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Craftsman tool stamping

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acecobra

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Mar 6, 2016
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Has anyone figured out the S-AD stamping ?
I have the 334 piece set which has that stamping on the sockets and D-AD on the ratchets and I thinks wrenches to. The box did say made in China and I can tell that the ratchets are made in China but the sockets look visually similar to Armstrong sockets and the wrenches are polished which are really good quality as well
 
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PureLeaf

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If it doesn't say USA, its very very unlikely that it is. Most companies realize stamping USA onto any product (be it a tool or not) is a selling point and is seen by many as a sign of quality, whether it is actually or not.

Few companies have even got in trouble for saying made in the USA if it was not. Leatherman is one that comes to mind.
 
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Loscaldazar

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S is the factory (there are a few in China, D is another) and AD means it was made in 2014 (A=1, Z=26, therefore, AD=14). It's a common date stamping code that several manufacturers use.
 
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acecobra

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Welp I just died a little inside.
But tbh the quality is not that bad except 2 sockets. They have been hold up very well surprisingly
 
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acecobra

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This *****, I started working on my car when I was in middle school and I was using crappy made in China tools.Until my dad got me my first air compressor with an impact and air wrench along with the 22 piece metric craftsman set and I used that until I bought this set which I assumed it was still USA made. I feel bad for everyone who's getting their first tool set which is most likely made in China
Honestly I'm not that type on consumer that wants everything USA made even though I understand where they are coming from, but growing up my dad told me always buy USA made tools.
Don't get me wrong the quality isn't that bad but not having that made in USA stamp is not sitting well with me but at this point sadly I can't do anything about it
 
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MilwaukeeFish

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Chalk it up as a learning experience. Use the tools you have now and start digging through the forum. You will quickly get a crash-course on US made tools just by absorbing the info here. Save up some money and you'll be able to start buying some quality tools regardless of where they are made. You do not have to get on a tool truck to get some top-shelf quality USA tools. Also European companies are making some awesome tools. Taiwan makes some really good tools too, but you have to do your homework.
 
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RedneckWelder

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acecobra said:
This *****, I started working on my car when I was in middle school and I was using crappy made in China tools.Until my dad got me my first air compressor with an impact and air wrench along with the 22 piece metric craftsman set and I used that until I bought this set which I assumed it was still USA made. I feel bad for everyone who's getting their first tool set which is most likely made in China
Honestly I'm not that type on consumer that wants everything USA made even though I understand where they are coming from, but growing up my dad told me always buy USA made tools.
Don't get me wrong the quality isn't that bad but not having that made in USA stamp is not sitting well with me but at this point sadly I can't do anything about it
Click to expand...

Don't feel too bad about it. The last couple years of Craftsman USA were of such ****** quality that they may as well have been Chinese made.
 
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acecobra

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This funny thing is that they seem pretty solid and visually similar to Armstrong
As for truck brands I recognize the quality but can't accept their superiority
 
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Citation

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My made in the USA ratchet seems no better or worse than the made in China version from Sears. Other than the plastic selector switch (which hasn't let me down) I see no reason why my ratchet is worst than the older Sears ratchets. I understand and prefer made in the US tools but I don't get the bash Craftsman just because they are made in China stuff. I had older (almost 20 years) socket and a set of S-AE sockets that I bought recently. I see no reason to prefer one vs the other (other than the 6 vs 12 point cases).

Basically I don't see this drop in quality some are claiming.
 
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acecobra

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Do any of you guys know the type of steel and composition used in Armstrong and craftsman sockets include the made in China ones ?
 
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Jim Diesel

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Citation said:
My made in the USA ratchet seems no better or worse than the made in China version from Sears. Other than the plastic selector switch (which hasn't let me down) I see no reason why my ratchet is worst than the older Sears ratchets. I understand and prefer made in the US tools but I don't get the bash Craftsman just because they are made in China stuff. I had older (almost 20 years) socket and a set of S-AE sockets that I bought recently. I see no reason to prefer one vs the other (other than the 6 vs 12 point cases).

Basically I don't see this drop in quality some are claiming.
Click to expand...

I feel the same about the GearWrench ratchet spanners. Although made in China, they have never let me down and still backed by a life time warranty. For the price you cant go wrong, as long as you use them as designed.
 
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Loscaldazar

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acecobra said:
Do any of you guys know the type of steel and composition used in Armstrong and craftsman sockets include the made in China ones ?
Click to expand...

Unless they've done extensive material analysis on it, all of that is proprietary knowledge and anyone who claims to know is either giving away trade secrets or lying. It's probably some variation of chrome vanadium steel (as it is a pretty common tool steel used for sockets), but the specific type of Chrome vanadium (if it even is that) is going to be impossible to find out.
 
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drink

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Loscaldazar said:
Unless they've done extensive material analysis on it, all of that is proprietary knowledge and anyone who claims to know is either giving away trade secrets or lying. It's probably some variation of chrome vanadium steel (as it is a pretty common tool steel used for sockets), but the specific type of Chrome vanadium (if it even is that) is going to be impossible to find out.
Click to expand...

I thought I had posted to this thread already.......maybe my comments got deleted. Who knows?

As far as I know the spec on the Craftsman sockets is alloy steel, and the spec on the Armstrong sockets is high alloy steel. Big difference. The Armstrong sockets are much stronger than Craftsman regardless if they are made in USA or offshore.
 
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