[Firedup6975]

Ok you tool guys and gals, as I am too word has it All Sears stores will close. You’ll have to get your Craftsman tools somewhere else. K -Mart had them a few years back, but now their remaining stores are also closing shop. We did find some tool boxes for the shop at Lowe’s. I wonder if other Craftsman tools will be sold here now. We didn’t check the tool room when we got the boxes. Anyone know anything?

[Chief of the 60's]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKFnTKoJlmU

[Firedup6975]

Originally Posted by Chief of the 60's

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKFnTKoJlmU

Perfect! So Black and Decker and Stanley bought Craftsman, and Lowe’s will honor warranties on hand tools. Interesting. I wonder if the quality will be the same or if it will be Craftsman tool made of a lesser quality for Lowe’s like their appliances are. Hmmmmm guess we’ll see.

[Will]

Craftsman has been made in China for awhile now. It used to be that the Kobalt line of tools that Lowes sold was made by Snap-On but not sure if that's still the case.

[The Champ]

I quit buying tools from Sears 15+ years ago. Got tired of taking a good Craftman ratchet that was 20 years old and finally wore out in and getting a replacement that only lasted 6 months.

I haven't shopped at all in a Sears store in 10 years. Haven't missed it at all.

[Chris65LeMans]

As has been said, Craftsman tools have been junk for years now. Their prices haven't declined, though. I couple of years ago, I needed a socket set and paid up for "Craftsman Quality." I returned them in disgust, and bought a replacement set at Harbor Freight for about 25% of the cost - and I think they are better quality.

IMO, Harbor Freight is the place to go for tool boxes. I think mine are of higher quality than the ones at Lowes and Home Depot - quite a bit cheaper, too.

[Fullsize455]

Harbor Freight tool boxes are absolutely the best deal going, for the money and otherwise. Their higher end big boxes are excellent quality, far exceeding the quality of the rest of their stuff they sell. I have been extremely impressed with mine, and I'm even more impressed with their newest lineup that I recently saw in store. Very impressive, especially considering the low cost.

As has already been said, Craftsman has been junk for a long time now, not worth buying at all. I would far sooner go on craigslist or ebay and pick up some used Snap-On/Mac/Proto/S-K/Thorsen/etc. tools instead.

When you have high quality, well made tools, warranties become almost irrelevant because they just last forever. I've only had to replace one or two Snap-On sockets in the last decade. My Craftsman sockets were never even close to that reliable back when I actually used them. They sit now as mostly forgotten spares. I use a mix of old Snap-On and Proto ratchets, and have only ever had issues with one very old, very abused Snap-On 1/2" breaker bar. Modern Craftsman ratchets have PLASTIC gears in them. Disgraceful. At best they are made for the very casual home tinkerer who rarely uses them to replace a leaking faucet or something. They have no place in any kind of mechanic's tool box.

[dataway]

I have mostly Craftsman tools now, lots of them. As they break, and they do break, I replace them with Proto one at a time. Lots of my Craftsman stuff is 20-30 years old ... and it's still junk. You have to go back like 40 years to find a good Craftsman tool, that was back with Blue Point (origin of Snap-On) was making them.

Proto stuff is incredible ... and so are their prices. But doesn't hurt much one tool at a time. I stay away from the "Stanely" Proto ... and get the Proto industrial stuff sold by Industrial supply houses.

Give a few years and Proto will be junk too. There are still a few super high quality USA hand tool makers but most people have never heard of them. They probably only survive by serving a market where there is a contractual requirement to buy USA made tools. Very expensive, but of the absolute highest quality.

[tom s]

Craftsman has been has been avail in other stores for years now.I saw them at my Ace Hardware.Tom

[Fullsize455]

Originally Posted by dataway

I have mostly Craftsman tools now, lots of them. As they break, and they do break, I replace them with Proto one at a time. Lots of my Craftsman stuff is 20-30 years old ... and it's still junk. You have to go back like 40 years to find a good Craftsman tool, that was back with Blue Point (origin of Snap-On) was making them.

Proto stuff is incredible ... and so are their prices. But doesn't hurt much one tool at a time. I stay away from the "Stanely" Proto ... and get the Proto industrial stuff sold by Industrial supply houses.

Give a few years and Proto will be junk too. There are still a few super high quality USA hand tool makers but most people have never heard of them. They probably only survive by serving a market where there is a contractual requirement to buy USA made tools. Very expensive, but of the absolute highest quality.

I should have clarified, I'm talking old Proto stuff.. all my stuff is decades old. Acquired at swap meets and craigslist and whatnot over the years. In the hand tool world, old is almost always better.

[indymanjoe]

Lowes by me has craftsman. Lowes is the best place for appliances also. 30day no hassle return. ( GE appliances are not made cheaper for lowes ,or anyone else)

[Goat Roper]

Crapsman is garbage, who cares where you can find it.
Same with Irwin Chinese made Vise Grips.
Torx Hexpro wrench set 65 bucks made in China?

Someone is smoking their lunch.

[mgarblik]

Here is as much as I know right now. Craftsman branded tools can and will be sold wherever Stanley feels there is a strong market for the brand. This will include multiple smaller hardware store chains line Handyman, Ace Hardware and others. Currently, Lowes is probably the most recognizable mass merchandiser to sell them. It was mentioned above that Kobalt tools were made by Snap-On. Well not exactly, but is sounds good. Back when all the big corporations were buying each other about 10 years ago, Snap-ON bought a bunch of smaller, failing companies. Bear Alignment, Sun Corporation, and half a dozen others including Williams Tool Company, (who made Kobalt Tools) In the last few years, Kobalt, like so many others including Craftsman, have outsourced to China. My grandson is starting at a Technical School this year in automotive Tech. I compared Kobalt to Craftsman and to Husky, (Home Depot) IMO, Kobalt ratchets and sockets were light years superior to Craftsman and more nicely finished and machined than Husky. Husky used to be made by Eastco Tool Company who also made Craftsman back in the day. Quality is crap compared to what it used to be when US made.
IMO, if you don't want to spend crazy money on Snap-ON or MAC, buy quality used stuff. As I said Kobalt seems to be OK, but not a great variety of product. Vice Grip Brand, Crescent, ChannelLock and Klein make nice pliers. Pawn shops are a great place to get quality tools at a fraction of their original cost. Craig's List too.

[njsteve]

Ace Hardware refuses to honor the Craftsman warranty if you didn't buy the tool there.

Our local store has all the sockets and ratchets in a locked cabinet with a hand written sign on it saying as much.

I learned this after loading up my cart with other stuff I needed in the hardware aisle. The Craftsman section was my last stop - to replace a broken couple of 3/4" sockets. When I saw the sign and asked the manager about it and he confirmed their policy, I nicely put all the other items back on the shelves as he watched, and I walked out.

[Fullsize455]

Originally Posted by njsteve

Ace Hardware refuses to honor the Craftsman warranty if you didn't buy the tool there.

Our local store has all the sockets and ratchets in a locked cabinet with a hand written sign on it saying as much.

I learned this after loading up my cart with other stuff I needed in the hardware aisle. The Craftsman section was my last stop - to replace a broken couple of 3/4" sockets. When I saw the sign and asked the manager about it and he confirmed their policy, I nicely put all the other items back on the shelves as he watched, and I walked out.

Good for you, that's the right move as a consumer. It's a shame more people don't do this kind of thing. This is how retailers learn how to properly take care of their customers.

[gtohunter]

Originally Posted by Fullsize455

Harbor Freight tool boxes are absolutely the best deal going, for the money and otherwise. Their higher end big boxes are excellent quality, far exceeding the quality of the rest of their stuff they sell. I have been extremely impressed with mine, and I'm even more impressed with their newest lineup that I recently saw in store. Very impressive, especially considering the low cost.

Harbor Freight has some good stuff if you're a weekend warrior, and not wrenching 60hrs a week. I bought a 60 gal vertical single stage compressor with 2yr FREE replacement warranty on it for $150, back in 2007 !! It's a generic unit, but it still runs after 11yrs, and worked it to death for a couple of years! If it goes poof, I can trash it and be good with that!
Used to be that you buy anything electrical, beware, but now not so much. I have one of their variable speed buffers and it works great.

[64speed]

I have primarily craftsman tools that are older and I have never had a problem other than the occasional break that was quickly warranties. I have some snap on and some Mac but mostly craftsman. My stand up tool box came from advance auto from back before we had a harbor freight.

['ol Pinion head]

Originally Posted by Fullsize455

Good for you, that's the right move as a consumer. It's a shame more people don't do this kind of thing. This is how retailers learn how to properly take care of their customers.

posted the following right before last Christmas in a similar topic.

my dissatisfaction with Sears came to a head in Feb of '07. Had a bad ice storm come through, had a lot of monster tree limbs down at rental property, as well as at our own homes. My Dad & I are taking off to cut up down hanging treelimbs, several that were 16" in diameter. It takes 6 solid days to accomplish this & we're driving 45 minutes away to work at rental property. We have a high quality chainsaw, echo polesaw, & several what were top of the line Craftsman side cut loppers. The side cut loppers are critical to cutting branches overhead. Two of the loppers, have a little slop in the pivot point. My Dad takes these tools up the road to the local Mall Sears store. This is after prob 8 hours in the cold with me battling cutting limbs & dragging them to the curbs. Long story short, my 75 year old Dad is tired & a young clerk swaps Dad out for two pair of absolute junk straight on cut entry level Chinese loppers. I'd already mentioned to Dad, we need a repair piece, if no repair piece is available, my local machinist buddy can repair the pivot points. I end up later that night taking the junk NEW loppers back to Sears, beat closing time by 30 minutes. The head guy in hardware/ lawn care area won't swap us into similar top of the line Craftsman limb loppers as what we had. I'm emphatic that the previous transaction was not acceptable, he won't budge. I'm getting beyond perturbed & have him call in the asst store mgr. This mgr at least tries to find our old loppers in the back. Right as store is about to close, the asst mgr shows back up & states he can't find them. I'm thinking, what the H. No remedy! As soon as I could, I pulled out my Craftsman Club card & Sears credit card (seldom used) & folded both of them in half, tearing them up. There are quite a few stragglers at the register, & I flat told the asst mgr, I've spent quite a bit on Craftsman tools, Diehard battery's, etc, over the years from Sears, but I will NEVER spend another dime in a Sears. Have held true to that pledge.

Good riddance to them!

[Firedup6975]

Originally Posted by indymanjoe

Lowes by me has craftsman. Lowes is the best place for appliances also. 30day no hassle return. ( GE appliances are not made cheaper for lowes ,or anyone else)

I was actually told this by the dept. manager at Lowe’s that’s where I got my info while shopping for Maytag washer and dryer. I didn’t just make that up.

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by njsteve

Ace Hardware refuses to honor the Craftsman warranty if you didn't buy the tool there.

Our local store has all the sockets and ratchets in a locked cabinet with a hand written sign on it saying as much.

I learned this after loading up my cart with other stuff I needed in the hardware aisle. The Craftsman section was my last stop - to replace a broken couple of 3/4" sockets. When I saw the sign and asked the manager about it and he confirmed their policy, I nicely put all the other items back on the shelves as he watched, and I walked out.

I thought I was the only one who did things like that! Good for you! That is NOT any kind of official Ace Hardware National policy OR a Stanley Corporation Policy concerning Craftsman tools. That is most likely a LAZY FRANCHISE store policy. People like you will hopefully get them in line with the program or they should go out of business like so many other small hardware stores. Stanley Tools has probably set up some long complicated paper trail they have to fill out for every returned tool. This store decided it was too much aggravation for them.

Here is a link to the National Craftsman Tool Warranty Program. Notice it says NO PROOF OF PURCHASE NECESSARY multiple times. That local ACE Harwdare is blowing smoke. You did the right thing. https://www.craftsman.com/customer-c...ty-information