craftsman quality WOW !

[mbshop]

Went to sears today to just look around. Saw a std 1/4 set for 10.00. As I needed a few sockets I thought thats not bad so I got it. Just got home and looked at it. Seemed ok. Then I tried putting a socket on the ratchet. Hmm, not good. Had to fumble the socket around to fit. All are like that . Most are sloppy on the ratchet. A few are tight.
But one socket could be pulled off easily without pressing the release button. Fit is junk and quality control is none existant. But then what do I expect for 10 bucks ? Lucky its just for home. I also bought a std wrench set for 10 bucks. Its cheaper than buying a few to fill out my set. They look sorta ok but we shall see when I use them. So as everyone has said, craftsman has fallen off the cliff. Makes hf look like a deal.

 

[WWheeler]

This makes me sad. I still luv my old Craftsman Made in USA sockets and RHFT ratchets. I wouldn't trade any of them in a 1-for 4 deal of brand new Snap-On or any other brand. Their sentimental value to me faaaar outweighs 10x what they might fetch on fleabay. I've had them for 35 years or more now. Many are much older than that handed down to me.

It's a damn shame.

 

[mbshop]

Yep, still have a lot of my older well used craftsmen tools. Even used they fit better than the new stuff. I bought std today because I just have a few as I used only metric my whole career. And for sure my older tools do have more sentimental value than dollar value. So as many mentioned, I will continue to look for older craftsman tools. Course I have my mac and snap on stuff but again, no std.

 

[walkerbait]

Weird. Just a few years ago I bought a bunch of Cman socket sets and I didn't think they were too bad. I've since been slowly upgrading to a better brand though.

 

[jd_1138]

Weird. Just a few years ago I bought a bunch of Cman socket sets and I didn't think they were too bad. I've since been slowly upgrading to a better brand though.

You bought CM from the pre-**** era. I fondly recall going down to the mall/Sears in 1996 when I got my first decent job after college and buying 4 or 5 sets of USA Craftsman tools and a toolbox. And if I needed more tools, Sears would be my go to place. I enjoyed their tool catalogs (great to keep in the bathroom). I gave the tools to a nephew a few years back after I bought SK tools.

 

[Kenskip1]

Well what do you expect for $10? Next time do what I did.Go to Walmart and buy Stanley.I did and as a matter of fact the ratchet are tighter than my HF ones are.Sears still has some good tools. I have had a set of combination wrenches that are in near perfect order. This is even after me launching them across the garage a time or two.Take them back.

 

[Stevenn1]

New Stanley for value/quality sockets. I have always went with Snap-on ratchets and extensions. Still got tons of old Craftsman sockets from the mid 1970s and they are still good. No new China Craftsman for me!

 

[mbshop]

Ok, looked at the wrenches. Good grief. The finish is just off. Two box ends are not finished well. Two other ones are off to the side. The smallest one is so thin that it will probably break the first time I use it. Guess that's what warranties are for !

 

[southalabama]

Gearwrench chrome is nice alternative.

 

[L.Cheapo]

Around here, $10 gets you a Spicy Chicken Sandwich value meal at Wendys.

I wouldn't expect much tool for $10, or much from Craftsman anymore for that matter. Sad, really.

 

[gdocktor3]

Let's hope you didn't buy the Evolv line of tools...

The upsetting thing is $10 was the sale price. Deep 1/4" Pittsburgh Pro's are always $10 and possibly better. Oh and there's the 20% coupon. $8....

 

[1950mercury]

Really wow I'm surprised. I just figured everyone else that has been complaining about this for the last for years was just exaggerating....

 

[JAKE-THE-TOOL-MAN]

Let's hope you didn't buy the Evolv line of tools...

The upsetting thing is $10 was the sale price. Deep 1/4" Pittsburgh Pro's are always $10 and possibly better. Oh and there's the 20% coupon. $8....

I agree with this, I bought a small 1/4 Pittsburg pro set to do an emergency repair and it worked well. I had no use for it after so I gifted it to a family member to help their tool collection

 

[Tim37]

It's sad how they have run the craftsman name into the ground.

 

[Tony G]

It's pretty bad when an old and trusted product line cant compete with the quality of Chi-Com ****. That should explain my signature line at the bottom of my posts.

 

[bcradio]

Any pics of the sockets?

It's pretty bad when an old and trusted product line cant compete with the quality of Chi-Com ****.

What "Chi-Com ****" can't it compete with?

 

[Roberts210]

C-Man management does not understand the American tool buyer these days, and that's sad. I have many older C-Man tools, including a great metal-boxed 1/4" socket set that's been with me for 30 years. I use it all the time.

 

[6PTsocket]

Is this their regular Craftsman **** or is it some lower end line? They have always sold low end stuff that was not marked Craftsman. I think they have a line called Evolve. I don't know why everybody is so surprised. They have been on a downward slide for years. The current management is bleeding them dry. Stores have closed. Even the later USA stuff was less than great. Even their pricing is screwed up. The same C'man tool is sometimes cheaper in their K Mart stores. Prices even vary between the regular Sears and Sears tool and appliance stores near me. On other brands tbey are often waaay higher than the average street price. I have no idea how they stay in business. If I want to go cheap I go to Uncle Mao's Dollar Store, Harbor Freight. Even their stuff is not nearly as bad as what you bought. It sounds more like the three buck set of wrenches I saw in Advance Auto Parts. I think you bought something out of their bargain bin



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[sberry]

C-Man management does not understand the American tool buyer these days,

Yes they do, they cant or wont sell it for 20, they are aiming at the guy with the 10 in his pocket who would piss and moan someone had it cheaper if it was 20. We have demanded their price be so low they cant make any money.

 

[Teenager with old tools]

I went to harbor freight got the 3/8 drive in the cheap blue case no names on it or anything. The finish on them looks ugly as all hell but they fit on the ratchet much nicer than new craftsman. Needed the set to keep in my car


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[openwheelracing]

For the majority of Americans, that $10 set is perfectly fine. Craftsman wanted the lowest cost possible, and they got it at a great price from China while still making profit. I never understand why people complain about China as if we don't make garbage tools. There are overpriced made in USA tools that the rest of World won't buy either.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[toolaholic]

Went to sears today to just look around. Saw a std 1/4 set for 10.00. As I needed a few sockets I thought thats not bad so I got it. Just got home and looked at it. Seemed ok. Then I tried putting a socket on the ratchet. Hmm, not good. Had to fumble the socket around to fit. All are like that . Most are sloppy on the ratchet. A few are tight.
But one socket could be pulled off easily without pressing the release button. Fit is junk and quality control is none existant. But then what do I expect for 10 bucks ? Lucky its just for home. I also bought a std wrench set for 10 bucks. Its cheaper than buying a few to fill out my set. They look sorta ok but we shall see when I use them. So as everyone has said, craftsman has fallen off the cliff. Makes hf look like a deal.

go to Lowe's . The Kobalt sets are 9.99 for metric or sae in 1/4. $19.99 for both sae and metric in set. The ones I seen are made in Taiwan

 

[mbshop]

They were marked craftsman. No pics of the socket byt the machining looks like they just ran grooves down the inside and then mashed the top to hold the socket on thus its slop. This is also why the socket doesn't go on smoothly. No, I did not expect much for that price considering the normal price is 20 bucks. Just surprised at how bad they are regardless if the price. Haven't bought any craftsman for about 10 years. That one socket will be taken back for warranty as again it won't even stay on the ratchet.

 

[NUTTSGT]

This is why the tool dept at Sears was literally a ghost town BF morning. When teh tools were USA made, they were of decent quality, especially for the money and lifetime warranty. They would run those $10 ratchet/socket sets or wrench sets and people would buy them up as back ups, gifts or for truck tool boxes. Not anymore.

 

[kwschumm]

In the 70s and 80s I used to buy Craftsman tools. They were pretty good. Usually when buying tools I'd pick up other stuff at Sears while I was there - clothes, household goods, appliances, etc. But the main draw for me to go to Sears was tools.

Now that Craftsman tools are **** there is no reason for me to go to Sears, so they lost all those other purchases that went along with tools. That sort of behavior may be part of the reason why Sears is going belly up.

 

[Empty Pockets]

I have a bunch of older CM USA sockets. As they wear out or break, the current plan is to replace them with either Wright or SK on a piece by piece basis. Since CM went offshore and the quality has gone down, when the older CM stuff fails, the failed tool goes in the scrap bin

 

[zendriver]

C-Man management does not understand the American tool buyer these days, and that's sad. I have many older C-Man tools, including a great metal-boxed 1/4" socket set that's been with me for 30 years. I use it all the time.

Sears understands the American tool buyer perfectly.

They know Americans want American made quality tools, at Chinese made prices.

It doesn't work that way.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

ten bucks will buy a ten buck set of sockets

that is the way it is.

 

[four.cycle]

Sears understands the American tool buyer perfectly.

They know Americans want American made quality tools, at Chinese made prices.

It doesn't work that way.

^ Spot on.
The consumer drives the market, not the other way around. Customers demanded cheaper cheaper cheaper, so that's what they get.

Cheapest 1/4" drive SAE 6-point socket set:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Herbrand-So...552000?hash=item360bffde80:g:G8IAAOSwd0BV67oI
Herbrand 3/16" - 1/2"
Listed as used, but both sets I got appear to be brand new stock.
Triangle era. No COO marked on item. twertsy thinks they're Asian-made, but I'm not sure about that. Definitely not Snap-on, but what do you want for six bucks? Fairly thick-walled - not going to be worth a damn in a tight spot.
That said, still probably way mo' betta than Chinese-made Craftsman.

 

[DFB]

In the 70s and 80s I used to buy Craftsman tools. They were pretty good. Usually when buying tools I'd pick up other stuff at Sears while I was there - clothes, household goods, appliances, etc. But the main draw for me to go to Sears was tools.

Now that Craftsman tools are **** there is no reason for me to go to Sears, so they lost all those other purchases that went along with tools. That sort of behavior may be part of the reason why Sears is going belly up.

You know I just reflected on those same things after my recent Craftsman purchase in maybe a decade's time at a not for long for the future Sears store.

Exactly what you say most of middle America once built a life around it. Sears and the different brand names they represented.

I have lots of Craftsman mechanic tools bought between the very early 80's and mid 90's. And still have my 20 oz Craftsman rip claw hammer and even after buying others it is still one of my best tools along with a fixed belt all leather top grain cowhide 10 pocket tool and nail pouch all bought back when I was 23 and getting into the building trades.

 

[bcradio]

Sears understands the American tool buyer perfectly.

They know Americans want American made quality tools, at Chinese made prices.

It doesn't work that way.

Yes but....

The problem sears has is that they moved production to China instead of Taiwan. Had they moved to Taiwan, the quality would have likely improved over later years US production. Prices would match the current pricing as well.

 

[Cope]

From 1972-1979 I bought a lot of Craftsman tools. My birthday is in October, and they used to have hardware month in October with a lot of 50% off deals. After Christmas they ran the same deal. I asked my family to give me cash, so I used the cash to order from their catalog sales and got twice as much. I remember a deal where they had either 23 metric wrenches for $24 or 24 for $23. The were in a plain cardboard box and wrapped in newspaper. No way I would buy their tools any longer.

 

[jd_1138]

Yes but....

The problem sears has is that they moved production to China instead of Taiwan. Had they moved to Taiwan, the quality would have likely improved over later years US production. Prices would match the current pricing as well.

Sears raced to the bottom in terms of quality. They think customers don't care about quality, COO, etc.. Heck, the customers who only care about price are going to go to Dollar Tree and buy tools made in India or they'll go to HF. Dollar stores have much less overhead (don't have pricey mall rent to pay).

I am not rich by any means, but price is not the main concern for me. I prefer quality, design, COO. Guys like me stopped going there, and the cheapskate guys buy cheaper tools at places other than Sears.

 

[winlinmac]

Husky went to China too for the most part
Remember Craftsman is still in contract with Waterloo for their toolboxes and they're Made in USA with global components in-spite of it being average / not so great quality

 

[kwschumm]

Yes but....

The problem sears has is that they moved production to China instead of Taiwan. Had they moved to Taiwan, the quality would have likely improved over later years US production. Prices would match the current pricing as well.

I participated in manufacture of a product that was outsourced to China. The Chinese can build good quality but companies cannot expect just to send them drawings and have them start building. You cannot just tell them that a wrench has to be a specific grade of steel, you have to be there to verify and supply them with the equipment and training necessary to perform their own verification tests, for every single step of the process. And then you have to do regular follow ups to make sure they haven't decided to purchase raw materials from a cheaper vendor, or start using untrained people to do a job that requires training. American companies are happy to cut corners when outsourcing so quality really suffers. And most American companies don't care.

In our companies situation it ended up costing more to manufacture in China if we wanted to maintain quality, so production was brought back to the states.

 

[Keelhauled]

Yes but....

The problem sears has is that they moved production to China instead of Taiwan. Had they moved to Taiwan, the quality would have likely improved over later years US production. Prices would match the current pricing as well.

I very much doubt that whatever contracts Sears has with their suppliers specifies country of origin. I suspect that where the tool comes from is up to the manufacturer, as long as it meets Sears' price point and whatever quality benchmarks they may have.

In any case Taiwanese tools can break with the best of them, just last week I broke a Taiwan breaker bar on skid steer lugnuts.

 

[FlushingDIYer]

This makes me sad. I still luv my old Craftsman Made in USA sockets and RHFT ratchets. I wouldn't trade any of them in a 1-for 4 deal of brand new Snap-On or any other brand. Their sentimental value to me faaaar outweighs 10x what they might fetch on fleabay. I've had them for 35 years or more now. Many are much older than that handed down to me.

It's a damn shame.

Sentimental value for sure... I am putting tools back into my old Craftsman case (circa 96) as I make a transition to SK and I have to admit, the thought of selling it crossed my mind. But then I was like, nah. They mean something to me.

It's still a better back up set than anything else I could ever find.

And besides, they remind me of wrenching as a kid and ruining those first vehicles!

 

[Cruzan80]

Dollar stores have much less overhead (don't have pricey mall rent to pay).

I am not rich by any means, but price is not the main concern for me. I prefer quality, design, COO. Guys like me stopped going there, and the cheapskate guys buy cheaper tools at places other than Sears.

Actually, Sears owns most of the land their stores are built on (as well as the rest of the mall). That is why you usually see stores in run down malls, where almost everyone else left. Free for them to stay there.

 

[jd_1138]

Sentimental value for sure... I am putting tools back into my old Craftsman case (circa 96) as I make a transition to SK and I have to admit, the thought of selling it crossed my mind. But then I was like, nah. They mean something to me.

It's still a better back up set than anything else I could ever find.

And besides, they remind me of wrenching as a kid and ruining those first vehicles!

Yeah, don't sell them. People are so cheap; they will offer you like $30 for 250 pieces of quality older USA CM. And when you balk, they will reply: "what, you think you are selling Snap-On!?!?!"

Best to keep them as a back up set. I, too, have SK now, and I keep my CM out in the shed and some in the basement workshop. I have pretty much 2 complete sets of older CM so I have a complete set in the shed and one in the basement. SK stuff is in the garage.

 

[valentine]

Sears understands the American tool buyer perfectly.

They know Americans want American made quality tools, at Chinese made prices.

It doesn't work that way.

I think that you are spot on with that statement. Like many other people, I long for the days of walking into Sears and seeing racks and racks of Made in USA tools for good prices. Unfortunately, the vast majority of tool purchasers are not professionals and they don't really care where a tool is made. What they do care about ihe bottom line and cheap prices usually means imported, lower quality tools. The upside of this situation is that the quality of import tools has been on the rise for years. I now have a fairly large collection of tools which originated outside the USA. I didn't buy them based solely on price. I bought them because they were good tools, period. I'd love to say that I only buy USA made products but the world has changed and so have I. I will say that I do miss what Sears used to be like in the old days but I'm unwilling to spend USA made tool truck prices just to say I have American tools. My "International" tool collection is serving me and my family quite well and I'm sure that some of the tools will outlast me.