Craftsman Tools... A Brand Going Downhill Fast, What I Dislike...
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- Growing up I was surrounded by Craftsman tools, they were what you had in your tool box in the garage at your house. The name was synonymous with a quality USA made tool at a fair price with a no questions asked warranty. I would say 90% of my entire collection of hand tool in box was Craftsman up until about 3 years ago. And it wasn’t until about 8 months ago that I made the decision to start phasing out my Craftsman tools. I’m this video I got over a few of the reasons why I’ve decided to start getting rid of Craftsman.
#automotive #diy #matco #shoplife #snapon #mactools #toolbox #milwaukee #cornwell #craftsman
I miss everything about the old Sears. Not just when Craftsman were actually respectable tools. I love my old USA Craftsman tools when they were rebadged S-K and Proto.
Agreed!
Theirs plenty of better tools out there. It’s not like this was the only brand
@@xaphan8581 I would agree with you, present day as well as past day, there has always been better tools than Craftsman. But when I was 17 years old and just wrenching on things for fun guess what I couldn't afford? Better tools than that! And guess what tools are still in my collection 20 years later? Those craftsman things that were made in the USA. So you'd be hard pressed to tell me they are bad tools. Not once did I say they were the best or only brand. But what I AM SAYING is that the new socket almost guaranteed won't last me another 20 years and the old one didn't even fail, it still works it's just loosing it's chrome.
@@TalkinTools yeah but what I’m saying is you can still buy cheap tools that are really fucking good. I buy icon and the shit beats out snap on at almost everything for well under half the price Or there’s even tools under icon like Klein. Craftsman being what it is to me is a good thing anyways. Its an entry tool brand. Once you start saving up money just upgrade your tools.
@@xaphan8581 I got ya! I agree with that, there are a lot more tool brands making good tools these days then there was when Craftsman was in its prime. These days you can definitely get something just as good if not better for the same price or even less. My biggest gripe is that 90% of my socket drawer is old usa Craftsman already. It is what it is though
For the last 10 years of wrenching, my go to ratchet was my craftsman I-beam flex head 3/8 ratchet. Its been my favorite tool and the first thing I grab when I need to wrench on something. Recently I needed to buy a new ratchet and went to Lowe's to get one. Picked up a new 3/8 and used it for a few days, and absolutely hated it. It just didn't feel right when I used it, so I took it apart to find out the internals were significantly smaller than my older tools, i.e weaker. Haven't used it since
With the switch from usa made to overseas a lot of the stuff has gone that way unfortunately
What’s really interesting is how Sears is still an online store and you can still buy Craftsman from them, but it’s not the Stanley-Black & Decker product.
Yup! I only realized sears was still a thing online like 2 years ago, I had no idea that was a thing lol
I started out with Craftsman and still have a collection of the old school USA made stuff. I'm keeping it and taking care of it and not going to warranty any of it. Honestly in today's day and age, its best to buy Tekton or Icon from Harbor Freight. Those brands are basically what Craftsman used to be. Either that or find some good used deals on tool truck branded stuff.
Yeah im going to keep all my old usa craftsman too, just going to move it to my home tools to try and preserve it as best I can. I love trying to find killer deals on tool truck stuff used tho!
Craftsman tools were always a revolving door as Sears was a retailer and not a manufacturer. Craftsman tools were manufactured by various companies over the years depending on who was contracted at the time. When the mighty Sears ship hit the iceberg and the bow started taking on water, production was shifted to China in hopes of slowing the bleeding. Unfortunately the bilge pumps couldn't keep up with the onrush of water and the ship plunged into the depths of the ocean.
Stanley Black and Decker bought the Craftsman name. The website showed very little choices. SBD has now come out with the Craftsman V Series. The designs are a cross of SBD's Facom and Mac offerings. They seem to skip sizes. It will take SBD some time to expand the line.
Ace, Lowes and Napa had been carrying the Craftsman line for some time as the SS Sears was sinking. Your more apt to find old stock at Ace as their inventory doesn't move quickly. I've read online where people have had varying degrees of success exchanging Craftsman tools at Lowes. One problem being that certain items are no longer available and store personnel aren't clear of how to handle the situation.
Sears once had the distinction of being "the only game in town" for a wide selection of decent hand tools. Since Home Depot and Lowes inception, Sears lost that advantage. Harbor Freight has come on strong as of late and stepped up their game with the Icon line. I've taken a liking to Autozone's Duralast line of tools. Napa now has the Carlyle line. Gearwrench came on strong. With online shopping you have Tekton and Capri. There are so many better choices available nowadays. The tool trade has become a tough market with more competition than ever. No one stays on top forever.
Yup I agree with all of that, It is sad to see such an Iconic brand fall from glory though. The V-series while you are correct is a mix of SBD's other higher end brands, costs more as well and at that point just like you stated, I'm going to start looking at other brands that have come up in the wake of Craftsman sinking.
It all goes back to Western Forge deciding not to continue their contract with Craftsman. They both failed relatively soon after. That’s not to say craftsman wasn’t already in trouble as Sears itself was already in decline.
Duralast isn't terrible. I got a set of box wrenches in a pinch and feel comfortable keeping them in my truck to get me out of another pinch. The global economy is wild though, like you said no one stays on top forever. I guess now (with HF et al) it comes down to quality control when cutting cost on metal thicknesses/machining.
@@tcurrid8059 Spot on! 👍
@@sk1dr0w Yup, its true. It has started to be a pinching pennies game fro a lot of companies. Im plenty fine with buying a decent cheap product as long as it is reflected in the price. There is a place for both ends of the spectrum, but I don't want to spend USA Craftsman prices on Harbor Freight quality because of a name
I miss the old craftsman stuff. My step dad found a 200pc USA made craftsman socket and ratchet set at a thrift store basically new.
They had a killer run at it, it's sad to see it go downhill like it is. Thats a sweet find though! I'm still keeping all my usa made stuff, just going to move it to my home tool collection.
This is neither here nor there but I'm pretty sure thinner chrome sockets are usually regarded as higher quality.
If your metal is junk, you have to make your sockets/wrenches/etc thicker in order to meet specs.
This is why when Sears 1st started offshoring their wrenches in the late 2000s, they were so thick compared to the last USA made ones.
If they can now make their sockets so thin wall, that's a good sign, not a bad one (assuming they still meet ANSI torque specs.)
I've slowly phased out all of my Craftsman tools as well. I highly suggest Capri tools Sockets if you're on a budget. Same goes for Tekton. I have an assortment of both in my secondary toolbox at work. If you're interested in even better quality, I highly suggest Koken (Japanese) sockets. A little pricy but nowhere near the cost of Matco, Mac, and Snap-On.
I just got my hands on a couple Koken sets! the seem to be pretty nice for a fraction of the cost like you were saying
@@TalkinTools I use my Koken sets professionally and have had zero issues. I'm sure you'll love them!
@@reconbbs360 I made the mistake of having them send me the free paper catalog... I now have 700 more tools I need to own haha
I started disliking craftsman when I went to sears to exchange a ratchet that broke a pawl and they refused to exchange it because it was the week before father's day. They had 6 in the case. I needed the ratchet to fix my vehicle so I could drive to work the next day. I had to purchase the replacement.
I personally never had them do anything like that but I'm sure its happened plenty before. Some employees give a bad wrap to things.
I bought many of my craftsman tools at my local western auto parts store. Those are gone along with sears. It's a race to the bottom to see how poor a product can be for the highest price.
Hahaha well put! That seems like a pretty accurate description of it
Sears was a powerhouse and innovative in every aspect
They were top notch when they were at their peak!
Craftsman(SBD) makes 3 different sockets. Two from Taiwan and 1 china. You have to research what you are buying. Almost all the Taiwan made tools are excellent specifically the V line. Craftsman under sears never manufatured tools, it was a rebrander. So you will get very different results of quality through the years. Most of the tools were rebranded from the apex tool group, which is why you see them with gearwrench. Overall the new craftsman is ok. Unfortunately you can't warranty some items because sbd doesn't make them.
Are you saying Craftsman currently makes 3 different of every size socket? I apologize I'm just not following you 100%. Let's take a 21mm 1/2" drive 6 point shallow socket for instance. So you're saying that they make the exact same socket described as mentioned before 3 different times with different part numbers? 2 of which are made in Taiwan and one in china? That wouldn't make any sense in my mind. But I was just on their website and under wenches they look like they have 3 different "lines" of wrenches, they have the v-series, the classic raised panel wrenches, as well as a few that are full polished and look different styling wise than the other two. Is that what you're referring to is that they have a bunch of different "lines" or grades of tools currently that are made in different places?
@@TalkinTools yes they make 3 different sockets with the same part number. You can tell where they are made with the socket holder. They have 3 different styles of wrench, but only two "lines", one is the regular craftsman, the other V line. One is "professional", the other just regular.
Miss the old days of craftsman it all started with tape measures gave you a red one to replace the yellow one and said no more replacements or they just quit making certain things so they didn’t have to replace them🤬
Thats exactly what I've been seeing, They had a very extensive line of tools available and they seem to have dwindled down the product line as they move their manufacturing out of the states.
I would say when the difference became widespread bewtween "consumer" grade and "professional" to meet price points ,well yeah.Also the everloving cult of the lifetime warranty well,when SBD kills the brand,then the lemmings..........
I have had so many 12 point sockets break and got so tired of having to replace them. Now I only use 6 point sockets.
Same, I predominantly try to use 6pt sockets whenever I can. But I do find myself turning a few 12 point bolts on the regular.
Same dude, bringing back memories, the same ratchet you picked up is what I grew up with, papaw had a very large set of craftsman tools has 1/4 3/8 and 1/2 in the same ratchet body, but they were pre 1990 and had very little problems, broke a tooth of the 3/8 once and a few sockets over the years, but man, that was my beginning using those old tools was a lot of fun as a kid growing up but like you said, they are junk now, sad to see another American company that had a good name and reputation sold to a dang Chinese junk company and just run the company in the ground, this has happened far to offen in the last 20 years, very sad, thanks for the memories coming back to me
Agreed, it's unfortunate to see it happening to so many brands/companies these days. Especially the ones that have been such an integral part of so many generations.
It's a total shame how this all worked out! I have my old craftsman tools with I adore and in the spirit of that I heard that they were going to start producing hand tools in a Texas Factory so I purposely waited almost two years for that to come around, so I could create a brand new set, only for them to decide that they weren't going to do that so now I'm just giving up on all of that and moving over to tekton.
Their sockets sets seem to be great and the warranty is awesome so that's it for me.
I had the idea for this video months before they announced the Texas plant not actually happening and thats kind of what lit a fire under my ass to get the video up. I like Tekton stuff as well and like you said if you're going to pay for the craftsman name but get overseas quality you might as well save the money and buy a different brand
@Talkin’ Tools
That's just it! I'm not going to pay for an overseas brand that is using an old name, there's no point in that.
And then I think back to the 90s when I could have bought any and every socket that I ever wanted to but procrastination gets the best of you thinking oh it'll be there, I'll just swing in and get that later on or whatever.
I guess the old saying of sometimes Tomorrow Never Comes is applicable here!
Just wish I had bought one of those all-inclusive mechanics sets a long time ago LOL
Thanks for the great vidio. Purchased most of my Craftsman made in USA tools 40 years ago. Back in the late 60 & early 70's Sears would come out with what they called believe it was the " X catalog " a few weeks after Christmas. Sockets, ratchets, wrenches etc were cramped onto two pages. If you purchased 3 items from these two pages might have been a 20%discount but if you purchased 10 or more was believe outstanding 40% discount. I would order at least 10 items for years to build up missing tools. Back then even the yearly Sears catalog was usually 10% cheaper then store prices. Back in the mid 80's got a Sears mailing that offered a Craftsmen maybe 90 piece tool set. Had 1/4, 3/8 & 1/2" ratchests regular & deep SAE sockets and metric sockets and 6 combination wrenches. Price was so.low think only $30 plus S&H & taxes . Prefers 4 sets, two for me& 2 for coworkers. Another coworker talked me into selling mg second set to him . They ratchets we not that good & entire set & blow molded case made in Tawain. Still using them. I never purchase or use ANY TOOLS, safety or test equipment and electrical.products from lying cheating scum bag communist china. Have to now watch scum bag Husky tools sold at Home Dump. Purchased a 1/2" deep Husky brand socket for one that walked away. As I was placing it my deep socket rack found out its another POS product made in cheating china. Guess I will only be purchasing replacement made in USA sockets and tools thru MSC that always great company provides country of origin. Lowes were fools for going with POS Craftsman brand.
Most of the new craftsman stuff is definitely garbage compared to its older counterparts. Some things like the v-series wrenches (while not usa made) are basically clones of the FACOM made Mac Tools wrenches and are a decent quality. But those instances are far and few between
I have a set of the old USA made crossforce wrenches non ratcheting. They do feel great in the hand and of great quality. Also i recently heard craftsman tool will not be making tools in the USA. So no more craftsman for me
Yup, it used to be quality stuff, unfortunately that seems to be dwindling
5 Lowes I have been to have been exact for exact swap you have to call 800 number to try and get it replaced.... Very little to replace its a crap shoot if you even can get something comparable
Thats exactly where my breaking point was. The ease of the warranty vs the cost and quality of the tool was what made Craftsman so great. If its going to be a hassle or my tool that I own, no longer exists because they've decided to slim down their catalogue, or the tool they replace mine with is of less quality... Im not interested anymore lol
The newer China Craftsman tools are disappointing, to say the least? The thickness of the sockets are thinner and weaker for sure? I prefer the Craftsman Professional line myself? The USA tools I still use to his day, not my favorite, but they do the job, just fine?
I've never had an issue with older craftsman tools, sure you can break anything, sure there are better tools than craftsman ever was. But the old use stuff took a beating and kept on kicking ass. I would venture out to say the new stuff will not hold up like it used to
I still run my set of Craftsman 19.2 volt tools, I have the brushless drill and the 3 speed impact, they are the 2 highest grade they made (never in a set though?). When Craftsman was sold off, now their new 20 volt set is a lower version of Dewalt bottom tool, the drill looks like a heat gun, and B&D definitely aren't going to make their lower brand be competitive to their premium brand, and I can say this from experience, Dewalt tools suck, I had a Nextec 12v out last a brand new 14v Dewault set and half an 18v set, when I went to my brushless and 3 speed, it outlasted the rest of the 18v set, and 2 20v sets. These were doing the same amount of work job after job. My brother finally upgraded to Milwaukee tools and now has pretty much every one he'll ever need. I hate that B&D made Craftsman a cheap tool that pushed so many people away, trying to warranty tools is an absolute pain, they look like toys and trying to find them, hand tools or power tools anymore, I have to travel a minimum of 107 miles. BHD own so many tool brands now, they need to have physical stores more available, they need to do away with the China crap, go back to USA, and they need to give Craftsman a name that it deserves.
I agree 100%, hell I still have one of those old 13.2v Craftsman drills in my home tool kit. It's still drilling holes hahaha. Stanley Black & Decker should absolutely open their own store with the amount of brands they own lol
I agree with a lot of your sentiments. However, I will say, I had to warranty three Craftsman tools at Lowe’s the other day, and had zero issues. The only downside was realizing that a pair of diagonal cutters, a breaker bar, and a single 1/2” wrench costs $75 these days. Ludicrous.
@@airmobiledivision7759 That is pretty crazy, but the price of everything has gone off the wall over the last few years so I can't really call craftsman on it for following suit. And for the record I'm not saying they'll give you a hassle swapping out tool for a tool the have in stock. They would have swapped me the old 21mm for the new 21mm in this video without hesitation. But If I bring in my USA made Craftsman 6 point chrome 1/2" drive 21mm socket, they don't sell any craftsman 1/2" drive 6 point sockets in singles. So the only option I would have is to swap it for a new 12 point non usa made with a thinner wall thickness. Which is for one, not the same tool (I have full sets of 12pt and full sets of 6pt) and secondly a weaker tool than the one you're warranting. Those are my biggest issues with the process now.
@@TalkinTools Have you tried contacting Craftsman via email? I’ve never done so, myself. But, perhaps, they have a larger selection of individual tools available to warranty there. Of course, that doesn’t help you if you need the tool in question immediately.
@@airmobiledivision7759 The wait is what it is if they're taking care of you, chances are I have multiple of the same size or whatever it is that I'm not dead in the water on a job. And no I haven't reached out about that instance specifically because I haven't had a 6 point 1/2" drive that I needed to warranty. But I have reached out maybe 6-8 months ago asking if their website was actually up to date or if they still sold a lot of things that are not listed on their site currently (for example 6 point 1/2" sockets) and I was told what is on the site is what they offer. So without digging further into that, those sockets seem to be something they no longer offer seeing they are not on the website unfortunately.
sadly, new "Craftsman" are Chinesium
You might get lucky and find a Taiwan-made tool from time to time (better than Chinesium but still not as good as it use to be)
Yup! leaps and bounds worse than than the old stuff I agree