Is the Craftsman name just about done?

[pep]

  Handy to have for sure, weighs a ton ....  LOL

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!

[highland512]

Stopped by my local Lowe’s today during lunch. Spotted this in the tool section which I found odd after all of the stories of the Texas plant closing. I guess some stuff was manufactured and distributed.     


The packaging is very nice. One of the best blow molded cases I have ever seen.



The tools…………. Only the sockets, reducer, and spark plug socket are stamped USA. The ratchet is made in usa from global parts.


The sockets seem made well. The finish is piss poor at best. I have seen junk sockets made in China in the 90’s with the same finish.





I wish SBD would have stuck it out but something smells of tax credit they received and quickly gave up.

This set was in a isle display marked at $69.98. It was more than what I wanted to spend but I figure this will be the last of craftsman usa made and will be fine under the back seat in my wife’s truck.

[hickory n Steel]

As I understand it the ratchet bodies were forged here of American steel, but could not be stamped USA because they used the existing Taiwanese mechanism.

It's too bad they couldn't stick it out, because $70 is a great price for an 80+PC American made socket set.
Those sockets look identical to the Taiwanese sockets in the Craftsman palm ratchet set I got on sale at the local hardware store last year.


The biggest flaw I see with this set is that they included a bit driver instead of a spinner handle, but at least a bit driver is better than a stupid ass worthless 1/4dr driver handle.
I swear there's few tools I hate more than driver handles, if you can make an actual useful versatile spinner handle that fits on a ratchet driver handles have absolutely no place.

[muddy]

Interesting I was just in Lowe's the other day but didn't look too hard. Maybe I'll go over tomorrow and take a look. My Lowe's never had anything good so I doubt I'll get lucky

Sent from my Twisted Mind Of The Mudman

[goodfellow]

Great find! For you younger guys who are pining for some US made Craftsman, this will probably be your last chance to stock up on a few goodies. Us older guys who had some ready cash for tools stocked up about 10-15 years ago when Sears was discounting the last US Craftsman and Craftsman Industrial lines and mechanic's tool sets through the Sears Outlet stores.

[highland512]

Interesting I was just in Lowe's the other day but didn't look too hard. Maybe I'll go over tomorrow and take a look. My Lowe's never had anything good so I doubt I'll get lucky

Sent from my Twisted Mind Of The Mudman

According to the scuttlebutt on channel 3 each Lowe’s only gets 15 sets. Take this with a grain of salt cause I counted 16 of this set today. Also if you buy a set watch what they ring up at, this one came up at $119. I showed the lady the display at $69 and it was No problem.

[highland512]

Great find! For you younger guys who a pining for some US made Craftsman, this will probably be your last chance to stock up on a few goodies. Us older guys who had some ready cash for tools stocked up about 10-15 years ago when Sears was discounting the last US Craftsman and Craftsman Industrial lines and mechanic's tool sets through the Sears Outlet stores.

Yea I missed that deal. The goal of getting out of college debt free was all I was thinking about in the late 2010’s.

[goodfellow]

Yea I missed that deal. The goal of getting out of college debt free was all I was thinking about in the late 2010’s.

You made a very wise decision highland. One that will pay dividends for the rest of your life. Good on you 

[highland512]

Different Lowe’s different set hmmmm. Doesn’t seem like as good of a deal compared to what I got for $10 more.



I saw pictures of usa impact sockets on the urinal, I would love to find a set of those.

[jeffmoss26]

saw this set at my local store yesterday

[bonneyman]

The sockets and accessories look fine but I can't say the ratchet does anything for me. The blow molded case would do fine for spare storage but I'm sure it wouldn't last long getting tossed around every day.

But heck, for USA-made, a doable set.

[hickory n Steel]

I'm going to lowes Tomorrow to pick up another small window AC unit and will see if they have any of the US made Craftsman in stock.
I'm just going to look and can't buy right now, but I'm betting they probably didn't have them anyways.

[muddy]

I swear I didn't see anything like that. But then again chasing a 5 and 3 yr old around you end up missing things.

Sent from my Twisted Mind Of The Mudman

[highland512]

I swear I didn't see anything like that. But then again chasing a 5 and 3 yr old around you end up missing things.

Sent from my Twisted Mind Of The Mudman

I know the feeling.

[bonneyman]

I swear I didn't see anything like that. But then again chasing a 5 and 3 yr old around you end up missing things.

Sent from my Twisted Mind Of The Mudman

Get them looking for the tools! Say there's a bag of candy for the first one to find a red Craftsman case!