a craftsman,from japan??

[therealwormey]

i found this wrench a couple days ago going thru and trying to organize my grandpa's wrenches,i know this wrench is at least 15 to 20 years old,my grandpa died in 99 and he hadnt bought any tools the last 5 or 10 years of his life.they have been mine since he died but i just left them in his boxes just as he had them.i decided to organize a little since i had some free time.
this wrench is the only one marked japan,he had about three sets of mac and a few snapons, a set of jc penny wrenches,i didnt know they had their own line,i assume someone else made them,and some oddball stuff, this was in the oddball stuff,both pics are of the same wrench,its not 2 different wrenches,i dont know how i could show both sides at once,any craftsman collectors care explain this japanese craftsman,i can understand if it was a tiawan from a couple days ago but this is no new import

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[noid]

I think i remember some of their vises coming from there.

 

[afterburner]

They had a whole economy line from Japan in the 70's I believe. Good stuff for the money then but not something I would grab at a GS now.

 

[american lockpicker]

My uncle has some of those.

 

[patrickw10]

Wonder why they made the out of chrome moly and not crv.

 

[RbrtAWhyt]

Full sets tend to fetch decent prices on e-bay. Some consider them collectable...

 

[stevepsd]

I have a complete set of those wrenches, SAE & Metric that I bought new in the late 70's or early 80's. Some of these sets were made in the US, other in Japan. Same stock numbers on the package, dad's set was made in the US. These are genuine Craftsman, not the 'economy' Sears branded tools. I remember folks getting upset about non-US made Craftsman tools in the early 80's and Sears eventually went back to all US made tools (late 80's?).

I still use these almost every day. No problems.

 

[bmxr4life87]

My dad has a set that is marked japan they have held up fine for the last 20 or so
years

 

[Elroy]

Additional information on Craftsman tools stamped "Japan" can be found in this thread:

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

 

[mrholeshot]

Craftsman outsorced to Japan in the late 70's to early 80's. The return rate was so high just because of "Japan" on the wrench that Sears went back to US production. Sears was a kick *** store back then and not the ghost town crappy place it is now.

 

[therealwormey]

thanks for the input,i never was a craftsman guy so didnt know much about them historically,i have nothing against them i just liked mac,sk or SO better,i am now a little disappointed for all the outsourcing,i have some craftsman but its not my primary line.i guess they experimented with the idea of outsourcing back when it wasnt as commonplace as now.

 

[NOTABLAZER]

I also have an old pipe wrench that was a hand-me-down,craftsman made in japan. I always thought it was weird but it works fine for me.

 

[woody 73]

Craftsman outsorced to Japan in the late 70's to early 80's. The return rate was so high just because of "Japan" on the wrench that Sears went back to US production. Sears was a kick *** store back then and not the ghost town crappy place it is now.

Yes I remember them in the 70's ,what the heck happened ???Did they get the K-mart business model mixed up with the blue light special!

 

[mrholeshot]

Yes I remember them in the 70's ,what the heck happened ???Did they get the K-mart business model mixed up with the blue light special!

I'm sure cost of production was a factor but people hated them. I bought a set of combo wrenches and as soon as I got back home and saw Japan on them I took them back. I soon found out I wasn't the only one. Funny thing is now when I go to the flea markets I dig through Craftsman trying to find the Japan versions. They were no better or worse but trying to fill a complete set of the Japan sets can be tough. I have almost a complete set of metric 7-19(missing 10 and 13) and almost a full set of SAE Missing 15/16 and 1". It will be my luck that as soon as I finish the set I'll find a tool box full of unused sets. I don't consider myself a collector of them but more about the hunt.

 

[Damian]

Craftsman outsorced to Japan in the late 70's to early 80's. The return rate was so high just because of "Japan" on the wrench that Sears went back to US production. Sears was a kick *** store back then and not the ghost town crappy place it is now.

You got that right. I remember going to the Sears store with my old man in the 80's and that place was a MAD HOUSE every day. The service center was 25 bays deep and packed full of cars, and the Craftsman store couldn't keep stuff on the shelves long enough. Definitely not the case anymore.

 

[May Pop]

Mine were bought in 1982 by my wife for me. They are now in my truck/travel box. They are slightly different than USA raised panel wrenches. I have never had a problem with them ever other than loosing 1 or 2 of them.
Ron

 

[mrholeshot]

You got that right. I remember going to the Sears store with my old man in the 80's and that place was a MAD HOUSE every day. The service center was 25 bays deep and packed full of cars, and the Craftsman store couldn't keep stuff on the shelves long enough. Definitely not the case anymore.

I remember going to Sears in the 60's and they had Motorcycles(Puch,BSA,Gilera,Bridgestone,etc) Allstate (Vespa) Scooters and my Dad use to tell me about Allstate (Kaiser) they sold at Sears. I remember the JC Higgens and Ted Williams stuff really well. My First baseball glove was a Ted Williams from sears.

Do you remember the man on page 602?? My mother still has the Catalog

 

[dwm]

I still have my first socket set, given to me by grandfather in the 1970's. Craftsman made in Japan, inches. Round head ratchet, still works even though it was abused more than once. Metallic green metal case.

 

[DrkMtnDew]

I remember going to Sears in the 60's and they had Motorcycles(Puch,BSA,Gilera,Bridgestone,etc) Allstate (Vespa) Scooters and my Dad use to tell me about Allstate (Kaiser) they sold at Sears. I remember the JC Higgens and Ted Williams stuff really well. My First baseball glove was a Ted Williams from sears.

Do you remember the man on page 602?? My mother still has the Catalog

my grandpa's prized .270 Winchester rifle was a JC Higgens.

 

[DrkMtnDew]

my grandpa, who has not passed away, has a set of these Japanese craftsmans. they are not his favorite because they are made in japan, but they are definitly not cheaply built. still has a full set in good condition despite many years of use.

 

[supertooljunkie]

My 12 gauge shotgun is a Winchester, marked Ted Williams, from Sears. Received it for Christmas when I was 12 years old. I am much older than that now. Shotgun has held up fine.
I have some Craftsman sockets from Japan. They are in my spares drawer, but have held up quite well. Better than some of the newer US made sockets.

 

[lbgradwell]

Additional information on Craftsman tools stamped "Japan" can be found in this thread:

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

Yep.

And here too:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2828

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31588

 

[Ben Iv]

I have nearly a whole set of those wrenches that were my dad's they arent bad but if you hold a japan in one hand and a usa in the other you can feel the diffrence in weight.

 

[therealwormey]

My 12 gauge shotgun is a Winchester, marked Ted Williams, from Sears. Received it for Christmas when I was 12 years old. I am much older than that now. Shotgun has held up fine.
I have some Craftsman sockets from Japan. They are in my spares drawer, but have held up quite well. Better than some of the newer US made sockets.

glad to hear that winchester held up for ya,some might say guns arent tools,but i consider my guns the most valuable tools in my home

 

[jrodc455]

I have my grandpa's JC Higgins semi auto 12 gauge haha. It's pretty sweet.