The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest Sears and Made in the USA tools.

Being a mechanic has taught me what I like in a tool. I like Snap-on hand wrenches because they are smaller around the box end (and open end) and allows them to go around bolt heads that are in tight spaces. The handles are thinner and easier to maneuver. They are strong. I also like the Snap-on sockets and ratchet wrenches. They also are thinner in the head and come in different gear ratios. I like craftsman pliers. The grips generally stay on and they seem to last. I like my Cornwell tool box because it is built well and cost me half as much as a Snap-on. I like cheap chisels and hammers (you just beat them). I like Snap-on and Craftsman screwdrivers. Snap-on has some real nice precision screwdrivers that I like. After all my years wrenching, I never cared for MAC tools. The chrome kept peeling and they were just too fat. Craftsman wrenches are fat also, but now that I am retired from wrenching, I have several sets of them too. I like to shop for and use many cheap tools also. There are so many small tools that an be found that are nearly identical to the stuff you can buy off the trucks. Snap-on does have some nice tools for the professionals.
I don't need large sockets much, so I bought one of those made in china sets for use when I need one.
Craftsman work well and I use many of them. I only get name brand happy about specific tools. Many times in the shops I worked in, guys needed to borrow my tools because they only bought off the snap-on trucks and couldn't afford the tools they really needed. They all had pretty shiny toolboxes. I had a lot of tools and a crappy box. I actually didn't get a shiny box until after I retired. HA!

Steve, I can appreciate you comments and would like to add my own....like so many of us I guess we have our favorites. Some brand names and some cheaper.
I'd just like to add that yesterday, after following this post, I realized that my FAVORITE tools I always reach for are some WIZARD tools that I purchased at Western Auto in 1969. They are nice, longer than most AND they are 1/2 on one end and 9/16 on the other, or 9/16 on one end 5/8 on the other. You know what I mean. I have NOT been able to find these kind of tools in a set but they are available individually some places. It sure cuts down on how many tools you drag under a truck with you. The old Wizards are just plain tough and I expect to use them many more years. They also seem to have just the right "off set" to them. I love'em.
I do have a Mac impact wrench and air ratchet that just seem to refuse to die. I've had them since 1986...add a drop of oil now and then and they just keep going.....and going. I don't use them EVERY day but dang near it!!

Fuller Tools may be based in Montreal but their tools are made in China. I have a set of Fuller hex keys p/n 1300640 and on the back it says 'Made in China'.
In Canada Sears was at one time Simpsons. It merged with Sear-Roebuck and eventually became Sears.

As a Christmas gift my brother gave me a set of Coast to Coast screwdrivers. This is back in the mid to late sixties amd I was in grade school. I still use them to this day. They are much better than Snap-on or Craftsman. And, what I wouldn't give for a NOS set of them today.

olblu49 many years ago when I was a kid living in Canada, I remember it being called Simpson/Sears

I may have posted this before,but back in around 1964,I went to a tool sale at a local motel. While there I purchased a set of offset boxend wrenches,that are forged in India. I paid $5. for them. I have used and abused these wrenches for all of these years and they are still in excellent shape,and ready to work on my next project.Dont run into that kind of a deal very often.

Is this what ou are talking about Jimmie D?

http://www.coasttocoasttools.com/site/1320128/page/757365

I really own just cratfsman tool at the current moment and they treat me just fine but the tools that I like to use the best and are truly made in america are the ones that I have created whether it was grinding down a wrench so I can fit in some where or welding a bunch of steel together for my own custom one use wrench those are the tools I love to use.

Anything with a life time warranty I've some how 'broken' a few tools here and there, and a life time warranty comes in handy. Cheaper on the wallet and I also get nice new toys, I mean tools. I have Fuller, Sears, Mastercraft, Jonesway etc Various brands and some of the cheaper brands I have out last the more expensive brands. But when it comes to sockets and rachets, buy something decent with a life time warranty. They are the easiest tools to break I find. Sears (mastercraft/craftsman etc etc) is the best since you just take your broken tool back and get a new one. No questions. The quality might not be as good as before but at last the warranty is honoured.

But I do find tools made 30+ years ago last longer than tools now-a-days, no matter what brand.

What you all gotta realize,is that it is a world wide market out there today.I can remember when anything made in the far east was pure junk.Not so anymore,therir standards of tools and anything else are just as strict as anywhere else,probably moreso.Back in the day if you bought an American made vehicle it was made and assembled in the good old USA.Not so any more,start by checking out where your precious late model GM engines are made,and you will find out they aint made in the USA.

you better do some checking on the tools. sears has mostly chinese crap now.

Funny, I was just in our Sears store yesterday, still plenty of USA made hand tools on the shelves there. True, some of the Craftman branded tools are Chinese, but they are still backed by the warrantee, and are actually very good quality.

i bought a craftsman motorcycle jack. it was no good leaked fluid. to make a long story i have went through 4 jacks in 2 years. they have a 1 year warrenty and will not last that long. they are made in china with craftsman name all over them. i carried one back for repairs that i had a little over the year. our sears store told me i would be better off buying new one. they cannot get parts and have no one in florence al store to do any repair work. you should read the complaints on their web site concerning this jack. sears just do not care. you must have a different sears than what we have. most of their stuff is overseas crap.

Bought most of my tools in the late 60's early 70's when I was working as a mechanic. In those days that is what the average mechanic was using. If you could afford it you bought MAC or SnapOn but sears tools were considered excellent tools. I still have most of them, including the sears tool boxes. Now when peopel see my boxes and tools they are thought of as second rate, or third rate! It is a shame it has come to this. I now buy SnapOn when I need a replacement but my pockets are not deep enough for that very ofen, just when something breaks.

I was in Sears yesterday pokin around to see if I could get some tools to complete my size range, new job requires some stuff I dont have on hand. Anyway, I was suprised how much of it is still made in the US, and not just pieces, but whole tools.