Twenty years ago I bought mostly Craftsman but like others I have noticed that their quality has gone down the last few years. I work in the HVAC trade and have used Proto, SK, Williams, Klein, and Channel Lock brands without any problems. My son gave me a Stanley socket set and they appear to be higher quality than the Craftsman set my company recently bought.
My first tool set was from JC Whitney and I still have many of the sockets and even one of the ratchets have survived. I replaced the tool box soon after I started working in the trade and my father kept it because he liked for his household tools.
regards
rikard

 

I too use craftsman, their quality has gone down over the years, but their warranty hasn't. I guess as long as they have a reasonable price and the same no questions asked warranty, they will get my money. Now, for precision tools, like my torque wrenches, those are Snap-On, and I get the quality pneumatics.

 

One more anti-craftsman point from a procraftsman. Almost every town with a population over 10000 has a Lowes, HomeDepot or both. Austin has a population pushing a million and I think there's only two Sears. I couldn't even count how many Lowes and Depots there is here. Most cities I've lived in were lucky to have one Sears. Sears use to be an empire, but they have lost a lot of their sales to competition from a number of companies. Seems to me the only thing setting them apart from other stores is their selection of automotive tools. After seeing all the frustration with their quality on here, it's got me thinking Sears better get back to what made craftsman what it was.

 

For those of you who cherish your Snap-On tools, they have a line of tools called Blue-Point. Those tools are predominantly made in Taiwan. In fact while visiting a tool forum, there was a thread on what Snap-On tools are made in China. Yes, there are quite a few tools made there. I think it's only a matter of time before all tools are made in China.
As it is now, I only buy my tools at garage sales or at the biggest on-line garage sale.

 

Well I'll throw in my 2 cents. I've mostly used craftsman tools in my life and have had excellent success with them. I've also done a lot research online and here's what I've found.

Yes, Snap-on's seem to be the most respected and highest quality out there. But they are VERY expensive and most of all, you have to wait around for a snap-on truck to get one or one repaired. for most people this isn't practical.

kobalt (lowe's brand) seems to be getting good reviews. i believe they are made by stanley or under the same company that produces stanley tools. with lowe's being nearby most people it's a good choice.

husky tools for the most part are now made in china. their rep still seems to be good but i think this might be due to them used to be made in the USA.

harbor freight is everyones favorite china stuff. it's cheap, that's why people buy it. my personal feelings on HF is it's ok to buy tools from them you will hardly ever use. perhaps something like a sledgehammer or wire wheel brush. i would NEVER buy a tool from HF that is a staple in my toolchest such as a ratchet, screwdriver, or socket set. I would also NOT buy anything that would put my life in it's hands or where I could get hurt. Such as a jack, jackstands, or hoist.

I recently bought this from Sears:

Sears: Online department store featuring appliances, tools, fitness equipment and more

and I absolutely love it. the only knock i could say about it is the plastic toolbox. if and when i pull out the bottom tray the top 2 might slip down and out of their tracks. But other than that it's great and i recommend it.

i think for the most part the people who break ratchets especially are abusing them. use a breaker bar to get a nut loose, not a ratchet. use the ratchet to then get it off.

speaking of breaker bars i have an 18" Great Neck brand I got from an Advance Auto close to 10 years ago. I've put cheater bars on and really abused it and it's really held up. I'm very happy about it. i think it was made in taiwan but it's held up.

 

I never used a pipe to get a bolt or nut loose with a ratchet (cause a breaker bar is another tool by itself btw). They are just cheap stuff..

Im sorry I keep harping on it but when you replace one a dozen times I think you earnt hat right.

 

Yes you do.... My guess you sadly got a ****ty replacement or poor trained customer counter people.

I have used Craftsman for the last 30yrs and I have never had a wrench problem, snapped a few (can still count them) sockets (also usually my fault by Impact or long breakers), and gutted only 5 ratchets... I had one that broke right after replacement with a rebuild, I took it back and requested a new( your right under Craftsman Warranty) replace instead of rebuild... problem solved!!

I have bent wrenches, snapped sockets and gutted ratchets that were all cheap China crap with out abusing them.... There is a difference between US forged tools and China CRAP!!!

Also a note Craftsman has some being made in China and these SUCK!!! always look for the USA label....

Sears has a issue with warranty requests from some stores and are trying to fix it, because your Craftsman Warranty is LIFETIME replacement for any reason.

Many like Kobalt, Stanley, and a few others are USA forged and they also are of good quality...

 

I might have missed this part of the discussion... but breaking tools is only half the story. Lets take that nut that you cant see, but you know you just stripped the head on for instance. This is an extreme rarity with my Snap on wrenches but I see it time again with the "big store" products. They are not just stronger but a better design that yes.... you will pay for. When I wrenched, I was partial to Snap on and still am. I dont think there was much of a difference between the Matco, Mac, or Snap on, but I will say there is a big difference to the other brands when you need the tool to perform at 100%. Try a buddies good tool the next time you round a head with a cheaper brand... You'll be quite happy when the nut comes off WITHOUT the use of Vice-grips!

 

A "buddy" in the know won't let you borrow his good tool.

 

Correct you are.. let me re-state. Offer your your buddy with the "good tool"(haha) to come over for a and show you the difference a quality tool makes!