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{{Short description|American tool manufacturer}}
{{Infobox company
| name = SK Hand Tools Corporation
| logo = |image=SktoolsSK Hand Tools logo.pngsvg
| type = [[Subsidiary]] of [[IdealHangzhou IndustriesGreatStar Industrial]]
| slogan = Being a Pro Matters.
| foundation = [[Chicago, IL]] (1900s)
| location = [[Sycamore, IL]]
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}}
 
'''SK Hand Tools''' (styled earlier as '''S-K''', Handnow usually Tools'''SK''') is an Americana tool company located in [[Sycamore, Illinois]]. It sold out to Hangzhou GreatStar Industrial, a Chinese tool company. Major products of the once fully-USA-manufacturing company include sockets and drive tools, wrenches, air tools, and other mechanics' tools. The company has a tool line of over 3,500 items including wrenches, ratchets, screwdrivers, tool boxes and air tools. It has manufacturing facilities in China, Taiwan, [[Colorado Springs, Colorado]] and [[Sycamore, Illinois]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Made in the U.S.A.u s a|url=https://www.sktools.com/content/sktools/en_US/made-in-usa.html|publisher=SK Tools|accessdate=7 August 2017}}</ref> Outlets for their products include independent tool-truck dealers, auto parts stores, and major internet vendors such as [[Sears]] and [[Amazon.com]].
 
[[Jay Leno]] described the former USA-owned SK company as "an iconic American brand for decades,"<ref>{{cite web|last=Leno|first=Jay|authorlink=Jay Leno|work=[[Popular Mechanics]]|title=Jay Leno on the Rebirth of Classic American Auto Parts Brands|url=http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a7040/the-rebirth-of-classic-american-auto-parts-brands/|date=13 October 2011|accessdate=16 January 2014}}</ref> and the company is known for inventing the round-head [[socket wrench|ratchet wrench]].
 
== History ==
SK was founded as the '''Sherman-Klove Company''', specializing in [[automatic lathe#Screw machine|screw- machine]] products, by Mason H. Sherman and Noah Grover Klove. The company was founded in the early 20th century to supply munitions in World War I, and made mortar housings in a screw machine plant on Harrison Street in Chicago. During the 1920s SK operated primarily as a contract company, making tools for other brands (including [[Craftsman (tools)|Craftsman]]).<ref name="aa">{{cite web|work=Alloy Artifacts|title=Sherman-Klove and S-K Tools|url=http://home.comcast.net/~alloy-artifacts/sherman-klove.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210055027/http://home.comcast.net/~alloy-artifacts/sherman-klove.html|archivedate=2015-02-10|date=15 June 2011|deadurl=yes|dfurl-status=dead}}</ref> Business thrived, they made specialty screw machine products that did well until the depression[[Great Depression|Depression]]. William S. Sherman (W.S.), Mason's son, came to SK after graduating college in 1927 and was eventually a major owner of the company. One of the products the company made was socket wrenches for '''Hinsdale Socket and Wrench Company'''. The Hinsdale Company went out of business during the great depression leaving Sherman-Klove with a large inventory of this product,. theyThey then redesigned the product and changed the company name to '''S-K Tools'''.▼
 
Theodore Rueb, an engineer for the Sherman-Klove Company, went on to develop a new mechanism for a very successful line of ratchets, scaled from 1/4-inch drive up to 3/4-inch drive. The "round-head" ratchet has remained one of the most popular ratchet styles in the sevennearly nine decades since S-K's first development, and many modern ratchets are little changed from the earliest design. SK invented the round-head ratchet wrench in 1933 and received a patent for it the following year,<ref>{{cite patent|country=US|number=1981526|status=patent|title=Ratchet Wrench|pubdate=1934-11-20|gdate=1934-11-20|fdate=1933-12-07|pridate=1933-12-07|inventor-last=Rueb|inventor-first=Theodore O.|assign1=Sherman Klove Company|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US1981526A/en}}</ref> which remains a mainstay of their, and every major competitor's product line today.▼
▲SK was founded as the '''Sherman-Klove Company''', specializing in screw-machine products, by Mason H. Sherman and Noah Grover Klove. The company was founded in the early 20th century to supply munitions in World War I, and made mortar housings in a screw machine plant on Harrison Street in Chicago. During the 1920s SK operated primarily as a contract company, making tools for other brands (including [[Craftsman (tools)|Craftsman]]).<ref name="aa">{{cite web|work=Alloy Artifacts|title=Sherman-Klove and S-K Tools|url=http://home.comcast.net/~alloy-artifacts/sherman-klove.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210055027/http://home.comcast.net/~alloy-artifacts/sherman-klove.html|archivedate=2015-02-10|date=15 June 2011|deadurl=yes|df=}}</ref> Business thrived, they made specialty screw machine products that did well until the depression. William S. Sherman (W.S.), Mason's son, came to SK after graduating college in 1927 and was eventually a major owner of the company. One of the products the company made was socket wrenches for '''Hinsdale Socket and Wrench Company'''. The Hinsdale Company went out of business during the great depression leaving Sherman-Klove with a large inventory of this product, they then redesigned the product and changed the company name to '''S-K Tools'''.
 
=== Change of ownership ===
▲Theodore Rueb, an engineer for the Sherman-Klove Company, went on to develop a new mechanism for a very successful line of ratchets, scaled from 1/4-drive up to 3/4-drive. The "round-head" ratchet has remained one of the most popular ratchet styles in the seven decades since S-K's first development, and many modern ratchets are little changed from the earliest design. SK invented the round-head ratchet wrench in 1933 and received a patent for it the following year,<ref>{{cite patent|country=US|number=1981526|status=patent|title=Ratchet Wrench|pubdate=1934-11-20|gdate=1934-11-20|fdate=1933-12-07|pridate=1933-12-07|inventor-last=Rueb|inventor-first=Theodore O.|assign1=Sherman Klove Company|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US1981526A/en}}</ref> which remains a mainstay of their, and every major competitor's product line today.
 
* In 1962, SK, along with manufacturing partner Lectrolite Corp., of [[Defiance, Ohio]], was bought out by '''Symington-Wayne''' and became SKS-K Wayne.
 
* In 1968 S-K Wayne was purchased by [[Dresser Industries]] as part of the merger between Wayne Oil and Tank Company and Dresser Industries. Dresser Industries made many changes to S-K's tools including dropping the cross-hatch pattern from their sockets in order to '"modernize'" them.
* In 1985, SK became part of the French company Facom Tools.
 
In 1985, SK became part of the French company Facom Tools.* In 2005 it was purchased by its management and again operated independently as the S-K Hand Tools Corporation.<ref name="aa" />
* On June 29, 2010, the company declared bankruptcy.<ref>{{cite web|last=Deutsch|first=Stuart|work=ToolGuyd|title=SK Hand Tools Declares Bankruptcy!!|url=http://toolguyd.com/sk-hand-tools-declares-bankruptcy/|date=2010-06-29|accessdate=2014-03-24}}</ref> On August 23, 2010, it was announced that two days later, on August 25, 2010, [[Ideal Industries]] would acquire SK.<ref>{{cite web|last=Yue|first=Lorene|work=[[Crain Communications|Chicago Business]]|title=SK Hand Tool assets sold to Ideal Industries|url=http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20100823/NEWS05/100829965/sk-hand-tool-assets-sold-to-ideal-industries|date=2010-08-23|accessdate=2010-10-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|publisher=Ideal Industries|title=IDEAL Acquires Premier Tool Manufacturer SK Hand Tools|url=http://www.idealindustries.com/whatsnew/press_releases/view.jsp?news=2010-08-23_sktool|date=2010-08-23|accessdate=2010-10-06}}</ref> ▼
 
* In July 2021 SK was acquired<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sktools.com/sk-hand-tool-acquisition-announcement|title=Sk Hand Tool Acquisition Announcement}}</ref> by [[Hangzhou GreatStar Industrial]], a Chinese tool conglomerate company that is current owner of other American brands such as [[Shop-Vac]], [[Arrow Fastener]], and Pony Jorgensen clamps.
▲On June 29, 2010, the company declared bankruptcy.<ref>{{cite web|last=Deutsch|first=Stuart|work=ToolGuyd|title=SK Hand Tools Declares Bankruptcy!!|url=http://toolguyd.com/sk-hand-tools-declares-bankruptcy/|date=2010-06-29|accessdate=2014-03-24}}</ref> On August 23, 2010, it was announced that two days later, on August 25, 2010, [[Ideal Industries]] would acquire SK.<ref>{{cite web|last=Yue|first=Lorene|work=[[Crain Communications|Chicago Business]]|title=SK Hand Tool assets sold to Ideal Industries|url=http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20100823/NEWS05/100829965/sk-hand-tool-assets-sold-to-ideal-industries|date=2010-08-23|accessdate=2010-10-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|publisher=Ideal Industries|title=IDEAL Acquires Premier Tool Manufacturer SK Hand Tools|url=http://www.idealindustries.com/whatsnew/press_releases/view.jsp?news=2010-08-23_sktool|date=2010-08-23|accessdate=2010-10-06}}</ref>
 
== Gallery ==
 
<gallery>
Image:SK roundhead ratchet.jpg|An SK roundhead [[socket wrench|ratchet]].
Image:SK stubby wrenchroto-ratchet.jpg|AAn shortSK pattern [[combination wrench]].roto-ratchet
Image:SK stubby wrench.jpg|A short pattern [[combination wrench]]
</gallery>
 
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