Craftsman Warranty

[Philbert]

One of These Things is Not Like the Other




Of course, I’d heard that the Made in the USA ‘V’ series sockets were no more.

Happy to get a ‘no questions asked’ exchange at a local ACE Hardware store (also Lowe’s, as I understand).

But will keep an eye out at garage sales, etc., for a ‘real’ replacement.

Philbert

 

[Bill G]

Yes they can be exchanged no problem but the quality of the replacement is not the same

 

[Likesaws]

Flea markets and home sales are the best places to shop for wrenches and tools for me.

 

[GMB74]

I have some old wrenches and sockets that are stamped "made in USA"
and some newer ones (still pretty old) that say "made in Japan".
It's not surprising to see them coming from Taiwan. That's a little better than mainland China.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

well the unfortunate thing is as time gos on newer generations that don’t seem to work on stuff as much as the older ones we’re looking for cheap tools to just have around. New ones are still lifetime warranty I believe and they are making certain lines in the us still if i recall correctly but lots had changed since Stanley/B&D/mtd has gotten craftsman label.

 

[Philbert]

My ‘new’ Craftsman, replacement socket looks identical to a ‘DeWalt’ (slso owned by Stanley) socket I saw.

Both made in Taiwan.

Philbert

 

[bwalker]

My ‘new’ Craftsman, replacement socket looks identical to a ‘DeWalt’ (slso owned by Stanley) socket I saw.

Both made in Taiwan.

Philbert

Now days the Taiwan made tools are the good stuff when it comes to non professional grade tools. The alternative is made in China.
Gearwrench is also made in Taiwan and is pretty good for the price.

 

[RCBS]

Danaher made good products for Sears.

 

[bwalker]

Danaher made good products for Sears.

My first tool sets was Craftsman purchased in 1996 which was during the Danaher era.
In my opinion they were garbage. The ratchets were imprecise and wore out very quick. The sockets were sloppy tolerance wise and tended to chew up nuts and bolt.
The modern Tawainese stuff is much better in general.

 

[dangerousatom]

Craftsman and a large amount of "Made in USA" tools are actually made over seas. The way it works is quite deceptive. According to FTC standards only around 60% of the cost of the finished product needs to be in country to get the USA stamp. So alot of steel hand tools in the big box stores that are "USA" are cast/forged out of country and shipped in to be finished. The EPA does not like chrome plating plants either so alot of that happens in Mexico. Finishing, sorting, packaging, and shipping are all near enough to hit alot of the 60% cost in country. Along with those cost since the mid 90s overseas factory's that make US tools are often brought up to a better quality control and often overseen by a few American QC and design engineers. Those costs and pay go to the 60% as well.

There are a few Made in USA tools still around that i can think of off the top of my head...
-Channellock
-Klein Tools
-Estwing
-Marshalltown trowels are still US made, but they make cheap home owner stuff now that is not.
No power tools is US made even if they say they are. We injection mold here and assemble but the guts ...motors, gears, switches, batteries are not.

But even still these companies will get stuff made over seas to sell. Like when you see a stack of plastic tool boxes or another odd product made by a company that you know doesn't make that. Its kind of like a side hustle for them to make a few extra million during Fathers Day and Christmas.

The issue is American wages are too high. If the majority of hand tools were actually 100% made in house there cost would be double or triple.

 

[bwalker]

Craftsman and a large amount of "Made in USA" tools are actually made over seas. The way it works is quite deceptive. According to FTC standards only around 60% of the cost of the finished product needs to be in country to get the USA stamp. So alot of steel hand tools in the big box stores that are "USA" are cast/forged out of country and shipped in to be finished. The EPA does not like chrome plating plants either so alot of that happens in Mexico. Finishing, sorting, packaging, and shipping are all near enough to hit alot of the 60% cost in country. Along with those cost since the mid 90s overseas factory's that make US tools are often brought up to a better quality control and often overseen by a few American QC and design engineers. Those costs and pay go to the 60% as well.

There are a few Made in USA tools still around that i can think of off the top of my head...
-Channellock
-Klein Tools
-Estwing
-Marshalltown trowels are still US made, but they make cheap home owner stuff now that is not.
No power tools is US made even if they say they are. We injection mold here and assemble but the guts ...motors, gears, switches, batteries are not.

But even still these companies will get stuff made over seas to sell. Like when you see a stack of plastic tool boxes or another odd product made by a company that you know doesn't make that. Its kind of like a side hustle for them to make a few extra million during Fathers Day and Christmas.

The issue is American wages are too high. If the majority of hand tools were actually 100% made in house there cost would be double or triple.

The wages are too high thing is ridiculous. Wages and benefits for American workers in thr 1950's were high as well. I think blaming everything on high wages is a cop out.

 

[dangerousatom]

I dont mean it in it that way.

Its the average cost of living in the US that has pushed the pay up. This in turn pushes up the cost of everything we make because the companies just charge more to compensate for the higher pay. Its a vicious cycle, American health care costs play a major factor in this as well.

 

[bwalker]

I dont mean it in it that way.

Its the average cost of living in the US that has pushed the pay up. This in turn pushes up the cost of everything we make because the companies just charge more to compensate for the higher pay. Its a vicious cycle, American health care costs play a major factor in this as well.

Whats push the cost of everything up is the devaluation of our currency via debt.

 

[dangerousatom]

That too . . . Particularly now that we are finding out that likely 25% of that dept was blown on scams and straight up over spending