type subsidiary of ideal industries industry manufacturing founded chicago il 1921 headquarters sycamore il products professional hand tools website www.skhandtool.com s k hand tools is an american tool company located in sycamore illinois . major products 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 sycamore illinois . 1 outlets for their products include independent tool truck dealers auto parts stores and major internet vendors such as sears and amazon.com . the company prides itself with being a family owned blue collar american company that believes in serving the hardest working tradesmen in the world the american workers and craftsmen . it manufactures all of its products in america using highest quality american steel only to forge its tools . 2 jay leno described sk as an iconic american brand for decades 3 and the company is known for inventing the round head ratchet wrench . contents 1 history 2 gallery 3 references 4 external links history edit 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 1900s to supply munitions in wwi 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 . 4 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 . theodore rueb an engineer for the sherman klove company went on to developed 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 5 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 oh was bought out by symington wayne and became sk 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 facom tools . 4 on june 29 2010 the company declared bankruptcy . 6 on august 23 2010 it was announced that two days later on august 25 2010 ideal industries would acquire sk . 7 8 gallery edit an sk roundhead ratchet . a short pattern combination wrench . references edit sk hand tools . about . retrieved 2014 01 16 . http www.skhandtool.com carousel made in usa.aspx leno jay 2011 10 13 . jay leno on the rebirth of classic american auto parts brands . popular mechanics . retrieved 2014 01 16 . a b sherman klove and s k tools . alloy artifacts . retrieved 2014 01 16 . us patent 1981526 theodore o. rueb ratchet wrench issued 1934 11 20 assigned to sherman klove co. chicago il deutsch stuart 2010 06 29 . sk hand tools declares bankruptcy . toolguyd . retrieved 2014 03 24 . yue lorene 2010 08 23 . sk hand tool assets sold to ideal industries . chicago business . retrieved 2010 10 06 . ideal acquires premier tool manufacturer sk hand tools press release . ideal industries . 2010 08 23 . retrieved 2010 10 06 . external links edit sk web site alloy artifacts sherman klove and s k tools v t e hand tool manufacturers current dasco pro inc. apex tool group allen armstrong tools crescent diamond gearwrench k d tools lufkin nicholson plumb sata tools wiss xcelite bondhus buck bros. channellock cornwell tools digitool solutions disston saw works ega master eklind emerson ridgid empire level estwing felo few fiskars gerber gardner bender gedore gray tools dynamic tools hazet hans tools heyco ideal industries pratt read sk hand tools western forge klein tools knipex kukko leatherman lie nielsen toolworks lisle corporation lowell corporation matco tools martin tool & forge newell brands irwin lenox otc park tool pb swiss saltus sandvik senco snap on bahco cdi torque products williams stahlwille stanley black & decker blackhawk bostitch dewalt facom mac tools proto sidchrome stanley hand tools textron greenlee klauke paladin tools techtronic industries milwaukee thorsen manufacturing tom f teira toptul vaughan victorinox wenger wera tools wescott westward tools wiha tools witte tools wright tool historic coes wrench company easco hand tools forest city screwdriver and drill company goodell pratt hinsdale holtzapffel indestro mathieson mckaig hatch new britain machine company norris north brothers manufacturing company h. d. smith & co. utica tools bonney forge herbrand vlchek house brands ace hardware ace tools autozone duralast blain s farm and fleet duracraft canadian tire mastercraft the home depot husky lee valley veritas lowe s kobalt menards masterforce montgomery ward powrkraft sears craftsman retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title sk hand tools & oldid 743337152 categories manufacturing companies based in illinoistool manufacturing companies of the united statesautomotive tool manufacturerscompanies established in 1921labor disputes in the united 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