Craftsman tools.

arnoha said:
What the hell is Sears thinking? Their name is already mud. No one shops there for much, except for Craftsman tools and the occasional Kenmore major appliance (which is already just a branding, without actual manufacturing). Their last "good" thing is now gone.
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Bought a Kenmore compact vacuum maybe 15 years ago. Great piece of equipment, everything fits together, useful attachments, sucks really well. Needed an extra one for my wife's apartment, went to Sears and bought the 'same' vacuum. Looks the same, completely different inside and uses different bags. No attachments, chintzi plastic that breaks. It's like Sears was selling a cheap Chinese knock-off of their own product.
 
I buy pretty much all of my tools from Harbor Freight now. They have very good quality, life time warranty, and are 1/4 the price of Kobalt, Craftsman, and Husky. I still buy quality pliers, and screwdrivers but when it comes to sockets, wrenches, and ratchets I am exclusively Harbor Freight now.
 
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quit yer jibber jabber........
and grab a hammer!
 
Another vote for Lowes tools (Kobalt Brand). Watch the sales, and you can pick up what you need, fairly cheap. And, it seems like it is easier for me to buy a new ratchet/socket set each year, than to get ****ed because of the 1 socket that I lost 4 months ago, that is the one I really need.

And, many times it is dang near as cheap to buy a set as it is to buy the missing socket.
 
HF is very hit or miss. My miter saw is garbage but my tools, angle grinder, and floor jack are great.
 
I think they might have gotten bit when the front loading washers came out. Several models were sued for having mold buildup problems and smelling bad. Didn't help bottom line any.
 
The day I pretty much stopped going to Sears was the day they transferred my Sears account over to a Visa Card. I was still a the stage of my life that I thought I needed credit, and if I needed a tool I would go to Sears because I could put it on my account. The interest and payments were reasonable on the Sears account. Once it became a Visa card I Closed the account, paid it off and only rarely visited Sears.

Brian
 
My favorite thing is to troll the opened box section in the back of HF. They seem (at least my store) to be very liberal in putting anything in there that's the least bit compromised and pretty substantial reductions. I got a tool box that the only thing I can see is that someone had removed all the shrink wrap from it (it's otherwise all there and in perfect shape). I got some various tools that were all there but the boxes were gone/damaged.

Some things like tape measures and screwdrivers which have a habit of scurrying off in the house, I just buy cheap ones of. The sockets and wrenches tend to stay put and I can afford decent ones.

Amusingly, while cleaning out the house I had lived in for 25 years in preparation of putting it on the market, I kept finding all the lost tape measures. I must have had around 18 of them lined up ready for the move. Of course, they all scurried off into new hiding places when we got to the new house.
 
When I got my first job, first apartment, and first requirements to buy anything, I went to Sears. I went there because it's what I grew up with, we always went to Sears for appliances or anything else. I had fresh credit card in hand, went in to get a Zenith TV, or Kenmore vacuum cleaner, or clean sheets, or towels, or whatever else I thought I needed at the time, put it all on the counter and the cashier said, "We only take Sears cards. Would you like to open a Sears account today?"

I am pretty sure I walked out.

I don't think I ever got a Sears card, eventually they started accepting Visa and MasterCharge and then I went back.
 
Most of my older stuff is craftsman I have replaced two ratchets over the years and they are crap compared to the originals. Harbor Freight has some decent stuff and some not so good stuff. For the average joe blow weekend warrior most of their hand tools in the Pittsburgh brand are good enough. Their impact wrenches are pretty good. Their floor jacks are good to go. Most of it is priced low enough one or two uses they pay for themselves.
 
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The backbone of my wrenches and sockets are one of those big craftsman sets I bought 15-ish years ago. The 1/2 ratchet seems worn and I've misplaced a few things after multiple moves and god knows how many big projects/repairs.

I have a lot of harbor freight stuff around... more now that I'm deep into a restoration project but never actual wrenches/sockets. Been looking for some new wrenches here/there and just in general a nice "grab and go" set rather than raiding my big toolbox for what I think I might need. Keep hearing the harbor freight wrenches/sockets are good but I'm unsure. The last thing I want to put up with out in the elements is rounding off a nut or watching a socket peeling apart like it was made of clay, or having a new screwdriver handle crumble in my hand(have had these things happen with cheap tool sets).

Craftsman is made in china now and supposedly not what it once was and I'm not paying the snap-on tax for what I do. So I've been at a real loss for what to get. Was leaning towards the Kobalt brand at lowes.... but everyone keeps saying HF for a good cheap wrench set. Not sure I trust them.
 
I've been buying HF for 1/4" drive stuff. I figure that's pretty safe from a stress point of view. So far it's worked out. Also buy HF pipe wrenches and that would have been blasphemous 10 years ago considering I have been/was a die-hard Ridgid guy.

Still I have to say that craftsman was the only one with a deep enough socket when I changed over to fine wire plugs...
 
I have always been partial to S-K for combination wrenches - the box ends are ridiculously thin and can fit into super tight corners. Really good fit on the fastener. WAY back in the day, up to maybe the late '90s, they produced the Craftsman "Professional" polished wrenches - later "Professional" wrenches went to a different vendor, and while they were just as shiny, they were totally different tools than the ones that S-K made and pretty just much polished turds.

https://www.amazon.com/SK-Hand-86255-Fractional-Combination/dp/B0002NYCSQ

https://store.snapon.com/Standard-H...ombination-Wrench-Set-3-8-1-1-4--P633146.aspx
 
BTW, a trick to good deals on tools - a lot of the big-name sellers (Snap-On, Crapsman, MAC, etc...) sell tools that are made by other companies, then re-branded with the seller's name. Example, CDI Torque makes torque wrenches for Snap-On, and they cost about half when bought under the CDI brand name. Snap-On's pop rivet kit? Half price when you buy it from the original manufacturer, Marson.

https://www.amazon.com/Marson-39001-HP2-Professional-Riveter/dp/B000W1R50A

https://store.snapon.com/Riveting-Kits-Kit-Riveter-Blue-Point--P636276.aspx

Good thread on another forum with tool truck equivalents...

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=136120
 
Cap'n Jack said:
I used to buy Vise-Grip pliers until they closed the plant down and moved production to China. It used to be in De Witt, NE. About 1/2 of the population of that town lost their jobs. Now I'll buy HF since they are cheaper and probably come for the same factory anyway.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/26531610/...ry-vise-grip-plant-moving-china/#.WG7hk_krKUk
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Harbor Freight is sounding better and better.

Was in one Tuesday and got a case for my new GoPro and accessories for just around $14:

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Now just needs dividers and foam padding.

Really beginning to love Harbor Freight!
 
Anybody bought ChannelLock lately? I bought a pair of their Made-In America diagonal cutters last year, and they dulled very quickly compared to the usual Chinese stuff I buy.
 
I'm not a tool snob... I have some expensive tools and some cheap ones... I use them all. I buy plenty of disposable HF tools. Oh and I have a 20 year old craftsman socket set and some newer combination wrenches and they all work great.
 
I for one hope that Stanley/black and decker continues to position craftsman as their higher end line of tools; that is, after all, what the craftsman brand represents. Of course you could say the same thing about toro, cub cadet, John Deere, and a few other brands that sold out to the lower end of the spectrum.
 
Acrodustertoo said:
This is my thought exactly. There is no place for a man to go at a mall anymore. I don't need skinny jeans or junk jewelry. I am tired of sitting on the bench holding my wife's purse so I just don't go to those places.
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My wife doesn't go to the mall much any more with amazon and online shopping. Fine by me, not even very good people watching anymore. Nowadays it seems it's either outlet malls, "lifestyle center" outdoor malls, or dead malls with a surviving bath and body works and a half a dozen smart phone repair kiosks.
 
flyingron said:
Wrenchability comes and go. For a while you couldn't do a lot of things on the cars absent having the computer stuff to talk to it. Now I can get third-party BlueTooth ODBC units and other software packages. GM is also notoriously bad at giving access to service information outside their internal subscriptions.

Of course, on my Volt, even though I have the service manual, there's a lot of it you just can't do. I did manage to install the cabin air filter. What I am amazed at is how much stuff is available on YouTube video. Perplexed as to how to get the tail lights open on my wife's Audi, there was a video. Wanting to pair a new remote entry to my Toyota truck, yep there's a video for that.
My major tool set is a Craftsman set my wife bought me back when we bought the Navion. It is not my favorite. I have a much nicer set that says "Channellock" on it though I have no idea what asian factory probably built the stuff. The nice thing is the tools are black with the prominent sizes in white on them. Handing trying to differentiate 10 from 11mm and the like.
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I agree. It's never been better to be a DIYer in many respects. Google a model number of dishwasher and find support forums and YouTube videos. The last three appliance problems I've had I've been able to fix myself. My wife was impressed anyway. Most replacement parts can be ordered online and shipped quickly. Service manuals are downloadable.

I don't mess with wrenching anything built in the last 10 years, but I have no qualms about working on my plane, my '04 wrangler or my early 90s surplus Humvee.
 
It's like K-mart is using Sears for organ donations while the patient is still alive.
 
Brad Z said:
I agree. It's never been better to be a DIYer in many respects. Google a model number of dishwasher and find support forums and YouTube videos. The last three appliance problems I've had I've been able to fix myself. My wife was impressed anyway. Most replacement parts can be ordered online and shipped quickly. Service manuals are downloadable.
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Agree. Appliance repair . com has saved me a lot. Refrigerator repair, washing machine repair....
 
GlennAB1 said:
Agree. Appliance repair . com has saved me a lot. Refrigerator repair, washing machine repair....
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Amen!!!....My harbor freight tools have never worked so hard. I've rebuild my front loader washer several times (with drum bearings, new spider bracket, seals, and belts). No wonder that Maytag guys is long gone dead by now. :lol:
 
Brad Z said:
I for one hope that Stanley/black and decker continues to position craftsman as their higher end line of tools; that is, after all, what the craftsman brand represents. Of course you could say the same thing about toro, cub cadet, John Deere, and a few other brands that sold out to the lower end of the spectrum.
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.....and most don't know this, but, Black and Decker sold their famous line of kitchen appliances to Windham back in the early 2000's. So they don't make anything for the kitchen....Windam does it all. Since merging with Stanley around 2005 they've focused on tools and power tools. I left in 2004.They also own Porter Cable, Delta, DeWalt, Kwick set, Price fister, and a few others.....:eek:
 
My biggest problem with Harbor freight is the crappy service in the store.

Maybe it is just my local store, but there is nobody to help you find anything.

And worse, the checkout process is painful. We spent more time trying to look you up in their computer system, and updating their mailing list, and taking all your personal information, then they do trying to ring up your purchase.

Even if you tell him you want to decline giving them your information, we still have another 10 questions and the script they ask.

I ran into Harbor freight two nights ago to pick up one thing, real quickly. Neither of the two cashier lines moved, as they spent time entering in customer information on new customers. And then having some sort of data input difficulties, the required manager assistance.

And then try and upsell you to some new $30 your club they have.

Just a painful process to try and buy stuff.


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Must be your store. They ask if I'm already on their mailing list when I come in (I am), but that's about it. The clerks usually fall all over themselves trying to help me.
 
Where I live it cost me way more than the 6.99 they charge to ship to drive to a HF. The downside is if you need it right now.
 
Brad Z said:
My wife doesn't go to the mall much any more with amazon and online shopping. Fine by me, not even very good people watching anymore. Nowadays it seems it's either outlet malls, "lifestyle center" outdoor malls, or dead malls with a surviving bath and body works and a half a dozen smart phone repair kiosks.
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You forgot to mention the thugs that hang out at malls. I couldn't tell you the last time I was at a mall, wife either. Malls are dying as big box stores pop up and smaller shopping centers. At least in this part of the country.
 
mscard88 said:
You forgot to mention the thugs that hang out at malls. I couldn't tell you the last time I was at a mall, wife either. Malls are dying as big box stores pop up and smaller shopping centers. At least in this part of the country.
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Our dead malls are so dead even the thugs don't hang out there. A few nannies go there on rainy days to let the kids play in the play area, and a few geriatric mall walkers, but that's it. Even the downscale stores have left.
 
We have one "living" mall not too far from me, but I don't go there very often.

We have a couple of dead malls that are either being torn down or have been torn down. Here's one that recently made the Youtubes:

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article115176928.html



The trend now is to build "outdoor" malls. Full size bars and restaurants surround the inner shops so there is a reason to go there besides ladies clothing stores.
 
I had a kobalt regulator on my compressor. Went to turn the pressure down from 80psi to 40 psi and the damn plastic housing cracked and shot the brass disc right past my nose and dented the hangar door.

Thank God my eye wasn't in the line of fire, or worse yet, the airplane!
 
I'm unimpressed with many of the Lowe's house brands and affiliated companies. Don't get me started about their POS Unitech line. I got a box of 9v batteries that half were dead out of the box. I've had problems with things as simple as light bulbs from them.
 
I will say I've never had a problem returning things. Cleaner stores also compared with Home Depot. IMO.
 
mscard88 said:
I will say I've never had a problem returning things. Cleaner stores also compared with Home Depot. IMO.
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It's very region specific.

In my area Home Depot is a LOT cleaner than Lowes, better stocked, more knowledgeable workers, more accurate online integration (stock levels & isle/bay locations), better checkout procedures, better Pro Services. They also outnumber Lowes 3 to 1.

I know however in other areas Lowes are better.
 
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