| Why buy top quality tools made by Elora Werkzeugfabrik? Please read on… If all tools were made the same, they would cost the same. Labor is an insignificant cost in the production of tools. These days the production of tools are highly mechanized, so if you pay the person $3.00 per hour or $30.00 per hour to run a machine that produces 10,000 pieces per hour, you can see the operators cost per unit is minimal. So how do they make them cheaper? Materials Alloy- is specific to the application Iron is the main ingredient of steel. A good tool must be mixed with minerals to create a good alloy, properly hardened, forged, and tempered. The combination of these processes are also specific to the application of the tool. For instance in an impact socket, the steel is actually softer than a standard socket, so during use, it will not fragment and hurt the user. Have you ever used a cheap screwdriver, only to see the corners of the blade twist and bend during the first use? This is a prime example of cheap materials. Chrome - Give chrome plating a thought, are you filling a jewelry box or a tool box? The tool looks really nice with a high polish, and the others with a matte chrome finish are not quite as pretty. That is where the benefit of shiny chrome stops. Although it is more appealing it is not always as good as the matte chrome finish. What keeps your tool on the fastener is friction. Look inside where the socket or wrench contacts the fastener. Is it high polished chrome? Although pretty, this is not. High polished chrome is a low friction surface (similar to a bearing surface), allowing you slip on the fastener easier. What keeps the tool in your hand is also friction. Your hand can slip off a high polished tool much easier, if this has happened to you, you understand the pain it can cause. Standards DIN and ISO standards are minimum requirements that a tool must meet, that among other things determine the shape of the tool, and minimum strength of the tool under stress. Cheap tools often do not meet the DIN and ISO standards, while others just meet them. A good tool easily exceeds the standards providing better performance and a longer life. Quality control Do the cheap tools get checked to see if they meet the specifications, and how often during the run does this occur? Will your tool damage the fastener because of improper fit? Engineering Top quality tools are engineered for the function they perform. They are designed with the best material for that job, while also designing the best form for the job, and ease for the user. Equipment Cost savings may also be accomplished by purchasing used equipment for the manufacturing process. Have these machines been refurbished to meet the specifications, or merely put to use without that consideration? Cheap tools have hidden costs Damage to the fastener Ever round the corners on a nut? It is not always the fault of the nut. If you used a cheap tool, it can cause the damage, and you blame the nut! How much time did this add to the task you were doing, and how miserable was it? Was the cheap tool really such a good deal? Shorter life Cheap is not cheap, in the long run. At one time I sold Porter Ferguson 4 ton porta powers, made in the USA. What a nice piece of equipment! I loved selling them because they are known to last as long as 30 years in the field, while requiring minimal maintenance during that period. I never had to apologize for this product. Customers wanted cheaper units. so I bought 2 cheap sets from a different manufacturer to sell. What a mistake! Both porta powers failed at about 30 days into the 90 day warrantee period. After that they failed again, and for a third time. I learned my lesson, refunded the money, and destroyed the equipment. In the not so long run the good porta power was less expensive, you paid for it once. Using the cheaper porta power, if it lasted a year (and it would not) the breakeven point was about five or six years, meaning that use of the cheaper tool would actually cost 3 to 4 times more over the term of a twenty year career. Safety Is it really a good idea to buy a cheap tool that can cause injury? Is it worth the financial and physical pain? Beware of the Demonstration Demonstration of hand tools usually focus on one point, and are, in my opinion, staged. Two demos’ that come to mind are for wrenches and screwdrivers. A wrench demo I have seen has you take 2 different branded wrenches mounted on a piece of NYLON hex stock, and you turn them until one slips. Wow! The one is better than the other, Right? Not necessarily, unless you intend to turn nylon nuts all the time. My guess is you will be turning metal nuts a lot more often, and that is the demo you should see. If you are shown this one, ask the demonstrator to demonstrate this using steel hex stock. Screwdrivers are often made with high torque handles, and are demonstrated showing how well it works in a high torque application, breaking a screw loose. While this is true, I have found it is more difficult to rotate the screwdriver after the screw is loose with those type of handles. So you have to ask yourself, how often do I have to brake screws loose, and how often am I easily spinning the screw running out to the end of the threads? A normal handle is easier to run out to the end of the threads. And some screwdrivers have a built in nut on the shaft so you may break screw loose, for this abnormal condition. |
| ELORA Werkzeugfabrik GmbH Founded in 1924. Manufacturers of top quality German hand tools. |
| BTR Distributors takes pride as the Official Distributor for Elora hand tools in the United States. |
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