Craftsman Pro vs. Craftsman Industrial

[BevoZ06]

I was doing some online shopping through Grainger today and I noticed they are offering Craftsman Industrial hand tools. They are made in the USA and claimed to be extra heavy duty for professional and industrial use.

Are these a grade up from the Craftsman Professional line of hand tools? Does anyone have personal experience and can offer a comparison? Thanks.

 

[losabio]

I'm not sure about the wrenches, but the CM Industrial ratchets appear to be just plain ole' CM ratchets with slightly better finishing and a different name stamped into 'em. The guts appear to be identical to regular CM stuff. I have a 3/8" QR and a 1/2 round head 45 tooth (60 tooth?) from CM Industrial. I love the 1/2", the very ratchet which is apparently reviled in these parts. The 3/8" QR is in last place on the ratchet roster at my house.

 

[capnrob97]

The wrenches sure look like my USA made Craftsman Professional.

Perhaps they just relabled the USA made professional to industrial and moved professional manufacturing offshore?

 

[BevoZ06]

I did a little searching myself. It looks as if they will be sold through "distributors" such as Grainger, rather than in the Sears retail stores. Maybe soon we will see Craftsman tool trucks making the rounds.

 

[Roots]

Are these a grade up from the Craftsman Professional line of hand tools? Does anyone have personal experience and can offer a comparison? Thanks.

They used to be a grade up from the former professional line, which I thought was discontinued?

Whether they still are or not, I don't recall. I had a meeting with one of their distributors when they were getting ready to relaunch the product line, and wasn't interested.