Starrett S162Z Pin Vice Set, Sizes 162A/B/C/D in Protective Vinyl Case

The set arrived in good time and in a package that fitted though the letterbox.The set was housed in the usual red cardboard Starrett box, with the tools themselves in a little plastic wallet.The tools themselves:A good heft in the hand and the knurling is excellent; deep and sharp, offering excellent grip. I'd expect nothing less given the price of these tools.The collets themselves look to be well made with well formed, machined tips that are highly regular, facilitating that the piece/bit being as central as possible in the tool.[Edited following first use]Cosmetically then, these look excellent. Closer inspection revealed some issues, however.I found that the screw threads on all the tools with the exception of the smallest one in the set, were packed with grit and dirt, making the collet rings hard to loosen/tighten. They felt dreadful. In point of fact, they nearly got slung straight back in the box for return before I even bothered to use themI didn't take a photo of them initially, but you can see from the shots I did take, even following liberal application of isopropyl alcohol and WD40 to clean them up, it's clear to see that the threads are pretty chewed up.Following a good clean to remove the manufacturing swarf they felt much better than they did before I cleaned them up but the reality is, given the cost of these tools, that the finishing should be of a much higher standard. Clearly the tooling they use to thread these things is pretty close to being end of life. I would argue that they are already shot and should have been replaced long before my copy got churned out. I'm a little surprised that this didn't get picked up by Starrett QC.In use:I tried out the vices with suitably sized drill bits and found that the grip on the collets was very poor. Even with light duty (1.5mm hole in soft wood with a brand new bit) trying to tighten the collets so they would grip the drill bit properly was very difficult.Summary:I guess for someone who appreciates the exterior look and feel of the tool, which is admittedly good, with occasional use for these tools to make holes in very light duty materials, e.g. soft plastics or balsa wood perhaps, then they might be OK.However, where general appearance of these pin vices is of a much higher standard than some of the junk I've bought in the past, the reality is that the fit and finish of these tools is very poor and offer a very poor grip on the tooling at the business end.If I these tools can't maintain a grip on a bit when trying to gently drill out soft wood without recourse to using additional tools to torque the collets sufficiently, then they're simply not fit for purpose.This pin-vice set is a very poor example of Starrett engineering prowess I'm afraid. They are nowhere near the quality that I would expect from Starrett and certainly not at this price point.Back in the box for return I’m afraid. Very disappointed.

Very well made and finished. I experienced none of the problems described in the poor reviews. I wonder if these were cheap “knock off” items bought inadvertently.

Knurling, plating, finish etc...perfect. Smooth threads...I could go on but