My particular perspective: First, I'm an old timer who remembers the 'good old days'. Second, I buy, sell and collect vintage hand tools, so I've seen a wide range of product from various brands and times. Third, my Dad was an aircraft mechanic at the Phila. Naval Yard for 30 years, serviced the reconnaissance planes on the fields of France during WW2, and worked at putting up the 'moth ball fleet' afterward that last I remembered was still docked in endless rows of dead ships along the Delaware River. He knew tools, worked in a facility with far more mechanics than most auto shops, and saw all kinds of brands being used. He had very strong opinions about tools. Finally, we were always a Sears family. My Dad went to Sears first to buy anything, and I followed suit in many ways even to today. Even my single credit card is a Sears. So there's no unwarranted anti-Sears prejudice in what I'm about to opine....
As an old-timer, I feel for younger people today who are virtually forced to shop, discuss, compare and buy Chiwan tools. can't imagine how this would feel if I was still wrenching and had to do the same with my memory of the way things were as a reference point.
As a Sears patron, I noticed the quality of many items decline across the board. I'd say close to the last twenty years, every major item I purchased had to be returned defective. This includes but not limited to: air compressor, refrigerator, air conditioner, large microwave oven, even a mattress. It got so we'd tell the salesman to make sure they grab the second item back on the shelf because the first is sure to be bad. The compressor leaked oil--the salesman said, "that's impossible, there's no oil it." We just don't buy these big at Sears anymore. Still buy clothes and household though. So some of the Sears-bashing is indeed justified regarding quality, IMO.
As an old timer, I agree with the OP about the emotional aspect of the Sears-bashing, but feel it goes deeper. In a changing world, some things stay the same, things you can trust in and depend on no matter what. In this case, it was like a faithful spouse through thick and thin. Then suddenly, you discover she's been cheating on you. That's the very same feeling I felt about my beloved Sears when I first perused the tool shelves to find everything was made in Chiwan. I felt VIOLATED! Younger folks might not feel this cause they grew up in a different world/time. When you're violated, you feel hurt and angry. Yeah, when you have that kind of family tradition of faithfulness with a company, the violation is real and tangible. To discover that your beloved, the last holdout in a world of deteriorating standards, has become a *****--it hurts. So I sympathize with Craftsman bashers on this level--it's angrily striking back at the offender. And it's real--just like all the other kinds of human choices made on feelings. If feelings weren't real, there'd be no people--choosing mates and bearing children is mostly about acting on feelings.
As a collector, there is a noticeable decline in fit, feel, & finish in Craftsman hand tools over the years. I'm talking about the 'hard' tools like wrenches, sockets & ratchets. The decline seemed to take hold around the end of the EASCO -V- era, early 1980s. The best by far are the =V= marked Moore Drop Forging versions from 1946-1968. EASCO bouhgt Moore, so that's why the quality was still pretty good even through the -V- marked. Deterioration seems to have started sometime within the -VV- mark, and really took hold with the -VA- ("A" being inverted V). The difference in the later ones with the darker chrome is very noticeable (who knows what that is, because I haven't seen this dark chrome on anyone else's tools)--they don't even sound the same when you clank them together. It's real, and those who don't see it either don't know or are in denial, IMO. Will they still turn a nut? Sure.
Lastly, my Dad abhorred Craftsman ratchets, wrenches and screwdrivers. Now mind you, he was commenting on a period of time when the best post-war =v= tools were being made. He said the wrenches didn't fit well, and the open end fork would spread out under pressure. he said the ratchets would fail too frequently and the screwdriver tips would knurl too easily. Never really talked about any of the other CM tools but for him that was enough. And he was a SEARS man through and through! So no prejudice here. And he worked alongside many mechanics with so he saw what all kinds of brands did. He used to tell me, "What good is a guarantee when you've crawled 40 feet up into a bomber wing on your belly and your ratchet slips or your wrench rounds a nut?" He was right, you know. Of course, he also had exposure to federal spec grade contract tools--he liked Bonney, Proto, P&C, the old Thorsen (and their Giller derivatives), and the like. For budget tools he bought contract Lectrolite--those recessed handled ones made in the same factory as the S-K of its time. Oh, he liked Snap-On too. For screwdrivers, he had these grey-handled Navy ones that you could use for chisels, you just can't knurl the tips on them (must be those $200 tools you here about the government buying).
Can the Chinese make good tools? I'm sure of it. But I think it's often like, "We make these, but silly round-eyes want those instead." Look what war machines Japan made in WW2--tell me they couldn't make good tools???? But there's something fundamentally repulsed in my guts--my heart of hearts--to think about buying Chiwan product for my first-line tools. The only wrenches, sockets or ratchets I broke in my time were imported junk tools, but I never used/abused my tools hard enough to ever break one of my first-line tools. Would craftsman been just fine for me? Probably. But that doesn't mean they were great tools, nor negate either my Dad's real-world experiences with them or my collector's observations. To honor him, I have no Craftsman tools in my boxes or chest.
OK. I got it off my chest (so to speak).
As for HF, few would know as I do about the roots of that company and how they first operated as a tool company. Almost went to work with them back in the late 1970s. You'd be surprised. Perhaps I'll post a thread on it in the near future.
