Switching from Craftsman to SK...

[RandyRanderson]

I have a bunch of USA Craftsman. I actually like the 6pt sockets a lot.

 

[SGKent]

a lot of the ebay sales these days have shill buyers. The way it works is you bid say $5 on something with a limit of $20. The next day someone bids say $30 and it jumps to $20. If you stay in and go to $31 then that is the new price. If you don't jump in within a few hours the buyer either backs out or the seller rejects the bid because the buyer only has 2 purchases. Then it drops back to $5. You may never see that it happened. Then about 10 minutes before the sale is over someone bids $19 on it and the price goes to $20 which is the high bid you made. The problem is that in reality that $19 buyer is the seller themselves using a shill account to drive the price up, and because of the earlier transaction they know your top bid. There is a pattern to it and once you see it you know it is going on. Problem is Ebay appears to do nothing about this pattern because they make more at $20 than $5. I have been successful proving a shill bidder was involved. Ebay never did a thing when I told them. I rarely use it anymore unless it is buy now and I agree to that price. If you are happy with a tool enjoy it. Craftsman was a great line once - today it is not what it was. Nor is anything with a sears name in my opinion. About 10 years ago I needed a motor for a Craftsman compressor. Sears took my money and said 7 days. 2 months later they were saying 7 days. It was an obsolete motor. Took me another month and a half dozen calls to get them to refund the money they had already collected. In the end they said they had no idea where to get the motor. Any company that will abuse a client like that isn't someone with a name they are proud of. SK is a good tool line. My initials too

 

[rijndael]

I have been successful proving a shill bidder was involved. Ebay never did a thing when I told them.

I recently bought a pair of tires on ebay. I received the tires, but it was from a company that I often use and not an individual. I thought it was odd, but wondered if they had a personal account to sell business items to avoid MAP. It turns out the ebay seller created a new account in my name (with a different gmail address), charged it to a credit card, and when I received my item they reversed the CC charge. The company was screwed out of the $$. They contacted me from the information in my other account, because they thought it looked odd, and we pieced it all together. ebay did nothing.

 

[jgromada]

I started out in 1981 with a Craftsman set. I still have the bulk of them but especially with sockets some were =v= and some -G-. Quality has been good. I never broke any of them with the exception of a 14mm i tried to use with an impact gun.

I did lose a few along the way so i bought some newer Craftsman fill ins and those look nice not sure they are as robust, but still haven't broken any of them.

I did start getting some new sockets recently and decided i would go with old Proto, SK, Proto Challenger, Williams & Armstrong. All out of used lots, Not obsessed with these sets being all one brand or another. It's just nice going out to the car with a bunch of Proto & SK, i just hope i don't lose any of these.

 

[giants]

I recently bought a pair of tires on ebay. I received the tires, but it was from a company that I often use and not an individual. I thought it was odd, but wondered if they had a personal account to sell business items to avoid MAP. It turns out the ebay seller created a new account in my name (with a different gmail address), charged it to a credit card, and when I received my item they reversed the CC charge. The company was screwed out of the $$. They contacted me from the information in my other account, because they thought it looked odd, and we pieced it all together. ebay did nothing.

Thanks. What does MAP stand for?

 

[rijndael]

What does MAP stand for?

Minimum Advertised Price

 

[VH5150]

Glad to see you're liking those SK's. I do as well.

Although, I like U.S.A Craftsmans too...just for the sake of nostalgia. I still reach for them from time to time. And I'm glad that iconic American brand is coming back in next year or two.. so I've read.

All the sockets everyone has mentioned are great too. I think in this day and age it's really just a matter of preference. I even have a nice no-skip set of Pittsburgh Pro 1/4" 6-point sockets that I like.

Anyways, I always like to see when people go after those SK's... another iconic American brand that I hope is here to stay for the long haul.

My 2-cents.

 

[giants]

Glad to see you're liking those SK's. I do as well.

Although, I like U.S.A Craftsmans too...just for the sake of nostalgia. I still reach for them from time to time. And I'm glad that iconic American brand is coming back in next year or two.. so I've read.

All the sockets everyone has mentioned are great too. I think in this day and age it's really just a matter of preference. I even have a nice no-skip set of Pittsburgh Pro 1/4" 6-point sockets that I like.

Anyways, I always like to see when people go after those SK's... another iconic American brand that I hope is here to stay for the long haul.

My 2-cents.

Thanks.

How do vintage SK sockets, especially 6 point shallow metric, compare to contemporary SK sockets?

Should I buy one over the other?

Thanks

 

[mrjaw14]

I've been really happy with my SK tools. I have some newer sockets that have got me out of a pinch before when cheaper stuff failed. They seem to be a friendly USA company that I love supporting. they need to come on out with the flex head LP90 ratchets though...like yesterday!

 

[m6z]

Seems like replacing all of your Craftsman with SK is just going to cost you even more money.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Rickster]

My toolbox if filled with a lot of different brands, but there's a LOT of old-school Craftsman sockets. I've had SK sets in the past and still have a few sockets today but most SK sockets just feel large & clunky compared to the older Cman. SK did make a really great 1/2dr thinwall deep socket set at one time, I believe it had a crosshatch pattern at the base. The 1/4dr sets have an internal shoulder that I find irritating. Love their ratchets and their replacement policy for rebuild kits is first rate.

 

[2001ZR2]

Funny this should come up. I have a Gearwrench 120 xp ratchet that has become my go to 3/8" drive. My friend was helping me and my back up was a C man raised plate and he said here's the crappy Craftsman.

Later on when he actually used it he found it worked well as I had cleaned it lubed in the last year.

The super lube and maintaining your tools works wonders for how they preform.

 

[jonshonda]

I have caused myself a lot of grief obsessing over finding such and such a tool from a certain company, with a unique design type or characteristic.

For example I started out on a simple quest to find a splitting wedge for splitting roughly one cord of wood a year. I do some simple product searches and read reviews, then watch some videos, find something that peaks my interest which usually is NEVER available locally. Or if something similar is local, the COO is never acceptable. A splitting wedge from INDIA, f@ck no!! Then go online to find it, only to consume a few hours searching for the best price. After all that a thought pops up into my head that it would be nice to have my splitting maul and splitting wedge be of the same manufacturer and period correct. My splitting maul is an ATHA from the late 1800's based on the logo design timeline, so I go on to eBay and ONE pops up. $5. haha

 

[Ton ton]

Funny this should come up. I have a Gearwrench 120 xp ratchet that has become my go to 3/8" drive. My friend was helping me and my back up was a C man raised plate and he said here's the crappy Craftsman.

Later on when he actually used it he found it worked well as I had cleaned it lubed in the last year.

The super lube and maintaining your tools works wonders for how they preform.

Thanks for the idea of lubing ratchets.

 

[Parrothead]

Seems like replacing all of your Craftsman with SK is just going to cost you even more money.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using The Garage Journal mobile app

Depends on what Craftsman USA you’re selling.

7pc Craftsman USA cross force reversible ratcheting wrenches $370 sold
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/283694274824

28pc Craftsman USA Raised Panel double boxed end wrench set $365 sold
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/283693607662

13pc Craftsman Professional USA metric combination wrench set @$348
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/163940844289

The last one is made by SK, and Harry Epstein sells a 14pc set of the same wrenches for $207. https://www.harryepstein.com/index.php/wrenches-combo-metric-full-polish.html

We don’t know the “exact price” of the sold Craftsman Pro wrenches, but because of the way eBay displays their sold items, we know it to be at least $327.85.

There is a larger faction of people who for nostalgic reason really want Craftsman USA. If you’ve got it and are willing to part with it, now is the time.

 

[BigBoreFan]

I never had a huge collection of CMAN USA, but I had some, a bit of the stuff was labeled Professional. I sold most of it for good money and bought brand new stuff. I made good money on it, not crazy money, but good money.

I sold some cushion grips CMAN screwdrivers, turned around and bought the same exact screwdrivers from SK, brand new, with a warranty, and had money left over.

I do have that 13 piece metric wrench set that Parrothead showed above. That was a Christmas present from my mom, it's not for sale. It's also the one item that piqued my interest in better tools. I love those wrenches.

I'm a user and a collector, but I don't spend crazy money. It's just a hobby. I'm all over the map, FELO, Wera, Vessel, Gedore, SK, Knipex, Carlyle, Engineer, Capri, a lot of Toptul, Tekton, I have one SnapOn ratchet, I found it in the middle of the road. My favorite sockets are OEM. My favorite ratchet is my Tekton 90T 1/4.

I mostly work on dirt bikes, not a pro, and I'm not hard on my tools at all.

I no longer have any interest in CMAN, but I understand those who do and if they want to collect more power to them. I guess my main interest as a collector at the moment is older SK socket sets in the metal boxes.