[mgarblik]

It's all a matter of whether they they let their acquisitions operate independently with their own engineers. Once they combine designs, engineering, production and the only difference is the color of the plastic and the stickers, everything goes to hell. Kinda like GM in the 1980's.

[ta6point6]

Sears CEO has been lending the brand money like 500 million I think to stay afloat. Must be nice to be rich but Sears is in real trouble but so are many places like Kohls, JcPenny and Macys. Just the sign of the times I guess, with people making less money people have to be frugal and spend wisely.
I have a lot of Craftsman stuff even have a older set that just says Sears on the sockets. I also have some harbor freight ratchets that I use at the junkyard almost every other week. I lose tools(rusty mind) so I wouldn't be to mad if I accidently left a HB ratchet behind unlike a older Craftsman ratchet. That being said the HB ratchet is probably the most versatile ratchet I have. The handle extends for extra leverage, who needs a pry bar, I have a 3/8 and 1/2 extendable ratchets and they have not failed me yet taking off rusty bolts at the junkyard. At home I mainly use Metrinch stuff and if I need something bigger than a 15/16 or 22mm I will get into the Craftsman stuff but not often maybe a flare wrench here and there. I am not a tool snob I have tools from Harbor Freight, Sears, Lowes, Home Depot, garage sales and pawn shops. The best tool is the tool that works for you and so even now Sears has a lot of sockets and wrenches 50% off with free shipping. I love tools and when they are on sale, they can just look shiny and set in tool box for that price. I recently bought these crescent wrenches from Lowes because of the rapid adjusting feature.

[Diego]

Watch Harbor Freight zoom to the top.

[Sirrotica]

Harbor Freight tools got to a low point recently that the stuff wasn't even worth carrying home because it usually broke the first or second time you used it.

I believe it was hurting sales because of the owner feedback reviews were terrible. Who is going to buy something that 50% of the buyers gave bad feedback to? They have, I believe, improved many (not all though) of their offerings and they now have a Proline which is as good as most private label tools. I have some of the Proline ratchets and they seem to be designed better than the regular stuff.

I also have a $75 (on sale) Earthquake 1/2 impact that has more than enough power for garage work. I tried to remove some 5/8" U bolts on my truck and it was able to shear the U bolts off because of the threads were too rusty to be removed and jammed the nuts until they sheared off. It's supposed to be 700ft lbs under ideal conditions, I doubt that, they're being a bit optimistic about that rating.

The adage you get what you pay for is probably true when it comes to tools, but sometimes you get a little bit more than you pay for, and sometimes you pay top dollar and get shortchanged too. I always read the reviews before I spend any money on most anything. The reviews will at least point you in the right direction before you spend money only to end up disappointed with buyers remorse most times.

[unruhjonny]

Originally Posted by Sirrotica

...
The adage you get what you pay for is probably true when it comes to tools...

even though I don't turn wrench for a living, I decided a while ago, to not buy any more cheap tools;
in the past years when I was at Sears, I went to the tool section to look at boxes, or organizing stuff...
Just saying.

[RocktimusPryme]

It really depends. For things with moving parts I spend money. Buy once cry once type thing. But for things like breaker bars and whatnot I see no point in payig snap-on, matco prices. I go to harbor freight for those.

Good example, I live and die by my snapon mechanical screwdriver. Have had it for like 15 years, still use it all the time. But my regular standard screwdriver? All stanley or hand me down type stuff Ive acquired over the years.

[mgarblik]

I admit I am a tool geek of the worst type. I have allot of tools from Harbor Freight to Snap-on and everything in between. To me, nothing beats the feel and function of Snap-On hand tools, meaning wrenches, sockets, ratchets. As far as air tools go, very disappointed in the power and cost of Snap-on stuff. 1/2" drive, supposed to be 600 ft. lbs. and won't remove lug nuts on a 1 ton truck. Air ratchets very heavy and weak. Cut-off tool takes forever to cut anything. Electronic torque wrenches work great but need to be fixed every year at $100.00 each. Some stuff is just great however, like their starter/battery/alternator tester. Best I have ever used. I would say customer ratings by professionals who really use tools for a living would be a good source. I do have some old Craftsman tools going strong from when I first turned wrenches for a living in the late 1970's. Harbor Freight is 100% Chinese so I have to always remember to carefully inspect every item before leaving the store. Just bought a simple furniture dolly there. Didn't make it out of the parking lot with it. It had one wheel, a solid plastic one that was completely flat! No kidding, some Chinese 4 year old went to all the trouble to attach that wheel in 4 places to a piece of wood with carpet on it and ship it all the way to the US and the wheel was square. Go figure.

[ponchonorm]

My previous job was working for a blow molding company that made all the plastic cases Craftsman tools came in. The contract to make their tools went up for bid like every 3 years. Stanley/Proto was one of the contractors that had made Craftsman tools. Western Forge and Danaher Tool Group were a couple of the others. That's why there were slight design changes in some of the tools like ratchets and wrenches every so often.

[dataway]

I have some Craftsman power tools from 20-25 years ago that are still going strong. And some air tools from back then that are still working well.

Have an old bench top Craftsman belt sander .. cast iron ... can't get most of the parts for it now ... and all the bench top stuff they make now is aluminum and plastic garbage.

[unruhjonny]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

... To me, nothing beats the feel and function of Snap-On hand tools, meaning wrenches, sockets, ratchets. ...

agreed.

I have one Mac 3/8" ratchet, and it is my favorite, but I pretty much only buy Snap-On now...

Originally Posted by mgarblik

... Some stuff is just great however, like their starter/battery/alternator tester. Best I have ever used. ...

this I have to agree with;
I was very fortunate, as I inherited mine from my dad;
Fantastic tool to have handy.

[dataway]

Still have my old school, 30 year old Craftsman "Engine Analyzer" with the various adapters for checking various parts of the electrical system.

[SR-71]

Sears should have went out of business years ago. K-Mart has nearly destroyed themselves trying to save Sears thinking the brand names were worth the money. K-Mart was a strong company until they purchased Sears and have been dumping money into it ever since. Now like many have said Sears and K-Marts are closing across the country due to poor management.

[bird72]

I have a Craftsman 1/2" set I've had since 1980 or so. Sure I've used better more precise awesome ratchets, but the set is like an old shoe and I'm sure will last my amateur use until the end.

[carbking]

So sad to watch the death of another great American company. Our grandchildren will compete with each other for jobs unloading the boats. Too bad quality is now not only not important to the vast majority of the population, the majority cannot even recognize quality.

In my entire life have only broken 6 Craftsman tools: a 7/16 6 point socket, and 5 ratcheting offset screwdrivers. All were replaced under warranty.

Jon.

[mgarblik]

I still have one of these too. It was given to me on my 16th birthday by my father. So it is plenty old. I still use it on the old points cars. Made by Dixco for Sears. Says "Engine Analyzer" right on it! Gotta love that!

Originally Posted by dataway

Still have my old school, 30 year old Craftsman "Engine Analyzer" with the various adapters for checking various parts of the electrical system.