Is the Craftsman name just about done?

[hickory n Steel]

A pair of worthy ratchets I snagged a couple of months ago. They're not my favorites ratchets by any means but if the nuclear war hit and all I had was these two with a set of sockets I'd be able to survive.

Now that's the good stuff.
A 50's pearhead, and a 70's-80's Easco made before they were absorbed into Danahar and plastic parts were introduced.

I find it funny that a lot of people complain about the plastic selector and QR button on the 90's+ Craftsmans but nobody complains about the plastic on many Wera ratchets and even premium Stahlwille ratchets.
I don't care where it's made the only thing on a ratchet that should ever be plastic is a grip.

[skfarmer]

you are a little too worked up about this hickory.


i agree, the later cman ratchets are crappy. not much to argue about there. that plastic lever is junk because it is used in a place it should not be used and is a "poor" quality plastic. it is easily broken, even the cast levers preceding it had issues.

i have some proto big dawgs with plastic handles you could not tear away from me. almost every mfg has used a plastic handle at some point with good results. plastic parts can be and are great features that sometimes make a good tool better or at least better suited for certain uses.


at the end of the day cman has always been contracted out to the lowest cost volume bidder, the sheer nunber of date codes, and mfg numbers over the years proves it. there never has been one mfg (some better, some worse) and the only sure thing about cman is that it will change. not really much different thatn right now.

i have not seen or used any of it but rumor has it that some of the special order usag/facom clones are damn good if not great. another example of cman offering good, better, best models. how quickly everyone forgets the cman pro stuff made by sk and armstrong.

as a side note, i have one of those us made pearhead flex head 1/4  ratchets. it is made very similar to the crappy ones but they are not the same. they will not interchange. it is a great ratchet and a joy to use.

i also have an sk pearhead ratchet that parts will swap with a cman. the sk is a nice ratchet and far bettter than the cman. why? it was made to a better standard. every part from the handle to the smallest part was made better to a better standard. it is smoother and crisper. napa also had that same ratchet as well as others.

[pep]

 You're going to realize one day that after 50 years absolutely nothing is the same. Have not purchased a Craftsman tool for a while, but if they have the replacement option as before that's about all I need. .............. but you better have the receipt these days... and I like that.

The clowns (thieves) that went to garage sales scooped up worn or broken  Craftsman tools. Then run to sears to have the warranty honored, not even to use but to resale same.


GJ people brag about that shit all the time, worthless scumbag., I enjoy the thought that Karma will reward them for many years to come. Cause that is the way the live their miserable lives.

The Craftsman name is still just a zombie brand that's not truly alive.
Sure tools with the Craftsman name on them will continue to be made , but the brand will never truly be alive unless the tools are made here like they were for 70+ years.
That doesn't mean the tools don't function or have a place, just that this isn't the same Craftsman tools.
It's simply another company owning the name, the tools aren't the same, not made where they were, and the logo isn't even the same.

I don't think it's wrong to have this stance about Craftsman just because some people don't care where they're made, it doesn't change the fact that it's just not the same.

He is another people would buy lawnmowers and use them all summer. Fall comes they would return it ............... 

[bonneyman]

A pair of worthy ratchets I snagged a couple of months ago. They're not my favorites ratchets by any means but if the nuclear war hit and all I had was these two with a set of sockets I'd be able to survive.

ha! excellent point. when the cockroaches take over some day there will probably still be some cman tools around someplace for them to use.

That's only if they've taken their doses of potassium iodide! 

[goodfellow]

You're going to realize one day that after 50 years absolutely nothing is the same. Have not purchased a Craftsman tool for a while, but if they have the replacement option as before that's about all I need. .............. but you better have the receipt these days... and I like that.

The clowns (thieves) that went to garage sales scooped up worn or broken  Craftsman tools. Then run to sears to have the warranty honored, not even to use but to resale same.


GJ people brag about that shit all the time, worthless scumbag., I enjoy the thought that Karma will reward them for many years to come. Cause that is the way the live their miserable lives.

The Craftsman name is still just a zombie brand that's not truly alive.
Sure tools with the Craftsman name on them will continue to be made , but the brand will never truly be alive unless the tools are made here like they were for 70+ years.
That doesn't mean the tools don't function or have a place, just that this isn't the same Craftsman tools.
It's simply another company owning the name, the tools aren't the same, not made where they were, and the logo isn't even the same.

I don't think it's wrong to have this stance about Craftsman just because some people don't care where they're made, it doesn't change the fact that it's just not the same.

He is another people would buy lawnmowers and use them all summer. Fall comes they would return it ............... 

I've observed the same behavior over the years Pep. The Sears warranty brought out the worst in people. I guess the warranty was born at a time when these things mattered to honest folks. By the late 20th century it was abused to the max by very sorry individuals. HF is going through the same thing right now. People buying equipment, using it for the weekend and then returning it by claiming a defect. Ask most HF store manager and they'll tell the same story

[fatfillup]

(as a Canuck, NA is important to me!)

didn't know or didn't remember you were Canadian

Likely didn't remember

[hickory n Steel]

I remember one day when I was a kid my dad found a pair of Craftsman locking pliers on the side of the road that were broken and took them in to Sears for warranty.
I believe he may have told the guy that he found them, but I couldn't really say for sure.
I personally wouldn't do that, but will say that I don't think one should need to be the original owner.

A lot of people abuse the Forever warranty that Buck knives has and I hate that, they're hurting a good company and could ruin the warranty for everybody.

[bonneyman]

I might be in the minority here on this, but I didn't have a problem with people returning Craftsman tools that they didn't buy. I don't recall the warranty being extended only to the original purchaser. Was it? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Craftsman tools had a lifetime warranty on the tool - not the user. So if I found a ratchet in the street (which I did once) I could return it. The tool carried the warranty - not the dodo who dropped it off his truck. And what about gifted tools to your kids - or Craftsman tools you bought at a garage sale? That's one of the main reasons why people would buy used Craftsman tools - because they could get the warranty. It was one of Sears selling points. How can we nuke people for doing with a tool what the manufacturer sold it with?
I recall when Ideal bought S-K they held off on warranty claims at first (like 2 years as I recall), and that caused some headaches and complaints. And I personally had a dealer tell me S-K would not honor a warranty on any WAYNE tool. What? Tools from between 1962 and 1969 were out of luck, but back to the 1940's was fine? Offer a warranty or don't - don't dink around with people AFTER the tool has been bought. Perhaps the company's fickleness caused some of their sales problems.

I grab any decent Craftsman tools now even though the warranty is in question. I now don't buy the tools for the warranty - I buy them because they're reasonably priced and decent enough for use.

Anyway, rant over.

[Uncle Buck]

Sears and Craftsman died years ago to me. Once the store disappeared some years ago everything related to either name is and was dead as far as I am/was concerned.  The warranty no longer means anything. To me that is a dead brand. All the stuff sold wearing that name is crap and I would not give it second glance.  I doubt I could get warranty for any of my old Cman brand tools and consider them the same as every other defunct tool brand that is dead that I own. These days there are many other brands of tools I would consider if buying tools but Craftsman certainly would not be on my list. Sadly, I would probably even consider HF before I would buy Cman. At least I know right up front I am getting crap with HF! If I needed to buy many new tools today I would be looking at Wright and Proto, first. Otherwise it is used or NOS USA stuff all the way for me.

[Uncle Buck]

I still value my old USA made Cman tools and in fact they comprise the core of my tools.

 But for me the brand was done once it went off shore.

[Lookin4_67GalaxieConv]

Back in the mid 1990s I bought a lot of Craftsman sockets and some ratchets at a local flea market.  I rarely warrantied anything I got unless it didn't function or was visibly damaged.  Mainly because I'd rather have kept the older Craftsman tools than trade it in for the newer stuff.

Bought a bunch of sockets and ratchets last year and warrantied a HF Pittsburgh ratchet that wasn't operable.  It was old and beat up but I would've kept it if it worked.

[pep]

Living in Miami there was a Sears in Coral Gables. Every Saturday they would set up a grill and load it with charcoal. Cook stuff at the front door. Never knew who got to eat that food, but it did SMELL great

Imagine if you will that happing today?

Anyway back to tools I can say I have what I need to do what I do. The last real tool I picked up was the monster drum&rotor puller last week. Everything else at this point is cumsumial-related

Do have a HF porta power fantastic little beast.

[hickory n Steel]

Living in Miami there was a Sears in Coral Gables. Every Saturday they would set up a grill and load it with charcoal. Cook stuff at the front door. Never knew who got to eat that food, but it did SMELL great

Imagine if you will that happing today?

Anyway back to tools I can say I have what I need to do what I do. The last real tool I picked up was the monster drum&rotor puller last week. Everything else at this point is cumsumial-related

Do have a HF porta power fantastic little beast.

My local hardware store ( ACE affiliated) does a bbq every year as a customer appreciation thing.

[Uncle Buck]

Living in Miami there was a Sears in Coral Gables. Every Saturday they would set up a grill and load it with charcoal. Cook stuff at the front door. Never knew who got to eat that food, but it did SMELL great

Imagine if you will that happing today?

Anyway back to tools I can say I have what I need to do what I do. The last real tool I picked up was the monster drum&rotor puller last week. Everything else at this point is cumsumial-related

Do have a HF porta power fantastic little beast.

I took a chance and bought a really beat HF Porta power that was not working for like $5 and took it home and rebuilt it and like you said, it was/is a beast!

[wantedabiggergarage]

I might be in the minority here on this, but I didn't have a problem with people returning Craftsman tools that they didn't buy. I don't recall the warranty being extended only to the original purchaser. Was it? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Craftsman tools had a lifetime warranty on the tool - not the user. So if I found a ratchet in the street (which I did once) I could return it. The tool carried the warranty - not the dodo who dropped it off his truck. And what about gifted tools to your kids - or Craftsman tools you bought at a garage sale? That's one of the main reasons why people would buy used Craftsman tools - because they could get the warranty. It was one of Sears selling points. How can we nuke people for doing with a tool what the manufacturer sold it with?
I recall when Ideal bought S-K they held off on warranty claims at first (like 2 years as I recall), and that caused some headaches and complaints. And I personally had a dealer tell me S-K would not honor a warranty on any WAYNE tool. What? Tools from between 1962 and 1969 were out of luck, but back to the 1940's was fine? Offer a warranty or don't - don't dink around with people AFTER the tool has been bought. Perhaps the company's fickleness caused some of their sales problems.

I grab any decent Craftsman tools now even though the warranty is in question. I now don't buy the tools for the warranty - I buy them because they're reasonably priced and decent enough for use.

Anyway, rant over.

I had extended family that worked for Sears, in the late 70's to somewhere in the very early 80's.  I believe early 81, and then they I think received a buyout offer and opened a Westlake hardware store.
I didn't start buying Craftsman tools until the 90's, as when I was a kid, Sears was more a clothing store (Toughskins anyone?) or the Sears Warehouse.  We were more Montgomery Wards and also their warehouse people. 
In 1977 Sears moved out of the Square and into the new Independence Center, mall.  I started driving in the mid 80's and tried to buy some quality tools, and ended up with some import stuff that Monkey wards was selling as Powerkriaft was gone, however  they were better then the $4.99 socket sets that I was used to "us kids" having and I had to keep my tools in my trunk.
In the early to mid 80's Sears did an experiment where they started selling Craftsman tools that were made in Japan, then they rebranded as Sears and finally went away when they started pushing made in the USA again.  I think it was during that time frame, they dropped things that I would have grown up with such as replacement blades for your tape measures, replacement handles for your hammers, when you needed something.
In the 90's, I started wrenching and I needed some tools to get started, and Sears was a recommendation to keep me from doing the stupid truck thing, which I couldn't afford.  Truck tools were specialty tools. (and many of them came via Ebay. I also was looking for adult toughskins for work pants.
I had a few warranty things (misprinted socket, not broached socket, wobble socket missing half a pin) and tried to buy the better things (regular ratchets were a huge step over the ones in the $4.99 socket kits, but the RHFT were a huge step up again, then they came out with the smooth ones).  I remember once a person came in with a wheelbarrow full of rusty Craftsman tools and walked out with all new tools.  Evaporust would have been great, but a few tools would have needed replacing, however the tools weren't actually turned in under warranty (which I believe is still actually the same) but were turned in under the "satisfaction guarantee" that so many forget about!!!!!  The satisfaction guarantee was more the killer, IMHE.
It was around this time they started dropping the most returned tools, with the exception of the bent screwdrivers/paint stirrers that I tended to see and shake my head at.

I still have some of my grandfathers tools that go back to when he had a garage in the 20's.  A Husky ratchet (long before Home Depot existed or bought the name) and an SK ratchet that doesn't even say SK on it. No idea where he acquired his stuff (died when I was six), but most are not around anymore.