karoc
Well-known member
The other day I was told that Craftsman tools were moving from overseas to here in Tx. Has anyone else heard this or is it a fake rumor?
Craftsman Tool Rumors
- Thread starter karoc
- Start date
dodge610
Well-known member
Yes they are building or built a plant in texas.
Leaflessshadetree
Well-known member
During this pandemic a lot of manufacturers are planning on "reshoring" manufacturing.
The reality is that very few products are truely produced in one facility and almost no one has an entire product line that is produced in one facility.
The reality is that very few products are truely produced in one facility and almost no one has an entire product line that is produced in one facility.
ooba tooba
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2014
- Messages
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https://www.stanleyblackanddecker.c...-opening-new-craftsman-plant-fort-worth-texas
The Fort Worth plant will employ 500 full time workers making sockets, ratchets, wrenches and general sets.
Sweet
The Fort Worth plant will employ 500 full time workers making sockets, ratchets, wrenches and general sets.
Sweet
LB-1911
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Previous thread
05-15-2019
New Craftsman Plant!!!
Press Release
Stanley Black & Decker Announces Opening of New CRAFTSMAN Plant in Fort Worth, Texas
Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK) today announced it will expand its U.S. manufacturing footprint with a new CRAFTSMAN manufacturing plant in Fort Worth, TX. The groundbreaking for the 425,000-square-foot facility will take place in summer 2019, and the plant is expected to be completed in late 2020.
Source of above and full text @
https://www.stanleyblackanddecker.c...-opening-new-craftsman-plant-fort-worth-texas
Aside from keeping Americans employed, this will do little to nothing to improve the quality of the tools unless Stanley changes the tooling (molds) and raw materials. For a very long time, Craftsman tools have been getting made with cheaper steel, and less of it per tool. Simply moving the plant won't change that basic problem.
Mike
Mike
Ton ton
Well-known member
I bought a 12" Forged in USA adjustable wrench for a keepsake about a month ago. The Craftsman logo looks different than the Chinese Craftsman tools. It feels pretty stout. I have not used it yet. I plan on torturing my Blue Point wrenches first. I want to keep it for a museum piece, yes. It looks different than the non- Craftsman adjustable wrenches so I think it may actually be Forged in the USA. It has _944605 for the code. The nine is small and underlined. I'm not falling for the theory that Chinese tools and USA made are the same quality, just my 2 cents ,carry on.
You are correct, but once a company decides it will pay higher wages and deal with more environmental regulation, the 10 cents of increased material costs is negligible.
It's not worth it to the consumer to pay for US labor and get wrenches with soft steal.
Building the factory is another huge cost, it's not worth it to use junk machinery in a brand new facility.
I remain optimistic. Craftsman USA may phase out Blackhawk USA which was a budget version of Proto and never as popular as Craftsman. There's definitely room for a budget Proto with national recognition.
I will admit that the initial Chinese Craftsman products were no better than the Sears stuff they replaced.
JR 42
Well-known member
Was it used? I think a 9 before the part number in an actual stamp on a tool was phased out decades ago, but I could be wrong. The adjustable in the attached pic is probably 20 years old. 9 is/ was the Sears department code for tools IIRC.
I suspect that if that if SBD ever manages to make basic Cman tools in the US again, they 1) won't be cheap, and 2) won't regularly go on sale for 30-50% off list like Sears used to. The best part of the US made stuff at Sears was that it was pretty good and dirt cheap on sale - value, not pure quality.
I for one would be pissed if SBD kills Blackhawk. They've gone a decent stretch without destroying a classic US brand (New Britain and associated brands (might be Litton's fault, don't recall offhand), Challenger, their own branded products, etc etc, and some Euro brands as well). I like Blackhawk's wrench beam shape, it's classic fat Stanley.
Attachments
Y00PER
Well-known member
USA Craftsman adjustables are still easy to find since they were made by Western Forge up until Ideal Industries announced they would not renew the contract with Sears. Both of my local Ace hardware stores have some in stock
JR 42
Well-known member
Good to know! I haven't been in a Sears since the one in Shoreline closed (not that far from where I live, next town up the I5 corridor, old enough to have Sears- branded urinals in the bathroom by the tool section). There might still be open Sears stores in the malls north and south of town, but I honestly haven't bothered to check- I got over it and don't really care any more.
It's the forged- in small 9 before the part number I found to be unusual. I think I've only got a couple random hardline tools with that, and I bought new Craftsman stuff on and off starting in the mid 90's... and have since picked up a bunch of random used stuff going back a ways.
It's the forged- in small 9 before the part number I found to be unusual. I think I've only got a couple random hardline tools with that, and I bought new Craftsman stuff on and off starting in the mid 90's... and have since picked up a bunch of random used stuff going back a ways.
Empty Pockets
Well-known member
SBD knows how to make quality tools. The folks running the company are not stupid. After spending mountains of money to buy the "Craftsman" name, I remain hopeful that the new USA made tools will be far better quality than the kid's stuff made overseas with poor quality steel.
I remain hopeful that this will be the start of a trend
MarvinBerry
Well-known member
#9 Indeed was the department code for Sears hardware & tools back in the day. I worked there in the early - mid 90s for years so it's ingrained in my skull.
I've wound up with a few new cman bits via Lowe's. Mostly for travel and alternate kits...
Some of it is MUCH better then others. The pliers in particular ****. Rebadged Stanley ****. I mean, they work, but they ****.
Still at least as good or better then anything in horror freight. Quality has no place to go but up!
Ton ton
Well-known member
My 12" adjustable wrench was new from ACE hardware.
JR 42
Well-known member
Thanks for the followup Ton ton, that's good info. Does it have a little W and F in raised letters on the back side by the hanging hole?
woody 73
Well-known member
Rumor has it they just hired a young man by the name of Edward Lampert to head up the new SBD headquarters in Fort Worth Texas. 
JR 42
Well-known member
Fedwrench
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Blackhawk isn't as american made as it once was. Most of the sockets and satin finished wrenches are still US Made but, I can't remember the last time I saw a current Blackhawk ratchet that was made in the USA.
I don't really care about a Craftsman line of mechanics tools. There are plenty of other US made choices if that's what you want. I think the quality of Dewalt mechanics tools slipped since SBD got Craftsman. The initial Craftsman offerings from SBD leave a lot to be desired. I might have too many old craftsman tools from years gone by to get excited about a new craftsman lineup.
I only hope that the SBD Craftsman avoids the pitfalls of pennies on the piece pricing and excessive warranty fraud that plagued Sears Craftsman. Time will tell
Junkdrawer Dog
Well-known member
And he just hired Eric Smidt as head of purchasing.Rumor has it they just hired a young man by the name of Edward Lampert to head up the new SBD headquarters in Fort Worth Texas.
JR 42
Well-known member
Blackhawk isn't as american made as it once was. Most of the sockets and satin finished wrenches are still US Made but, I can't remember the last time I saw a current Blackhawk ratchet that was made in the USA.
I don't really care about a Craftsman line of mechanics tools. There are plenty of other US made choices if that's what you want. I think the quality of Dewalt mechanics tools slipped since SBD got Craftsman. The initial Craftsman offerings from SBD leave a lot to be desired. I might have too many old craftsman tools from years gone by to get excited about a new craftsman lineup.
I only hope that the SBD Craftsman avoids the pitfalls of pennies on the piece pricing and excessive warranty fraud that plagued Sears Craftsman. Time will tell
Good point Fed, I was thinking of their wrenches and sockets on the US side, and the line generally. I don't have any idea when they last made ratchets in the US, but I bet I was in grade school. Their Taiwanese ratchets seem stylish and pretty uncommon (not rebranded by 9 other companies at least), and their Taiwanese ratcheting wrenches seem like a decent value and have gotten good reviews here.
I'd much rather see Blackhawk continue on with a mix of interesting tools with decent COO than fold up in favor of a US Craftsman reboot. Given Lowe's pricing thus far I don't think they're going to price themselves into the red, but time will tell.
Ton ton
Well-known member
Yes, it does. I wouldn't have noticed it if you hadn't pointed it out.
Previous thread
05-15-2019
New Craftsman Plant!!!
Press Release
Stanley Black & Decker Announces Opening of New CRAFTSMAN Plant in Fort Worth, Texas
Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK) today announced it will expand its U.S. manufacturing footprint with a new CRAFTSMAN manufacturing plant in Fort Worth, TX. The groundbreaking for the 425,000-square-foot facility will take place in summer 2019, and the plant is expected to be completed in late 2020.
Source of above and full text @
https://www.stanleyblackanddecker.c...-opening-new-craftsman-plant-fort-worth-texas
And then there are few of these threads that try to bring back the hoo haas of the Craftsman plants
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=443879&highlight=craftsman&page=2
BTW, JOBs is good, cross finger it's not assemble in the USA selling on the stickers .
The quality has to be there. Sears is still selling a lot of their stuff on various e-commerce sites including Amazon. The stuff is cheap, available and the great star sourced stuff of good quality. Stanley will have to produce a quality product and can’t skate by. Hope they do. We will see.
JR 42
Well-known member
Western Forge is dead. Long live Western Forge.
The last of the stuff the rolled out under Craftsman was kinda sub par, I bought a lot of the clearance pliers. The ones few years prior seemed better. Some of the really big mechanics sets still have the last of the craftsman WF stuff sine they don’t sell in high volume.
PelicanPines
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Craftsman... I've so moved on from their products...
JR 42
Well-known member
Sorry to hear. I don't recall ever being impressed with the pliers (all the old ones I still have, have smooshed up teeth), but there's a reasonable chance I was using them in a ******* fashion.
Yes, agreed, sad but true.
I wonder how they'll deal with warranty on the Chinese junk they've put out there once the domestic production starts. I wouldn't be surprised to see a name or a lineup initiated to separate the newer so they don't have to warrant the junk with their new production.
pascal32
Member
That's an interesting move. My first tools were all craftsman, I never thought they were great, but getting started did the job. over time I broke more and more of their stuff and they would (after some nice persuasion) warranty it with stuff that was worse. I had a 1/2" driver that was so bad after a lengthy warranty exchange I put it in the garbage. since then I moved all my sockets and drivers over to tekton which have been holding up great - for the two things I broke (1/2" torque wrench - screws backed out of head, and a socket - yes their was some "alleged" abuse of the socket) they replaced them in a flash with no hassle.
Seems that craftsman which to me has a bad name along with a history of dismal service will have a hard time competing with mid-range tools like Tekton.
just my 2 cents
Seems that craftsman which to me has a bad name along with a history of dismal service will have a hard time competing with mid-range tools like Tekton.
just my 2 cents
woody 73
Well-known member
vssjim
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I'm sure that Texas like most states probably is giving such big incentives that the building it self will be almost free. The machines are a different story.
Junkdrawer Dog
Well-known member
I think they will have to do something like a name or lineup change as you mentioned. First, they would need to do it to make it a little more obvious to the consumers that this is the new domestic product. Secondly, they have to separate the old from the new so people don't use the warranty system to trade up. I wouldn't be surprised to see the China raised panels live on as a cheaper option and the new product appear maybe as a full polish version with revised Craftsman U.S.A. logos and different part numbers. Or maybe they'll use the Craftsman Professional brand. Some of the press releases regarding the new plant said something about producing "select" Craftsman hand tools. Which could mean only the premium wrenches and sockets would come from TX. We'll have to wait and see.
Handyandy23
Well-known member
You can already buy essentially 3 different versions of Craftsman ratchets at Lowe's - 36 tooth, 72 tooth, and 120 tooth versions, all looking similar and just in regular Craftsman packaging. If you buy a 36 tooth and it breaks I'm guessing you can't go in demanding a 120 tooth replacement.
So the USA version could just be another price level in the Craftsman lineup, and you get warrantied for whichever ratchet you own (unless that version is discontinued, then maybe you get "upgraded" one level).
So the USA version could just be another price level in the Craftsman lineup, and you get warrantied for whichever ratchet you own (unless that version is discontinued, then maybe you get "upgraded" one level).
Handyandy23
Well-known member
You can already buy essentially 3 different versions of Craftsman ratchets at Lowe's - 36 tooth, 72 tooth, and 120 tooth versions, all looking similar and just in regular Craftsman packaging. If you buy a 36 tooth and it breaks I'm guessing you can't go in demanding a 120 tooth replacement.
So the USA version could just be another price level in the Craftsman lineup, and you get warrantied for whichever ratchet you own (unless that version is discontinued, then maybe you get "upgraded" one level).
So the USA version could just be another price level in the Craftsman lineup, and you get warrantied for whichever ratchet you own (unless that version is discontinued, then maybe you get "upgraded" one level).
Junkdrawer Dog
Well-known member
Well...all these retailers like to run a kind of good, better, best marketing plan. So maybe China raised panel is the good option, a Taiwan sourced full polish is the better option and Made in U.S.A., Craftsman Professional is the premium option. Gives the consumers and retailers 3 price points to play with. Keeps the warranty simple. And maybe that plant in TX is banging out premium quality tools for Proto/Blackhawk as well as any other SBD tool lineup where a premium U.S.A. product fits. I don't know, just Sunday morning conjecture.
Based on the pricing I suspect it’s already built into their costs.