Who makes different brand tools

[RedRacer74]

My brother in law just got his first roll away tool box. He asked me about who makes what and I showed him this from a thread from this site. He was very surprised. Maybe we can post some comparison photo's of the brands made by the same manufacturers ( wrench to wrench / socket to socket etc.) . I think it would be interesting and informative. I myself only own Craftsman hand tools and use Snap On for the specialty items.

"Here's something that you might be interested in:
Someone wrote [in part]:

... but I never could figure out who makes the [Craftsman] hand tools.

To which someone else replied:

I'm not the final word on tools by any means, but since I work in the business, I've learned a little bit about it. Okay, here's more than you ever wanted to know.

Lowes now (as of earlier this year) is selling a line of Mechanics Tools called Kobalt which is made by Snap-On. They are good tools.

Home Depot's Husky brand is made by Stanley Mechanics Tools, a division of the Stanley Works. Husky are also good tools and have a good lifetime warranty (they'll even replace your broken Craftsman with an equivalent Husky).

Until 1994 or so, Stanley also made Sears Craftsman tools. Sears Craftsman is now made by Danaher Tools. They beat out Stanley on the contract over price. Danaher also manufactures MatCo Tools, the third largest player in the Mobile Automotive industry (behind MAC and Snap-On). Odds are, if you own any Craftsman tools that are older than about five years ago, they were made by Stanley in plants in Dallas, Texas, Witchita Falls, Texas, and Sabina, Ohio.

Stanley also owns MAC Tools and manufactures MAC tools in the same plants. Now here's the kicker: MAC Tools, Proto Tools (a very expensive industrial brand), Husky Tools, and, (prior to five or so years ago) Craftsman Tools are all made from the same forgings in the same plants. Proto is unique because it goes through addtional testing and certification because it is used by NASA, the military, and industrial customers (including General Motors).

There are three MAJOR players in the USA mechanics tool business: Stanley, Danaher, and Snap-On. Stanley and Danaher (almost identical in sales revenue at about $28 billion each) are the biggest followed by Snap-On. Each of these three manufacture and sell tools under a variety of brands (there are many other brands that Stanley makes that I haven't even named). The quality between these three manufacturers is roughly the same. I know its a bit of a let-down to hear that, but its a simple fact.

There are a hand full of other minor players (Vermont American, etc) and an endless list of Taiwanese import tool companies (some of which Stanley own as well as Danaher to serve the lower end consumer import brands at WalMart, etc). How do I know all of this? I work for Stanley Mechanics Tools, specifically with the Proto Industrial brand. I personally do not think that MAC, MatCo, or Snap-On branded tools are worth the extra markup since they use the same forgings and manufacturing processes that make Husky and Kobalt and pre-1994 Craftsman. Where you need to pay attention are things like ratchets and torque wrenches. There are different specifications of ratchets and you do pay for the difference. Some mechanics require a finer, more precise ratcheting mechanism than guys like me who just bang around in the garage on the weekends.

By the way, Metwrench is basically considered a "gimick" infomercial tool brand that is not considered as a serious competitor to Danaher, Snap-On, or Stanley. Then again, IBM once didn't see Microsoft as a serious force in the personal computer business. Hmmmm....

Then there was this discourse on FACOM brand tools:

> FACOM has been around forever. French company, says "American" in the name
> though I forget the whole acronym.

FACOM is Franco-Americaine de Construction d'Outillage Mecanique. French for "French-American Mechanical Tool Manufacturing". Got points in my french class for that.

> It's now one of the largest tool conglomerates in Europe.
>
> SK, I think, is an American company that recently has had a large part of
> its stock purchased by FACOM.

FACOM owns S-K outright. You'll notice (if you look through the catalogs from preceeding years) that the tools are becoming more and more alike. The S-K "pro" screwdrivers are now FACOM ergotwist screwdrivers. The "tuff1" ratchets are S-K pro ratchet handles avec FACOM innards. FACOM's ratcheting flare wrench now has S-K stamped on the side of it. I don't like it because we could get FACOM tools from S-K dealers for over 10 years, but now they're getting more and more reluctant to give us FACOM stuff, they'd rather sell S-K stuff. Which is why you get S-K catalogs instead of FACOM. If you specifically request (demand) a FACOM catalog, you get their _american_ catalog, which is abbreviated, along with a note to contact Griot's Garage. I've asked a French friend to get me a French market FACOM catalog, as they have all the good stuff that hasn't yet been absorbed into the S-K line. Ultimate Garage is a FACOM dealer as well as Griots, and I've been told (by richard?) they've got a catalog, dunno if it's FACOM's, but I'll order something and find out.

I was also wondering what the deal was with the S-K foundry? Presumably they still make some stuff stateside? No? I know there are others not mentioned, Cornwell has a foundry in Ohio, I think?

I'd kinda doubt that Williams uses the _exact_ same dies for Koalt and Snap-On. I compared the Kobalt combo wrench to one of my Snap-Ons, and they aren't the same. The Kobalt handle is pretty much rectangular in cross-section, and really does hurt your hand when you pull hard. The Snap-On is more rounded. As well, the Kobalt is visibly looser on the fastener. Maybe these are Snap-On rejects? Can't explain the handle differences, though. The breaker bars seem to share the same grip, though, it just seems the kobalt doesn't have those nifty machined indentations at the base.

I know Stanley owns Mac and Blackhawk (didn't know about Husky), but the Blackhawk stuff doesn't seem similar to the Mac stuff. These look awfully different to be from the same dies, shape wise. So the price difference is different steel in the better tools? Surely they can't be charging Mac prices for better plated Blackhawk stuff?

> FACOM also owns (large parts of) USAG (Italian?) and Beissbarth...

didn't know this. I'd like to find some USAG tools, just to try them "

 

[Coach James]

S-K is now fully USA owned as their managament bought them from Facom.

Craftsman hand tools are mostly made by Danaher. Danaher also makes KD, Allen, Armstrong, Matco, Sata, Holo-Krome, and Iseli.

Snap-On never made Kobalt. The old Kobalt were made by JH Williams which was a division of Snap-On. JH Williams is part of Bahco which is owned by Snap-On. Lowes got into some hot water when their sales clerks began telling people that Kobalt was the same as Snap-On. Kobalt wrenches and sockets are now made by Danaher as Lowes awarded the contract to them over JH Williams a few years ago. Most other Kobalt stuff is made in China by who is anybody's guess.

Years ago, Blackhawk and Husky were seperate from Stanley. The HD's here will no longer exchange Husky for Craftsman as they claim Husky is a better tool. Stanley also moved Husky production to Taiwan and China.


Just because Stanley owns Husky and Mac, Proto as well, doesn't mean they are all made on the same machinery.
James

 

[ultgar]

Facom

Facom sold SK to 3 of the SK managers and an independent investment group back in June 2005. A month later, Stanley purchased Facom for $500m

SK still has the rights to distribute Facom for the US market for the time being. Unfortunately, I've been unable to get a reply from Stanley or Facom about the future of Facom distribution here in the US. SD

 

[gerry]

As a bit to add to the confusion, a few years ago, I bought some ratchets from the local Tru-Value hardware store. I commented on how much they looked like Chraftsman and the clerk told me they were made by the same company. In fact, he said that he had some in the back that he was having to send back to his supplier, they were marked Craftsman. Came in TruValue boxes and in the boxes were a mixture of Craftsman and TruValue. Our local Sears has turned to be really crappy on repairing/replacing Craftsman tools broken in normal use so I quit buying from them and buy from the local hardware stores instead and never had a single ratchet failure in 7 years.. For work I buy from Grainger, Blackhawk brand, which they claim is made by Proto

 

[kartracer55]

I went to make a post earlier today (4th period ) but I wasnt logged in and when I went to it "reply" It gave me an error, since then, most of the stuff has been covered.

Blackhawk isnt by MAC, its By Proto... I have a few peices by them and I use them almost daily... Thier ratchets arnt really anything special, and thier sockets lack Recesed corners and drive ball indents, BUT They have really nice wrenches... pretty similar to proto, the finish is just nice quite as nice. Whats interesting is they Market Blackhawk as the "automotive" brand by Proto... inst that MAC's job??

Kobalt wrenches are damn similar to Allen, and the sockets are really similar to Craftsman and Allen as well. I know thier Bit sockets are ientical to the craftsmans, which I use at the track almost every weekend 8 months out of the year, 15-20+ times a day... for the past few years now...they hold up, they are an excellent value (fyi)

The guys is totally wrong talking about the MAC, Proto, and Craftsman comming out of the same dies... The wrenches from all 3 brands are WAY different first of all ( in shape and design) but Also, I thinK Danaher has always made Craftsman Sockets and wrenches, stanley hasjust made af ew particular models over the years, so I understand. All thier screwdrivers and pliers come frm either Western Forge or Pratt and Reed as I am told.

As was stated, SK Was bought out From Facom in 05, so Its now American Owned and operated once again, which, In my opinion, is a good thing for sure.

Also, This guy is wrong about Craftsman and proto and all those guys torque wrenches coming from the same place. As I have found out in my quest for the latest torque wrench, Craftsman and Most other Danaher Brands are made by J.S. Technologies (a danaher corp). Interestingly enough, Many(if not all) Sk Torque wrenches are made by Them too.

If he has a box from lowes, or sears, its a waterloo box.

Jim

 

[Uncle Buck]

I have not read in anyones posts the name Easco, I have no idea who owns them. To my knowledge they used to make cman tvalue and perhaps some other brands of hand tools, in particular wrenches and sockets in addition to tools badged Easco ( probably 10 years or more back). I think that it is probably very difficult to nail down who makes the cman line for more than 3-5 yrs at a time. I think they award contracts to tool manufacturers for a set time frame then re negotiate with manufacturers and accept other bids and possibly award a tool line to a different manufacturer than thay used in the past, based on $. Look what happened to their old stationary tool line, used to be supplied by Emerson electric, no longer. Emerson is now the stationary tool line sold by Home Creapo badged as Rigid, and sears has replaced the Emerson line with a bunch of cheap lookin plastic chicom **** that I would not waste the time, trouble, or energy to drag home! The same thing can easily be seen in their torch kits if one payed attention over the last twenty years or so, every 3-5 years you could tell that the actual manufacturer of these outfits has changed.

 

[Coach James]

Easco used to be a good USA made line of hand tools, but are now made in Asia. Craftsman power tools are mostly made by Ryobi with a few Black and Decker and a few others thrown in.

 

[kartracer55]

As I understand it, Easco was a tool company bought by danaher, and years later the name changed to Allen. Dont know what the deal with them is now, but I have one, yes one lonely socket and its almost identical to a craftsman in terms of weight and shape, aside from recessed corners and the like. The Autoshop has a few sets of easco Open ended wrenches (5 of the same in some cases) and They hold up... I grab them before snap ons because they are pretty nice to use.

Jim

 

[skim41]

Looks like you are forgetting Gedore, Rahsol, Dremotec, Habero and some other companies owned by Gedore.