I'm a lifelong Craftsman tool owner (and come from a family of Craftsman owners), so I recommended Craftsman tools to my friend, who was buying his first set. They had a great deal ($99 for a 151 pc mechanic's set), so he snapped it up. Imagine my consternation when he called a few days later and told me that the direction-selector on his new ratchet had just broken off. It was made of PLASTIC!!!!! Yep, that's right. We went down to Sears and got him a new ratchet under warranty, but it looks like all of Craftsman's new ratchets have PLASTIC direction-selectors. And that's just the part you can see from the outside. Who knows what else is made of plastic in that tool now. I'm very disappointed in Craftsman, but not suprised. I remember my dad and uncles talking about the crappy tools Craftsman made in the 80s, but they seemed to get better. Guess the accountants are in charge at Sears again.

 

I worked as an aircraft mechanic for many years. I would have loved to buy all Snap-On and Mac tools, but I have to support my family! All my wrenches, rackets and sockets are Snap-On, everything else is Craftsman. Be carefull of what line of Craftsman tools you buy. Don't get the "homeowners" junk, spend the extra dollars of get thier "profesional" line of tools, they are very good.

 

I've had my "basic" Craftsman tool set since 1965 and since I haven't lost any I don't have to buy many new hand tools.

I hear a lot of stories like this lately. It's kind of sad. Sort of like watchin you heros die.

 

deanjet is right. You do have to watch which line of Craftsman you buy. The homeowners lines are cheap. Some lines do not have the lifetime warranty. You have to watch and read the fine print.

All of my handtools are Craftsman Professional line and have never let me down. I always wonder why some ratchets were cheaper until I started looking at them.

Those kits are for the shade tree mechanic and apartment dwellers. I won't buy a wrench of any kind with plastic on it. The sockets are pretty much the same, if not identical, but where they save money is with the ratchets. Probably still better off to buy the kit and then a real ratchet.

 

HEADS UP!!!!! The Danaher Tool sales rep. that calls on our company tells us that the "Craftsman Industrial" line of tools has been discontinued. Only the lower grade will be available after existing stock is depleted.

 

Well I haven't heard that yet but they do sell tools with Sears on them instead of Craftsman that are not lifetime.

 

That makes all of those Crapsman lifetime guarantees pretty worthless...

 

That's not the best part. If we decide that we would like to sell Craftsman Tools, we can. All we have to do is put in a $15,000.00 stocking order and we will have the line here (my company). This is being considered by our top brass. We are not affiliated with Sears in any way. Danaher has decided to offer the Craftsman line to any & all of it's distributors.

Actually, the way it will work is: Armstrong Bros Tool Co. for the heavy duty industrial tools. Craftsman for the light duty industrial/ h.d. home owner tools. & Allen Hand Tools for standard home owner use.

I have a lot of Armstrong tools at home and some of the Caftsman & Allens as well. The Armstrong have NEVER failed. Can't say the same for the others.

I suggested to my bosses that we would be dealing with major headaches concerning the warranty issue. More than likely we would be doing more warranty repl. than new tool sales.

 

What is the connection between Armstrong and SK tools?

 

No connection that I have ever seen or heard of. I have been selling both for 18 years.

 

Before I retired in 1998, I decided I to buy some craftsman power tools. I wanted tools that would last. I do wood crafts, nothing big. I bought a router, sander, shop vac, corded drill, circular saw, and a radial arm saw.
Today the only ones running are the circular saw and the radial arm saw! The radial arm saw was nothing but trouble from day one! The Sears repairman finally told me that the saw was never going to have the accuracy that I expected. He said it was good for making picnic tables, but no good for jewelry boxes and the crafts that I use it for. The Sears dealer refused to take it back even though they told me it would do the jobs I wanted.
I still own a large supply of Craftsman hand tools and they do a good job, but I don't buy anything from Sears anymore!

 

Not surprising, Craftsman electric motors are junk from Day 1. The stationary wood butchery power tools I have are mostly Delta (drill press, belt sander) most of the hand power stuff is DeWalt (planer, drills, sawzall, plate jointer) with a few Bosch (routers) & Ryobi (9in bandsaw, scrollsaw, detail sander). The exceptions are a Grizzly 8 inch planer & a Craftsman Radial Arm Saw. The reason for that is because it was $100 from a friend who hardly ever used it & it needed a new table. It's an older one with a lot of metal parts in place of all the plastic they use on the newer models.

 

I have a Craftsman sabre-saw, circular saw, corded drill, cordless drill, rotary tool, buffer and an (at least 20yr old) router, and all of them still work great. I haven't had any problems or complaints on any of the Craftsman electric powertools. I do everything from home repairs, to crafts to auto repair/dismantling with my Craftsman electric tools and they work great for me.



On a side note, did ya know that Sears buys other tool makers tools and slaps the Craftsman name on it? So if they ever quit selling the Craftsman tools, you should still be able to get the same quality tools elsewhere, and maybe for less $$$ since it won't have the Craftsman name on it.
For example the Craftsman Taps and Dies are currently bought from Vermont American!

 

If Vermont American is making Craftsman drill bits and taps then you can bet on the worst possible quality guranteed! I have had very good luck with Craftsman hand tools.

 

You said it guys, their tools are getting bad! I should know I used them for about 25 years. I won't buy any more. I'm just glad I have most of my dad's old craftsman tools. Those are some very good ones. I will buy proto from here on out. I broke a craftsman so I took it back and the salesperson, some young kid, got a littie snippy and said "well if the tool was used the way it was meant to be used it would of not have broken." I said "well you sell them, I use them, -and don't tell me how two use them! I have been doing this a long time." This kid looks like about 19 years old and he just looks like he saw a ghost! I thought it was kinda funny...


-Completely edited for clarity-