Such a bummer: Chinese-built Craftsman tools.

[lordairgtar]

Most of my tools are from my grandfather. Those are all Craftsmen dating from pre WWII to the early 80s. I bought Matco, Snap-On, SK and Williams. Williams is made in Chicago and are awesomely made. Sockets and wrenches. I bought a large Snap-On adjustable wrench for about 5 bucks at a yard sale which was rusted shut. I cleaned it the best I could and used Aerokroil to try and loosen it. Could not get it to budge. Took it to the Snap-On truck when it was at a mechanics work shop and traded it. The one I got back is made in Spain. It appears to be a nicely made tool and feels right in my hand. I teach tool use to new hires at work. When the boss is out of ear shot, I tell people to try and replace all their shop supplied tools with better made tools. We do a lot of fine work and use small tools. Veneer calipers, solder irons, small wrenches, wire strippers, little nippers similar to a sprue cutter. Some are good quality but our supplied screw drivers and wrenches are pure junk.

[A.R.C.]

So after I finish my plate full of tacos and wash it down with a Molson, my choices are going to the garage to work on Sandi's Japanese owned/American made Toyota Solara with Craftsmen tools made in China. Or sit at my modeling bench and work on either my Chinese manufactured Revell kit or painting my Tamyia Ferrari. All said with tongue firmly in my cheek. It has become a world market.

Said the Merican drinking Canadian beer.

[Pete J.]

More that it being a World market, it is that I am obsessed with good quality tools. I don't have a bottomless pit of money, but the advantage to Sears was that I could count on their tools passing the muster. They were forged wrenches with machined jaws, so I could count of a 1/2" wrench being a 1/2" and not some wonky dimension. The thing was forged so if I had to lay on it with a cheater bar the bolt would brake before the wrench bent, and they didn't break the budget. Snapon same way except they charge a lot more. I think what drives this is that there are fewer and fewer shade tree mechanics willing to spend the money. Most of what is sold at Lowes, Home Depot and Sears is to the guy who needs a wrench every 8 to 10 months and a cheap tool is fine. Tool guys are kind of dinosaurs in the general population and that is really a shame. The variety of good tools out there is just not there without mail order/internet and then you aren't sure what you are going to get until it shows up in your mail box. Really too bad.

[Ace-Garageguy]

What Pete said hits it exactly.

And a world market has nothing to do with making second or third rate crappy tools that get marked up a dozen times and are finally pawned off on folks who don't know any better.

It doesn't matter where a tool is made. It DOES matter HOW it's made, at least to those of us who actually know HOW to use tools.

[Tom Geiger]

What Pete said hits it exactly.

And a world market has nothing to do with making second or third rate crappy tools that get marked up a dozen times and are finally pawned off on folks who don't know any better.

It doesn't matter where a tool is made. It DOES matter HOW it's made, at least to those of us who actually know HOW to use tools.

I once was in Home Depot and mentioned poor quality to a guy who worked there. He got it, and said that there wasn't a decent thing in the store because the 'general public' wouldn't pay for quality. Everyone wants the cheapest price, thus junk. And you're right, most of the herd just don't kinow any better.

Edited May 8, 2014 by Tom Geiger

[Steven Zimmerman]

Actually, until the mid 80's most Craftsman hand tools were made by Channellock, inc. I worked there for 32 years. Sockets and adjustable wrenches were produced elsewhere, but for years, only difference between Channellock and Craftsman pliers, lineman, wire cutters, etc....was the name stamped into the handle....... All that changed when they went almost exclusively to Chinese mfg tools. Channellock Inc. is the ONLY family owned manufacturer of hand tools left in the United States.

[Pete J.]

Actually, until the mid 80's most Craftsman hand tools were made by Channellock, inc. I worked there for 32 years. Sockets and adjustable wrenches were produced elsewhere, but for years, only difference between Channellock and Craftsman pliers, lineman, wire cutters, etc....was the name stamped into the handle....... All that changed when they went almost exclusively to Chinese mfg tools. Channellock Inc. is the ONLY family owned manufacturer of hand tools left in the United States.

Steve, you are dead on. I was a tool and appliance department manager for 15 years. Denanher made the sockets and wrenches. Adjustable wrenches were Crescent. Emerson Electric(AKA Skil) made most of the hand power, bench power and floor tools until they changed to Ryobi in the mid 2000's. Stanley made the Craftsman tape measures and so on. I don't understand it but people are shocked too learn that Sears makes nothing. They never have. They are just the outlet for contracted goods. They were one of the first companies to use their purchasing power to buy large quantities and then rebrand and resell it for less that the name brand of the same product. For those who are interested, here is a list of source codes for all their products. http://home.cogeco.ca/~gbishop/Public/SearsSourceCodes.htm This code is the first three numbers on the model number on the ID plate. If you have the time it is fun to go through the list in your shop and see who's tool you actually have.

Edited May 8, 2014 by Pete J.

[mikemodeler]

It really is a sad commentary on how the buying public doesn't understand the correlation between price and quality. Retailers also haven't helped the cause with their liberal return policies as that has contributed greatly to the lower price/cheaper quality. I worked at a Sears Paint & Hardware store in the early 90's, mostly to increase my tool count in the garage but also to supplement my income before we had children. The abuse of Sears' policies by customers was unbelievable! Retired guys going to garage sales and buying bent screwdrivers and coming in for a replacement, carpenters who bought a tape measure and then came in once a month for a free replacement once the tape broke, people "buying" an electric chainsaw and returning it 2 hours later, once they cut the tree down and demanding a cash refund. It was mind boggling and all done in the name of "customer service" and look where that has gotten us as a society! No longer are we responsible for our actions as long as someone other than us will pay for them.

I have a lot of Craftsman tools, most are from the 80's & 90's and have taken great care of them. Probably will hand them down one day to my son. I also have Snap On and S-K tools and have always made sure they were not abused. I bought a new Milwaukee cordless drill after Christmas and was shocked to see that it was made in China. I have other Milwaukee tools that have served me well for years that were US made and that is why I bought the drill. My father used them too for many years in the building trades and they were among the best you could buy, but now it seems they are content building them for the retail market more than the industrial and building trades.

[Ace-Garageguy]

It really is a sad commentary on how the buying public doesn't understand the correlation between price and quality. Retailers also haven't helped the cause with their liberal return policies as that has contributed greatly to the lower price/cheaper quality. I worked at a Sears Paint & Hardware store in the early 90's, mostly to increase my tool count in the garage but also to supplement my income before we had children. The abuse of Sears' policies by customers was unbelievable! Retired guys going to garage sales and buying bent screwdrivers and coming in for a replacement, carpenters who bought a tape measure and then came in once a month for a free replacement once the tape broke, people "buying" an electric chainsaw and returning it 2 hours later, once they cut the tree down and demanding a cash refund. It was mind boggling and all done in the name of "customer service" and look where that has gotten us as a society! No longer are we responsible for our actions as long as someone other than us will pay for them.

I really have to disagree with the notion that liberal return policies are to blame for the problem. Strong guarantees were put in place to assure the buyers that the manufacturers were doing a good job making the tools, and that the retailer would stand behind a QUALITY product. The fact that the return policies have been abused is NOT the fault of the policies, any more that it's my fault if someone smashes the window in my truck and steals my radio.

Values, like the value of good tools to do good work, and values like the concept of fair-play and not cheating by returning tools fraudulently...these values are taught, or NOT taught, to children by parents. If values aren't taught to children, the adults they grow up to be will not magically develop them on their 18th or 21st birthdays.

A society that laughs at morality-based concepts like telling the truth, competence, hard work, and fairness tempered with common sense is doomed, and a widespread wanting-something-for-nothing is a major indicator of decline.

Edited May 9, 2014 by Ace-Garageguy

[Harry P.]

A society that laughs at morality-based concepts like telling the truth, competence, hard work, and fairness tempered with common sense is doomed, and a widespread wanting-something-for-nothing is a major indicator of decline.

Exactly. That's our problem as a nation and a society, boiled down to one succinct sentence.

[Danno]

Exactly. That's our problem as a nation and a society, boiled down to one succinct sentence.

Dittos!

[Pete J.]

I have to go along with bill on this point. The sense of fair play has gone in the crapper. There are still parents who teach this but by and large we have let that value slip. I saw what mikemodeler saw, but I think my perspective may have been a little different. The two biggest returned items were tape measures and the California framer hammer. But what I saw, was a loss leader for Sears. Yes, they were returned a bunch, but they were returned by guys who worked with them for a living. I have actually seen a hammer worn out from use! Does that guy deserve a new hammer. Yea, but not for the reason you may be thinking. This guy uses tools for a living and when he exchanged the hammer there was a high probability that he was going to buy a bunch more tools. It kept him coming back to the store. When Sears stopped selling both of these items the tradesman quite coming into the store. The place use to be very busy. We hired people who had experience in working with tools to talk to tool guys and gals. They could give advise based on experience. When you go in a Sears now, you get an 18 year old who can hardly run a cash register much less advise someone on what tool they need. As far as I am concerned Sears was penny wise and pound foolish. They saved on returns at the expense of driving off their most profitable customer. Sad state.

[Tom Geiger]

Speaking of cheap tools... I just burnt out my third Black & Decker Leaf Hog. It's an electric leaf blower / vacuum and I loved to use it. I lost track of how long the first two lasted, but I know I took the first one apart to clean it out etc. and had trouble getting it back together because the unit was never made to be serviced. I have two burnt ones in the garage. By burnt I mean that they actually smoked and burnt out. Again with the middle one, I lost track of how old it was and bought another. At least the unit was beat up and the bag had torn by that point, so I reasoned that I got my money worth.

But this time I know it only lasted TWO friggin seasons. The darn thing looks brand new! I was using it the other day to suck up some winter leaves and noticed smoke coming from the cord. So I shut it off. Both of the ones I have have burnt positive tines on the plugs. You'd think there would be some sort of shut off in this unit before it actually caught fire!

So this week I went to the 'depot with my 10% off coupon and got a brandy new Toro version of the same tool. The nice man at the store said he had this same one for five years. So far, so good. I've used it the past two days and it works well. But time will tell.

Edited May 10, 2014 by Tom Geiger

[Tom Geiger]

Speaking of cheap tools... I just burnt out my third Black & Decker Leaf Hog. It's an electric leaf blower / vacuum and I loved to use it. I lost track of how long the first two lasted, but I know I took the first one apart to clean it out etc. and had trouble getting it back together because the unit was never made to be serviced. I have two burnt ones in the garage. By burnt I mean that they actually smoked and burnt out. Again with the middle one, I lost track of how old it was and bought another. At least the unit was beat up and the bag had torn by that point, so I reasoned that I got my money worth.

But this time I know it only lasted TWO friggin seasons. The darn thing looks brand new! I was using it the other day to suck up some winter leaves and noticed smoke coming from the cord. So I shut it off. Both of the ones I have have burnt positive tines on the plugs. You'd think there would be some sort of shut off in this unit before it actually caught fire!

So this week I went to the 'depot with my 10% off coupon and got a brandy new Toro version of the same tool. The nice man at the store said he had this same one for five years. So far, so good. I've used it the past two days and it works well. But time will tell.