"Made in Japan" Craftsman wrenches, anyone have some??

mdsmith11 · Feb 9, 2006

I had thse in my collection for many years before I had realized that they were made in Japan. Upon further reserach I learned that during the late 80's - mid 90's that indeed some select wrenches were made over there. The look and feel is indistinguishable from my regular "Made in America" Craftsman tools. Also, these have certainly been used quite a bit too. Makes for a good conversation piece of nothing else. I had even seen them on Ebay before being touted as "ultra rare" and "extremely collectable"

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dink · Feb 9, 2006

There was a topic about these wrenches I would say about 2 months ago and they just talked about them...no pictures....and now there are pictures...its cool to see them

kartracer55 · Feb 9, 2006

I thought the made in japan think came around in the late 70s early 80s? Either way, It proved to be a failure, and they switched back to USA made wrenches shortly after. For a long time regular sears branded tools (not companion) were made in Japan. The companion line had been around along time and in the early days, they were apparantly USA made tools with only a 1 year warranty, which peopel would buy and demand a lifetime warranty when they broke

Jim

dink · Feb 9, 2006

Alot of the Sears brand was made in China the later years....I wonder why they got rid of that name....probably because people mistaken it for Craftsmen

Thumper · Feb 9, 2006

The Companion name is still alive and well in Sears the last time I was in there (6 months ago).

333rx7 · Apr 2, 2010

I have 2 Craftsman wrenches made in Japan.

Mickey O · Apr 2, 2010

333rx7 said:
I have 2 Craftsman wrenches made in Japan.

It's hard to tell from the picture, maybe a close up.

slip knot · Apr 2, 2010

Ive got a set of combo wrenchs from japan. Also noticed last week that some of my Cman pipe wrenches from 20 yrs ago are japan as well. New one is USA go figure. Jap stuff has held up well

WHT · Apr 2, 2010

mdsmith11 said:
I had thse in my collection for many years before I had realized that they were made in Japan. Upon further reserach I learned that during the late 80's - mid 90's that indeed some select wrenches were made over there. The look and feel is indistinguishable from my regular "Made in America" Craftsman tools. Also, these have certainly been used quite a bit too. Makes for a good conversation piece of nothing else. I had even seen them on Ebay before being touted as "ultra rare" and "extremely collectable".

I don't think they are all that rare.

rsanter · Apr 2, 2010

I have had a couple that broke and got traded in

bob

ricleh · Apr 2, 2010

Looks like I misplaced the 3/8 & 5/16 somewhere in the last 35 years.

slip knot · Apr 2, 2010

My 3/8 is AWOL.

looks like there are quite a few of these " super rare" sets around.

May Pop · Apr 3, 2010

I have a set that was purchased in 81 or 82 that is made in Japan. They are in my portable box. Some have been lost and replaced but all work well. You can tell the difference from American made ones.
Ron

Elroy · Apr 3, 2010

Some additional information about Made in Japan Craftsman tools can be found in this older post

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28071

usmc_noma · Apr 3, 2010

did craftsman make any japan sockets?

pop pop · Apr 3, 2010

In Sears just this week to pick up some needs. Amazing that everything I saw with "Craftsman" label was made in China. Agahhhhh. Didn't look at wrenches.

88thunder · Apr 3, 2010

Here's a couple different ones I have.

"Made in Japan" Craftsman wrenches, anyone have some??

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