Track_FC

iTrader: (2)

I was bound to happen. All the companies are soon it and the only way to compete is to do the same. Sadly, in some cases Made in China doesn't always mean horrible quality. The iPhone I'm using right now works great and it was assembled in China...

BADD SS

iTrader: (4)

ughhh, I use Harbor Freight for disposable tools....They should not be in the same post as snap on, there is absolutely no comparison. Even the chinese made blue point line is about 3 times better that anything from the freight.

MynameisLee

iTrader: (5)

I hate to see this happen, but to be honest the quality of craftsmen tools have been going down hill for some years now.

I bought a few of the their floor jacks a couple years back and they have not lasted at all. I'm very disappointed with there performance.

Mako77

can we blame the decline in quality on the now made in china?

CTSmechanic

iTrader: (2)

Ive seen it on several other automotive sites... people say what a great deal and how awesome HF is...but yet they complain about craftsman going overseas...its like driving by a Blockbuster and bitching because its closing as a stack of netflix DVD's slide around on the passenger seat of your car...

ShredSled

iTrader: (11)

I often wonder if at some point, "Made in China" will actually meet and possibly surpass the height at which most people currently regard "made in USA", "made in Germany", "made in Japan", etc... I mean, we are giving them all the technology (and $$$) and they are developing their own proprietary stuff (as are the Taiwanese, where I've toured factories) to soon have facilities where some things can only be made there, and in some ways, made better.


Can't complain too hard, we as a whole are just straight handing it to them, whether you like it or not.











back to the Craftsman tool thing, I also just noticed the other day that ACE hardware sells craftsman tools too, but at quick glance they seemed to be more like those "evolve" line tools too... don't really know though.

Also, it sounds like most of you who are pissed off about it seem to be professional mechanics by trade... where to me it seemed most professionals didn't use Craftsman anyway, whether USA made or not!!!
Kind of ironic.
I'm just a weekend mechanic, and throughout all my experiences I have been mostly satisfied with Craftsman cost/quality/warranty in general. Have had complaints here and there, but to be expected IMO. Cannot justifty paying Snap on prices.

koolrayz

iTrader: (26)

Wright tools are made in america and are very fine quality piece

BaD AZz Z28

iTrader: (2)

Good call, they have really impressed me lately. I have a few hand-me-down Wright tools, so I checked them out and found this on their site:

"Made Entirely in the U.S.A.
From the design and engineering to the forging and finishing, all work on Wright tools is performed in the United States by skilled American workers. We do not use foreign blanks or forgings. Even the steel we use is American-made."


This is an excellent point they are making. I'm sick of hearing about the tool quality from different countries of origin, who cares. I expect quality, but I'm purchasing USA made for a reason, and if you are telling me the whole process is USA made from the design to materials to assembly, I commend that.

96lt4c4

iTrader: (5)

I have some old Craftsman ratchets that my dad handed down to me. He bought them back in 1977 before I was born,1979. He was required to buy his own tools for his new job, building a power plant for LG&E, Louisville Gas and Electric. The way I look at it these tools have built a power plant and are now in my tool box. They are some of my favorite ratchets. They are not made like any other Craftsman ratchet I have seen as long as I can remember.

Some good news from my employer though...

http://www.whas11.com/news/business/...139077389.html

http://www.wlky.com/money/30425398/d...rofile_oneline

Bjorn20

Even for the "professional" mechanic, not all tools need to be high quality. You don't need to spend $30 on a regular screwdriver by going to snapon. When you can get it from a store such as sears or menards for a couple bucks. I remember browsing a matco catalog one day, and they wanted $100 for this large pair of regular, ordinary pliers. I later found a similar pair of pliers that was actually much bigger in size at menards for like $15. Never had an issue with it. For basic hand tools, the big name brands are so overpriced it's sickening.

y2k_ta

iTrader: (80)

Soon it will be easier to make a list of USA-made products than it will the Made in China stuff.

ZTwentyAteU

iTrader: (12)

craftsman sucks, and has for a while. I gave up years ago. I dont even like matco or snap on anymore. Now I go to lowes for some kobalt stuff and I've yet to break a kobalt anything in 3 years. I also go get ratchets and stuff from harbor freight, have yall been lately? they have lifetime warranty on tools, and several things that are actually nice. I have a gearwrench swivel head ratchet that was my fav, till it broke and now I have a harbor freight one that works better and cost like 14.99, and i've tried to break it, AND it has the button that holds the socket on. I find myself using the cheap stuff day to day, and saving good tools for certain things.

I used to be anti cheap tools, but dam, they are all cheap junk now. Only thing ive broken at harbor freight is their multi colored sockets...but at 10.99 for a set, i'll go get more...if I didnt use an impact and 3/8-1/2 reducer, I prob wouldnt have broken it. Of course, HF electric anything is still junk

02WS6SSZ71

iTrader: (20)

I will be sticking with Wright and S-K, as they are American made and fall in between the cheap stuff and the Snap-on/Matco/Mac tools as far as price goes. Hopefully S-K is under stable ownership now. All I do is play in the garage, but I sure don't want to be rounding off nuts and breaking tools when I'm playing...makes me grumpy.

96lt4c4

iTrader: (5)

Harbor Freight socket organizers are the bomb!!!

UMD_Jesse

iTrader: (6)

Yeah, folks dont have much choice these days. The steadily decilning dollar value along with jobs shipping overseas, and forcing the American worker with an American standard of living to compete with a Chinese worker with a much lower standard of living, basically means that most Americans cannot afford american made with out serious sacrifices from somewhere else in their budget. Especialy, if buying American really only delays the inevitable...that jobs will continue to be exported until, an equalibrium is reached..where americans become a lot poorer (just middle class...the rich have never had it better), third world labor pools become a little bit richer, and all of us have the same mediocre somewhere-between-medeival-and-modern standard of living(again, not including rich folks). OR.....we could put the axe to all of these free trade agreements. just a thought

Dummybait

go to Menards... you will find they are selling Craftsmen stuff.

also.. look at the Masterforce Wrenches... they say made in the USA and the fit and finish on them is better that Craftsman IMO..

SuperSport01

I have thousands of dollars worth of Craftsman. When they fail I wont be accepting replacements from China. I will be expecting reimbursement.

guppymech

iTrader: (7)

I Have alot of dollars tied up in my Snap-On tools I bought early in my career a long time ago. I gladly paid the premium for Snap-On but I'll be damned if I'll pay it for Chineese Snap-On tools. I have a few Wright tools, Ill look to them for new stuff but in reality I don't need alot any more.
IVe always used Craftsman at home started with the remains of my dads set from the '60s. They were convienent to buy when you needed something in the middle of a job. I won't buy any that are'nt made here.
A while back when I heard Vise Grip was closing their plant in the USA after 85 years to move production to China (thats right check the label) I imediately went out and bought some of the last made in USA Vise Grips I had been wanting and I e-mailed Vise Grip and told them what I thought of them closing their USA plant. Never got a response.
KD Tools is also moving to China.

splitfinger09

iTrader: (9)

Yep same here. Such a shame. I mean where esle could you go while you were right in the middle of a job and get a good USA made tool.

subarubill96

iTrader: (9)

they will just give you that typical stupid look when you say you wont accept the replacement since its not US made, and tell you to go either take that one or leave with your broken one.
needless to say, my broken one got thrown in the parking lot.

I was lucky as hell to have a gear head grandfather who passed this year and left me all his tools so i got a ton of replacement stuff so i have like 20 more ratchets to break before i gotta swallow my pride and get china replacements.
I will say this, comparing all the old stuff i got to anything made in the last 10 years is night and day, face it, even the Made in USA craftsman stuff wasnt great.
still, too bad to see them go.