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I went to Sears today looking for a Christmas gift and while walking through the tool isles, I picked up a box of router bits- made in China. I then started looking at labels and found some US made taps/dies, some pry bars, and a few other tools but most were made in China. It makes me wonder, if Sears is slapping their name on Chinese tools, is it better to pay a third of the price at Harbor Freight from some tools?

I would guess it's a tough chore to find any stateside manufacturer of hand tools. There is one high quality joint right in your back yard...Martin sprocket makes tons of hand tools, body & fender tools along with all their power transmission items.

I'm not sure of this, but I think a tool can be made overseas and be OK...it all depends on the level of QC the vendor supplies. Harbor Freight must have monkeys in the factories overseeing quality while Craftsman might actually have Joe Blow pulling stuff off the assembly line and checking it for workmanship.

Sears still has a reputation to uphold...what is
Harbor Freight known for..CHEAP SH*T that will get the small job done once before it fizzles out.

Stuart

Break it,take it back at Sears.Haven't bought a screw driver in years,bend it get a new one.If it ain't Beaver proof don't buy it. I put tools to the test,I want good one's.

Beaver's right. Sears might be buying their tools from China and putting Craftsman on them but if you buy it from Sears you can always take it back a day, a week, or even 10 years down the road and get the same tool right back. I have bought tools from Harbor Freight and broken them and wished I would have just spent the extra $20 bucks and gotten one that was guaranteed.

I started to replace lost items and bought some new ones with Lowes brand Kobalt , they seem to be every bit as good as craftsman an with the same gaurantee an the local Lowes is 30 miles closer to me than nearest Sears , what thoughts do you Gents have on Kobalt Tools?

If it has a lifetime guarantee, its good in my book. Doesnt really matter what brand it is. If a store says "if you break it, we will replace it for free, forever." How can you go wrong?

I dunno, Bought some benchtop tools from k-mart, lifetime guarntee, yeah had some replaced but now they stopped handeling them, went to craftsman.Now I have to send the tool out and wait for it...hassle-hassle....

Saw some tools in Sears last week marked just that, "Sears", looked just like the craftsman but had a 90 day guarantee. I also tried to return a craftsman power tool and was told the guarantee was 90 days only on power tools.??????

i went all the way to sears to buy a quality brake line flare kit.all they had was a generic made in taiwan tool that i have to mail to washington state if it breaks.

Gazim:
Sears is Sears, and does not have the lifetime guarantee. Only if stamped or marked Craftsman can you get a hand tool replaced free for life.
Any power tool, whether Craftsman or Sears, has only the 3-month return or replace guarantee. The Sears tools are cheaper & less well made. You pay a little more for the Craftsman name, but it's well woth it over the long run. As technology improves, so does your "investment". I bought a 22 oz framing hammer in 1964 as a tradeschool freshman; wooden handle, lousy balance, etc. 42 years later, on my 3rd replacement, it's a fiberglass handle, balanced beauty w/ knurled face to hit the nail and set it too. I know there are way better tools out there, but for the $ and the guarantee, I stick w/ Craftsman.
Tomo

Gazim,
yes i was caught in that trap ..for my 16th B-Day my Mom bought me a set of 1/2 drive deep well sockets ...SEARS engraved on em ....broke one ...an then found out that if she she woulda payed 5$ more for the set they woulda been lifetime !...that just sucks She didnt know !..
But to ALL YOU WRENCH HEADS ...i am now 40 an still have the entire set less the replacement for the one i broke ..
So all i will say is BEAT YOUR BOYS WITH TOOL CARE!!! to make sure they know that tools ya buy em will last a lifetime if they take care of em !
My now 17yr Old was notorious for the screwdriver stuck in the ground at 13 ...an dippin his little fingers into Dads Metric stuff for his 4 wheeler for Dad to find later ..after noticin em missin and there lays his 14MM wrench rustin after mowin the grass...
well WE HAD A LONG TALK ON TOOLS AND CARE , ALONG WITH A BELT ...OOOPs i'll deny that in court !
But since ...he now knows how to take care of his tools and mine

When I was younger I had those same conversations with my dad after trying to plant a few wrench and screwdriver trees!! I am sure there are a few tool trees growing in my old backyard!! Needless to say I don't do that anymore.

Gotta put my $.02 in here. I work in the Auto Center in the local Sears. Today i wandered over to the tool dept. on my morning break. From what I saw, the hand tools are still USA made. The Cina made stuff was mainly the cheaper Sears and Copanion lines. The router bits were all China made too. The 90 day warrantee on power tool is pretty much an industry standard, regardless of who you bought it from, be it Sears, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. Oh, and craftsman at K-Mart? We merged with them late last year, so there will be a blending of product lines (Craftsman, DieHard, Kenmore at K-Mart, Martha Stewart at Sears).
There was a Question on Kobalt from Lowes. I do have some Kobalt tools, the seem to be ok tools. Kind of limited on tool types, mainly carpentry tools.
Also, I will admit, if you looked into the shop at my toolbox, the first thing you'll notice is that it ain't Craftsman. I have a Snap-On box and mostly Snap-On or Mac tools.

i sent my last craftsman 1/2 drill back to the corporate office, it was made in china. I asked told the ceo not to send me a replacement because they last only 91 days. Now i purchase dewalt. i still have a copy of my letter and the signature of the employee that recieved the coes birthday present on the postel return receipt.

I took a Dewalt circular saw to a repair shop and was told to junk it. cost more to repair than it was worth. Cost me $20 just to find this out. It was 3 yrs old and had been used only about 10 time. I spent my $ on a cheap Skil that I can throw away without any pain.

Ya got me wonderin about Sears.Guess I will take a ride over to the local Sears and ck.out the tool dept.I have been buying their hand tools for years and have been very satisfied with them.

Just went overv to Sears and snooped around the tool dept.The wrenches,ratchets,sockets,etc.with the Craftsman name are made in the USA.However some of the Craftsman screwdrivers are marked 1/4 made in the USA,or blade made in Tawain,handle made in USA.Its probably only a matter of time before all Craftsman tools will be made in the far east.Their power tools went to he-- in a handbasket many years ago.All of the Craftsman tools in my cabinet are made in the USA,except for one 9/16 end wrench that is forged in Japan.I have no idea where it came from.

I know there are cheaper places to get tools that have lifetime warranties and all, but man I hate it when you're tightening a phillips head screw and the screwdriver head just slips or strips in the slots. Or a socket rounds off. I always try to buy Craftsman tools and the ones that seem to do the best are the professional grade, at least for screwdrivers. I've never bought the Sears brand stuff, so I can't say how good or bad they are. For a little more money, I just go with Craftsman...Not much on their power tools, though..

Dale, I have a 7/16 Craftsman box end combo that was forged in Japan. I'd like to know the story on them. Mine came in a pawn shop tool box.

My garauge is a craftsman showcase. Never had a problem with returns except My new router that i only used once in a couple years. Found out about the 90 day thing so i tore it apart (im good at that) turned out to be a saftey switch. Didnt need the darn thing anyway (switch) It works fine now.

I've got a set of 1/2 drive sockets my aunt gave me for HS grad in 78... they are all still there and original, except the ratchet that stopped working 10 years ago... got a new one..

I need to make a sears run and replace all of my beat up screwdrivers...

Well Gents & Ladies , check this one out .
I am the proud owner of a Craftsman Jig saw my dad bought prob in the early 70's the thing weighs 5 lbs but is all METAL an to this day still runs like a champ , been dropped of roofs had the cord replaced a dozen times an it still just runs ! heck the light still works !
My brother got a Craftsman for X-Mas last yr from his wife it went in the garbage 6 months later !

SOOO THERE YA GO .....POWER TOOLS MADE IN CHINA MAY LOOK PRETTY , BUT THEY ARE JUNK !

Cletis,from what I have been told,the Craftsman line of tools sold in Canada are made in Japan,or somewhere in the far east.Evidently the one you have and the one I have are illegal immagrants.

Guys - I ran into a problem last year. I bought a Torque wretch from Sears 20 years ago and it broke. Took it back and was told the lifetime warrenty does not apply to Torque wretches. Fortunately for me I still had the reciept from 20 years ago. Sears promptly gave me a new one but told me that it only had a 90 warrenty.

Tim,the last Craftsman power tool I bought sits in a corner of my shop waiting for someone to come along and buy it.It is a top of the line table saw that I purchased on sale for about $750. 10 yrs.ago.I cannot keep the blade lined up and running true.Takes about an hour to line it up and after a couple of cuts it is out of alignment.I recently purchased a Delta Unisaw,and although the motor is made in Brazil it is a quality piece of equip.It holds it allignment very well,which is what I need in my line of work.Or guess I should say hobby.

You can run across OLD CRAFTSMEN power tools at yard sales, auctions, estate sales etc ...if they are not Plastic Bodied and you can tell bye feel they are all metal and were made in states before the CHINA import , I personally do not hesitate to snag up a drill for $2 that may need 20 minutes and $5 for a cord an plug
At 1 time Craftsman Power Tools were very high end and lasted forever , heck ya can still pick up brushes at a local Hardware in there Misc. bins if ay dig around.
But since the mid80's quality has slowly gone down hill till Nowadays I wont even consider buyin new , ya better off to pay the xtra .but actually it is hard to find a Quality Power tool these days .
To survive every manufacturer has NO CHOICE but to import parts ...an that is Sad !
Anyone torn down there Briggs Lownmower engine after Bendin a crankshaft or for any parts replacemenet to find a PLASTIC CAMSHAFT ?????? OMG ! MY GRANDFATHER JUST ROOLED OVER IN HIS GRAVE !...GOD REST HIS SOUL !
Just my .02 cents.

I was at a flea market and saw a box of screwdrivers: Your choice, 25 cents. I rumaged through and found 2 Craftsman flat blades that had broken tips. Paid my 50 cents and went to Sears and got 2 brand new, no problem.

When my "Craftsman" hydraulic jack gave out on me (after about 6 months of occasional light duty use), I looked at the item in their on-line catalog to try to get part numbers. There were 10 product reviews for the jack starting with "piece of #$%^" and went downhill from there. Wrenches, screwdrivers and sockets are worth buying from them, anything else is a roll of the dice.

Yeah, desertbuick for a real treat call the Sears tool hotline & try to purchase parts for that jack-the Chinese are going to bury us-under a mountain of broken plastic tools & other junk. Brian

Brian,

I have always assumed the Chinese were only supplying us with the plastic junk we requested.

They have the capability to make whatever we order. It is us..the consumer, that wants the best bargain for the buck.

If Sears is to keep its profit margin, pay the board of directors, pay its stockholders quarterly dividends and pay its CEO a huge salary, then the only place to cut corners is with a plastic jack made in China.

Every other company is doing the same thing, so the only jacks you find on the shelves are plastic. Your choice is now, which store do I buy the plastic jack from?

WE don't abide by this philosophy, but old bolters are a real minority! Even the reproduction mirrors come from Hung Chow...go figure.

This is the direction the world is headed and I don't think we can stop it. The VERY bottom line is still the dollar bill.

Stuart

You are exactly right Stuart. WE are the ones buying the cheap junk, putting our own manufacturing outta business. They are closing the Bosch plant near here in Jan-they made circular saws. But I am like many others here who recognize quality, & I buy up old tools when I can find them. I also have a B&D jigsaw from my Dad's stuff bought 25+yrs ago, still works as good as day one. But I can't tell you how many newer circular saws I have tossed in that same timeframe. No recycling around here either, so they are all in a landfill now. I always wonder what's gonna happen when we run outta stuff like raw materials-do we then start digging up landfill to reclaim that copper/steel/plastic?. Brian

my 0.02, when i had the garage, i had a set of craftsman tools, open and all the help would use them as well as a few buddies. they are good tools and hold up well. my personal box was locked and held snap-on. they are so much easier to work with, the weight and balance makes a diff in how quick a paying job moves along. craftsman also sells through industrial suppliers. the catalogs i have are from A&M in rahway, new jersey. www.am-ind.com

I'll have to admit, Desert_Buick is right-Craftsman jacks suck. We have one in the shop that is used for occaisional flat repair work if the lifts are tied up. The darn thing takes forever to pump up, leaks down when it is up, and the release valve is a pain to use. Now at home, I've got a 40(?) year old Dreadnought jack that came from TSC. Best jack I've ever used. Doesn't leak, stays up, and the release is easy to use.

does anyone sell a floor jack that works off compressed air?

Lincoln. The ones we have are air over hydraulic. 10 ton, 20 ton. Etc.

Well after 22 yrs of use , 10 yrs were in daily use IN CONSTRUCTION,an after he got outta the trade an it was in general family use wich was often , My brothers / MINE most a the time..Milwakee Saws All finally died.... WE WENT INTO E.R MODE ...CLEAR !..SHOCK....NOTHIN ..CHANGED BRUSHES AGAIN ...CLEAR !....SHOCK ....she went Flatline !....her Old Armature after the Autopsy revealed she had a SEVERE case of Old Age.
She went on to tool heaven in the parts bin , but will always be remebered for tearin through that stubborn wall , hard to get at peace of metal it could only reach ? ........SAD TO SEE A GOOD TOOL DIE , but it happens ...but after 22 yrs of hard use ?
COMPARE THAT TO WHAT YOU GET OUTTA YOUR BRANDY NEW X-MAS PRESENT YA GOT TODAY ...FROM SAY CRAFTSMAN /BLACK N DECKER ..ETC ...you wont have time to have a story behind that tool ....TIMES ARE SAD ! you get 2 years yo will be lucky :mad: :mad: ,
WHAT HAPPENED TO GOOD TOOLS ????

where could i get one?