Technical Who Really Made your Craftsman Tools?

When i worked as a for real mechanic the other guys would not touch a "CRAPSMAN" tool so i told them to put the lowly ones on my bench and i still use them to this day....

 

One word STAHLWILLE.......not made in USA. but consistent excellent quality for at least the past 43 years.....that I can vouch for.... not only are they guaranteed but in over 40years of professional use I have never had to make a claim.

 

Still have my powercraft wrenches... Wards I believe....

 

With all the corporate mergers and/or selling off of divisions/brand names, it's extremely hard to say that this brand or that brand is good anymore. I became disillusioned with Craftsman 40 years ago after buying a 'top of the line' on-sale oxy/acetylene outfit, only to be find that replacement/additional tip selection was severely limited due to the supplying-to-sears company going out of business shortly after making these for Sears (and repair parts eventually dried up too, rendering them totally useless) . After several other similar experiences with other Sears products, I quit buying anything from them. After that I vowed to never buy any 'lifetime' tools from anybody who didn't have a stellar reputation for that tool and/or quality and by and large that has worked for me.

Craftsman has never been more than a 'mid line' tool in any case, with the 'lifetime guarantee' being more of a marketing ploy than a declaration of quality. In all my years of working in the commercial/industrial construction industry, I almost never saw Craftsman tools company-purchased for a job (the only time I recall Craftsman tools being used was on a job where the Milwaukee drill motors were too powerful, so Craftsman drills were used. They worked well in this particular case, but we burned up a bunch of them...). I never saw any Craftsman hand tools purchased. The hand tool of choice was almost always Proto, sometimes Williams (a now-defunct industrial tool line made by Snap-on).

I worked briefly as a auto mechanic in the late 60s/early 70s and grew to hate the supplied Snap-on tools as their full-polish finish made them extremely hard to grip when your hands were greasy or covered in anti-freeze (I remember changing a water pump on a '72 T-bird clearly to this day...). They're pretty, but real knuckle-busters in the real world.

 

And so your personal preference is...? I suspect hand tools are, and have always been since somebody started knapping flint, a matter of personal preference.

 

If I had to buy hand tools again, I'd be looking at SK and Proto offerings. I found out quickly that if you use tools for a living, you want something that is smooth and comfortable in your hand. If I was still fixing cars full time, it would be Snap On or Mac Tools.

I recently bought a bunch of used Par-X hand combination wrenches on eBay since I had a couple and learned (recently on here) about their history. Most of them were hardly used.

One guy I know that owns a machine shop had the crappiest hand tools for the shop, real bad shit. I asked him why doesn't he buy a better set of tools? Answer... because people would steal them.

 

If you offered a kid his choice of some Snap-On tools or a new iphone what do you think he would pick?

 

Doesn't matter to me who made them as long as they will replace the broken ones.

 

I've gone to all Proto hand tools for wrenches/socket sets; took me more than a few years to convert as their stuff isn't cheap, but I can count on the fingers of one hand how many have failed over the last 30 years. And the few that did fail did so under extreme abuse (and most were replaced for free). Their ratchets all feature knurled handles and their wrenches have rounded satin-finish main bodies, much more comfortable to use compared to Craftsman or Snap-on. The only downside is they don't make any thinwall sockets and their wrenches are a bit bulkier compared to others. They also make excellent torque wrenches. They used to make excellent screwdrivers also, but these were discontinued/changed when Stanley bought them out; if you can find the older yellow-handled sets, they're great. Klein probably makes the best quality, easy-to-find reasonably priced screwdrivers currently on the market.

 

My daily go-to's are mostly Snap-On's that I bought circa 1975. Even the ones I've had to replace on warranty lately are nowhere near the quality of my old ones. A few years ago you could buy really good quality wrenches from Canadian Tire but their quality has been slipping as well. Life time warranties are nice, but I want stuff I don't have to take back. I've taken to scouting the yard sales and farm auctions for high quality (SK, Proto, Craftsman, Petersen Vice Grips, SnapOn) older tools as well.

 

I have a lot of Snap-On from the 50's/60s, a lot of seventies Craftsman. My favorite ratchet is the newest, an early eighties MAC, out of the half dozen 3/8 ratchets I own, its by far the best, lever toggle that is easy to use with greasy fingers, push-button socket release, and the "clicks" are really tight, you can get another tooth on the pawl in a very restricted range of motion.

 

My wife's grandpa just told me to come up and pick up all of his tools, mostly Craftsman, his new stuff is 45 years old.

 

Bought my first set of Craftsman tools in '67; they were stolen in '79 and I replaced them with another set of Craftsman. Actually two sets as I had one set at work and another at home. Still going strong... The new Craftsman stuff is pretty sketchy, though I still prefer it over Strap-On. Recently bought a set of dog-bones from Mac; paid the Mac price and guess what... "Made in Taiwan".

 

Agreed.

However, there have been tools branded by both names (exactly the same tool or kit) made by a different manufacturer and rebranded by both. First item coming to mind is the 48 pc thread restorer made by Kastar and rebranded by SO, Cman, and others. This happens with lots of brands, especially these days.

 

I just returned home from shopping at Sears and purposely went over to the tool area to see if any had a label showing place of manufacture. I saw numerous socket sets, T-wrench sets, pliers, etc. Everyone that had a label showing where it was made said "Taiwan". It's in very, very small print on the back of these packages in the lower right hand corner.

 

Old guys die (so I am told) I buy tools at garage sales.

 

Nowadays I prefer HF to Craftsman! That's sad to say, but HF quality has gone way up (on a lot of their stuff anyhow) while Craftsman quality has fallen drastically. Both lifetime warranty, but if I have to return a HF tool, chances are it is either improved or the same while Craftsman stuff in my experience usually is worse than the item I'm returning!
I HATE (modern) Craftsman ratchets. Just junk! HF is much better here depending on the model.
But to answer your question I've been really happy with all my Gearwrench brand tools! Especially the ratcheting screwdriver and 1/4" fine tooth ratchet!

 

I was at a swap meet last fall, picked up 5 Snap On wrenches for a total of $5. Garage sale a few years back, picked up an assortment of big name brand screwdrivers, some scrapers for $1 each.

 

I was an ASE certified mechanic straight from trade school , purchased all Mac, SnapOn , etc straight from the "Tool Pirate Truck " . They have been a great investment , purchased mine in the '70s . I have broken a few , replacements look similar to chain store tools of today . So it's a toss up as to what is best for the money , biggest issue I have had is over loading the tools , nothing is built so well that we can not break it if improperly used . As in using a 7/8 , 3/8 drive to remove a lug nut because it is handy , not goin to last for many tire changes . Just be safe tools can be replaced , fingers , eyes , ears when gone can't go to SEARS and get replacements

 

I have a hodge podge variety of tools. All tools are guarenteed for life or so they say. I have snap on, mac, matco, craftsman, proto, pittsburgh(hf). As for screwdrivers I will only use craftsman. I used to work maintenance. People would steal your stuff so I would only buy hf junk. Now I work in a machine shop. Now its Interapid, Etalon, and Mitutoyo.

 

For all the Canadians on here.

Canadian tire's professional series are good. A friend has several sets of snap on wrenches , have similar sets on pro series. They carry the same part numbers and are identical if you can't read the name on them.

$40 for a set of wrenches that the tool truck sells for $300

 

Working as a truck mechanic in the 80s, I started buying Craftsman tools at the local Sears store but grew tired of driving to sears to get the broken ones replaced every week. Tried Matco tools but had problems with end wrenches spreading....finally bought nothing but Snap On tools with a few Mac's thrown in... Mac makes a great line wrench that will not spread removing 5/8ths fuel line fittings from Q-jets...
Removing the head bolts from drain back holes in SBCs [the intermediate length ones] is a challenge for any brand thin wall 5/8th socket. I've cracked snap-on but the snap on man always replaces it as long as it doesn't show wear from being on an impact wrench.