craftsman screwdriver quality
- Thread starter hiavia
- Start date
ssdave
Banned
Hope is a poor strategy usually. Prepare to be disappointed!
popparoach
Banned
Yeah yeah ,blah blah craftsman ***** etc.go to harbor freight and yackety smackety blah.
Bigblue&Goldie
Well-known member
This is a great thread.
TomB19
Well-known member
Is it just me or has anyone else noticed Craftsman seems to have gone down hill, lately?
Cato
Well-known member
Yeah, sometime around 1965.
SantaAna12
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2012
- Messages
- 1,091
Troll on Cato.
I've got new and old Sears Cman screwdrivers. While the old hot forged ones are definitely better, the new ones are just fine.
Askme42
Well-known member
No thank you for this stunning revelation. No one has brought this fact up before.
How can you tell the difference between the two?
Leaflessshadetree
Well-known member
In the late 80's I noticed a difference between the Craftsman tools I was buying new vs. those that i bought used. Seemed like it was mostly cosmetic but quality kept getting worse. They were still honoring the warranty even on new wrenches that had sloppy fit (not that I broke too many). By the end of the 90s I started breaking the newer tools having trouble getting them to replace/repair anything.
ganymede
Well-known member
Yes. They're from the rally series .
I think they made them in the early 90's.
Pretty neat.
The older ones say "Forged" on the handle.
Never had any problems on my end...
sberry
Banned
I turned in some old beaters and got some new Cman and they are good. If I was looking to set up would consider a super sale set for sure to get my feet wet. I wasn't at all disappointed.
P51Boilermaker
Well-known member
Craftsman has been slowly declining over the years and now that it's outsourced they're all just about garbage.
Since outsourcing, they've used a cheaper grade of steel. This means that to make a wrench as strong as it used to be, you need more steel. A thicker, fatter wrench means it doesn't fit into tight places. Not to mention the tolerances for the box and open end aren't very good anymore.
I'd keep looking if you're anything other than the average DIYer. There's better options out there
Since outsourcing, they've used a cheaper grade of steel. This means that to make a wrench as strong as it used to be, you need more steel. A thicker, fatter wrench means it doesn't fit into tight places. Not to mention the tolerances for the box and open end aren't very good anymore.
I'd keep looking if you're anything other than the average DIYer. There's better options out there
woody 73
Well-known member
Very interesting post from the stand point of 1965 going downhill (some truth in that) and the late 1980's of going way down hill (a lot of truth in that statement).
This is my take... When Stanley got the contract to produce tools in the 1980's things went way down the crapper as they say. Those cheap bastards went to town cutting corners and producing some of the tools in Taiwan; that was the very first alarm bell for me what I would say was a wake-up call.
This is my take... When Stanley got the contract to produce tools in the 1980's things went way down the crapper as they say. Those cheap bastards went to town cutting corners and producing some of the tools in Taiwan; that was the very first alarm bell for me what I would say was a wake-up call.
1950mercury
Well-known member
I can only imagine the tags for this one.
I had a friend call me a few days ago freaking out, all pissed of because he went into a sears for the first time in about 5 years. He had no idea that it's all china. He drove to 5 different stores to find a USA made14 mm professional wrench to warranty. Probably cost him 40 bucks in gas money...
I had a friend call me a few days ago freaking out, all pissed of because he went into a sears for the first time in about 5 years. He had no idea that it's all china. He drove to 5 different stores to find a USA made14 mm professional wrench to warranty. Probably cost him 40 bucks in gas money...
Tags? We ain't got no stinkin' tags...
sberry
Banned
SCscoutguy
Well-known member
The Craftsman screwdrivers are actually one of the few tools that they have now that still seems to be pretty good quality.
Askme42
Well-known member
As pry bars they are decent.
Have any if you all actually used decent screwdrivers? I have the old craftsman pro they are pretty good screwdrivers. I'd be interested in trying the cushion grip the have now. But the old school that's been around forever. I'm not sure they have ever been worth a ****.
I've actually had very few problems with my Craftsman screwdrivers. I've broken about 3 over the years. I think they're still a decent value for US made screwdrivers. I have a Snap On instinct set, and those are very well made, but I hate the handles.
+1
The flat blades are my "go-to" for prying paint cans, mixing epoxy, hitting with a hammer, or grinding into custom shapes. I have found zero uses for the Phillips blades, and won't dare mess up a perfectly good screw using them.
EDIT: I just remembered that the CM Phillips are ideal for removing stubborn oil filters
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theoldwizard1
Well-known member
LATELY !! 99% of my Craftsman is from over 25 years ago. Big slip since then.
Empty Pockets
Well-known member
Lately I have had to warranty a couple CM screwdrivers because the plastic on the handles has begun to flake off........ They are old, and the new ones seem OK.
sberry
Banned
Not every screw needs a masterpiece to turn it. There are less Phillips all the time.
Sanny81
Well-known member
Wait....what happened to the tags
adamc and winlinmac copyrighted all the ones that referenced their utter predictability, and the remaining 2% were retired
ssdave
Banned
+1
I just remembered that the CM Phillips are ideal for removing stubborn oil filters
I've found that they make very good tent pegs, the handles make them much easier to both push into hard ground, and remove when you're finished. Only detriment is they weigh more than the bent aluminum wires furnished with the tent.
Threads like this make me remember that we have a wide range of demands for our tools across the membership. The same tools that will strip out virtually the first time I use them, last many years with others using them. Some that have high quality tools see little difference between them and the cheap ones they also use interchangeably. Some have never broken a socket, others warranty high quality sockets frequently. I guess that's the reason, along with price, that we have a wide variety of tools to choose from, in many different quality levels.
My dad has worked a lifetime with his 1960's Craftsman tools. His phillips screwdrivers are worn out till they almost don't work even on the easiest to remove fasteners, but he blames the cheap chinese screws that you get now a days; they strip out too easily. Most of the wrenches and sockets are still okay, but he babies them by trying to do most of his work with cheap chinese flea market tools "so the good tools won't wear out".
He has a real hard time understanding why I have the assortment of higher end quality stuff I do.
A couple years ago, he was visiting me and we went to a yard sale. They had a lot of tools, and one of the sleeper items was a small snap on tool box with a full set of 1/4" drive stuff in it. SAE and Metric, both regular and deep, driver handles, extensions, 2 ratchets, magnetic socket trays tailored to the sets (snap on supplied) and some misc. stuff. I paid $40 for it. He couldn't believe I would pay that much for a small socket set; he marveled that I didn't know you could get a huge set of 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 inch stuff at the flea market for half of that, and brand new instead of used.
He might want to blame himself because he could have just picked up the phone, called the store and explained what he was looking for. The clerk would have saved him the trip by telling him that they didn't have the USA made ones on the rack.
oldldh
Well-known member
Well, somebody has to be a wisea@#!!!
CRAFTSMAN QUALITY GOES DOWN THE TUBES!!!
To borrow a line from John Gielgud in "Arthur"----
I'LL ALERT THE MEDIA!!!
Big News!!!!
CRAFTSMAN QUALITY GOES DOWN THE TUBES!!!
To borrow a line from John Gielgud in "Arthur"----
I'LL ALERT THE MEDIA!!!
Big News!!!!
Brownsfan
Well-known member
The newer Craftsman Pros are great. Close second in handle comfort to Snap on instinct handles. Tips are great as well. I have a VERY complete set including torx. Try the SK cushion grips they are the same but green in color. Professional quality.
BDT/NWMN
Well-known member
I was in the Grand Forks, ND Sears this past Saturday... Lots of WF screwdriver sets on display... With the sets; the cost runs $1 to $1.50 or so per screwdriver....
What would be a realistic expectation for a screwdriver selling at this price??
For what I paid for mine ten years ago, I haven't been disappointed, and use them allot.. I like the way they feel in my hands, and think my WF sets were a good bargain for the price paid and quality received.
For stubborn screws and times where I prefer a stronger tool; I use my ProTo and SnapOn screwdrivers.. Better quality; but priced accordingly..
What would be a realistic expectation for a screwdriver selling at this price??
For what I paid for mine ten years ago, I haven't been disappointed, and use them allot.. I like the way they feel in my hands, and think my WF sets were a good bargain for the price paid and quality received.
For stubborn screws and times where I prefer a stronger tool; I use my ProTo and SnapOn screwdrivers.. Better quality; but priced accordingly..
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Cato
Well-known member
I don't think Craftsman had much of a choice.
For one, big box stores like Home Depot and Lowes came around selling Chinese tools which worked fine for DYI homeowners and were inexpensive.
Secondly, Snap On trucks began to sell to professionals, winning that market.
So, Sears/Craftsman decided to compete with Home Depot, Lowes, and now Harbor Freight.
Spot on!!