CRAFTSMAN - Taiwan made wrenches?

[SocketDeviler]

We received some used standard Craftsman wrenches at work today. Most were stamped "FORGED IN USA" but one said "Made in Taiwan" and the two smallest wrenches stated no country of origin, just "Craftsman." I know many Craftsman items are made in China (and the t-shirts I looked at the other day were from Pakistan) but I was under the impression that the basic wrenches and hand tools were made in the US. Are these knock offs with the Craftsman name?

 

[nissan_crawler]

I've never heard of that before. Pics?

 

[SocketDeviler]

I can post pics tomorrow. The wrenches are at work.

I do however own Craftsman needlenose pliers that were made in Japan, no. 45081 BF.

 

[kythri]

Probably Craftsman Canada. Sears Canada is a seperate entity, but is allowed to share the names/brands. A lot of the Canadian Craftsman stuff is Chiwanese.

I had a tri-wing 1/2" drive ratchet that was a full-polish job, Craftsman branded, but stamped "Made in Taiwan".

It was a Canadian sale that filtered down here somehow. I bought it for $3.00 in a pawn shop bin. The mechanism was kinda gritty, so I took it back to my local Sears, and they exchanged it for one of these jobs:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...chet&filter=Brand|Craftsman^Drive+Size|1/2+in.

 

[SocketDeviler]

Interesting.

Good score on that ratchet.

 

[lbgradwell]

Probably Craftsman Canada. Sears Canada is a seperate entity, but is allowed to share the names/brands. A lot of the Canadian Craftsman stuff is Chiwanese.

I had a tri-wing 1/2" drive ratchet that was a full-polish job, Craftsman branded, but stamped "Made in Taiwan".

It was a Canadian sale that filtered down here somehow. I bought it for $3.00 in a pawn shop bin. The mechanism was kinda gritty, so I took it back to my local Sears, and they exchanged it for one of these jobs:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...chet&filter=Brand|Craftsman^Drive+Size|1/2+in.

It's true that almost no Canadian Craftsman is USA-made, but those "tri-wings" you mention were definitely sold in the States too; I bought mine in a Detroit suburb in 1987.

Craftsman pliers- made in China?

 

[lbgradwell]

I do however own Craftsman needlenose pliers that were made in Japan, no. 45081 BF.

I don't know who that Japanese manufacturer is (the prevailing theory is Hozan, ca. 1969 - 1987) but I have some Fuller tools from the early 80s that are similarly marked.

 

[SocketDeviler]

Thanks for the links/info lbgradwell. I suspect the pliers are from the 80s. They were my fathers. Still work great.

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/heartclog/Picture10920-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/heartclog/Picture10921-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[lbgradwell]

Thanks for the links/info lbgradwell. I suspect the pliers are from the 80s. They were my fathers. Still work great.

Welcome!

Yep, they're high-quality whoever they are...

 

[wilbilt]

I have seen Taiwanese Craftsman sockets in the late '80s, but never any wrenches.

Public outcry about it back then was large and loud. Funny how nobody cares anymore.

Actually, it's not funny. It's disgusting. /RANT

 

[billymade]

I ran across some asian (i think japan, maybe taiwan) made craftsman tools back when I lived in Dallas (late 1980's time frame) at the massive flea market at the grand prairie airport/fair grounds and was surprised to see on the casting where their country of origin was. If my memory serves me correctly, they may have been small sets that were in zip up cases or small blow molded cases. Maybe these were some of the canadian stuff; the castings on the raised panel wrenches look slightly different from the USA made stuff and the chrome looked different as well. Maybe some of our canadian friends can fill us in on the possibility of canadian craftsman's manufacturing markings and OEMS...

By the way, if you live in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metro area; that is the best flea market I have ever been to, I also have been to the San Jose Flea Market in California, really big one too!

 

[MarkH]

Most likely 80's or Canadien. In the 80's Craftsman started to play with outsourcing. It did really get ugly. The amount of sales some stores lost made it very obvious that made in USA was a asset. The playing around quit when they decided to come out with first the Sears and then the companian line which could be sourced from other areas.

People would put back items and leave. Wish that still happened, it was this feels different what did they do? TAIWAN, what the hell. Put it down, Walk out.

Quality when exchange is correct costs about the same delivered to me regardless of where the item is made. It is the marketing model that makes the difference.

 

[djjsr]

You know the Chinese have been counterfeiting just about everything these days, maybe some tools?

 

[SocketDeviler]

People would put back items and leave. Wish that still happened, it was this feels different what did they do? TAIWAN, what the hell. Put it down, Walk out.

I did just that with the Pakistan made Craftsman t-shirts and Chinese made box cutters a couple of weeks ago. The price was very tempting but I opted not to support their shift towards such manufacturing. I will however support the USA made tools.

 

[SocketDeviler]

You know the Chinese have been counterfeiting just about everything these days, maybe some tools?

The first thing that came to mind when I saw the wrench was all the Asian bootleg DVDs I've seen come in the store. But unlike the wrench the DVDs were presented as if they were made in the US.

 

[SocketDeviler]

Exhibit A: Taiwan Wrench

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/heartclog/P5060002.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/heartclog/P5060004.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Exhibit B: No Country of Origin

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/heartclog/P5060006.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/heartclog/P5060008.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[djjsr]

Man, I never thought I'd ever see that on a Craftsman wrench. Very sad. They lost me as a customer. Next visit to their tool dept, I'm gonna express my opinion. I know it won't make any difference but it'll make me feel better.

 

[billymade]

Like others have said, I do not believe those are sold in the USA (I've never seen any in my store), the ones I have seen were used at a flea market and not in retail American stores; the ignition wrenches I don't believe (maybe because they are so small?) are marked. I think the plastic clear snap cases they come in shows "made in usa" on them and another possibility, is because they are not sold individually they are not marked with the USA origin. I think it is a possibility tools have filtered into the American used tool market from Canada.

 

[MAD]

Exhibit A: Taiwan Wrench

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/heartclog/P5060002.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/heartclog/P5060004.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Exhibit B: No Country of Origin

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/heartclog/P5060006.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/heartclog/P5060008.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

I would guess exhibit A = Sears Canada, Exhibit B- may be fake.

I have a set of the U.S. market imported Craftsman raised panel combination wrenches from the 1980s. They were made in Japan.

 

[SocketDeviler]

I think it is a possibility tools have filtered into the American used tool market from Canada.

That's probably the case. We do get all kinds here in pawn land.

 

[Kevin54]

Those metric wrenches are about the crappiest looking chrome job I've seen. Those have to be Chinese knockoffs

 

[PoorOwner]

Those metric wrenches are about the crappiest looking chrome job I've seen. Those have to be Chinese knockoffs

LOL, is this a joke? look like someone made it with playdoh and spray painted silver..

 

[billymade]

Here they are inside their package:

All info is on the back...

 

[kythri]

Nah, those little tiny deals aren't knock-offs.

Those are the tiny little package of 10 wrenches that "fill-out" a 26-pc wrench set to make it seem a better deal.

The packages claim they're made in the USA.

I think they're just not stamped in order to save costs - they'd rather have the brand name on them instead of the USA mark on the back

 

[SocketDeviler]

The metric wrenches feel as cheap as they look.

 

[eschoendorff]

The metric wrenches feel as cheap as they look.

Those little wrenches.... no thanks. I'll keep my little GearWrench stubbies that go down to 6mm...

 

[T56 Impala]

Those little wrenches are ignition wrenches. Sold in sets. They are tiny and for what they are made to be used for, are great. I have both sets. They are made in the USA and the chrome on mine looks just fine.

The 9/16 makes me sick. I sure hope that's a Canadian wrench. Maybe from Quebec? They seem to like cheap stuf........ sorry.....


http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00942339000P?vName=Tools&keyword=ignition+wrench

Your Gear wrenches might go down to 6mm but what if you need that 4mm? I know mine has come in handy rebuilding the optispark units on the LT1/4 engines.

 

[djjsr]

I stopped in Sears today hunting for the elusive Taiwan stamping. Went through all of their sets and loose wrenches. The saleman asked me what I was looking for. I told him that if I found it, he'd be the first to know.

I didn't find any.

I got a new garden hose though. Took it home and it leaks. Crappy fitting. I was surprised to find it was not made in China. It was made in Israel. Could Israel be making cheap knock-offs of the junk from China that's cheap knock-offs of what we used to make here? That just gives me a headache.

 

[3/8"indestro]

i guess New Britain is not the only one getting re-stamped this days.

 

[MAD]

I just took a look at my ignition wrenches. They are not as nicely finished as I had remembered. I guess it has been a while since I had to change out the points in any of my cars. The chrome is still much better than those in the picture appear though. I also have some older Armstrong ignition wrenches that are not as nicely finished as my 1980s Craftsmen ones. Maybe those pictured are older Craftsman ignition wrenches.

 

[MAD]

Your Gear wrenches might go down to 6mm but what if you need that 4mm? I know mine has come in handy rebuilding the optispark units on the LT1/4 engines.

I have a very nice 4mm Armstrong long pattern combination wrench. It looks like something GI Joe would use to fix his jeep. I don't think Armstrong offers these anymore.

 

[paramudduck]

As Wilbilt has mentioned and as mentioned in the Craftsman Time line thread. During the 80's time frame Sears out sourced a number of tools from Taiwan.

During that time I received two "sets" of Craftsman tools that included ratchets sockets and wrenches. In the drawer beside me I have the remains of these sets a 1/2 inch drive ratchet and some sockets plus a wrench.

Oh and for those that are saying they are Canadian. Both sets were bought brand new at the SEARS store in Chillicothe Ohio.

 

[SocketDeviler]

Keep in mind these are used wrenches that we got as part of someone's set. Not sure how old they are, perhaps someone can identify the age of the Taiwan wrench by the model no. Judging by the condition of the other wrenches in the set I would say he had 'em for a while. I don't doubt that the ignition wrenches will do their job but they do look and feel cheap. Then again, just one Snap-On ignition wrench costs about as much as the whole Craftsman set. My poor picture of them doesn't help either but I was short on time.

 

[buening]

Exhibit A: Taiwan Wrench

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/heartclog/P5060002.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

This wrench is definitely from the 80's. I have a few wrenches that I inherited from my grandfather and they have a similar Craftsman script. To me, the latest wrenches have a different script or the raised flat surface is a different width. I could be crazy though


More than you care to know about Craftsman tool history http://images.search.yahoo.com/imag...nch&type=JPG&oid=3eeef8659c7bc1a2&no=8&tt=253

 

[djjsr]

I just found a few Craftsman adjustable wrenches from Japan in my box. I guess I've had them for a long time and never realized they were from Japan. They must work ok or they wouldn't be there!

 

[lbgradwell]

What is the model numbers on those adjustables, Don? Do they have "BF" on them anywhere?

 

[djjsr]

What is the model numbers on those adjustables, Don? Do they have "BF" on them anywhere?

44602
44603
44604

Yes, they have BF above Japan. What does that mean?

 

[lbgradwell]

It's the maker's mark - possibly Hozan. See p. 1!

You should post that info on the Craftsman : series time frame ? thread...

 

[STILTS]

Re: CRAFTSMAN - Taiwan made

Hey from Canada
So Im finding it hard to get info on the 3 pneumatic tools I have (2 of which have never been used and 1 has been), since most searching produces US results. All 3 tools are stamped Taiwan, are in identical light blue/black boxes with red/white writing and are the 'Air Drive' series. I have attached a pic (hopefully it shows when post this) of one of them, an in-line sander in its origional box with owners manual. I can't say for sure how old they are as I got them from a friend in British Columbia in 2014, who in turn got them from his long time friend, when he slowed down due to old age. I imagine that they are not fakes, 'cause one box still has remnants of the origional Sears tag and it was common for us Canucks to have shopped at Sears for tools (I remember my dad having them when I was a kid in the 80's, he swore by them and they lasted forever/mayb he still has some even). The boxes, manuals, warnings, serial plates are all in both English and French. And the owners manuals say 'Sears Canada, Incorporated Toronto, Ontario M5B2B8'
Hope this helps

 

[ezover]

Sorry no help on the tools but nice necro .