Tool Store That Is Big On Made In Usa

[Ironken]

I stumbled onto this place online looking for USA Made transfer punches. Just so happens they are located in Kansas City......soooo I paid them a visit.

These guys are an old school tool store and have a bit of everything. Spoke to one of the family members and he told me that they are about 75-80% American Made stock. The rest being German and the usual suspects.

https://www.harryepstein.com

 

[hman]

Sounded fascinating, so I clicked on the link. Was this Deja Vu? ... then I saw that they do "box art" and I recognized the company. I'd run across it several months ago when searching fro Knipex pliers. Great merchandise!!!

 

[Ironken]

Yep, that's the guys hman! In fact, I was looking at the Knipex display today. Very cool people to talk to and very willing to take time with you. Not common these days.

 

[Bob Korves]

Look carefully at the closeout items on the site. You will not necessarily find the closeout items if you search by the vendor list in the left margin of the page. Yes, you will have to go through the entire list of 1236 items to find the great deals. Like USA Nicholson files at outstanding prices. They also have PEC (Precision Engineering Corp) USA made squares and rulers, etc, that are blems, for killer prices. PEC has always been a close competitor with Starrett, but I prefer the current PEC tools over the current Starrett tools, and the prices are WAY lower. I bought a 12" satin chrome PEC combination square blade on eBay and I honestly cannot see any blem in it other than a half hearted attempt to remove the PEC logo, which is still quite readable and not offensive. The prices of the PEC stuff are outstanding. I also bought a set of 4 PEC machinist solid squares recently (not blems) from KBC tools and they test better than any others I have tried, including Starrett. So, start looking through those closeout items, there are some real deals there on very high quality items. Note that if it does not say USA, then it is not...

I'm on my way back to order a PEC double square blem from HJE...

Edit: Just placed the order. Straightforward, simple, and the standard ground shipping was $4.40 USD which brought the total for the 6" double square to $21.90 USD delivered, they have lots in stock and I even put in my color preference of the three colors on hand (black).

 

[Ironken]

Bob, I'm looking for machinist squares. It's good to know that PEC tests at least as well as Starrett. Starrett anymore seems to be over priced and some of their tools are Chinese.... but priced way more than other Chinese made brands.

It's pretty neet that you have dealt with Epstein and you are located all the way over on the left coast. Small world!

On a side rant. I have a pile of Visegrip locking welder's pliers. Used to be made in Crete, Ne. They have been made overseas for years and you can see the difference in quality between the two. They used to be the only game in town until now. Epstein will be carrying a line of locking pliers from a mom and pop in Germany. Just a few bucks more per unit than Visegrips and the quality is night and day difference. They have a sample of the new line to check out. I see a few of them ending up in my toolbox when stock arrives.

I agree that Epstein's prices are more than fair as you show with your order. I'm glad to see a place like this is still alive and well!

 

[Fitter Bill]

I looked thru their items for sale and they have springs for my Wiss sheet metal shears. I have been looking for these. Ordered 3 last evening, they were shipped this AM. Great service.... Thanks for the heads up.

Bill

 

[Ironken]

Great Bill! I was impressed with Epstein's philosophy and wanted to share. I know they are very active with the Garage Journal community and figured....why do they get all the cool stuff....lol

 

[Tony Wells]

Cool store

 

[Bob Korves]

Bob, I'm looking for machinist squares. It's good to know that PEC tests at least as well as Starrett. Starrett anymore seems to be over priced and some of their tools are Chinese.... but priced way more than other Chinese made brands.

It's pretty neet that you have dealt with Epstein and you are located all the way over on the left coast. Small world!

On a side rant. I have a pile of Visegrip locking welder's pliers. Used to be made in Crete, Ne. They have been made overseas for years and you can see the difference in quality between the two. They used to be the only game in town until now. Epstein will be carrying a line of locking pliers from a mom and pop in Germany. Just a few bucks more per unit than Visegrips and the quality is night and day difference. They have a sample of the new line to check out. I see a few of them ending up in my toolbox when stock arrives.

I agree that Epstein's prices are more than fair as you show with your order. I'm glad to see a place like this is still alive and well!

General tools are also a good USA brand for git-er-dun work, they are consistently usable and reasonable if not high precision. If you are looking for precision tools at great prices, the PEC stuff is the way to go. Starrett (or better) quality at very good prices, and the blems are as cheap or even better priced than dicey Asian import tooling. Many of us cannot test or calibrate our high precision equipment to see if it is really as advertised (I try to as best as I can). I will use PEC tools out of the box for the fussiest projects without testing them, but it is always better if you can confirm, one good test is worth a million expert opinions...

I will only buy the old USA Vice Grips, which can still be found in excellent condition at good prices if you keep looking. Now, Knipex pliers are an "import" worth having!

 

[Ironken]

I have a few General tools that have worked well for me.....protractors, etc. I always thought of PEC to be a lesser brand but, I'm learning that is not true. This is good because like you said, their prices are really good for what you get.

Knipex pliers are very nice and my toolbox would have no objections welcoming some. Same with those German locking plers too.