chryslerfat
Well-Known Member
I am sure we all remember the purpose of the catalog to a young man when we were growing up. lmao
Sears selling Craftsman brand to Black and Decker
- Thread starter kybatman
- Start date
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That too!
mopowers
Well-Known Member
Or you'll hold your breathe and stomp your feet?
GeorgeH
Well-Known Member
Hand tools are one thing, but you used to be able to go in a Sears and get very nice quality cutting tools, taps, dies, REAL chisels, drills, etc, and quite a few of more specialized type tools. Seen it and done it myself, sometimes you only have one shot, and the cheap tool just makes a bigger mess. I'm not stomping my feet , but it seems everyone is selling the same crap in a different package. lol
gunbunny
Well-Known Member
Here's one answer to the warranty question. In short, they don't know.
I do know that the Sears close to me had some pretty bare shelves until the 1st of November. The Sears hardware stores closed a couple years ago, so if you need a specialty tool, you're out of luck.
I started buying Harbor Freight tools from a paper ad that showed up at the shop years ago. They're great for that stupid tool that you might use once every 3 years
Craftsman’s famous lifetime warranty in question after $900 million sale
I do know that the Sears close to me had some pretty bare shelves until the 1st of November. The Sears hardware stores closed a couple years ago, so if you need a specialty tool, you're out of luck.
I started buying Harbor Freight tools from a paper ad that showed up at the shop years ago. They're great for that stupid tool that you might use once every 3 years
Craftsman’s famous lifetime warranty in question after $900 million sale
goldduster318
Overzealous Car Modifier
Well to be honest, the Husky brand tools have been better quality than the Craftsman stuff made in the last 4-5 years, and are less expensive. So, now they'll be made by the same parent company. Sounds like a good thing. I still live a lot closer to a home depot now anyway, and Husky is much less expensive for single wrenches and sockets than anywhere else.
WIth so many people doing online shopping ... it is a matter of time before more stores close the doors to the public .... Still remember back in the 70's as kid how K-Mart and Sears were the places to shop ..... some of you Canadians may even remember Kresgees and Woolworth stores that closed the doors because of upcoming K-marts and Sears franchises.. The computor is the GATEWAY to shopping these days ...
And life goes on. Stanley is a very successful company and I think they will handle the Craftsman name with respect. They already have many lines /quality of tools. MAC, Proto, Blackhawk, Husky. They know tools.
I remember the kresgee stores very well. My favorite store to go to as a kid. They had a real good toy aisle back then. They evolved into K-Mart.
Johnny Dart
Well-Known Member
Wait, hold on, what ?
Harbor Freight tools are better than Craftsman ? Really ?
How could that be even remotely possible ?
Harbor Freight, China crap, is the throw away tool capitol.
I dont think ive ever thrown away a Craftsman tool.
Interesting.
diymirage
HP@idle > hondaHP@redline
read it again, i said same QUALITY but better price
i also made sure to point out that by all likelihood, the craftsman tool i had were ALSO made of chinesium
Johnny Dart
Well-Known Member
Sorry buddy, but there is no comparison. Harbor freight is the bottom of the barrel.
dirty white boy
50 yr old Juvenal delinquent
lil town called stanley up north in connecticut grew up around a lil tool factory the town was named after,...delivered some freight there in early 90s! hate to think its not there any more,..but dont see them re naming the town craftmanville ether....dwb
You must not have purchased Craftsman or Harbor Freight tools recently. If you had, you wouldn't be so high on Craftsman or so critical of Harbor Freight. Not only is their a comparison, I would absolutely argue that in many cases the Harbor Freight stuff is now better.
Craftsman's standard series hand tools have been made in China for at least 10 years now. I know because after I purchased my house and started expanding my tool collection I had to start buying their "professional" series hand tools, as they were made in the US still and the standard series was not. Now, most of their other tools, tool boxes, etc, are being made in China. Even their heavy duty, "premium" tool chests are being made in Mexico. If you go into a Sears now you'll find that not even all of the "professional" series tools still wear a "made in the USA" brand. Because they aren't. Not the sockets, not the wrenches, unless maybe they're leftover stock that have been on the shelf awhile. I was at the local Sears a couple months ago, they were having a big sale on their sockets. I noticed as I was going through the display that the newest sockets on the rack were all missing the "made in the USA" branding. I went home, made a list of some of the stuff I was missing, and stocked up on the leftover US made sockets that I needed after some searching. But even the quality of their US made tools has been dropping. I have a "professional" series 3/8" long handled ratchet that I've stripped twice in just the last few years. Sure, they still honor the "lifetime guarantee", but that doesn't mean you get a brand new tool anymore (like it used to). Now if they've got a rebuilt one, you get that one. And it breaks again in short order, and back to Sears you go.
Meanwhile, Harbor Freights tools have been improving. A lot. Even in just the last couple of years. I have a bunch of their stuff in a tool bag I carry for using at the local wrecking yards. You know, "cheap" stuff so I don't have to worry about accidentally leaving something expensive in the yard, or destroying my "good" tools working in the gravel and crap at the yard. Well, I haven't broken or stripped out any of those tools. And they get treated worse (by far!) than the Craftsman stuff in my shop. Not only that, when something does break, they have the same lifetime guarantee. And, unlike Craftsman's current policy, you get a brand new tool, no questions asked. Even on their power tools (which are a little more hit and miss). Just like Craftsman used to do it. As of late I've had less trouble with my "cheap" Harbor Freight tools than I have with my "good" Craftsman tools. And since they're both made in China, why buy the tool that costs twice as much and doesn't work any better? I've got no problem spending more money on better tools, but I'm sure not going to spend more money on tools that aren't any better. If I want a tool that's going to last, I sure as heck don't buy a new Craftsman. I hit craigslist and buy Craftsman tools from the 70's, because that stuff will last. The new stuff is garbage.
Hopefully Black & Decker is going to move production of some of Craftsman's tools back to the US like it sounds like they might. Sears has been killing the brand for at least a decade. They would be hard pressed to do worse than Sears regardless.
Don't believe me?
Right from Sears. Made in Mexico.
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Johnny Dart
Well-Known Member
Hey, if thats what floats your boat, Harbour Freight it is !!!
Agree. Even when they were pretty much still US made, I considered part of the cost as covering the replacements I would be needing.
Harbor freight has come up as Craftsman went down. So buyer beware on both. If you really need to depend on a tool, Snap-on/Mac is still a much better bet. Or for the same money, buy a few of the others for back-ups.
One of the really sucky things Craftsman did was stopped rebuilding your tool. Instead giving you someone elses in exchange.
Hey I didn't say I like it. Simply that Craftsman hasn't been making clearly better quality tools for years. Personally I try to buy most of my tools used now. I'd rather buy USA made tools, but I'm not going to pay "USA made" prices on "made in china" tools with a US manufacturer's name on them just so some USA CEO can turn a bigger profit because he outsourced the labor. Screw him. If I'm going to be buying "made in China" tools either way I'll buy them from Harbor Freight at "made in China" prices. Especially if Harbor Freight is honoring their guarantee's and in many cases making better tools.
Now, if Black & Decker wants to return to US manufacturing and make better products, I'd love to go back to buying new Craftsman tools.
cannucky
The Guy With No Birthday
Funny the last Woolworth store I shopped at was on Washington Ave in downtown Lansing MI in the nineties , bought a couple of Topps box sets for the kids from the 2 years the Blue Jays won the Series !
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