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Craftsman pliers- made in China?

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lis

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Yesterday, I picked up a few of the Craftsman Professional pliers that are advertised in the club flyer. When I got them home and took them out of the packaging, I noticed that they are marked "CHINA" on the back side of the hinge! Maybe I missed something, but haven't Craftsman hand tools sold in the US all been made in USA until now?

-Larry
 
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lbgradwell

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Well, I know I bought a large Craftsman set in ~1987 in Michigan, and the 3 included Craftsman "tri-wing" ratchets weren't marked USA. I'm 99% certain they were made by Stanley in Taiwan from a National Hand Tool model they acquired.

And, I've also heard of Craftsman handtools that were made in Japan turning up years ago...

Here in Canada, all the Craftsman Pro pliers are Chinese-made, so it looks like you might be getting the same thing!:(
 
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Fedwrench

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Those are the mini pliers or precision pliers. Models 45660/1/3/4/5/6/7/8/.
Those have been made in China for a fwe years now. The 4 piece set I have are branded Craftsman Professional but, made in China. What do you expect for $3.99 a pair?:confused:
 
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BlueZero

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I just picked up a 4 piece set, the one on sale for $16. The mini ones in there are marked china but the others are stamped USA.
 
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Merkava_4

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I don't know what's stopping Sears from moving all of their C/MAN tools to China.

Manufacturing contractor Chow-Mein-Yoo will probably offer Sears a deal to make their pliers for 10 cents a piece.
 
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wilbilt

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I am astounded that the country of origin was actually marked on the tool itself! This is progress. :beer:
 
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lis

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At $3.99, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I'll probably keep them, and assume that they're disposable (or at least exchangeable when they break). At the regular price of $9.99, they'd be on their way back already!

I'm more than willing to pay higher prices for better quality, but I won't pay much of anything for junk...
 
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MAD

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I have a set of Craftsman mini-pliers that I got around 10 years ago that are all made in China so this is not a new thing for their mini-pliers. What I do find a little disturbing is that they have chosen to brand them as Craftsman Professional.:wtf:
 
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MAD

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lbgradwell said:
Well, I know I bought a large Craftsman set in ~1987 in Michigan, and the 3 included Craftsman "tri-wing" ratchets weren't marked USA. I'm 99% certain they were made by Stanley in Taiwan from a National Hand Tool model they acquired.
:(
Click to expand...

I have read in a few places that those 1980s "Tri-wing" ratchets were made in Texas.

lbgradwell said:
And, I've also heard of Craftsman handtools that were made in Japan turning up years ago...

!:(
Click to expand...

My first set of decent metric combination wrenches were 1980s vintage Craftsman raised panel wrenches marked "MADE IN JAPAN" I think they have actually held up better than the US made ones I have. I suspect that the quality control was very high for this failed experiment in overseas production. The public at that time was ready to buy Toyotas from Japan but not the wrenches to fix them. I still keep that set of wrenches in my truck
 
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wilbilt

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Craftsman will be 100% sourced from Chiwan within two years. Christmas 2009/January 2010. My USA crystal ball does not lie.

OOOooooohhhh....
 
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Merkava_4

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Do any of you guys remember the previous line of Craftsman Professional series screwdrivers? They had black handles and black oxide shanks. They started out as a hard plastic handle and then later on became a slightly soft grip handle but maintained the same overall shape.
 
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eschoendorff

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Merkava_4 said:
Do any of you guys remember the previous line of Craftsman Professional series screwdrivers? They had black handles and black oxide shanks. They started out as a hard plastic handle and then later on became a slightly soft grip handle but maintained the same overall shape.
Click to expand...

Yep... their demise has been well documented here.
 
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Fedwrench

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wilbilt said:
Craftsman will be 100% sourced from Chiwan within two years. Christmas 2009/January 2010. My USA crystal ball does not lie.
Click to expand...


I can see that happening, and I bet they'll look alot like the new expanded line of hand tools (nonratcheting) from Gearwrench.
 
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lbgradwell

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MAD said:
I have read in a few places that those 1980s "Tri-wing" ratchets were made in Texas.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've read that too, but I don't believe it! I'm guessing that any tool produced in the USA is marked as such since it is so important a selling feature.

But, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words (depending on the prevailing exchange rate)!:
 

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Uncle Buck

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I have lost alot of confidence in Sears and the direction they have taken their tool line in recent years but I still doubt that they will fold it all up lock stock and barrel and ship it across the pond within a couple of years. Comes the day they do that they might as well just have a big ol clearance sale and punt the hardware department cause I cannot imagine they will be able to keep competitive with Harbor Freight; which would be their primary competition! So I still think you guys are wrong about that prediction. Clearly the powers that be there are not of the strongest mental horsepower but what you are suggesting would be economic suicide for them!
 
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Danglerb

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I looked the mini pliers over, not just a quick look, but slow hard look at all the details, how the jaws fit, what they felt like to use (found some open ones in the storage drawer below the display) and decided not to buy them. They seem OK, but the $4 set of six from HF I bought other than the handles are just the same.
 
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wilbilt

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hholmberg said:
I have lost alot of confidence in Sears and the direction they have taken their tool line in recent years but I still doubt that they will fold it all up lock stock and barrel and ship it across the pond within a couple of years. Comes the day they do that they might as well just have a big ol clearance sale and punt the hardware department cause I cannot imagine they will be able to keep competitive with Harbor Freight; which would be their primary competition! So I still think you guys are wrong about that prediction. Clearly the powers that be there are not of the strongest mental horsepower but what you are suggesting would be economic suicide for them!
Click to expand...

We'll see. They have already started making moves in that direction with the pliers, etc. Since they don't have to label the actual tools with country of origin, they could remove "USA" from them, put "China" on the back of the package, and 90% of their customers would never notice.

I can imagine the discussions with Danaher that must be going on. I suspect they are pressuring Sears to allow overseas production in order to maintain the current price point. They may have to cave in order to prevent economic suicide.
 
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Danglerb

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Sooner or later China will be making quality tools as well as cheap, might as well get used to it. In less than 5 years Goldstar, one of Korea's cheapest brands turned itself into LG, one of the highest priced premium brands in the world.
 
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