How bad are new Craftsman tools?

[master_shake_]

i have some craftsman tool as well as a craftsman toolbox.

they used to be great until sears decided to fuck it all up and stop warranting them.....

my entire crafstman branded gearwrech tools are no longer covered under warranty.

so i am leaning toward buying snap-on. expensive yes, but the truck is at work every tuesday.

 

[CurrentlyPissed]

Track down a Matco/Snap On/Cornwell tools truck, give them your information. Tell them the next time they have a defaulted tool box to hit you up. There are times you can get 5-10k in tools for 2k. Or just ask them to hit up any time they have repod sets. You'd be shocked how much shit you can get cheap and maintains the warranties.

 

[WackyDan]

Good rule of thumb, regardless of brand applies in most cases.

Made in China- one time use garbage.
Made in Taiwan- Decent, affordable stuff.
Made in USA (or other first world countries)- Best of the best, professional grade stuff.

Normally true, but research before you conclude anything. Gear Wrench is primarily made in Taiwan and they stand up to anything made in the USA in the same price range.

My trailer tires are made by Maxxis(Canada Company) but made in Thailand. They are bay far the best trailer tires on the market. Normally the asian made tires are low cost crap. The USA made Goodyear Marathons are utter shit.

So yeah, not always true and you should indeed spend your money on quality tools and other goods and that is regardless of where they are made.

 

[mindless1]

Go to a few stores and see if you like the feel of the ratchets. Craftsman is still a fair value on sale, but as someone already mentioned much of the warranty value is gone with the ease of warranty replacement soon to be at an end.

Timing means a lot when it comes to what the best value is. Since you seem to be starting out wanting a "basic" mechanics set, I would suggest you're better off getting the largest set you can that comes in a blow molded case, unless you feel like buying a slide drawer toolbox too. Throwing them all in an open bottom traditional tool box makes using them a PITA, relatively speaking that would matter as much to me as which brand is on the tools, but do try to buy a set made in Taiwan for best value, not China.

Frankly if I had to start over today, I would buy ratchets separately and for sockets I'd get impact sets. They're a little thicker walled so won't fit in some tight spaces but those are rare occurrences... If the space is that tight I'm probably using a wrench instead of ratchet and socket anyway, except for spark plugs but that's its own specialty socket.

 

[RLGL]

so i am leaning toward buying snap-on. expensive yes, but the truck is at work every tuesday

Between Snapon, Mac and Matco all are good.

 

[shortylickens]

Craftsman tools stink like shit after a year or so. its the weird plastic they use. as is breaks down it releases toxic crap.

 

[bruceb]

You can't go wrong with any of these: Snap-On ... Matco Tools ... Cromwell Tools ... all are top quality

 

[mindless1]

Craftsman tools stink like shit after a year or so. its the weird plastic they use. as is breaks down it releases toxic crap.

Yeah, their (and other brands) screwdrivers/etc with the clear or translucent, cellulose acetate butyrate handles can smell a bit, though those I have are stored in the garage where I don't notice much.

I wouldn't consider the "toxic crap" to be an issue, it's more the smell than anything. It's butyric acid, a fatty acid found in meat, butter, plant oils, and your body produces it too.

I have some of their screwdrivers with the red plastic handles and don't notice any smell, but at some point those, maybe the clear handled ones too, switched to a metal formulation with zinc in it. The result is a whiteish colored rust layer starts to protect them from further rust, but they don't seem to be as hard so fasteners can more easily damage the tip.

Granted they're inexpensive, so not really fair to compare against screwdrivers costing a lot more and I have gotten a lot of use out of them, plus tough fasteners I'd sooner use an impact driver and bit on instead.

Edit: Just looked at some of my red handled screwdrivers and it seems they are old enough to have been made in USA and my clear handled ones are older still, so might be an apples: oranges comparison with what Sears is selling now. I've never had to exchange any, don't abuse them and in cases where the tip deformed a bit, I just touched them up with a file.

 

[tcG]

Craftsman's current made-in-China line is mostly garbage. If you can find the older USA or Taiwanese stuff you'll be much better off. Harbor Freight's Pittsburgh Pro line (Taiwan) is as good as any of the big box brands for less $. The next step up in quality is probably SK/Armstrong stuff.

Most accurate thing posted in this thread so far.

 

[Hans Gruber]

Here you go. I have this Craftsman set probably 10 years old now. http://www.sears.com/craftsman-108-...=13166739&utm_medium=1122587_4485850_13166739d

Agreed with what was said about the Snap On tools and the other big brand names. Most professional mechanics keep their best tools in their shop on the do not touch list. They get Cobalt, Husky, Craftsman for backup sets. For loaner sets they buy Harbor Freight tools that are mostly excellent for the price of admission.

I personally have a lot of Harbor freight tools as well. It's the ToysRus of the mechanic/tool business for adults. I have duplicates and sets upon sets of tools simply to have on hand.