Some Stanley Screwdrivers Still US-Made?

[kythri]

I was buying motor oil over at Wal-Mart last week, and walked down the tool aisle. Saw a 4-piece screwdriver "set" for $7.27 - Red/Translucent Yellow-handled Standards (4"-1/4" and 3"-3/16") and Blue/Translucent Yellow-handled Phillips (4" #2 and a 4" #1 (package said 3", but it's a 4"). Snagged it, as people keep walking off with screwdrivers. These are now staying in my laptop bag.

Was surprised to see them made in the USA. the black-and-yellow handled ones on the shelf were imports.

Can't find this particular package on the website, nor any with this same style of handle. Old stock being worked out, or... ??

 

[HandyManny]

Stanley still make many tools and products here in the USA. It's just a hunt to find them sometimes, that's all. Lowes and Home Depot still carry some USA made Stanley tools as well. Most of Stanley's lower tier Asian made stuff is sold through places like Walmart. So I'm equally surprised to hear of the Stanley stuff from walmart still being USA made.

Most of the good quality USA made Stanley screwdrivers are acquired from industrial suppliers. I really like the 100PLUS screwdrivers. Still made here, still priced right, and still durable quality.

The thing about Stanley products, no matter what the country of origin.....Every trade uses them. People here rant all the time about what makes or is defined as a professional grade tool. Just look inside any professionals tool box or kit and you'll find at least a couple Stanley products, be it a utility knife, tape measure, or screwdriver or anything else, even Bostich pnuematic tool. So much for what constitutes a profesional grade tool......Everyone uses Stanley.

 

[64merc]

I actually saw those USA screwdrivers at Walmart some months back. I was surpised to see them as well. I think Walmart put them there to shut us up.

 

[bchee]

Saw a 4-piece screwdriver "set" for $7.27 - Red/Translucent Yellow-handled Standards (4"-1/4" and 3"-3/16") and Blue/Translucent Yellow-handled Phillips (4" #2 and a 4" #1 (package said 3", but it's a 4"). ?

I know which ones you're talking about. I've seen them too

 

[HandyManny]

All I can say is snag them up if you see em. If they fail, you know they are junk. If they hold up well to use, then you know you scored big time

I'm not a big fan of buying tools at places like Walmart or Target etc, but I will say that Walmart actually has more USA made products than most people give them credit for (not talking about tools there). The thing is that you just have to look and you'll find them. Trust me. I once spent a several hour standed in a Walmart during a sever snow storm. I was surprised by what I saw when you search long enough.

 

[bchee]

You know who else has USA made stuff that you might not expect? The dollar store.

 

[loubapache]

I was at Wal-Mart today and took a look at these screwdrivers and also the others (black/yellow handles).

These have Made in USA with global components but there is "USA" on the handle.

The others also have Made in USA with global components but no "USA" on handles.

So I did not buy because they are all made in USA, LOL.

 

[senlow]

They may be marked USA, but how can the buyer be sure. Stanley has misrepresented the country of origin before. I would not be surprised if they do it again.

 

[kythri]

Ultimately, the only people who know would be the ones making them (or the ones opening the cargo containers from the boat ), but since Stanley was the one reamed for the whole "Made in USA" bit, I'd imagine that they'd be the last person to abuse it again, due to being on the FTC's radar.

So far, I've made a decent amount of use of both of the Phillips. The #2 did a great job of taking out some partially stripped and completely cross-threaded rack screws, so I'm quite happy with it.

 

[loubapache]

I finally bought these screwdrivers today from Meijer (A chain store in the mid-west) for $6.99.

 

[Notwerk]

I bought my dad some USA Stanley screwdrivers at Home Depot a few months ago. They're not shabby.

Stanley also makes tape measures, utility knives and some hacksaws in the USA still. They also make a USA hobby knife, which I found at Home Depot as well -- a pleasant surprise because the X-acto brand went overseas a while ago. Also some pretty sharp No. 2 hobby blades by Personna, made in the USA.

I wonder if Stanley also makes those USA Husky Pro brand screwdrivers. It would make sense, but I'm speculating.

 

[Boiler]

If you can buy a set of screwdrivers from China for seven bucks due to cheap labor and subsidies, how do you produce a quality set in the USA for seven bucks? They'd have to make themselves...

My guess is their actually foreign, or a P.O.S., or both.

You might have made in the USA stuff at Walmart, but the way they hammer their suppliers to lower the price, you have to wonder what their cutting out to get the stuff so cheap.

 

[Notwerk]

If you can buy a set of screwdrivers from China for seven bucks due to cheap labor and subsidies, how do you produce a quality set in the USA for seven bucks? They'd have to make themselves...

My guess is their actually foreign, or a P.O.S., or both.

You might have made in the USA stuff at Walmart, but the way they hammer their suppliers to lower the price, you have to wonder what their cutting out to get the stuff so cheap.

Or perhaps they simply offset the cost with higher volume/economies of scale. I wouldn't speculate about the quality of the product based on the cost. When you supply to Walmart, you're moving products in quantities that very few manufacturers will ever see.

Granted, they're not Snap-on quality, I'm sure. But Walmart's consumers are looking for a set of screwdrivers to keep around the house. If these meet that requirement for a low price -- and also happens to be USA-made -- then everyone wins, no?

In my experience, that is the case.

 

[AZ_Catskinner]

I bought my dad some USA Stanley screwdrivers at Home Depot a few months ago. They're not shabby.

Stanley also makes tape measures, utility knives and some hacksaws in the USA still. They also make a USA hobby knife, which I found at Home Depot as well -- a pleasant surprise because the X-acto brand went overseas a while ago. Also some pretty sharp No. 2 hobby blades by Personna, made in the USA.

I wonder if Stanley also makes those USA Husky Pro brand screwdrivers. It would make sense, but I'm speculating.

I think that the Husky Pro screwdrivers are Western Forge.

 

[honcho]

I suspect that manufacturing inexpensive screwdrivers is a highly automated process and labor is only a very tiny portion of the cost of the final product. Therefore, USA factories can compete provided that the cost of the raw materials and manufacturing machinery is comparable at different manufacturing locations around the world . Higher grade screwdriver products likely take more labor intensive steps such as grinding and heat treating. A big problem for some manufacturers in the USA now is that so much raw material processing is done overseas (China), especially steel, plastics, etc.... it's hard to not just go ahead and manufacture the whole product outside the USA if all the components save the labor are coming from foreign sources. Chaco, a division of Red Wing Shoes, was manufacturing in Colorado but virtually all of the components were coming from China. It made little economic sense for them to import components to assemble in the USA. Same thing with Cannondale Bicycles. Plenty of good welders in Taiwan and China and the components were already being made there so the next step was to build the complete bicycle.

 

[loubapache]

These are the screwdrivers in this thread. There is USA in the handles.

 

[Kev442]

My Menards ad this week has Channelock screwdrivers in it. I investigated on the website, made in China. Sears has a Craftsman set on ad for the same price, Made in USA. Time to take a ride to Sears for the first time in a long, long time.

http://www.craftsman.com/shc/s/p_10155_12602_00941608000P?keyword=00941608&sLevel=0&prop17=

 

[loubapache]

I bought the Menards Channelock screwdrivers today. I knew they were made in China but still got them based on the features and some comments here in this forum.

 

[Gregg33]

Lots of screwdriver brands are still domestically made, well at least one of their lines are or they assembled domestically..Stanley, Klein, Kobalt and U.S. Craftsman are American made, RONA, Fuller and Cdn Craftsman are Cdn made. That's not even counting non-mass marketed brands like SO and Gray. If anything screwdrivers are one of the easiest tools to find that's domestically made, try finding a U.S. made extension cord or floor jack without going to a specialty store or website!

 

[dieselmike]

If you can buy a set of screwdrivers from China for seven bucks due to cheap labor and subsidies, how do you produce a quality set in the USA for seven bucks? They'd have to make themselves...


My guess is their actually foreign, or a P.O.S., or both.

You might have made in the USA stuff at Walmart, but the way they hammer their suppliers to lower the price, you have to wonder what their cutting out to get the stuff so cheap.

PROFIT.

all these corporations make tons of cash, they all make money selling made in USA stuff, they just make more from chinese ****