Rant about sears hand tools

[Brianut]

shame on you sears.
I went and bought a new set of flare wrenches as I had been borrowing some and figured it was time.
$40 and I walk out with 5 wrenches all shiny and new.

Well I get home and look at the packaging and see they are made in china.
WTF?
now I have various chinese (harbor freight) tools but when I want something good and made here I usually end up at sears as they have served me well through the years.
I was quite torqued. So much so that they went back today.

now I try when I can to buy USA made stuff, sometimes it is hard but I try.
Sears hand tools was a place I could always cound on, not anymore.

Its not stamped on the tool, just the cardboard but why pay 40 when I can get chinese tools of basically the same function for $10.

Havent yet decided if I will fork over the dough to another USA company or buy china stuff but was a little mad at Sears.
You should have seen the saleslady when she asked if anything was wrong with them and I said "yup , they are made in china" she really didnt know what to think.

Rant over

[airbur]

I hear ya. The other day I went to Sears to exchange a busted 3/4" drive for a "new" one. Then I found out that they first have you give you a re-manufactured unit if they have one. So apparently now my name is "Roy" as it's engraved on the re-manufactured drive I received. Nice.

[sbolt19]

If they are "Craftsman" brand, they not only are made in USA, but most of them are made in Colorado Springs at Western Forge. ALL Craftsman wrenches, screwdrivers, ratchets, pliers (basically all hand tools) are made in USA. If they are an off brand, i.e. the Champion brand they sell, they may be produced in China or Mexico. But if it is a Craftsman hand tool, it is made here. I used to work for Western Forge one summer doing an internship and I saw how every one of the tools were made. I also have a friend who works there now and said they just moved the ratchet division here as well. The Craftsman tools that I know are made here in Colorado are screwdrivers & 90% of all pliers and open/box end wrenches. Check your screwdrivers and they should have WF stamped on the handle, that stands for Western Forge.

[Brianut]

Sbolt: I wish it were true.
they said crafstman on them and were the professional line. the high polish tools.

I did a little google search and found others are finding the same thing with some of their tools?

Roy: er um I mean Eric.
that totally blows. I dont think I would have settled for that.
Is there any way you could do another exchange to get one free of someone elses engraving?

I havent given up on them yet but for this instance I plan to use another brand.
Proto and Blackhawk are about the same price. I may look at those when I have a chance. in the meantime I am still borrowing a set.

[Robs71sport]

Check this out or this or this.

Mainly check out the main forum itself. A lot of good info on different tools, but very Snap On tools diehards on the forum so it can be a little bias.

I have about 95% craftsman tools and have been happy with them but with Kmart take over 10 years ago or so, the Cman brand has faltered in quality with the latest being tools made in China. It's becoming more of an investigation of the tools before buying them to make sure they are USA and not China. I was born and raised in a CMan tools family and when I showed the Old man the china made Craftsman tools, he lost it.

It doesn't help that Craftsman tools are sold in Kmart and now Ace Hardware, making the brand not Sears specific so quality isn't as big of a deal now as quantity.

Brian, your flare nut wrenches.
And Roy... I mean Eric, check this out on warranty craftsman tools.

Oh and check...nevermind I think I gave you enough links already.

[sbolt19]

Briarnut, I am not going to argue with ya about some tools, I know they have some Chinese crap in the line up. I guess I should have delineated a little better on what tools are made in the USA that I know for a fact. I have watched, first hand and even operated some of the the machines that produce the following Craftsman products because, like I said, they are made here in Colorado Springs:

All screwdrivers - professional line or standard line
All pliers on this page
All SAE & Metric open end/box end wrenches
Most drifts, punches & awls

The friend of mine that I talked to on Friday that works there told me they just recently (within the last year) moved the ratchet division to Colorado Springs. Part of the problem with the tools, as others have noted, is that when Kmart took over Sears, they had their own brand of tools, Stanley, which were a lower quality product, and took the same approach towards their vision with Craftsman. Stanley was, and still is, a poor man's mechanic set. Most Stanley tools are made in Connecticut & the tools are not manufactured the same way that the Craftsman brand is. They use a chrome plating on most of their tools where as Craftsman uses a zinc & nickle plating that won't flake off. The QC on the lower end tools are also not to the standard. I might also add that the Husky brand that Home Depot sells is also produced side by side with the Craftsman brand.

A lot of the information I tried looking up on the internet is wrong in regards to Craftsman hand, non-mechanical, tools. There are a few sites out there that say that the wrenches & pliers are made in Mexico, China or in Canada. Still another site says that all screwdrivers are produced in Indonesia. Every one of those sites I have come across are false, misleading & about as accurate as me saying that I was wheeling on the moon this time last year. The truth of the matter is that yes, they do have some tool lines that are produced in other countries, including China, but the majority of your hand tools, the ones that last the longest (i.e. the ones I listed above) are made here in the USA. Am I standing up for the brand, yeah, I am because they are, for the most part, an American made tool.

Sorry, I'll step off my soapbox now

[akaFrankCastle]

While swapping out the torque converter in my '93 Bronco, I dropped my Craftsman 1/2" drive ratchet on the concrete floor. When I picked it up, the selector lever was broken off. On closer inspection, it turns out it was made with some brittle aluminum looking crap. I took it back, got a replacement, and immediately put it in the tool box as a spare. I've been using my dad's old 1/2" drive, purchased in the very early '80s now for about 5 years. Hundreds of drops and no sheared off selector levers. They just don't make em like they used to.