WHat tool companies have produced Craftsman ratchets?

[TheGrooveking]

I was wondering with reading how Craftsman ratchets have gone downhill in the last 10-20 years who has been producing them for Sears? Danaher does now if I am correct.

TheGrooveking

 

[Banshee365]

The newer thin profile ratchets are nice but the older raised panel ratchets **** now-a-day's. Especially the 1/2". I can't keep the 1/2" raised panel working for more than a year.

Stanley made the good older ratchets.

 

[mossyboy6]

The newer thin profile ratchets are nice but the older raised panel ratchets **** now-a-day's. Especially the 1/2". I can't keep the 1/2" raised panel working for more than a year.

What the heck are you talking about, the older Craftsmans are of far superior quality to the new ones.

 

[DHS]

What the heck are you talking about, the older Craftsmans are of far superior quality to the new ones.

I have to agree the old raised panels are 100x better than the newer raised panel.

 

[sjt78]

What the heck are you talking about, the older Craftsmans are of far superior quality to the new ones.

I believe he is trying to say the new raised panel ratchets look similar to the old ones but are not as durable. NOT that the older ratchets were bad, quite opposite.

 

[speed bump]

Easco made them for Cman before they were bought out by Danaher. Stanley makes them for the Canadian Craftsman and I believe at some point New Britian or Blackhawk made them.

 

[lbgradwell]

New Britain
Moore Drop Forge
Penens (possibly) Division of Pendleton
Easco
Stanley
Danaher

New Britain produced the early ratchets for Sears.

The MDF/Easco/Danaher can more-or-less be regarded as a single continuous contract with the name of the producing company changing.

Some line in the Pendleton stable very briefly produced the ratchets that look like the Plomb WF series.

Again, very briefly, Stanley produced the so-called "tri-wings" in the mid-1980s. Although people claim some were made in the USA, I don't ever recall seeing proof of that & I believe they were all made overseas. Most are unmarked, but some say "Taiwan".

Stanley made the good older ratchets.

Although I actually like those ratchets, they are not highly regarded.

And, yes, Stanley has made the Canadian Craftsman stuff for many years now.

I can't recall if the Japan-made tools included ratchets. I imagine they did, but I don't think the manufacturer has been positively IDed in any case...

I also remember an odd and very rare ratchet that was likely made by yet another company...

 

[raflomo]

Do you know what year Danaher started?

 

[krusty the clown]

Do you know what year Danaher started?

tricky question since danaher bought easco, who bought moore drop forge.

 

[J.A.F.E.]

Plomb made them for a few years after WWII.

 

[TA^Guy]

Stanley made the good older ratchets.

I'm not surprised. I picked up a set of mtricand standard 3/8" Stanley sockets and I have yet to break any of them. I think I've had them for about 6 years now. Since they came in a handy case they tend to be my most used sockets.

 

[lauver]

S-K made a 3/4 drive roundhead Craftsman ratchet in the late 1940's to early 1950s. So you can add S-K to the OEM list.

LG--I found a few Sears brand ratchets with the BF-Japan series codes, but no Craftsman brand ratchets so far. I even ran across a Companion brand ratchet with WF code. It's amazing what you find when you're not looking.

Also, there are at least 2 "weird duck" Craftsman ratchets with unknown U.S. OEM's. I think you posted a photo of one of them that you found on ebay.

 

[lauver]

The newer thin profile ratchets are nice but the older raised panel ratchets **** now-a-day's. Especially the 1/2". I can't keep the 1/2" raised panel working for more than a year.

Stanley made the good older ratchets.

You've got to be kidding right? I think if you took a poll among folks who own or formerly owned the Stanley made ratchets, you'd find that about 75% of them hated these ratchets.

 

[Banshee365]

What the heck are you talking about, the older Craftsmans are of far superior quality to the new ones.

Guess I should have said "older style" with the raised panels. I do like the earlier ratchets, as you said.

 

[krusty the clown]

Guess I should have said "older style" with the raised panels. I do like the earlier ratchets, as you said.

those were made by moore drop forge, then easco........

i believe the stanley sourced ratchets were round handled, round head, taiwanese ratchets.

 

[lbgradwell]

Re: What tool companies have produced Craftsman ratchets?

S-K made a 3/4 drive roundhead Craftsman ratchet in the late 1940's to early 1950s. So you can add S-K to the OEM list.

Also, there are at least 2 "weird duck" Craftsman ratchets with unknown U.S. OEM's. I think you posted a photo of one of them that you found on ebay.

Right... Forgot about the big S-Ks.

And yes, I posted a picture of one of those weird ratchets, but was too tired & lazy to find it last night!

 

[lbgradwell]

i believe the stanley sourced ratchets were round handled, round head, taiwanese ratchets.

Yep.

 

[X1 Mike]

Question for all you craftsman gurus, I have 2 craftsman 3/8" ratchets one is full polish with a hard plastic handle and a flex head part # 44836-VM-USA, the other is full polish fixed head part # USA-VM-44833. I bought these new in the late 90's, who was the manufacturers?

 

[lauver]

Question for all you craftsman gurus, I have 2 craftsman 3/8" ratchets one is full polish with a hard plastic handle and a flex head part # 44836-VM-USA, the other is full polish fixed head part # USA-VM-44833. I bought these new in the late 90's, who was the manufacturers?

Danaher Corp., sucessor to Easco and Moore Drop Forge. Danaher acquired Easco in 1990 and is still the principal OEM for Craftsman branded tools. They make all the ratchets, sockets, extensions, open end wrenches, box end wrenches, combination wrenches, gearwrenches, etc. Danaher even owns the GearWrench brand. I suspect the new Craftsman tools that are stamped "Made In China" (i.e. Universal Spline wrenches & Dog-Bone wrenches) are made by Danaher at a new facility in China.

 

[X1 Mike]

Danaher Corp., sucessor to Easco and Moore Drop Forge. Danaher acquired Easco in 1990 and is still the principal OEM for Craftsman branded tools. They make all the ratchets, sockets, extensions, open end wrenches, box end wrenches, combination wrenches, gearwrenches, etc. Danaher even owns the GearWrench brand. I suspect even the new Craftsman tools that are stamped "Made In China" (i.e. Universal Spline wrenches & Dog-Bone wrenches) are made by Danaher at a new facility in China.

Thanks, I thought Danaher started making Craftsman starting in the 2000's

 

[lauver]

Gang,

There seems to be some confusion about the Craftsman ratchets that were made by Stanley Works. Here's a couple of photos of the Stanley made Craftsman ratchets from about 1982 - 1991:

Here's a 3/8" stubby flexhead version. Note the Tri-Wing shifter, knurled spinner disk, and the "Snap-on like" handle shape.

Here's a couple more showing the standard length handles.

As you can see, these ratchets look nothing like the traditional raised panel Craftsman ratchets made by MDF/Easco/Danaher. There were some other later variations of these ratchets, but they all have the same handle shape and general bulky round head design.

EDIT: Here's an example of one of the later variations. Note the knurled spinner disk is now the shifter disk and the old tri-wing shifter in now quick release/quick disassembly button.

 

[lauver]

Thanks, I thought Danaher started making Craftsman starting in the 2000's

Nope, 1990. You can kind of tell who made the tools by looking at finish. The older MDF and Easco tools had nicer finishes (i.e. ratchet heads were highly polished, handles were satin finished but very smooth, and the raised panels were chamfered). Once Danaher took over the quality of the finish started going down fast. Just look at the finish on the raised panel tools that are in the stores now; visible grinder marks under the chrome, uneven grinder marks on the handles, and sharp edges on the raised panels. Some of the ratchet handles are just disgusting looking. Yuck!

 

[dede2897234]

Gang,

There seems to be some confusion about the Craftsman ratchets that were made by Stanley Works. Here's a couple of photos of the Stanley made Craftsman ratchets from about 1982 - 1991:

Here's a 3/8" stubby flexhead version. Note the Tri-Wing shifter, knurled spinner disk, and the "Snap-on like" handle shape.

Here's a couple more showing the standard length handles.

As you can see, these ratchets look nothing like the traditional raised panel Craftsman ratchets made by MDF/Easco/Danaher. There were some other later variations of these ratchets, but they all have the same handle shape and general bulky round head design.

EDIT: Here's an example of one of the later variations. Note the knurled spinner disk is now the shifter disk and the old tri-wing shifter in now quick release/quick disassembly button.

Lauver and others,

Can you please specify why a majority of Craftsman ratchet owners hated the Stanley made round head ratchets (ex: model# 43795, 1/4" drive ratchet) from the mid-1980s? Were these ratchets not durable?


Thanks,

Dave

 

[Skin]

Nope, 1990. You can kind of tell who made the tools by looking at finish. The older MDF and Easco tools had nicer finishes (i.e. ratchet heads were highly polished, handles were satin finished but very smooth, and the raised panels were chamfered). Once Danaher took over the quality of the finish started going down fast. Just look at the finish on the raised panel tools that are in the stores now; visible grinder marks under the chrome, uneven grinder marks on the handles, and sharp edges on the raised panels. Some of the ratchet handles are just disgusting looking. Yuck!

i like the look of the raised panels since they're such a classic design but never really found them comfortable to work with. The new stuff is terrible to the point where you almost need to wear gloves.

you know thinking about it you should probably wear a full face helmet as well since you'll be doing a face plant when it reverses on you when you're triyng to tighten a fastener.

 

[bonneyman]

Lauver and others,

Can you please specify why a majority of Craftsman ratchet owners hated the Stanley made round head ratchets (ex: model# 43795, 1/4" drive ratchet) from the mid-1980s? Were these ratchets not durable?


Thanks,

Dave

I snagged one of the Stanley-made Tri-wing ratchets a few months ago at an estate sale, and I like it. Tight mechanism, crisp ratchet action, decent comfort. I've heard that many don't like it, but I do.

 

[lauver]

bonneyman & dede2897234,

Some folks indicated these ratchets were too heavy.

Others reported that these ratchets were poorly balanced (i.e. head heavy).

Others reported the ratchet mechanisms were too course (i.e. low tooth count).

Many users reported these ratchets were prone to breakage (i.e. the ratchet mechanism).

And last but not least, many were simply put off by the foreign source of these ratchets.

I own two of these ratchets and have not had any major problems with them, other than being less than pleased with the overall weight, balance, and courseness of the ratchet mechanism. That said, they still work and still occupy space in my tool box. I do not use them anymore, simply because I have many other ratchets that I enjoy using a whole lot more.

If you like them, then by all means, keep them, use them, and enjoy them. When it comes to tools, the only vote that counts is your vote.

 

[Tool Pants]

The middle pic in post #21 is interesting. 2 tri-wings but one is stamped Taiwan.

I found a 1/2" at the flea but is has no markings. The 3/8" and 1/4" are Craftsman, but have no country on them.

 

[lauver]

The middle pic in post #21 is interesting. 2 tri-wings but one is stamped Taiwan.

I found a 1/2" at the flea but is has no markings. The 3/8" and 1/4" are Craftsman, but have no country on them.

TP,

If you note my entry for E/EE tools, some were stamped USA, some were stamped Taiwan, and some were not stamped at all. During this time period (1982-1991) Stanley Works was under investigation by the Federal Trade Commision for mislabling their tools. I think this investigation resulted in Stanley's experiments with alternate labeling.

 

[woody 73]

I was led to believe that the tri-wngs were all made overseas. I never liked that particular model of ratchet so I traded up one day for an older ratchet from the 70's.

 

[lauver]

woody 73,

You and about a 1,000 other former tri-wing owners. I'll tell you what really killed this ratchet. The good old Crafty RHFT ratchet. When word got out about these great little round head ratchets many folks lost all interest in the tri-wing models. If I'm not mistaken, Sears retired the RHFT just this year, after a 40 year run. They may still be available under the KD and Allen brands, but I'm not sure.

 

[caper]

We can also add Vlchek as a Craftsman ratchet manufacturer.

 

[lauver]

We can also add Vlchek as a Craftsman ratchet manufacturer.

Caper,

You are absolutely correct, but that would be a pretty rare ratchet in the grand scheme of things. Few folks have such an exotic collection of ratchets as you do.

 

[Tool Pants]

Never seen a Vlchek produced ratchet under the Craftsman name.

Now, about that tri-wing.

Here you have a Blackhawk (Stanley) that looks just like the Craftsman version. The Blackhawk has USA on it but I sort of doubt it.

In the last pic I took the ratchet cores out of the Blackhawk and Craftsman, and they were swapped.

 

[caper]

Tool Pants,here's one:

 

[Tool Pants]

That looks like the ebay one I bid on last year.

 

[lauver]

Caper,

If memory serves, your ratchet has a BT series code on it. Is this correct?

By the way, your are the only person I know that has one of these ratchets with the Crafty brand on it. I'm thinking it's pretty freakin' rare.

I was able to find this ratchet in the 1936-1938 catalogs. At the time, it was one of but a few reversible ratchets available, model number 6155, and sold for a wopping $1.98. In 1936 and 1937 it was only sold as a separate ratchet. In 1938, it was sold as part of a large 1/2" drive socket set (sockets and other drive tools in this set appear to have been made by New Britain). In the 1939 catalog this ratchet had disappeared and was replaced entirely by New Britain made sockets and drive tools. Interesting stuff...

 

[old salvage]

Oohh ! Jealous of that Vlchek !! Thats a rare bird. Did you ever open it up?

 

[caper]

I did an autopsy thread on it one time showing the insides but I think it was lost when the Garage Hangout imploded.I believe Powderkeg also has one of these.As far as I know that's the only two I've heard of.I think his is the one marked BT,mine,IIRC has nothing but Craftsman and drop forged on it.