Stanley Black and Decker buying Craftsman brand from Sears

[Spud]

Kind of sad, the brand was an American institution for a long time. Craftsman is a lot more than just hand tools -- lawn mowers, snow blowers, small tractors, grills, garage door openers, etc.

 

[bergmen]

Growing up I remember my dad saying he only bought craftsmen tools. He said they were the best and I should never "get cheap when it comes to tools (or guns)....either are more likely to fail on you when you need it."

That is exactly what my Dad would say to me and my brother back in the 50s. Both my Mom and Dad were die-hard Sears fans and for good reason. Sears had EVERYTHING for life in general and always good quality for the times.

When we lived in Japan from 1958-1962, Sears was our connection to American merchandise. The Sears catalog was THE resource we poured over to order anything we needed from back home. I remember when we would get a "shipment" from Sears with all kinds of household goods (including Christmas presents, etc.) on regular occasions.

I have some of my Dad's Crafstman hand tools from the 50s and they have a solid place in my tool chests. His precision tools were all Starrett for the same reason (he was a Journeyman Machinist) and I have those as well. My kids will get all of these some day.

Dan

 

[bigjohnsd]

My first tool set, high school, was a Craftsman set, 88 piece Mechanics tool set or some such. After I started working as a mechanic in college I started buying Proto Tools, went to the bank and borrowed $1,000 as I remember. I did Proto and some Snap On until I went into the Navy. I still have some of those tools. Now I have quite a mix, no loyalty, Harbor Freight for one off use it once type tools, Kobalt has good quality as well.

My techs at my old shop mostly bought MAC and SnapOn. I think mostly because they were both "Easy to buy from" the truck showed up, the tool dealer would carry them until payday, the warranties were/are good.

Snap On Screwdrivers remain "the best in the world" as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Geezer]

Kind of sad, the brand was an American institution for a long time. Craftsman is a lot more than just hand tools -- lawn mowers, snow blowers, small tractors, grills, garage door openers, etc.

I was only thinking about the tools department where they sell hand tools and power tools. Yard and Garden power equipment for homeowners is pretty much generic these days with most being made by MTD and just getting a different paint job and decals for each brand, but if Sears is getting out of the business of selling tools and all yard equipment that doesn't leave much. I haven't bought anything else there in 25 years. I didn't think it was a good idea when they bought the failing K-Mart.

Once the malls close from lack of flagship stores I wonder where parents will drop off their kids on the weekend.

 

[Spud]

Kind of sad, the brand was an American institution for a long time. Craftsman is a lot more than just hand tools -- lawn mowers, snow blowers, small tractors, grills, garage door openers, etc.

I was only thinking about the tools department where they sell hand tools and power tools. Yard and Garden power equipment for homeowners is pretty much generic these days with most being made by MTD and just getting a different paint job and decals for each brand, but if Sears is getting out of the business of selling tools and all yard equipment that doesn't leave much. I haven't bought anything else there in 25 years. I didn't think it was a good idea when they bought the failing K-Mart.

Once the malls close from lack of flagship stores I wonder where parents will drop off their kids on the weekend.

The apple store or wherever Pokemon Go tells their driverless uber car to take them...

 

[Klubis]

SacramentoMike posted: The older I get, the less important buying really good tools seems to me. sigh.

Like.

Bought a "home handyman" set from Home Depot a few months ago for Aunt Kelly's house. Strange mixture of English/metric, and included an 8-inch adjustable wrench. Haven't seen nor used one of those in a long time.

The adjustable wrench - was it SAE or Metric?

 

[Spud]

SacramentoMike posted: The older I get, the less important buying really good tools seems to me. sigh.

Like.

Bought a "home handyman" set from Home Depot a few months ago for Aunt Kelly's house. Strange mixture of English/metric, and included an 8-inch adjustable wrench. Haven't seen nor used one of those in a long time.

The adjustable wrench - was it SAE or Metric?

Never thought to check mine, no wonder it keeps stripping nuts lol.....

 

[SacramentoMike]

Once the malls close from lack of flagship stores I wonder where parents will drop off their kids on the weekend.

Not at Arden Fair Mall in Sacramento. They made headlines--national, I think--over the Christmas break when they banned unaccompanied minors from the mall. Unaccompanied by an adult, that is. Not their buddies. This was after a bunch of big fights breaking out in malls here and around the country.

At least if it happened in a Sears, there'd be plenty of hammers and crowbars available.

 

[Knifemaker]

Adjustable wrench.... it's what you use to weigh the pages open to your shop manual when you're working on your bike....

 

[FJR Flyer]

Got a toolbox for my 16th birthday with craftsmen ratchet/socket sets, wrenches and screwdrivers. Still have them and use them regularly. Noticed a while back the new ratchets seemed pretty flimsy compared to what I have.

My dad and uncle opened up a service station after the war. After my uncle passed, my aunt gave me an old Snap-on rolling toolbox filled with mostly Snap-on tools. The box is green. Lots of one-off custom tools also included that have come in handy.

 

[BigOgre]

The Sears catalog was THE resource we poured over . . . .

Ahh - memories.

 

[Fred W]

Stanley is another old US tool maker (from nearby New Britain, CT) that has had better quality days. Some of their early woodworking planes were highly regarded.

 

[juniorfjr]

Dad was a 25 year man at Sears. Employees got 10% off and the limit on the Sears card was higher than it should have been. I was 15 before I knew there were other brands than Craftsman, JC Higgins, Silvertone and Kenmore. When the other kids had Converse, I had the sears brand. I'm going to miss Sears, don't think it'll last much longer.

 

[Ignacio]

Dad was a 25 year man at Sears. Employees got 10% off and the limit on the Sears card was higher than it should have been.

I was a one year man and if you could demonstrate you'd use tools at work (as in a Service Advisor in the auto department) you could get 53% off once or twice a year. Bought about $500 back in like '92 and still the core to my toolset.

 

[Bounce]

In more recent years, even when warrantied, things like Craftsman ratchets netted you a repair kit (gears, etc.) instead of a swap.

 

[Bugman]

Harbor Freight now has Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh Pro. The Pittsburgh line tools were manufactured in mainland communist China (aka the People's Republic of China) . The specs and quality standards of these tools were set low so that they could be produced cheaply. HF used short term contracts in the production of these tools so that they could consistently shop for lower pricing among the Chinese manufacturers. The result of these sourcing practices was a product line that was not very consistent. Some lots were good, but when a new manufacturer took over production, the quality often suffered -- so overall the quality of the Pittsburgh line was pretty much all over the place.


The Pittsburgh Pro lines was outsourced to manufacturers in Taiwan (aka --- the Republic of China). These Taiwanese manufacturers produce tools for much of the free world and they all adhere to international quality standards. The Pittsburgh Pro lines were produced in some of the same factories that make the budget tools for large American tool companies. The quality of the materials is excellent, (vanadium steel is pretty easy for anyone in the 21st century to make well) the tolerances are tight, and the fit/finish is pretty good.

Some China stuff can be good. Sears sells a 4 1/2 vise #951888 that looks like a wilton knock off. 60,000 psi jaws and it looks to be very well made. https://www.sears.com/craftsman-4-1-2-inch-bench-vise/p-00951888000P If you find one, take it apart, clean out the metal shavings and lube it up real good. Yup you read that right. You have to tune up the cheap stuff.

I like to use Snap On ratchets. I just like them.

 

[redzgrider]

Wilton with dark blue paint are chinese junk now too. They still make a couple of good vises, but you get what you pay for.

 

[Knifemaker]

Kinda looks like Sears is on its way out.....

https://consumerist.com/2017/01/09/7-things-we-learned-about-sears-holdings-apparent-death-spiral/#more-10265197

 

[SacramentoMike]

I stopped in at the Sears hardware department at the mall the other day, thanks to this thread. Wondering if I'd see closeouts or anything. Not yet, if it's coming at all, but the whole store just looked kind of depressed. Even for Sears.

 

[Bugman]

SacramentoMike posted: The older I get, the less important buying really good tools seems to me. sigh.

Like.

Bought a "home handyman" set from Home Depot a few months ago for Aunt Kelly's house. Strange mixture of English/metric, and included an 8-inch adjustable wrench. Haven't seen nor used one of those in a long time.

The adjustable wrench - was it SAE or Metric?

Never thought to check mine, no wonder it keeps stripping nuts lol.....

Thats why I have both an 8 inch and a 200mm Craftsman adjustable wrench. I can work on both metric and SAE!!