Pictures of new (disappointing) Craftsman RP Wrenches

Kyle86 · Jul 16, 2012

I created the other thread about how I was disappointed with my new craftsman wrench sets. Since that one was a week ago and more than a few pages back I will let it die and start this one. Here are the pictures that I did not include in that thread. I bought both SAE and Metric 26 piece wrench sets. They are basically 16 piece sets with a pack of 10 "midget" wrenches. Maybe I'm just picky but the quality is much worse than my older (5 years) craftsman wrenches.

My previous thread/rant is here if anybody was interested:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=157558

Casting flash like material inside 3/8 box end..

Tooling marks

Uneven chamfer on most wrenches

Some wrenches look to as not been polshed or rounded correctly.. Here is a 5/8 bottom and an 11/16 top.

MOST of the larger wrenches have very sharp edges ON THE OUTSIDES and inconsistencies such as rounded on one side and sharp on the other which make the wrenches uncomfortable to handle. Also many were not even deburred at all leaving sharp jagged edges on the inside of almost all larger box ends.

Some wrenches have spots on the chrome that look like this

Here is the different manufacturer markings on the wrenches. The LARGE -VA- is about 5 years old, the little -v^- is the newer wrench's marking. As you can tell they were changed at some point.

Here is a pic side by side of both 13 mm wrenches. Older on the left, new on the right. Also notice the out of center box end which is also present on other wrenches in the sets.

Also the offset angles are shallower, new top, older bottom

NOW, just to show you what a quality wrench looks like up close with this camera, here is a picture of my new wright wrench.

PaulsGarage · Jul 16, 2012

No kidding, those craftsman wrenches look worse than most Taiwan sets... what a shame.

Super Sport · Jul 16, 2012

How much more did the Wright cost? I would expect it to be a much higher quality.

Craftsman has to cut costs somewhere in order to be competitive. Since they have been paying US-wages and still trying to keep prices low, quality has suffered. Quality might improve with the new imported stuff, but that's because they can afford it. Simple concept really. When I pay what I do for USA-made Cman tools, I don't expect them to be super high quality. I expect a pretty good tool that has USA stamped on it.

Rocket1 · Jul 16, 2012

Wow. That's really bad… you should see how bad it is compared to my 10 year old set..

2JZGTESC300 · Jul 17, 2012

I don't have Craftsman Wrenches, but that's pretty bad flaws.

gatewaysysop · Jul 17, 2012

Appreciate seeing the photos, especially with so much good detail. You can really see the QC has gone down hill in a big way. I'm sort of glad I bought my sets a long while ago and, to my knowledge, don't have any issues remotely this bad. :wtf:

Definitely not ever buying another RP wrench again. I'm actually curious if, when they go off-shore someday, if the quality (at least of the finishing) would go up. I only say that because it's difficult to picture it being much worse than what you've shown here. :headscrat

As someone else already said, what a shame.

mr.speaker · Jul 17, 2012

It's actually sad.

OEXL16B · Jul 17, 2012

I was thinking they were Chinese until I scrolled down and saw U.S.A. on them. I'm shocked by the poor quality and the lack of attention to detail. You guys better just forget about Craftsman RP wrenches. If you don't mind satan finish, Proto makes some nice wrenches.

Flatintoone · Jul 17, 2012

I've stayed away from the Craftsman discussion, but that off-center box end looks really, really, really bad.

archirelic · Jul 17, 2012

I've gotta chime in and say, that the quality control on your set was severely lacking. Like I mentioned in your other thread, just at the end of last year my wife purchased for me the 43 piece rp wrench set & the quality control on mine was damn near perfect. Really crappy that your luck wasn't as good as mine.

Rico. · Jul 17, 2012

OEXL16B said:
If you don't mind satan finish, Proto makes some nice wrenches.

Most people here think that anything made in China already has that finish.... :spit:

monster1 · Jul 17, 2012

Even if those rp wrenches were made like they were back in the day they stil wouldnt compare to those wrights. Sad to say though that those cmans look about as good as a set of indian made hf junk I bought as a kid when I didnt know any better.

Wrenches of Death · Jul 17, 2012

OEXL16B said:
I was thinking they were Chinese until I scrolled down and saw U.S.A. on them. I'm shocked by the poor quality and the lack of attention to detail.

Sadly, this doesn't surprise me at all. The traditional work ethic that built this country into what it once was, has went down the crapper.

This is just another example of slipshod work from fat lazy 'melicans. You can pretty much stick a fork in another piece of the ever shrinking manufacturing industry in this county. They're getting pretty close to done.

"Bread and circuses" pretty much keep the average person's attention diverted from the real issues as this place turns into a third world sewer. As long as football and "reality" tv keeps everyone placated, it'll all be alright...go back to sleep...nothing to see here...everything is fine...sleep...sleep...sleep...when you wake up, you'll feel refreshed and remember nothing.

Start preparing your children and grandchildren so that they can properly kowtow before their Chinese overlords in a few years. They'll have an advantage over the other slaves and might get extra rations or a thicker blanket.

WoD

vga · Jul 17, 2012

Thanks for the detailed pic's. I have defended Cman on this site for awhile and its very sad to see this level of poor QC from US a tool maker that most of us grew up with and received tools made by them as passdowns from our fathers, uncles, ect,ect. . This new stuff needs to be passed down into the **** can.

OEXL16B · Jul 17, 2012

Rico. said:
Most people here think that anything made in China already has that finish....

I'm thinking I might've used the wrong word. :headscrat

grogthegreat · Jul 17, 2012

I just wanted to share my thanks for taking the time to take and share those pictures. The pictures prove that you weren't being picky in your previous post. As a DIY car guy who owns a lots of craftsman RP and HF, I wouldn't be happy with those wrenches. No wonder there are so many threads about the fall of Sears and Craftsman on here.
After taking a close look at my rarely used fractional HF wrenches (full polish, made in Taiwan) I can safely say that even my HF wrenches have better casting and quality control than the craftsman set you have. Looks like my next set of wrenches might see me springing for those Wrights.

SMKS · Jul 17, 2012

I just picked up a 26 piece Craftsman metric wrench set today and it seems it's considerably better than the OP's, but did have a couple of the same issues. On mine, about 3 of the wrenches had issues. I should be able to post more pics tomorrow.

None of mine have the off-center broaching like the one in the OP's set, for example.

To the OP-

I do have one thing to point out about this picture. On my wrenches, it looks like the larger sizes are produced on a different line using a slightly different process. You should look and see if there is a size cutoff where there is a difference between the finishing processes.

On my set, the smaller wrenches appear to have a more finely milled beam, while the larger wrenches have a ground beam. In my set the cutoff is 16mm. The 16mm and smaller have the milled beam, while the 17mm and larger have the ground beam.

To show the cutoff, here are the 15mm -18mm wrenches.

TwoInch · Jul 17, 2012

some of those are pretty rough. and i would take them back for warranty them..

but the point still remains that you paid $2 a wrench, so comparing to a wright or williams, or snap on is not right. im thinking your set was probably made on a friday evening or something as they are pretty rough. i have a set from around the same time you bought yours, and they are not nearly as rough. i am satisfied with mine for 45 bucks.

a couple points also, the maker is the same for your older and new wrenches -v^- are danaher, and the older set you have is almost surely armstrong division of danaher, and the newer are probably also armstrong division, but not positively.

the smaller wrenches are always more rounded and polished on the heads(nowadays), the larger sizes are squarish and not polished. rough finished. this in normal and not unique to your set.

next time, if there is a next time, check the set before you buy it. all of that was plainly obvious in the package, and the packages open easily, you dont have to cut or break anything to get at the wrenches. check things out before you drop coin on them.

like i said in the other thread, 45 bucks is not a lot of money for 16 wrenches(plus 10 midgets). remember that, and expect quality accordingly. price the "good wrenches" and you will understand.

TwoInch · Jul 17, 2012

sk, the differences start at 11/16s and 17mm. thats when they are rough and not smooth rounded polished on the heads.

i wish i had a camera that would show detail up close like that. i have a set of -VV- older wrenches that are all rough, not rounded and polished on the heads. they are from the mid 90s. they all used to be squared up and not at all rounded. the smaller rounded style in the smaller sizes is a newer thing. i also have random -V- "heyday" stuff, its all square cut too.

madbasser · Jul 17, 2012

To the OP, the broaching is horrendous, there is no doubt in that and the milling on the box end is just also not acceptable.
I do have to say that the grind marks on the outside of the open end and inside the open end are pretty common on some of the more expensive wrenches as well, unfortunately.
I have recently purchased a set of Proto ASD in metric and SAE both the satin finish and they have the same tooling marks you described on the open end as well as the sharp edges created by the lack of polishing in those areas. Not condoning the practice I'm just saying its common on other brands as well.

OEXL16B · Jul 17, 2012

Here's a video that shows you how wrenches are supposed to be made.

TwoInch · Jul 17, 2012

and to the guys talking about casting flash, or casting marks. wrenches are not cast. they are press forged from billets with dies, then milled and broached. the larger wrenches with the squared up ends look the way they do from a belt sander that is used to clean them up after forging. the smaller sizes must be cleaned up and finished with a different technique.

TwoInch · Jul 17, 2012

OEXL16B said:
Here's a video that shows you how wrenches are supposed to be made.

good call. better than me trying to explain it ^^ :lol_hitti

NC-Fordguy · Jul 17, 2012

I was at the friends and family night at sears sunday. I looked over some rp wrenches, even thought buying a large metric set of wrenches (I hate buying metric tools) and didn't see anything that bad.

I would definately carry those things back and get better ones

TwoInch · Jul 17, 2012

almost looks like a set of rejects. the clunker i pulled out of my set would look grade A compared to some of his.

OEXL16B · Jul 17, 2012

This one shows Cornwell wrenches being made:

gsmornot · Jul 17, 2012

My set of raised panels are about 15-20 years old. I'm sure they're not as bad but I will never know. If I go out there and start looking for details I take a chance of not liking something that has worked well all of these years. Ha. Good luck with yours though.

monster1 · Jul 17, 2012

TwoInch said:
almost looks like a set of rejects. the clunker i pulled out of my set would look grade A compared to some of his.

maybe his set was made at 4pm on the friday of a three day weekend?

tribbles · Jul 17, 2012

OEXL16B said:
Here's a video that shows you how wrenches are supposed to be made.

I think the wrench makers got that confused with the deli meats in the same episode.

gsmornot · Jul 17, 2012

OEXL16B said:
Here's a video that shows you how wrenches are supposed to be made.

....like printing money.

beardog · Jul 17, 2012

I think you should forward those pics to the Sears corporate offices and let them know why you won't be buying their product in the future! Those are the worst I've ever seen from Craftsman. Possibly counterfeit?

concealer404 · Jul 17, 2012

That's.... pretty bad.

Yeah, they're cheap.

But that's like saying "i'll buy some dog **** because it's cheap."

Take 'em back. That ****'s not worth $45.

SpiderGearsMan · Jul 17, 2012

normal old crapsman
get what you pay for

Chadwilliam1 · Jul 17, 2012

I am not making excuses for them because that is unacceptable. A lot of people never look at their wrenches like that and would never notice. They should have scrapped them out but their broke so they pushed them though I suppose.

HandyManny · Jul 17, 2012

PaulsGarage said:
No kidding, those craftsman wrenches look worse than most Taiwan sets... what a shame.

Actually for the past 15 years or so I've seen some pretty high quality handtools coming out of Taiwan. Both in function, fit, and overall finish. Far exceeding the level that Danaher had been making for Cman. Those RP wrenches in the picture are a terrible excuse for an American made tool, doesn't matter if they are $2 a wrench or not. RPs individually don't cost no $2 a wrench I'll tell you that much. Any major tool maker in this country should be plenty capable of producing a much better quality levels.

dsmnickk90 · Jul 17, 2012

Looks like they gave ou a set out of the reject pile. take them back and tell them replace the whole set.

concealer404 · Jul 17, 2012

dsmnickk90 said:
Looks like they gave ou a set out of the reject pile. take them back and tell them to give you your money back

Fixed.

People need to stop supporting this ****.

dsmnickk90 · Jul 17, 2012

concealer404 said:
Fixed.

People need to stop supporting this ****.

Its going to be hard to find a set of USA made wrenches for the same price and the RP. This is the first time ive ever seen wrenches this bad. It has to be a mistake somewhere i don't see any company sending those out on purpose.

concealer404 · Jul 17, 2012

dsmnickk90 said:
Its going to be hard to find a set of USA made wrenches for the same price and the RP. This is the first time ive ever seen wrenches this bad. It has to be a mistake somewhere i don't see any company sending those out on purpose.

That wasn't really the point i was going for... (I don't think it's a mistake btw... i took back 2 of these sets before i find a set that didn't make me wonder what 3 year old made it with his new Fisher Price "My First Forge" set.)

The point is to just stop supporting bad manufacturing, regardless of COO. It's your hard earned money, buy nice tools. If you keep buying this **** using "It's made in the USA" as your justification, it gives them no reason to improve.

Stop supporting ***-backwards ****** manufacturing. The more ****** tools you buy, the shittier tools get.

trainer · Jul 17, 2012

Craftsman raised panel wrenches are a value priced line of tools, not expensive jewellery. They always have been a bit rough around the edges.
There is nothing functionally wrong with them and they will likely give you a lifetime of service.
The Snap-on wrenches in the video probably have more money spent just in the broaching operations than you paid for the craftsman.

Pictures of new (disappointing) Craftsman RP Wrenches

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