Craftsman USA sighting!

[HiccaBurp]

My local Sears Hardware only has China sets. I stopped at my local Ace Hardware, they had SAE & Metric sets made in the USA and 3/8 drive impact set made in the USA. The rest was China

My first thought was to buy it. But then I started thinking. If something breaks, it will be replaced with a China made replacement. Second, not sure I can support a company that in my mind was always a USA made product, now went to China made? Taiwanese would've been better! I've been looking at the Gearwrench/Grey/Sunex and they are very nice!

 

[n8n]

Old topic, but I agree. I'll only buy Cman USA on clearance or used now for exactly the reasons you describe. Shame, as they were a good value point for general homeowner use and handy in a pinch no matter who you were, even if you generally used "better" tools.

Maybe someday we'll trust Chinese Cman after some hard users can report back positively, but until then, I'm not convinced.

 

[CobraChevelle]

I wouldn't worry bout breaking wrenches, I think I had one fail and it was there CM usa made flex gear wrench

 

[Askme42]

You took a picture of the most common usa made product they sell other than screwdrivers maybe.

 

[HiccaBurp]

You took a picture of the most common usa made product they sell other than screwdrivers maybe.

Have you been to a Sears store lately?? I've been to 2 and all their wrenches and socket sets are the "Made In China" now!

 

[sonvolt]

Have you been to a Sears store lately?? I've been to 2 and all their wrenches and socket sets are the "Made In China" now!

I find that hard to believe, NEVER !!

 

[Askme42]

Have you been to a Sears store lately?? I've been to 2 and all their wrenches and socket sets are the "Made In China" now!

Yep and all the raised panels I had seen were still usa. Didn't realize the went overseas also.

Doesn't really matter if you want usa go with sk or armstrong or wright or the like. Sears will be gone soon and the raised panels aren't great wrenches anyway. I'll soon be upgrading to wrightgrips.

 

[wild cowboy]

there will be PLENTY of USA made Craftsman, both new and used, for very reasonable prices on ebay, long after we are all dead! - they made several billion pieces of this stuff, people!

 

[HiccaBurp]

I find that hard to believe, NEVER !!

Yup! Go to your local Sears store and look at the shame When I read that on GJ post a couple of weeks ago, I had to go look myself. I went thru all the sets of wrenches and sockets... all Chinatastic stuff

 

[Zrexxer]

And heeeeeere we go again!

 

[ikk]

I noticed the sets are all made in china but if you buy the individual wrenches are USA made. Mind you building a set buying the individual wrenches would probably cost 4X as much.

 

[HiccaBurp]

I noticed the sets are all made in china but if you buy the individual wrenches are USA made. Mind you building a set buying the individual wrenches would probably cost 4X as much.

The individuals might still be made in the USA, till the stock runs out! I'm sure they will be replenishing with their Mad In China stuff.

 

[Askme42]

 

[erty67]

exactly. Just stop.

 

[zakmartin]

^^^ The post above this one gave me a migraine. ^^^

 

[Scimmia]

No, because the typos/horrible grammar make it nearly unreadable.

 

[Askme42]

No, because the typos/horrible grammar make it nearly unreadable.

Made an edit and still didn't put a space after any of the punctuation.....

 

[Scimmia]

Not to mention are vs our, they're vs their vs there, no apostrophes at all, multiple missing words, etc.

 

[franzdom]

Craftsman *****.

 

[d.mcfarland]

Yup! Go to your local Sears store and look at the shame When I read that on GJ post a couple of weeks ago, I had to go look myself. I went thru all the sets of wrenches and sockets... all Chinatastic stuff

It was sarcasm. It has been like this for a long time now.

I vote we close Craftsman threads the second the OP says they can't believe stuff is Chinese. Would save a lot of trouble.

 

[HiccaBurp]

It was sarcasm. It has been like this for a long time now.

I vote we close Craftsman threads the second the OP says they can't believe stuff is Chinese. Would save a lot of trouble.

This is news to me.. I don't regularly check forums. With 4 kids and a business, time is limited!! Didn't mean to bring up old news.. sorry :-/

 

[ryanedoyle]

It was sarcasm. It has been like this for a long time now.

I vote we close Craftsman threads the second the OP says they can't believe stuff is Chinese. Would save a lot of trouble.

I know these old threads are a pain in the *** for you but for us newbies to the form I enjoy reading about this stuff. Heck it took me this long to find a community this awesome I read just about everything I can find. I will be honest and say I am truly enjoying all the threads and comments.

 

[Hpozzuoli]

I was at a mall the other day I don't normally go to. I was passing by one of those shoe stores that are in every other stall. I saw a pair of boots that caught my eye. They were Craftsman. I had no idea they made boots, but it didn't suprise me either. Of course they were made in China. Not my style of boot, but seemed sturdy.

 

[Farmall450]

And heeeeeere we go again!

 

[reader2580]

For me, there is no reason to pay the money for Craftsman if it isn't Made in the USA. I can get similar tools for less elsewhere.

I don't yet have any Snap-On, S-K, Matco, or Armstrong tools, but I expect I will in the future even as expensive as they are. I do have a few Wright tools. I purposely paid extra for Made in USA Wright when I could have had imports for half the price.

 

[d.mcfarland]

I know these old threads are a pain in the *** for you but for us newbies to the form I enjoy reading about this stuff. Heck it took me this long to find a community this awesome I read just about everything I can find. I will be honest and say I am truly enjoying all the threads and comments.

Yes, I see your point, but a few hours of reading and you will know most of the up to date information and know what is going on. The first time you know it's cool to have that info, but after that it gets old quick you'll find out.

 

[oak_park]

The local Sears Outlet stores around Chicago have tons of those USA made wrench sets iin 12 and 6 point. The 9 pc set is 12.99. They've been there since they cleared out the Craftsman Industrial tools.

 

[n8n]

The local Sears Outlet stores around Chicago have tons of those USA made wrench sets iin 12 and 6 point. The 9 pc set is 12.99. They've been there since they cleared out the Craftsman Industrial tools.

well hell send me a few metric 12 point sets... can't find 'em around here for love nor money, even used it seems. Either I pay more and get Taiwan GearWrench or about 10x that and get US SK or Wright...

 

[Askme42]

well hell send me a few metric 12 point sets... can't find 'em around here for love nor money, even used it seems. Either I pay more and get Taiwan GearWrench or about 10x that and get US SK or Wright...

Wrightgrips it is

 

[Brownsfan]

I just bought some sae and metric t-handle nut drivers on closeout for $26. USA made. Been wanting to upgrade from the standard Craftsmans to something nicer. I also have the sae and metric hex t-handles as well as the tamperproof torx set. All USA made. The nut drivers are gone now and the other sets are now China made. They are all high quality stuff and its a shame they aren't anymore. Great tools at good prices. Now mediocre tools at too high prices for what they are.

 

[1950mercury]

The last few years of rp usa wrenches are junk anyways

 

[defektes]

The individuals might still be made in the USA, till the stock runs out! I'm sure they will be replenishing with their Mad In China stuff.

Buy a set and warranty for USA, when they try to refuse.. You were not "satisfied" with the Chinese made product..which is covered by warranty.

What is it? If any Craftsman hand tool ever fails to give complete satisfaction...


Sears also lost a customer in me with their outsourcing. SK got a lot of my money.

 

[littleponderosa]

Just in the local Sears today - 100 miles out - to replace a bad 3/8" ratchet. The gent that helped me told me they no longer made that model, I told him I thought so and he then asks me if I wanted a USA made replacement. Of course I told him and off to the register we went, dug underneath the machine in a small storage container and pulled out another ratchet. Asked me if that would do, I said yes and what was the chance of digging thru that box? Zero, these were USA made tools that would be given on a first come/first serve for replacement till they are gone. So I asked him what he had on the shelves that was still USA made, and he told me nothing.
Sad, but true.
Bill

 

[1950mercury]

Just in the local Sears today - 100 miles out - to replace a bad 3/8" ratchet. The gent that helped me told me they no longer made that model, I told him I thought so and he then asks me if I wanted a USA made replacement. Of course I told him and off to the register we went, dug underneath the machine in a small storage container and pulled out another ratchet. Asked me if that would do, I said yes and what was the chance of digging thru that box? Zero, these were USA made tools that would be given on a first come/first serve for replacement till they are gone. So I asked him what he had on the shelves that was still USA made, and he told me nothing.
Sad, but true.
Bill

The couple of local sears buy me has a box of used rebuilt ratchets that they replace broken ratchets with and you can rummage through the box but most are roached

 

[wild cowboy]

just because a Craftsman ratchet is imported, don't assume it is all China **** - one of the best performing ratchets (and toughest) that I have bought in years is imported from Taiwan by Sears - this one: www.sears.com/craftsman-3-8-in-drive-full-polish-long-handle/p-00944833000P

also, fit and finish on this ratchet is as nice as any that I have bought off a tool truck

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

I know I know... the dead horse thing.. yep yep.. count me guilty..

There is some wildly hopeful imagination of mine that Craftsman and / or Sears has people who peruse the web chat boards and collect data from people like us that are (or have been) Craftsman fanatics.. I know about the theories of their CEO wanting to drive them into the dirt (and he's doing a bang up job of it).. IF anyone is paying attention at Sears, they have to know that their Craftsman line is in trouble, and that Craftsman pulls (or use to pull) people like us into their stores to buy not only tools but a host of other things.. Personally: appliances, indoor ~ outdoor furniture / grills, occasionally shoes/clothes, etc.. E.g. I use to be a Diehard safety shoe fanatic about 20 years ago, but they switched suppliers and the size/shape just didn't work for me anymore..so I've been buying from the shoe truck at work ever since. In my opinion, they have lost their appeal as a destination shopping experience and are now competing on a commodity basis which they are loosing at horribly.

Se la vie..

Dennis

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

I know I know... the dead horse thing.. yep yep.. count me guilty..

There is some wildly hopeful imagination of mine that Craftsman and / or Sears has people who peruse the web chat boards and collect data from people like us that are (or have been) Craftsman fanatics.. I know about the theories of their CEO wanting to drive them into the dirt (and he's doing a bang up job of it).. IF anyone is paying attention at Sears, they have to know that their Craftsman line is in trouble, and that Craftsman pulls (or use to pull) people like us into their stores to buy not only tools but a host of other things.. Personally: appliances, indoor ~ outdoor furniture / grills, occasionally shoes/clothes, etc.. E.g. I use to be a Diehard safety shoe fanatic about 20 years ago, but they switched suppliers and the size/shape just didn't work for me anymore..so I've been buying from the shoe truck at work ever since. In my opinion, they have lost their appeal as a destination shopping experience and are now competing on a commodity basis which they are loosing at horribly.

Se la vie..

Dennis

OK, count me guilty of pummeling a dead horse. After 31 years of being a loyal (admittedly less so over the past 3-5 with the Sears offshoring push) Sears charge customer, I get a letter today declaring my/my wife's account as being inactive and therefore Sears is forced to lower my credit limit unless I make a credit / charge purchase within roughly 2.5 months... WTF? Not that I give a rats a$$.. but that's really balzy.... I guess its time to send them a real message and cancel it... Sheesh. I'm wondering if that will show up on my credit report??

Sorry about the whining and guts going everywhere...

 

[bubinga]

No, Thats B/S
They got a lot of nerve.
I have had CC company's cancel my account for not using it.

 

[1950mercury]

No, Thats B/S
They got a lot of nerve.
I have had CC company's cancel my account for not using it.

You want some cheese with that wine.

 

[Mohawk Dave]

You want some cheese with that wine.

You're on a good one tonight Merc!