Anyone else a Danaher fan?

[Fialaja]

Working at Sears as a kid I acquired a lot of craftsman tools at a great price with my employee discount and craftsman club discount... I picked up the professional wrenches and weeded through the ratchet return bin to grab up some oddball stuff such as the stainless ratchets. Like most folks here, I hated the standard teardrop raised panel tools. Alas, the Sears I worked at in New Hyde Park is gone.
When I got married and moved to NJ we had 2 Sears hardwares and a Sears essentials close by. The Sears essentials had a great clearance section that netted me a lot of great deals. When the sears hardware and Sears essentials closed I of course bought more tools as they were still USA made craftsman.
Now that that is no longer the case, I have taken to eBay sellers like Cripe distributing to fill in and build up. Armstrong, Allen, Napa, Kobalt, KD and Easco are all about the same as craftsman, if not better. Cripe has great prices and will combine shipping.
I would say that 90% of my basic hand tools are derived from those brands.

 

[xin]

Working at Sears as a kid I acquired a lot of craftsman tools at a great price with my employee discount and craftsman club discount... I picked up the professional wrenches and weeded through the ratchet return bin to grab up some oddball stuff such as the stainless ratchets. Like most folks here, I hated the standard teardrop raised panel tools. Alas, the Sears I worked at in New Hyde Park is gone.
When I got married and moved to NJ we had 2 Sears hardwares and a Sears essentials close by. The Sears essentials had a great clearance section that netted me a lot of great deals. When the sears hardware and Sears essentials closed I of course bought more tools as they were still USA made craftsman.
Now that that is no longer the case, I have taken to eBay sellers like Cripe distributing to fill in and build up. Armstrong, Allen, Napa, Kobalt, KD and Easco are all about the same as craftsman, if not better. Cripe has great prices and will combine shipping.
I would say that 90% of my basic hand tools are derived from those brands.

I think these companies were all bought up and the remaining old stock is being sold on auction sites.

 

[ARFLY]

Yes, I have a lot of it. I live about 30 minutes from the now closed Springdale Danaher plant.

 

[Fialaja]

I think these companies were all bought up and the remaining old stock is being sold on auction sites.

Yes these companies are all gone with the demise of Danaher under the Apex buyout but isn’t it amazing just how many tool brands were produced by Danaher? Armstrong, Allen, Craftsman, KD, later era Kobalt, Easco, Some master mechanic even...did I miss any?

The NOS USA craftsman tools are going for ridiculous prices on eBay, with some tools even going for more than comparable snap on offerings...thankfully the other brands are still reasonably priced and there are bargains to be had on eBay if you do your homework

 

[mikebaker1129]

Yes these companies are all gone with the demise of Danaher under the Apex buyout but isn’t it amazing just how many tool brands were produced by Danaher? Armstrong, Allen, Craftsman, KD, later era Kobalt, Easco, Some master mechanic even...did I miss any?

The NOS USA craftsman tools are going for ridiculous prices on eBay, with some tools even going for more than comparable snap on offerings...thankfully the other brands are still reasonably priced and there are bargains to be had on eBay if you do your homework

So true ! I could not have said it better myself.

 

[JR 42]

Sellular216/ Hand Tools For Less has some old USA NAPA Danaher stock on ebay as well, though they and Cripe are slowly drying up as years go by and they've both raised prices. I'm a fan when I can get a good deal- I've got duplicate wrench and socket sets for small kits and the like. There used to be much more odd lot Armstrong available on ebay for reasonable prices.

It's basic stuff, except for some nicer Armstrong wrenches and sockets, and I'm a little sentimental about 90's Craftsman stuff (when I first spent my own money on tools, on the recomendation of the farmhand I worked with). I do wish they'd sent fewer banana- shaped wrenches out the doors, though.

 

[Fedwrench]

As a kid in Southern California, when auto parts stores actually sold parts, i cut my teeth on mostly SK but, as that faded away Danaher made Craftsman filled the bill nicely. It wasn't just Craftsman though. It was also the house brands like napa, KD, and Matco that Danaher made that also filled my boxes.