Craftsman Industrial vs Craftsman Professional Showdown (They ain't the same)

[Farmall450]

To get our facts straight...

Craftsman Industrial

Item #.................23526
Weight.................8.1 Ounces
Size.....................3/4 Inch
Type....................Combination

Craftsman Professional

Item #.................44929
Weight.................8.5 Ounces
Size.....................3/4 Inch
Type....................Combination

Now let's take a peak at them in comparison.

As you can (or can't due to my pictures) tell, the Pro (bottom) "flares out" more at the box end, and has a slightly more "lobsterish" claw.

Up close.

On the left, we see the Pro's box end, on the right the Industrial's. Some differences here.

Now the open ends...I'm not photographer, but you can clearly see the difference. (Industrial on left)

Open ends in comparison to each other.

Other side.

In conclusion, while the two wrenches are similar, they are not the same. Please stop telling me that they are

 

[DanarchyCustoms]

Very curious about this, but the pictures are not showing up for me.

 

[Farmall450]

Very curious about this, but the pictures are not showing up for me.

Anyone else having this issue?

I can see 'em...

 

[Davefr]

 

[purplezr2]

I can't see anything

 

[Toolgarage]

no pictures sorry

 

[Farmall450]

I will try and resolve that for you guys.

 

[Farmall450]

I think I see what happened, I will re upload to imageshack...

 

[Farmall450]

Fixed?

 

[OxJaw]

Work for me.

 

[86k10]

I can see them.

 

[Farmall450]

Work for me.

I can see them.

I fixed them.

Very good.

 

[Davefr]

Yes, thanks for the comparison.

 

[Farmall450]

Yes, thanks for the comparison.

Not a problem!

 

[Fordman7795]

I can see the pics but they are quite small and hard to see the differences

 

[Davefr]

I'm curious if the Professional's were late models? (did you get them at around the same time as the Industrials?)

 

[turbodave]

There are a few versions of the professional wrenches, the one you have pictured looks just like my first set from the 90's did. SK was reportedly the mfr for these. They had some later ones that had a thicker raised panel in the middle that also look to have been made by SK. The most recent USA professional ones look identical to the industrial (other than the name stamped on them).

I've all the versions and will get some pics tonight.

 

[Farmall450]

There are a few versions of the professional wrenches, the one you have pictured looks just like my first set from the 90's did. SK was reportedly the mfr for these. They had some later ones that had a thicker raised panel in the middle that also look to have been made by SK. The most recent USA professional ones look identical to the industrial (other than the name stamped on them).

I've all the versions and will get some pics tonight.

Yes, they're my dad's, so I imagine they're older.

I'm curious if the Professional's were late models? (did you get them at around the same time as the Industrials?)

Nope, they're older ones...

I can see the pics but they are quite small and hard to see the differences

Sorry about that, imageshack is messed up...try pasting into word maybe?

 

[reptilezs]

cman pro look like sk

 

[Harrison2]

they're similar but yes I do see a difference in the box end %.

in another similar topic, the other day at sears they had 2 15mm craftsman professional long pattern wrenches full polish, both stamped usa made.

however one was around 1.5inches longer than the other. I could understand if it was marginal but 1.5inches...

go figure...

 

[The Ratchet Man]

You are comparing them to an older version. The last version of CMan Pro are exactly the same as the Industrials, except for the markings. The end.

 

[Farmall450]

they're similar but yes I do see a difference in the box end %.

in another similar topic, the other day at sears they had 2 15mm craftsman professional long pattern wrenches full polish, both stamped usa made.

however one was around 1.5inches longer than the other. I could understand if it was marginal but 1.5inches...

go figure...

That's...huge!

You are comparing them to an older version. The last version of CMan Pro are exactly the same as the Industrials, except for the markings. The end.

Let's see them...as you can tell, I don't have access to 'em...and all cman pro ARE NOT the same, as we can now tell.

 

[bonacker]

TurboDave got it right. Even within the same line (ie: all Professional) let alone trying to compare different "lines" of tools,there will be differences due to manufacturing date, who made them, etc. In the end, what is the difference? NONE. All of those wrenches will do the job they are supposed to and nothing more. How about these "comparisons" are put to rest as they prove nothing.

 

[Farmall450]

TurboDave got it right. Even within the same line (ie: all Professional) let alone trying to compare different "lines" of tools,there will be differences due to manufacturing date, who made them, etc. In the end, what is the difference? NONE. All of those wrenches will do the job they are supposed to and nothing more. How about these "comparisons" are put to rest as they prove nothing.

I guess you haven't seen my sig?

This has a major purpose - those of us trying to fill in sets of Craftsman Industrial wrenches...

Obviously I'm not the only one interested...

Note: apparently proving that all cman pro is NOT identical to industrial is the same as nothing...

 

[yaidunno]

Maybe im missing something, but i thought it was pretty well known that the older Professional series wrenches were SK's. That being said, they certainly wont match up with the newer style Professionals, or Industrials.

Heres a 7mm, "Industrial" style/ late "Professional" (NON SK)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Craftsman-U..._Automotive_Tools&hash=item1c3a88ce13&vxp=mtr

Heres an 8mm, "Industrial" style/ late "Professional" (NON SK)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Craftsman-U..._Automotive_Tools&hash=item19e6ab65aa&vxp=mtr

Heres 19mm and above

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Craftsman-P...?pt=US_Hand_Tools&hash=item417af59535&vxp=mtr

No, they don't say "Industrial" on them, but they're the same style of wrench, and USA ones. Buy em up, use them, and complete your set. I've got 2 sets myself, there great wrenches.

 

[Gmonkee]

Feeding an OCD issue here or what?

Yes, there are differences in your pictures. But there are years between those wrenches as others have noted.
I've just sold off a lot of my combo wrenches and there were minor differences between them but all basically the same as what your pictures show. It is a comfortable pattern to use. Very commonly used now. I had maybe 6 brands and four places of origin among mine.

The bolts never knew the difference and the jobs got done all the same. I admire your dedication but no need to beat the rest of us up over your obsession.

 

[dledinger]

I have Craftsman wrenches that were purchased in sets that have bigger differences than that. Same with sockets. I do understand wanting to have a matching set....I have a few "easy to read" sockets mixed with my stamped ones and that drives me nuts. I'm not sure I'd pay a premium or do any serious searching over minor differences, however.

 

[pipsters]

I had a large set of SK wrenches, your CM pros are SK origin. I sold them off as the "new" CM Pro was superior to the SK wrenches by far. Longer, tighter tolerances, and didn't spread on bolts on the open end side near as much as the SK's.

 

[Hiball]

Who here thinks all CM pro where the same? Obviously there will be differences between the danaher and Sk produced combos.

Weird..

 

[fivespdcat]

Let's put a summary together:

Old CM pros made by SK, not the same as craftsman industrial (your pictures)
Newer CM pros made by danaher are the same as CM industrial (my pictures). These show a 9mm, 15mm and 19mm of pros and industrial bought in the last 2 years on various sales.


Newest craftsman professional/full polish made in China, not the same as CM Industrial

So not all craftsman professionals are equal to the industrial, but the Danaher made in USA ones are the same. If you guys are really interested I can snap a picture tomorrow to show the full sets side by side with some random measurements.

 

[OxJaw]

This is mostly speculation on my part.

Like noted above SK Tools made the early professional wrenches. My theory is that when Craftsman started having Danaher make there tools is when the professional line probably went to Danaher as well. Now seeing that Danaher owns Armstrong my theory is that Armstrong makes the newer Professional and Industrial lines. Below are some pictures of an Industrial and Armstrong wrench next to each other.

Armstrong on the left and Industrial on the right. Sizes are 22mm and 23mm. The Armstrong is slightly shorter but this one is not a long pattern Armstrong.

Notice the same shape of the ends

Next are a 1/4" Professional and 5/16" Industrial. Notice the shapes are also very similar. The Professional was bought in the last year to fill in a hole in my Industrial set.

 

[The Ratchet Man]

Let's see them...as you can tell, I don't have access to 'em...and all cman pro ARE NOT the same, as we can now tell.

I don't currently have any Industrials at the moment. I did have one a little while back when a seller on eBay listed it as Professional instead of Industrial. They are exactly the same.

I do have every size of the Danaher Pro version in MM/SAE and can post pictures of those if you like. All the model numbers for the Danaher Pro sets begin with a 4.

Tonight is gonna be LONG one , but tomorrow I'll post pictures along with the model numbers.

 

[PowderKeg]

This is mostly speculation on my part.

Like noted above SK Tools made the early professional wrenches. My theory is that when Craftsman started having Danaher make there tools is when the professional line probably went to Danaher as well. Now seeing that Danaher owns Armstrong my theory is that Armstrong makes the newer Professional and Industrial lines. Below are some pictures of an Industrial and Armstrong wrench next to each other.

Actually, Danaher began producing Craftsman tools when they acquired (they say "merged" with) Easco (who had the Craftsman contract) in 1990. Easco acquired Moore Drop Forge in 1967 specifically to get the Craftsman contract. MDF started producing Craftsman branded tools sometime around the mid 1940's or so.

Sears has had various runs of Craftsman branded mechanics tools produced by other sources while MDF/Easco/Danaher produced the bulk of the line. For example, National Hand Tool produced a couple different round head Craftsman ratchets (the full polished ones with the spinner on the reverse switch side, as opposed to the MDF/Easco RHFT with the spinner on the drive side) until NHT was acquired by Stanley towards the end of the run (which is how Stanley often gets credited with producing those ratchets).

My guess is that Sears wanted to market full polished Pro style wrenches and Easco/Danaher didn't have a line to offer (just the plain-Jane raised panel wrenches at the time), so the contract went to SK. Later, once Easco/Danaher started/acquired a full polish wrench line (probably sometime after Armstrong fell under the Danaher roof in 1994), they must have won the contract for the Pro series back from SK. I think the full polished K-D wrenches are/were identical to the post-SK Craftsman Pros also, until the K-D line was discontinued. This would explain any strong family resemblance between the 2nd generation+ Craftsman Pro and Industrial wrench lines, Armstrong, and K-D. Are we at 3rd gen now with the Chinese lobster claws? My head's starting to hurt....

That's my nickle's worth at least.....

 

[OxJaw]

Actually, Danaher began producing Craftsman tools when they acquired (they say "merged" with) Easco (who had the Craftsman contract) in 1990. Easco acquired Moore Drop Forge in 1967 specifically to get the Craftsman contract. MDF started producing Craftsman branded tools sometime around the mid 1940's or so.

Sears has had various runs of Craftsman branded mechanics tools produced by other sources while MDF/Easco/Danaher produced the bulk of the line. For example, National Hand Tool produced a couple different round head Craftsman ratchets (the full polished ones with the spinner on the reverse switch side, as opposed to the MDF/Easco RHFT with the spinner on the drive side) until NHT was acquired by Stanley towards the end of the run (which is how Stanley often gets credited with producing those ratchets).

My guess is that Sears wanted to market full polished Pro style wrenches and Easco/Danaher didn't have a line to offer (just the plain-Jane raised panel wrenches at the time), so the contract went to SK. Later, once Easco/Danaher started/acquired a full polish wrench line (probably sometime after Armstrong fell under the Danaher roof in 1994), they must have won the contract for the Pro series back from SK. I think the full polished K-D wrenches are/were identical to the post-SK Craftsman Pros also, until the K-D line was discontinued. This would explain any strong family resemblance between the 2nd generation+ Craftsman Pro and Industrial wrench lines, Armstrong, and K-D. Are we at 3rd gen now with the Chinese lobster claws? My head's starting to hurt....

That's my nickle's worth at least.....

And you can add the Allen branded full polish wrenches to the list. I have some KD, and Allen that look more like the first run of Cman pros than the current run. They are however a little shorter in length.

 

[PowderKeg]

And you can add the Allen branded full polish wrenches to the list. I have some KD, and Allen that look more like the first run of Cman pros than the current run. They are however a little shorter in length.

Good catch - I couldn't remember if Allen had a full polish wrench line, all I've ever really seen/have are Allen ratchets and sockets (and hex keys).

 

[Harrison2]

alot of faffing from people here commenting on OCD and a wrench just being a wrench.

Farmall if you look at your PRO's compared to Oxjaws you will notice a different font used for the USA stamp.

So id bet that your industrials are the same as the new professionals, all made by danaher/armstrong and your fathers PROs are SK made.

it still doesnt help your set wouldnt all be the same stamp but in theory they would all be the same size/fitting. Il try to grab a picture of a 15mm next to a steel rule and work out a way to get the angle of the box end for comparison to your Industrials. So if you do get stuck you can fill in your blanks with Pros until a good used industrial version comes along.

I hope that makes sense and helps you :s

 

[sselander]

S-K made Craftsman Pro metric set
No lobster claw.
I wish I had bought the SAE set at the time.
I now have a set of Wright satin for SAE now.

 

[bluebolt]

The OCD part of my brain is fighting with the ADD part of my brain about all of this LOL.
Interesting to find out the Allen and KD are pretty much a match for these, I have soem of both and may fill a hole or two.

 

[The Ratchet Man]

Since the scheduled events of the evening changed, I find myself in the garage, knee deep in a bottle of Wild Turkey and taking pictures of wrenches. Happy New Year to me...

Danaher Pro Metric set: 7-19, 21-25 & 30. Any skips were not made.

These match your Industials. Hope this helps.

Model #'s:

7mm - 45986
8mm - 45987
9mm - 45988
10mm - 45989
11mm - 45990
12mm - 45991
13mm - 45992
14mm - 45993
15mm - 45994 (PICTURED)
16mm - 45995
17mm - 45996
18mm - 45997
19mm - 45998
21mm - 45955
22mm - 45956
23mm - 45957
24mm - 45958
25mm - 45959
30mm - 45960

 

[OxJaw]

The OCD part of my brain is fighting with the ADD part of my brain about all of this LOL.
Interesting to find out the Allen and KD are pretty much a match for these, I have soem of both and may fill a hole or two.

They are close, the ones I bought to fill in my Industrial set seem to be a tad shorter to me. You don't notice the length difference in the larger sizes (25mm and 1" up) because most manufacturers lines are the same at that size for short and long pattern wrenches.

The KD and Allen wrenches are very nice wrenches though, I have no complaints. They can be found cheap also.