Imported Craftsman

[li0nhart123]

Received my 10 piece set of craftsman professional wrenches today...I am impressed with the finish...smooth as a baby's bottom with a mirror finish. This was a replacement set for the one I had to send back due to a cracked wrench making it past quality control.

Although the wrenches are nice in appearance and feel balanced when holding them, you can see the grind marks under the chrome on the inside of the open end. I guess I can't complain, I only paid $29.99 for the whole set.

Since the wrenches are so shiny, I was unable to get good pic with my camera. I ran one through my scanner to give you peeps a look. As you can see in the pics below, the scanner compensated for the mirror finish by showing it as grey.

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p199/li0nhart123/Inventory095.jpg

"Craftsman" and the size clearly ans crisply cast into the top side of the wrench.

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p199/li0nhart123/Inventory094.jpg

The part number and size are cast into the back. No country of origin is cast into the body of the wrench.

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p199/li0nhart123/Inventory096.jpg

Clearly imported as indicated on the package..I'll assume it's china or taiwan.

Other than the few grind marks present in the open end,,I let em pass the visual test.

I won't really get to put them to use until spring..hopefully the will hold up. they do come with the lifetime guarantee.

I'm sure some of you must have comments...

[Merkava_4]

Other than the few grind marks present in the open end,,I let em pass the visual test.

I don't think those are grind marks. There's a big machine punch that comes down and knocks that piece of steel out when the wrench is still red hot; making the open end.

[li0nhart123]

I stand corrected, where ever i said grind..substitutethe word "punch"...:)

[Merkava_4]

I'm thinking some of the tool companies who have the money are using lasers to cut out the open end. Lasers leave a very smooth cut that doesn't require any cleaning up at all.

I've got this one Cornwell wrench that is so smooth on the inside of the open end that it looks like is was cut out rather than punched out:

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n284/MACDRIVE/TOOLS/DSCN1325.jpg

[eschoendorff]

Yeah, those Craftsman wrenches are different than what we have in the states. The logo looks old school...

[Jononon]

I'm thinking some of the tool companies who have the money are using lasers to cut out the open end. Lasers leave a very smooth cut that doesn't require any cleaning up at all.

There are some, it's common for flat wrenches used on bicycle components to be laser cut. I don't know of any laser cut forged wrenches, it's not the most obvious choice on a fairly deep forged part.

I've got this one Cornwell wrench that is so smooth on the inside of the open end that it looks like is was cut out rather than punched out

It was almost certainly hot punched, they just use clean punches, operated by people who know what they're doing, and good quality finishing.

Vertical stripes on the cut surface come from worn out and/or dirty punches.

Great video of Cornwell's production here (http://www.cornwelltools.com/history.asp).

[Merkava_4]

Vertical stripes on the cut surface come from worn out and/or dirty punches.

That makes perfect sense along with the rest of your post.

Awesome information - Thank You! :beer:

[DavidtheDuke]

Uh oh, a simple wrench made out of the states? Is this a recent tool? Here we go...

[lbgradwell]

Uh oh, a simple wrench made out of the states? Is this a recent tool? Here we go...

The Craftsman hard-line tools in Canada (like this one) have long been made offshore. The US tools are still made domestically.

[ImportTuner]

For the price, it looks like it's a good deal, with lifetime warranty and all ... :)

[rsanter]

I wonder what would happen of you took one of those in for warranty here in the US

bob

[lbgradwell]

I wonder what would happen of you took one of those in for warranty here in the US

bob

They'll hand you a US-made tool with no problems. Or, at least, that's what I've been told over on the Craftsman Club forum...

[grillmasterp]

I wonder what would happen of you took one of those in for warranty here in the US

bob

You will get a replacement -

This is a good reminder to watch out for Craftsman tools sold on Ebay- especially if the seller lives up north.