Put the old Craftsman USA to work today

[JulianMorrow]

I needed to change the spark plugs on my John Deere riding mower, and ahoy!—the plugs take an SAE 5/8”. All of my current tools are metric, so I went into my old man’s toolbox & found a deep Craftsman USA 5/8" spark plug socket. I haven’t used those sockets in years. It took a 3/8” drive, so I put my new Titan flexhead ratchet to work (yes!).

I must admit, due to sheer laziness I’ve never changed the plugs in that mower before, even though it’s 10 years old. Those were factory plugs (Champion) & I thought it might be a difficult job, with the real possibility of snapping a plug off. But the spark plugs came right out. The Craftsman socket worked like a champ after sitting in a toolbox for the better part of a decade. I kept that old stuff around more for sentimental reasons. But after that job, I’m glad I held on to those tools.

 

[Shehzada]

Interesting

Sent from my mobile device

 

[JulianMorrow]

Do you guys still use SAE sockets with any frequency? All of my vehicles are metric. I only use SAE for my riding lawnmower--replacing the blades and now the spark plugs. I suppose if you're a mechanic, you'd need SAE sets to work on older vehicles.

 

[SweetD]

Both of my Johnson OB motors use SAE, so yes I find myself using them quite a bit on those. Same with the older two-smoke stuff like the Toro snowblower. The two Subarus and the Tacoma, not so much!

Around the house too on various things, once in awhile, is SAE...

 

[Corvair]

All SAE on my '66 Corvair. I have alot more SAE than metric.

 

[JulianMorrow]

All SAE on my '66 Corvair. I have alot more SAE than metric.

My mum had a corvair back in the early '70s. It was cherry red, with a big plastic sunflower on top of the antenna, lol.

Can I ask what size engine is in your corvair. My first car was a '67 Camaro with a 327 V8. That was a fast ride.

 

[bonneyman]

OP

I've got an older set of Craftsman stuff around for just such jobs.

 

[Prospecter]

My Caravan and Dakota, Deere, and lawn are a mix. My woodshop equipment is older and mostly SAE. Hardware for home projects is mostly SAE. So I use both.

 

[Corvair]

My mum had a corvair back in the early '70s. It was cherry red, with a big plastic sunflower on top of the antenna, lol.

Can I ask what size engine is in your corvair. My first car was a '67 Camaro with a 327 V8. That was a fast ride.

164 cu in 110hp. It's no Camaro, but it's a fun car. My dad had a Corvair back in the mid 60s (before I was even born) and he always said he liked the car which sparked my interest in them.

 

[seanb02]

I still use SAE far more often than I do metric. Newer tractors such as New Holland are generally metric as are a lot of the automotive related stuff I work on. But for the most part farm implements and miscellaneous stuff that comes through my shop is still SAE. I could never get by with just one or the other, I need both. Surprisingly enough the 78 GMC I have torn apart in the shop right now is a mix of SAE and metric, for some reason I didn't think they started that transition until the mid 80's.

 

[yrly]

Do you guys still use SAE sockets with any frequency? All of my vehicles are metric. I only use SAE for my riding lawnmower--replacing the blades and now the spark plugs. I suppose if you're a mechanic, you'd need SAE sets to work on older vehicles.

I do a lot of small engine work and yard equipment work, a lot of that stuff is SAE. I still have quite a few older cars. Ford still throws occasional SAE stuff on newer cars seemingly at random.

 

[yrly]

I still use SAE far more often than I do metric. Newer tractors such as New Holland are generally metric as are a lot of the automotive related stuff I work on. But for the most part farm implements and miscellaneous stuff that comes through my shop is still SAE. I could never get by with just one or the other, I need both. Surprisingly enough the 78 GMC I have torn apart in the shop right now is a mix of SAE and metric, for some reason I didn't think they started that transition until the mid 80's.

What you really need is Metrinch

 

[seanb02]

What you really need is Metrinch

I have a full set of adjustable wrenches just for that purpose! Actually don't use them all that much, but there are times when an adjustable is the only way to get something off such as in cases where there is a large nut on the end of an axle shaft that gets pulled through the dirt eventually it isn't the same size anymore. Or on big nuts where an impact won't touch it getting an adjustable good and tight on it and hitting it hard with a sledge will get it loose. But I'm getting a bit off topic now...

 

[Jazz1]

My '41 IHC is all SAE as well as my '73 MIGHTY SS16. My Craftsmans SAE set I bought in '80 still needed

 

[Kent_B]

My tractor is all SAE. All our cars are metric. I set up my HF 4-drawer tool cart with tractor tools and the roller holds all the metric. Not everyone's ideal system, but it works for me.

 

[johninct]

I use SAE way more than metric.

 

[The Fall]

The shop works on pre-1975 domestic vehicles. It's all SAE.

 

[bonneyman]

What you really need is Metrinch

Got a partial set of those, too!

Too bad I don't have any of those in deep sockets. That's alot of where I need SAE these days. Did they even make deeps?

 

[Jim C.]

Do you guys still use SAE sockets with any frequency?......

Way more than metric..... Oh yeah, and 95% of my sockets, wrenches, ratchets, etc. are Craftsman.

Jim C.

 

[bonneyman]

Way more than metric.....

Sweet motor!

 

[DFB]

Ya most often all SAE fasteners for me too...my motorcycles, my riding mower, tiller, waterpump.

Same at work, most of the farm equipment is still SAE... trailers, tractor mounted tiller, rotary cutters, sprayer. All the greenhouse frames are all assembled with standard sizing head bolt and nut fasteners. Often use 7/16" 1/2" 9/16" and 3/4" along with 3/8" and 5/16" for driving drilling self tappers.


My biggest metric use is on my own CUT and the work tractors.

 

[abachman]

I use SAE almost exclusively... but then again, most of what I do is on OLD cars/trucks, mainly from the 30's. depends on what you are working on...

 

[yrly]

Got a partial set of those, too!

Too bad I don't have any of those in deep sockets. That's alot of where I need SAE these days. Did they even make deeps?

Yeah the expensive sets have them. They used to sell them individually or as a set too, but I think the standalone deep set is only impact these days and the most complete with 15 sockets. I believe my dad has the deep impact set.

 

[mikegt4]

164 cu in 110hp. It's no Camaro, but it's a fun car. My dad had a Corvair back in the mid 60s (before I was even born) and he always said he liked the car which sparked my interest in them.

Corvairs were fun cars especially the later models w/o the swing axles. I had a 1966 Corsa 180 hp turbo back in the mid 1970's, it was quite a sleeper. Drove it coast to coast and eventually sold it to my brother who drove it until it returned to the earth in the form of iron oxide. One of my favorite Corvair photos.

Back to OP, I have full sets of SAE and metric as I have vehicles/tractors of both persuasions.