There is some hope.

[kiatech]

Local store here carries craftsman and its ONLY USA made!

 

[Negen]

I might not be understanding this correctly? But I have a full set of those in 1/4", 3/8 and 1/2" made in USA industrial craftsmen. The ratchets I have in all sizes are nothing to be proud of. I pretty much stopped using them I just leave them at work. They work just fine but it just a bit sad that dirt cheap Taiwan made ratchets are smoother and less slop and hold sockets in place tighter. But I do like my mid 90's made in usa craftsmen. I have given up on any modern craftsmen products regardless of what the COO is.

 

[Major Ramifications]

What kind of store? Sears? Ace?

 

[SCscoutguy]

It is sad that the new Chinese made Craftsman ratchets are actually better quality than the Danaher USA made ones of the last 15 years.

 

[bobcatdan]

Is the craftsman industrial in anyways better then standard craftsman COO besides? I have had little love for most, not all of craftsman's offerings since 2000 or so.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Around here the Ace stores still has a lot of usa made craftsman tools, But our Sears and K-mart has mostly over sea's tools

 

[dede2897234]

What kind of store? Sears? Ace?

Major Ramifications,

The store's name is The Andersons. They are located in the Toledo, OH area and Columbus, OH. Here is the link to their website: LINK. I have been inside one a few times. It's a cross between a Home Depot, a Bed Bath and Beyond, a furniture store, and a large supermarket. In addition, their is a Tony Packos restaurant inside the store. Amazing place!!!

As far as the Craftsman Industrial USA set offerings in the store, they are overpriced. The sets are nothing new except the same raised panel ratchets and breaker bars with the stamping "Craftsman Industrial" on the handle and new blow mold case. The individual sold wrenches hanging on the pegs (are China made; no COO on wrenches) are overpriced.


Dave

 

[jeffmoss26]

I loved The Andersons when I was in Toledo - heard rumor of them selling Craftsman at one point and I guess it came true!

 

[Brownsfan]

They sell a mix of the standard China Craftsman and the industrial. It's a really cool store. They used to sell USA made Allen before. Nice selection of power tools and a big Klein tools display. I go every time I am in toledo or columbus. All the loose wrenches I saw were USA but the loose ratchets were China. They also sell the regular craftsman screwdrivers and pliers.

 

[1950mercury]

No there is not. Don't kid yourself

 

[HanShotFirst]

I might not be understanding this correctly? But I have a full set of those in 1/4", 3/8 and 1/2" made in USA industrial craftsmen. The ratchets I have in all sizes are nothing to be proud of. I pretty much stopped using them I just leave them at work. They work just fine but it just a bit sad that dirt cheap Taiwan made ratchets are smoother and less slop and hold sockets in place tighter. But I do like my mid 90's made in usa craftsmen. I have given up on any modern craftsmen products regardless of what the COO is.

I have always liked Craftsman sockets, just wish they made them in 6 point rather than all 12 point. But to be honest, it's never been a problem for me, just a preference.

US Craftsman wrenches are broached very accurate and fit fasteners very well, but they're not what you'd call bull strong unless you're talking the SK made Craftsman Professionals. Still US Craftsman raised pane wrenches are just plain good wrenches.

That brings us to Craftsman ratchets. The raised panel ratchets are just ****, always have been. It's the only tool I've consistently broken or worn out; I hate them. I'll take a HF, Husky, or Kobalt over a Craftsman ratchet every day of the week.

 

[Negen]

ummm craftsmen does make 6 point sockets?

but everything else you said is agreeable

 

[JR 42]

The 6-point socket offerings in 1/2" drive metric are pretty slim, though; the 12-points cover a much wider range... or did a couple years ago, when I was still interested in buying Craftsman sockets.

JR

 

[Titanium Steel]

No there is not. Don't kid yourself

With Craftsman I can see where you are coming from and even in the general sense, I understand this as well. With Craftsman, long gone are the days where a majority of products were proudly made in America. I miss those days, as more Americans had jobs and Sears hired people that knew what they were selling and had experience using these items.

Sure some Craftsman products are still sourced from companies that make some of their items in America still, but that number is well below even 50% these days. That and Sears seems to hire just about anyone for their retail stores these days. My local Sears only seems to have teenagers only know almost nothing about tools and are more interested in their electronic toys than doing work.


Whereas in the general sense, most Americans don't care about country origin and only care about paying next to nothing. Now I completely understand why non Americans don't care about supporting jobs here, as I presume they want to support their home country first and foremost. That is reasonable, as I do the same and don't apologize for that either. Now granted, if the product is no longer made in my home country anymore, I am then forced to buy elsewhere, but ideally I want this to from a country that treats their citizens with respect and is humane towards them.


Now being a blue collar worker that believes in the traditional blue collar ideology of working hard and doing the very best you can do, no one has the right how to tell you how to spend that money. Same applies to white collar workers as well. That being said, as an American, I support American manufacturing jobs any time I can. Sure some products might cost more, but in the long run, keeping my fellow Americans working is pivotal to America's future.

Since 2001*, 3.2 million jobs have been to China alone and 42,400* factories have shut down since that time as well. Out of every country, we owe China the most at a staggering 1270.3* billion US dollars and that number is increasing as well. Granted the unemployment rate isn't as high as this was a couple of years ago, there are still a vast amount of people that are still out of a job due to outsourcing as well.

Part of me wonders when Americans started becoming so apathetic, narcissistic and lacking empathy for their own fellow Americans that have lost their jobs due to this? As this isn't just a job that was lost, as some have lost their homes, families have been divided and even their entire life has been uprooted. Some of these people can barely afford to themselves let alone their families.


*Here are some sources for this information.
First article.


Second link.

 

[kiatech]

For the most part I was just impressed to see that who ever run's the tool department cares enough to to only get the USA made stuff.

 

[Gear Wolf]

ummm craftsmen does make 6 point sockets?

but everything else you said is agreeable

Nice eBay sourced picture.

You know those are the Chinese sockets right?

 

[Gear Wolf]

With Craftsman I can see where you are coming from and even in the general sense, I understand this as well. With Craftsman, long gone are the days where a majority of products were proudly made in America. I miss those days, as more Americans had jobs and Sears hired people that knew what they were selling and had experience using these items.

Sure some Craftsman products are still sourced from companies that make some of their items in America still, but that number is well below even 50% these days. That and Sears seems to hire just about anyone for their retail stores these days. My local Sears only seems to have teenagers only know almost nothing about tools and are more interested in their electronic toys than doing work.


Whereas in the general sense, most Americans don't care about country origin and only care about paying next to nothing. Now I completely understand why non Americans don't care about supporting jobs here, as I presume they want to support their home country first and foremost. That is reasonable, as I do the same and don't apologize for that either. Now granted, if the product is no longer made in my home country anymore, I am then forced to buy elsewhere, but ideally I want this to from a country that treats their citizens with respect and is humane towards them.


Now being a blue collar worker that believes in the traditional blue collar ideology of working hard and doing the very best you can do, no one has the right how to tell you how to spend that money. Same applies to white collar workers as well. That being said, as an American, I support American manufacturing jobs any time I can. Sure some products might cost more, but in the long run, keeping my fellow Americans working is pivotal to America's future.

Since 2001*, 3.2 million jobs have been to China alone and 42,400* factories have shut down since that time as well. Out of every country, we owe China the most at a staggering 1270.3* billion US dollars and that number is increasing as well. Granted the unemployment rate isn't as high as this was a couple of years ago, there are still a vast amount of people that are still out of a job due to outsourcing as well.

Part of me wonders when Americans started becoming so apathetic, narcissistic and lacking empathy for their own fellow Americans that have lost their jobs due to this? As this isn't just a job that was lost, as some have lost their homes, families have been divided and even their entire life has been uprooted. Some of these people can barely afford to themselves let alone their families.


*Here are some sources for this information.
First article.


Second link.

Well said

 

[HanShotFirst]

ummm craftsmen does make 6 point sockets?

but everything else you said is agreeable

Yeah I'm aware they make them, but I've never once seen them on a shelf. Maybe that's changing, I don't know.

 

[CobraChevelle]

It is sad that the new Chinese made Craftsman ratchets are actually better quality than the Danaher USA made ones of the last 15 years.

I have a usa set 10 years old and I will take that over the new china set.

 

[HanShotFirst]

I have a usa set 10 years old and I will take that over the new china set.

I'll take a HF ratchet over ANY raised panel Craftsman ratchet, Foreign or Domestic. They have always built them with overly generous specs and they just consistently fail, and fail, and fail. Sockets, yeah I'll take them. US wrenches, yep, they're great. But I'll skip Craftsman ratchets.

 

[Negen]

Nice eBay sourced picture.

You know those are the Chinese sockets right?

I just posted the first picture of 6 point sockets. I go back to work this weekend and can take a picture of usa made 6 point sockets if you need me to? I knew they were not usa made due them not stating made in usa on them. But I assumed ROC not PRC.