don't have current knowledge about that operation, but years ago they sure played the maquiladora game. Made them in Mexico. Popped in the final rivets in a cheesy warehouse in San Luis, Arizona and labeled them made in USA. I have to admit they were decent quality pouches though. I still have a couple from back then.

With any of those tool lines you have to evaluate each individual tool. That is of course hard to do if you don't have a lot of experience with them. Long gone are the days you could buy a tool off the shelf by a particular manufacturer and KNOW it was good quality and a good design for the job.

Ideal sells good wirenuts. They also have a zip tie with a tiny little stainless catch instead of plastic that I really like. You don't break them easily, and they never slip.

I pretty much lump Ideal, Gardner Bender, Klein, and Green Lee all into the same basket. They each have a couple items that are good and have always been good, and a lot of stuff they just throw their name on.

Reply to
Bob La Londe

Pretty much.

google Honeywell UDC2000 and UDC2500 and read the manuals.

110vts in, "temp probe" in, relay contacts out. Period

Use the switching relay already in your oven to control the big amps power and you are golden.

And they have settings for at least 50 types of temp probes.

And if you use AutoTune..it finds nearly everything all by itself

Gunner

Gunner

"Confiscating wealth from those who have earned it, inherited it, or got lucky is never going to help 'the poor.' Poverty isn't caused by some people having more money than others, just as obesity isn't caused by McDonald's serving super-sized orders of French fries Poverty, like obesity, is caused by the life choices that dictate results." - John Tucci,

Reply to
Gunner Asch

Hmm ... the controller there looks like one of the duty-cycle style -- your knob turns a cam relative to a second cam on the same shaft. Both are rotated by a clock style gearmotor (maybe 1 RPM, maybe slower), and the setting of the cams selects a duty cycle somewhere between 50% and 100% to approximate various temperatures.

In contrast -- the controllers which gunner has looks similar to my little Omega one (hooked to a small heat treating oven through a 25 Amp Solid State Relay). I can set it to 1850 F and it will reach that in about an hour -- pausing a short time at about the 2/3 of set point temperature to see how much thermal inertia is present. It will reach the setpoint and at worst overshoot by 1 degree F. (It can also be set to work in degrees C, but the tables which I work from are usually in F, so that is what I use.

And those which Gunner has look like they may be more convenient to set as well. (More buttons, so less holding a single button and watching the numbers scroll up. :-)

I would strongly suggest that you get one of Gunners controllers.

The oven looks like a nice size. It may need 240 VAC instead of

120 VAC -- mine works from 120 VAC and actually draws only about ten amps. :-)

Enjoy, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

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