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Black & Decker is buying Crapsman from Sears


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...even though I have bought a bunch of them, I never understood the Craftsman tools mystique. They were a great resource for tools when you lived in Seldom Seen, WV, but even in those places, the joke went, "Craftsman tools is like a short dick.  They're OK to use at home."  Now that places like Home Depot sell stuff from manufacturers like Husky, and the Taiwanese and Japanese are perfectly capable of turning out hand tools using decent steels, the only thing Craftsman had going for it was the lifetime guarantee.  (If you like to hammer on your screwdrivers, and put cheater pipes on your wrenches.)

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3 hours ago, Further said:

Is Kenmore owned by Sears? 

The brand name is, but the appliances are largely Whirlpool and Frigidaire, the grills are made by another vendor or two, etc.  It's all contract, and as far as I know, always has been.

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When I worked as a mechanic we had one guy who always bought Craftsman tools. They were absolutely inferior to the stuff the rest of us used but their guarantee was amazing.  This guy got a kick out of going through his toolbox and picking out tools he wanted to replace and then destroying them so he could get new ones.

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This might have actually saved Sears.  Or at least provided cash for the stock holders and board members.

Sears will still get to sell the Craftsman brand and actually receive a percentage of sales from Stanley for several years.

This was a good move by Sears in my opinion.  With that said, their tools have been crap for years so fuck'em.

Shu Fang

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23 minutes ago, Longjohn said:

When I worked as a mechanic we had one guy who always bought Craftsman tools. They were absolutely inferior to the stuff the rest of us used but their guarantee was amazing.  This guy got a kick out of going through his toolbox and picking out tools he wanted to replace and then destroying them so he could get new ones.

Which brand did you use?  Snap-on?  I guess a majority of their hand tools are now being made in China; or at lest the insides.

I've actually been scoping out old Snap-on tools too restore them.  I'm weird like that.

Shu Fang

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...I think Snap-on still makes some stuff here. At least, they still have a couple of manufacturing facilities here in the US, but it can be difficult to tell what is made where in their lineup.

 

The deal with Snap-on was always that the trucks came around to wherever you worked, so you didn't have to go shopping, saving both time and energy.  And the quality was always high. I think most of my tools have probably been around a while.  Some of the stuff I got rid of when I decided to quit blacksmithing were way older than me.:)

 

If I could sell some of my ancient bike tools for e-bay prices, I could probably buy @Wilbur a boat.

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I always thought Craftsman tools were good, at least for the average user.  Most mechanics I know used Snap On.  I have heard Craftsman tools would sell well, for a decent price, at farm sales. The auctioneer would make special mention that it was Craftsman tools.

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13 hours ago, Shu Fang said:

Which brand did you use?  Snap-on?  I guess a majority of their hand tools are now being made in China; or at lest the insides.

I've actually been scoping out old Snap-on tools too restore them.  I'm weird like that.

Shu Fang

I started out with SK tools (still made in USA) added some Snap-On tools from the toolman and thenHe start this own tool company so I have various makes of tools.

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I have a Craftsman table saw, bench top belt sander and a scroll saw.  These are far from professional models but they work OK for me in my woodshop.  I'd like to replace the table saw with something nicer but this one still works so I have trouble justifying it when I have other things on my wish list.  They are all 30+ years old.  The other two only see occasional use and will probably outlive me.  I've never bought any Craftsman hand tools.

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14 hours ago, Longjohn said:

When I worked as a mechanic we had one guy who always bought Craftsman tools. They were absolutely inferior to the stuff the rest of us used but their guarantee was amazing.

I had a buddy who was an aircraft mech. He had Craftsman stuff, but sold it all and bought Snap-On. Said he got tired of taking stuff back to the mall every weekend.

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24 minutes ago, Road Runner said:

I should open my own Craftsman and other crap tool store.  After a lifetime of buying tools (50 years of buying and collecting and I never get rid of anything), I've got enough stuff for at least ten normal people.

...with you, me, and a GoFundMe, @Wilbur might eventually get the boat of his dreams. :)

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10 hours ago, Page Turner said:

...I think Snap-on still makes some stuff here. At least, they still have a couple of manufacturing facilities here in the US, but it can be difficult to tell what is made where in their lineup.

 

The deal with Snap-on was always that the trucks came around to wherever you worked, so you didn't have to go shopping, saving both time and energy.  And the quality was always high. I think most of my tools have probably been around a while.  Some of the stuff I got rid of when I decided to quit blacksmithing were way older than me.:)

 

If I could sell some of my ancient bike tools for e-bay prices, I could probably buy @Wilbur a boat.

When I worked for the chemical company I had need of some hand tools for off-site emergencies. Most of my personal tools were SK, but they were increasingly harder to find.  I had a buddy who did high end car work & I asked him Craftsman vs Snap-On, He asked how much downtime cost our customer, I told him upwards of $100,000/hour. He said Snap-On. Although the Craftsman had a lifetime guarantee, he routinely had a box full of broken tools to take back. The Snap-ons rarely broke. Thus started my trip down that path. I once broke off a 1" stainless steel nut with a combo wrench and a 4' cheater, no problem for the Snap-On. Most of my personal hand tools are now Snap-Ons, and I've prolly bought almost as many on eBay as I bought off the truck.

Oh, and I have one of these, except mine has a combo wrench handle: 

flankard_zps3jv2ncgw.jpg

 

 

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4 hours ago, az_cyclist said:

I always thought Craftsman tools were good, at least for the average user.  

Agreed - for my purposes (with simple hand tools) Craftsman has always been good enough (with no need for anything better).  I too am not as thrilled by their newer power tools, but I inherited some stuff from my dad when he downsized, including an old router and skill saw, that are still running great.

Sears/KMart have been highlights of any "these businesses are on their last legs" lists - for several years now.  Somehow they keep managing to hang around.

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20 minutes ago, F_in Ray Of Sunshine said:

There's a guy who lives up the road from my camp, who is a Snap-On dealer.

He has a very, very nice house....

Not surprised. You go into the car service places & such and they have racks & racks & toolboxes & toolboxes full of tools. The dealers have their routes, same place at the same time every week, collecting money on paydays. Can you imagine what the guy who services Delta in Atlanta makes?

Oh, and you don't save any money on the packages set of wrenches vs. buying them one at a time.

I am mildly curious on what the commission is on hand tools.

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9 minutes ago, TrentonStrong said:

Agreed - for my purposes (with simple hand tools) Craftsman has always been good enough (with no need for anything better).  I too am not as thrilled by their newer power tools, but I inherited some stuff from my dad when he downsized, including an old router and skill saw, that are still running great.

Sears/KMart have been highlights of any "these businesses are on their last legs" lists - for several years now.  Somehow they keep managing to hang around.

I should have qualified my comment.  I meant wrenches, screwdrivers, socket sets. Also lawn and garden hand tools, such as shovels, hoes, and rakes. I definitely preferred Lawn Boy mowers, for though.

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...I had a Craftsman radial arm saw that I set up when I had the space up in the foothills that did heroic duty on everything. Cut and ran like a champ, and I was doing a lot of stuff back then in terms of remodeling and repair of that house.  And I bought it used in a thrift store. But I just didn't have room for it here, and I kinda lost interest in home repair and renovation, except for the stuff we need to keep going now in this house.

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3 hours ago, 2Far said:

The dealers have their routes, same place at the same time every week, collecting money on paydays.

Yeah, I hear all about that from the techs who post Here.

I don't generally get house envy, but this guy has such a sweet setup. Not big, not fancy but extremely well sited, and meticulously built.

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