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We recently posed about new USA-made Southwire screwdrivers. The company still has not respond to our requests for a press release, and no other official announcements have been made. Luckily, a local Lowe’s store had a couple of screwdrivers in-stock.
Overall, from looking over the samples they had in-store, I wasn’t impressed or turned off by the new Southwire screwdrivers.
I was a little tempted to pick up the Phillips #2 for review purposes, but with a sticker price of $16 and change, I decided to pass. Perhaps they’ll mark it down, as that driver size is priced quite a bit lower on Amazon.
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I didn’t think they could fit size markings on the end of the handle, but they can! The end of the new Southwire screwdrivers are tapered, but not by much, leaving a lot of room for size markings.
The Lowe’s store only had a couple of sizes, and it seemed that the new screwdrivers might be replacing the existing imported ones. See, this is the kind of question that I wish Southwire could answer for us.
Comparing the existing 5/16″ nutdriver to the new 5/16″ slotted screwdriver, the new markings are much smaller, but still readable.
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There’s looks to be plenty of space left on the ends of the handles for larger markings, but small size markings are better than nothing.
It will remain to be seen how well the legibility of the size markings hold up with time and use.
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I didn’t have any glaring objections to the new handle style, but I also wasn’t impressed or compelled to bring a review sample home.
There’s still no clarity as to what the screwdrivers’ “corrosion-resistant shanks” are made from, or if they’re chrome-plated.
If you’re inclined, with a couple of sizes at Lowe’s stores, you can check them out there, or they should start shipping soon from Amazon.
Buy Now(Southwire USA-made Screwdrivers and Nutdrivers via Amazon)
Compare(Klein USA-made Screwdrivers via Amazon)
