Craftsman Industrial Sockets

[cattleranchmarch]

I just got two sets at Sears Outlet and was impressed with the quality over the normal Craftsman Sockets. Am I the only one that thinks this?

 

[larryq]

There's a discussion in the Hot Threads forum about a sale on Craftsman Industrial sockets, and how one person received a Masterforce substitute in one piece. Apparently they're made by Danaher and stamped under a variety of brands, possibly including Matco? (there's a lot of shared tooling between Gearwrench-Craftsman-Armstrong and, I believe, Matco. Corrections welcome.)

So it's possible (likely?) Craftsman industrial and some of their chrome sockets share the same forging as Armstrong and Matco. And the quality as well. I've got a set of Craftsman industrial impact sockets and have no complaints.

 

[rshadd]

I bought a few sets. They're really nice.

 

[03protege]

I really like mine, I haven't found any out of spec ones yet where some new Craftsman sockets I have come across had noticeably deformed hex's (usually on the smaller sizes)

 

[allinon72]

I like them a lot too. But they are no different or any more "industrial" than their regular sockets.

 

[shoturtle]

I like them a lot too. But they are no different or any more "industrial" than their regular sockets.

+1, they really are the same as the regular ones. Seen allot of cman industrail form grainger through work. They are no different then the regulars. Some even have the so call deform hex on the smaller size. But they still grip properly. Just like the armstrongs with the deform hex.

 

[dsmnickk90]

I dont have a sears outlet locally. But Id bet the same they same sockets with a doffrent stamp and maybe slight bit better QC. I know my regular Cman and Armstrong are pretty much the same its hard to tell them apart.

 

[kiatech]

Ever since I moved from the rust belt I haven't broken a single socket and yes they are craftsman with all different date codes.

 

[Fastbird]

I like the CM Industrial Impact Sockets I picked up. I noticed they had a "K" stamping on them. Wondering if they're S-K made?

 

[bobcatdan]

I'm thinking the industirals are are the same as the normal USA sockets. Craftmans sockets were always pretty good and I doubt anything changed except the stamping. I own a couple armstrong sets another then the name are identical to craftsman. Matco sockets on the other hand are their own critter. Has anybody noticed any hard difference with the industrial line from the old USA line?

 

[dsmnickk90]

I like the CM Industrial Impact Sockets I picked up. I noticed they had a "K" stamping on them. Wondering if they're S-K made?

Doubt it they are probably Armstrong made just like the old USA sockets.

 

[pipsters]

If they were SK made you would see the chrome difference. SK chrome is hard to describe, it looks really really good. Sockets are shaped differently too.

"K" could also be a faction of "GK" who makes the Craftsman sockets as well. It's a Danaher date code.

 

[zakmartin]

There is absolutely no difference between the Craftsman Industrial sockets and the regular Craftsman sockets that are sold today. The associate I've been buying from for many years told me it was basically a gimmick to make government sales. I've compared my industrial sockets to my regular ones, and to be honest, I had more flawed Industrial ones than regular ones. Granted, my regular sockets are from the 1980's and 1990's, when Craftsman tools were actually a decent brand. One of my Industrial sockets is stamped so bad, the writing looks like it melts off the end. Like everything Craftsman sells today, their tools are hit and miss.

To comment on a thread posted above, my Armstrong sockets are FAR better than my Craftsman Industrial sockets. If they're made in the same factory, they make them very, very differently. I've been finding that it's hard to go wrong with Armstrong.

 

[Fedwrench]

To comment on a thread posted above, my Armstrong sockets are FAR better than my Craftsman Industrial sockets. If they're made in the same factory, they make them very, very differently. I've been finding that it's hard to go wrong with Armstrong.

Perhaps your Armstrongs are older. The current chrome Armstrong sockets are the same as off the shelf US made Craftsmans down to the double detent retention cut outs on the square drive end.

 

[bobcatdan]

I can't speak for all drive sizes, but 1/4" is identical.