Craftsman raised panel box wrench set initial review -PICS-

SMKS · Jul 7, 2012

I know there’s a lot of talk on the forum about Craftsman outsourcing some tools to China, but there are still a decent amount of USA made Craftsman tools. As of now, the raised panel wrenches appear to still be USA made.

I’ve been wanting a set of long-pattern metric wrenches for a while. I bought a set of Urrea wrenches last year, but ended up returning them.

Initial impressions

I decided to try the Craftsman box wrenches, as they offer a lot of sizes for a good price, they’re USA made and readily available. I waited for a sale and paid $56 after tax and shipping for set number 4986. The regular price is $59.99.

The set shipped in one day and arrived a few days later. It’s 11 pieces. This set goes from 6mm - 30mm. It skips 20mm, 26mm and 29mm. I had used these several times by the time I'd taken this pic, so there is a little dirt/grease on the wrenches and package.

These are your basic Craftsman raised panel wrench design, but they’re longer than the normal raised panel combo wrenches.

The box ends feature the same off-corner engagement used on other Craftsman wrenches. All the teeth in the wrenches are well formed. The sides of the boxes are polished.

The finish on all the wrenches appears consistent, with no noticeable flaws that I can see. There is a slight texture difference in the metal underneath the finish. I assume this is because of differences in the dies used when forging the different sizes. It’s not a flaw or a downside, it’s just something I noticed.

These wrenches are longer than standard raised panel Craftsman wrenches. The difference in length is greater in the smaller sizes, where the box wrenches are considerably longer than the standard Craftsman combo wrenches. In the larger sizes, the box wrenches are only a small amount longer than regular raised panel combos.

Top to bottom:
12mm x 14mm box wrench
12mm RP wrench

13mm RP wrench
13mm x 15mm box wrench

Top to bottom:
22mm RP wrench
22mm x 24mm box wrench
24mm RP wrench

Issues with the wrenches

The fit and finish on the wrenches overall appears good. There are a handful of small nicks in the metal under the chrome, but they're very minor, IMO. This is the largest one.

I only noticed two wrenches with issues.

The 6mm x 8mm wrench has a slight bend. I’m not sure if I’ll take the time to return it. It doesn’t really bother me too much, but I may return it on my next trip to Sears.

The forging is rough around the 7mm box. The teeth are properly formed, but the forging around the box is somewhat ugly. This is an issue that I wouldn’t even have noticed if I wasn’t studying these wrenches looking for flaws.

Overall

I think these wrenches are a pretty good deal for the price. I can’t comment on the long-term durability, since they’re brand new. But my initial impressions are positive, especially when you consider the price, at only $56 including tax and shipping.

I’ve used these wrenches several times over the last week or so, and I’m pretty happy with them. The extra length is nice for the jobs I’ve used them for. I replaced the shocks on my truck and replaced the front wheel bearings. I used the wrenches on both these jobs. While taking out the upper ball joint in my truck, the extra length was handy for breaking loose the bolt.

gsmornot · Jul 7, 2012

I have that set on my list to buy. Thanks for the review.

GirlnAgarage · Jul 7, 2012

Hmm, I like those, particularly for the length. Thanks for the review.

nine4gmc · Jul 7, 2012

another tool on my list...thanks GJ, you too SK...haha

thesilverone · Jul 7, 2012

thank you for the great write up!

kab00m · Jul 8, 2012

My first wrench set my dad bought me to use on my old VW in high school years ago. They've never let me down yet.

shoturtle · Jul 8, 2012

How do they compare in length to a long pattern?

Need4racin · Jul 8, 2012

I've always liked cman RPs. That and KD tools wrenches. Both made by the same company.

TwoInch · Jul 8, 2012

nice review! i have a couple odd ball RP double boxes, and a couple old RP offset double boxes, nice wrenches.

NC-Fordguy · Jul 8, 2012

I have a set of those in SAE-been using them for 15 or so years with no issues.

The length is about on par with crafty pro, gearwrench,carlyle long patterns depending upon the size.

Nice review :thumbup:

Tarheelgarage · Jul 8, 2012

Nice Review.

I have that same set. While not pretty, those RP are for making money.

Tool polishers/collectors will not like them, but again, they only have their tools for display purposes.

Davefr · Jul 8, 2012

Excellent review!!

CM RP wrenches don't seem to get the respect they deserve. They've sure served the test of time. I think people are bored with the design more then anything else.

That set looks like good value.

Long pattern double box end wrenches are my first choice for most tasks.

RedFordTruck · Jul 8, 2012

With a few Wright and Williams Exceptions, all of my wrenches are Craftsman RP and Ive never had any problems with em. Paid $30 per set on sale and got a 12 piece SAE and 12 Piece Metric 6-point back in January and I prefer the 6-point wrenches over the 12-point.

But Ive never had any problems at all with Raised panel wrenches. A good quality, well priced set of American Made Wrenches. Cant Go Wrong.

wxm · Jul 8, 2012

I too have the SAE set, like it. I agree the RP is usually overlooked, and you can get it in good price. I got my SAE set for less than $20 at the flea market. I also have the RP combo metric and SAE. But I usually reach to the Professional set only because the RP combo are not as long. This set seems to be in decent length.

By the way the set is current on sale for $51 minus $5 ( SEARS2012 coupon ), so $46 at the checkout (w/o shipping and tax).

Muffduster · Jul 8, 2012

They used to be made in Springdale, AR but now they're overseas.

SMKS · Jul 8, 2012

Muffduster said:
They used to be made in Springdale, AR but now they're overseas.

No one has been able to provide any proof that any RP wrenches are being imported. They appear to still be USA made. Do you know for a fact that the Arkansas factory was the only factory making them?

I actually made a post a little while ago asking for some pics or other proof that they are now imported, and no one provided any.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=153940

wrh3 · Jul 8, 2012

I have a set of these, the added length works great. I was brought up in a family that used Craftsman and I don't think I remember my grandfather or father ever breaking an RP wrench.

m151 · Jul 8, 2012

RP = good quality-good price-lifetime-easy replacement-USA

These will stand the Test Of Time and will be in use after we're gone!

Coach James · Jul 8, 2012

Nice write up. I always wanted a set of those.

Coach

billymade · Jul 8, 2012

The q/c issues seem to still be there on the USA mad wrenches; the main issue, always seems to be the grinding, finishing. I always have a image in my mind; of all the pieces that a worker who finishes these out has to do... with the low cost that Sears requires from Danaher, it makes you wonder how much pressure they are under. It sounds like we are always making excuses for the poor quality of the finish on these tools; which is a shame but I also wonder if the pressure to keep costs down, causes this. Do the workers has a quota of how many they have to complete in a work shift and do they feel they cannot "finish out" a wrench completely and still meet that quota and then does q/c just lets these pass by without a concern (I can see it now: "looks, good enough to me...next!"). Again, I realize the price is low on these but it always made me wonder; when, I stocked these off the truck.. what the a/c standards were and what conditions, pressure they were under and ultimately, what was considered a "acceptable" piece that would past muster.

Lastly, I have some of the older versions of these; I always that the older style has better shapes to them and gave you much more access, in recessed areas you would work in and I also preferred the thinness of the wrench as well. Why is it; seems many times, when tools are revised... they are actually not as useful as the older version was? Not always that case but I liked the older styles better.

I guess time will tell if these remain USA; I guess we can hope!

Muffduster · Jul 8, 2012

All I know is the Apex plant in Springdale now makes horse shoes. Does that mean RP wrenches are now made overseas? Very likely.

pipsters · Jul 8, 2012

billymade said:
The q/c issues seem to still be there on the USA mad wrenches; the main issue, always seems to be the grinding, finishing. I always have a image in my mind; of all the pieces that a worker who finishes these out has to do... with the low cost that Sears requires from Danaher, it makes you wonder how much pressure they are under to keep the cost per piece low. It sounds like we are always making excuses for the poor quality of the finish on these tools; which is a shame but I also wonder if the pressure to keep costs down, causes this. I wonder if the workers has a quota of how many they have to do in a work shift and if they feel they cannot "finish out" a wrench and still meet that quota and q/c just lets these pass by without a concern. Again, I realize the price is low on these but it always made me wonder; when, I stocked these off the truck.. what the a/c standards were and what conditions, pressure they were under and ultimately, what was considered a "acceptable" piece that would past muster.

Lastly, I have some of the older versions of these; I always that the older style has better shapes to them and gave you much more access, in recessed areas you would work in and I also preferred the thinness of the wrench as well. Why is it; seems many times, when tools are revised... they are actually not as useful as the older version was? Not always that case but I liked the older styles better.

I guess time will tell if these remain USA; I guess we can hope!

If you look at his photos the bigger they are the more crudely they are finished. The larger wrenches are all older wrenches from who knows how long ago. The most bought sizes in my set I bought a couple months ago looked far and wide much better than the older wrenches I have owned/bought. In addition the newer wrenches are CNC profiled milled, very nicely done and they feel great. Older isn't always better I laugh every time people on here brag about how good their old stuff is. Nostalgia at its finest.

Complaining they used too much metal on the wrench? Haha that is new one.

pipsters · Jul 8, 2012

Muffduster said:
All I know is the Apex plant in Springdale now makes horse shoes. Does that mean RP wrenches are now made overseas? Very likely.

How come they are marked Forged in USA then? You keep saying the same thing over and over yet not one RP Chinese wrench has ever been spotted. With as much turnover as RP wrenches have you'd think they would be in stores by now. FYI it's possible to shift production from one plant to another.

Muffduster · Jul 8, 2012

pipsters said:
FYI it's possible to shift production from one plant to another.

For real?

billymade · Jul 8, 2012

The older stuff I am referring to; actually have a different shape; provide more recessed access, when working with a fastener. I am not specifically referring to the finish; although, I do believe that the finish was better. I worked at Sears for 7 years; my job was to stock and order the tools at my store, the q/c issues were obvious and I saw them every day. I will say; that after the acquisition of Sears by Kmart and the subsequent creation of Sears Holdings, I really saw the slide in q/c and this may have coincided with foundry closings at Danaher or possibly a change in the nature of the contract they had with the newly created Sears Holdings, I was told they opened up a facility in Dallas to consolidate the production. All of this is just theorizing on my part (when you work with a product, you always wonder why things change) but the slide in quality was very apparent; especially, when you take the tools out of the box and stock them, handle them on a daily basis. I admit; as we get older, there is a longing for a different time, what is perceived as better quality of the past and add some nostalgia to the mix. Change is never easy; whether good or bad. We all have our perspective and it is colored by our own experiences... I guess if we all had the same perspective on things... it would really be boring around here and we wouldn't have anything to discuss!

Here is hoping for good changes in the future!

SMKS · Jul 8, 2012

Muffduster said:
All I know is the Apex plant in Springdale now makes horse shoes. Does that mean RP wrenches are now made overseas? Very likely.

Well, I don't know that it's "very likely."

I'm not trying to be rude, but you don't know if they're being made in another US factory or if they were already being made in more than one factory in the US.

While you're very likely correct that they aren't being made in your local plant, you have no way to say they're "very like" made overseas. They could be, but no one has any proof one way or another. All I can say is my local store has fresh wrenches in new packaging that are still USA made.

SMKS · Jul 8, 2012

pipsters said:
If you look at his photos the bigger they are the more crudely they are finished. The larger wrenches are all older wrenches from who knows how long ago.

The larger wrenches have a slightly different texture to the metal, but I don't see that they're "more crudely finished." :headscrat

The polishing on the boxes and the machining seems pretty consistent throughout the sizes.

I also don't see how you're determining that the larger wrenches are older.

Muffduster · Jul 8, 2012

stephen9666 said:
Well, I don't know that it's "very likely."

I'm not trying to be rude, but you don't know if they're being made in another US factory or if they were already being made in more than one factory in the US.

While you're very likely correct that they aren't being made in your local plant, you have no way to say they're "very like" made overseas. They could be, but no one has any proof one way or another.

It's an educated guess since most all of Craftsman's entry level (read: RP) hard line tools have gone to Asian production. None of us ever thought RP ratchets, as crappy as they were, would ever go overseas....but they did. I'm guessing Apex has (or had) a **** ton of RP wrenches produced before Springdale's plant shifted to manufacturing horse shoes. The current stock is likely old stock from Springdale. I bet we'll soon start seeing Asian made RP wrenches in stores.

Again, it's just speculation, but seems very likely. I suppose they could have shifted production to the old ratchet plant somewhere in Texas. But who knows.....?

cbracer · Jul 8, 2012

If the US can't figure out how to improve the finish they will continue to go downhill. The fit and finish on US tools just isn't comparable to overseas

But many people don't care about finish, only strength. And the overseas tools have enough of that to pass the test.

Kyle86 · Jul 8, 2012

cbracer said:
If the US can't figure out how to improve the finish they will continue to go downhill. The fit and finish on US tools just isn't comparable to overseas
But many people don't care about finish, only strength. And the overseas tools have enough of that to pass the test.

Maybe if the EPA wouldnt regulate the us manufacturers into the ground, our qualty would be much better. They progressively make manufacuting more expensive, less profitable, and dictate what chemicals and processes can be used making it more difficult. I doubt they care about manufacuring processes overseas which results in a better and higher quality finish at a much cheaper cost. Many blame the CEOs and executives however if the govt and buracrats relaxed the mostly pointless regulations sanctioned on American manufacture, within months I bet we would start seeing quality products put back on the shelves.

MarkH · Jul 8, 2012

Regs have a lot to do with it boys. I have seen plants here and abroad. In 2008 it was stated with no new regs most of the advantage of manufacture abroad would be lost by 2014. Wage changes, transport costs, currency changes, and the extra costs of manufacture abroad and there are those would be offset enough to return manufacture here. If we could do what we did or they do many products would look very different. It is surprising with the regs anything is made period......!

Since then we have EPA in congress stating they never study or care about job loss when the implement or enforce regs. Lets start looking at another of the true causes of what is happening.

Kyle86 · Jul 8, 2012

Seriously, I don't understand how or why anyone would bother opening a business in this country nowdays with all the BS that is required.

BackTracker · Jul 8, 2012

Good review. I'm always a fan of people not flipping out over minor defects that in no way affect performance. Especially when it comes to tools.

bob15 · Jul 8, 2012

Muffduster said:
All I know is the Apex plant in Springdale now makes horse shoes. Does that mean RP wrenches are now made overseas? Very likely.

The Moore Drop Forge in Mass was shut down in 2005 and production was sent to Arkansas and Texas.

So you might be a little quick with the "very likely" comment.

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/manufacturing-america-europe/modern-christmas-story-danaher-tool-125232/

bob

MarkH · Jul 8, 2012

2 days in the tool boxes on the machinery you will not notice any difference between these raised panels and the best chromed job on polished wrenches in history. They will look tough, as long as they work when we dig them out of the mud and crud at the bottom of the box that is the big requirement.

DrunkSmurf · Jul 8, 2012

Fair and honest review.

I'm on the bandwagon of hating to see a name like Craftsman go downhill but I have enough old stuff and finished rounding out the holes in my tools with USA stuff to hopefully keep me wrenching around the house till I close the lid on my final day.

I have a mixed bunch of tools but I have to say I grew up cranking on old raised panels and will likely go out cranking on them. I liked the earlier comment on collectors and polishers may not like them...lol...Makes me smile because I have to be honest and admit almost every big sized RP I own most likely has some hammer marks on them.

They're decent wrenches and I've only broke 1 in my almost 50yrs, and under the conditions it broke most likely any brand would have broke or at least bent.

Thanks for the review.

Displaced Hokie · Jul 8, 2012

Good review - thanks. I have found a new respect for the double box wrenches, or box in general as I realized I almost never use the open end of a combo wrench. The length is the deal here, as the combo RP's are short.

LumpyMusic · Jul 8, 2012

MarkH said:
2 days in the tool boxes on the machinery you will not notice any difference between these raised panels and the best chromed job on polished wrenches in history. They will look tough, as long as they work when we dig them out of the mud and crud at the bottom of the box that is the big requirement.

I've got RPs that have been in service for 30+ years. Some have been thrown into the bottom of tool boxes in vans and trucks that have driven all over the US and Mexico. I've also got a couple that were found on the asphalt, apparently fallen from a passing truck. And a couple found buried in the soil in the desert. None have ever broken. Every one of them works the way they should when you put them on a nut or bolt. Even the one's with road rash. Nothing "un-tough" about them.

Best warranty in tools, tools that work, tools that don't cost and arm and a leg.

Lumpy

How come you didn't star on Star Trek?
Because Clint Howard beat me for the part of Balok.

www.LumpyMusic.com

TwoInch · Jul 8, 2012

from what i can tell, all the RP wrenches i have seen lately are all still -v^- which is danaher armstrong division made. the two sears near me are still stocked with the v^ stuff, and i own a bit of it.

and i wouldnt say that "most" RP stuff is made over seas, the only RP imported stuff are ratchets and breaker bars. the rest is USA.

Kyle86 · Jul 8, 2012

I was under the impression that the tolerances of the new craftsman wrenches were inconsistent resulting in sloppy fit on fasteners with some wrenches. Has anyone measured the newer batches to see how the fit is? I would love to buy a set since the price is so low compared to wright/williams/sk.

Craftsman raised panel box wrench set initial review -PICS-

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