Thinkpads Forum

I received a very unexpected Christmas gift from my sister this year. I mentioned something about the tools she used at a plant that manufactured industrial ink jet print heads and ink cartridges for marking packaging. She said she too had a set of these. I had forgotten about that conversation until I opened this package this morning.

I'm old enough to have lusted after equipment that was labelled "Made in West Germany"... the ultimate seal of the best made stuff anywhere.

This is the current seal as well except for the E class sitting in the garage right now. Apparently not so good.

I own many German made products from my tools and hiking boots (Meindl) to most of my firearms collection and a few knives.

I lived there for two years so I know how well made their products are.

The Wiha brand is a great brand and used across the industry. That looks like a Instrument Tech's kit and it will be handy even if you never use it. Great for servicing printer heads and instrumentation used on production lines.

I'll be using it for certain. I work on laptops and tablets.

I made a thread about screwsdrivers after wrecking countless budget sets, unanimously was recommended Wiha, bought a 4 piece set, have seldom been happier with a sub $20 investment. No idea what that set you received is worth.... but I am VERY jealous!

I've always said cheap tools are not good and good tools are not cheap. And neither were these.

Good stuff though.

MikalE wrote:I'll be using it for certain. I work on laptops and tablets.

The bits are wayy too big for laptops or tablets. For laptops or tablets most of the time you will use PH0, PH00 and PH1

I have other uses for them as well.

The pentalobe bits are neccessary for Apple products, and many older avionic components all use flat head drivers or Allen head.

wisdomkeeper wrote:

MikalE wrote:I'll be using it for certain. I work on laptops and tablets.

The bits are wayy too big for laptops or tablets. For laptops or tablets most of the time you will use PH0, PH00 and PH1

I saw the OP's post and ran out and bought a set. The set comes with 5 - Phillips Bits: #000, #00, #0, #1, #2 so it is quite suitable for laptops.

I discovered a manufacturing defect in my kit.

The magnetic storage bit holder was not pressed or machined correctly. When the bits are inserted into the holder they all sit in there cock-eyed at an angle. The effect is magnified with the 100mm extension. The bits will all wobble as the handle is rotated.

I wrote to Wiha USA yesterday and sent them a photo of the defective handle. They are sending a new handle out at no charge and did not want the defective handle returned.

You might want to check yours.

This is what mine looks like with a bit inserted:



I was mystified. I would have never in a million years thought that this would ever leave the plant, let alone Germany with a defect like this. I guess German QA isn't what it used to be in the '70's and '80's.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Kit or just the handle were made outside of Germany.

All Wiha tools are entirely Made in Germany. I wouldn't pay good money for crap made in China.

You need to understand companies are profit driven. Wiha may be totally made in Germany but as you said before this is not the 70's or 80's and today it is murkier and less transparent in the corporate world.

Whether it is Lenovo or Wiha or whoever, companies will do whatever it takes to make money and to remain viable. It is survival and dog eat dog. This is why on this forum we cherish products from a yesteryear and quality today is compromised IMO.

In your Signature you have some items made in China. Are these crap or did you spend bad money to procure this items?

That depends entirely upon the product. Do you know where I can buy an American or German made Lenovo T series laptop?

As you say it depends on the product. But my point is the "Made in Label" on a product means less than it did in an earlier time. Would a "Made in America" laptop be better than a "Made in China" laptop?

It would not surprise me if the HANDLES for the wiha tools are not made in Germany.

The handle is NOT the tool is it? Its the bits. I assume the bits are all cast and machined in Germany but they get the handles from China.

The handles arent the 'critical path' item (such as it is).

In the end, I think we are complaining about a German factory vs. a Chinese factory.

To take this to the Nth degree, the Mercedes E class we have is a German made car. Its full of China bits and pieces. The wheels are Chinese as are the seat frames and other bits.

To my surprise, they actually also make this car in China. With Chinese workers and German management and QA/QC the cars are essentially identical.

I guess nothing means what it says any longer.

The replacement handle arrived today. It has been manufactured correctly and the bits seat squarely in the opening. The design is slightly different but looks nearly identical to the handle included in the kit.

The plastic bag it came in did indeed say Made in Taiwan. I was slightly disappointed.

You were correct though. Not everything is made where they say it is made for all parts of a kit.