Is Craftsman still good?

All of my hand tools are Craftsman. Every once in a while, I pick up sets on sale even though I don’t need them. You know how that goes… Are Craftsman still good or are they the same Chinese junk sold at Harbor freight?

 

Better than the junk but I don't think their stuff is as good as the older stuff.

I also don't make my living using tools so their new stuff is fine for me.

 

Used to be excellent home use tools.

Quality has suffered.

 

Craftsman is now just like any other Chinese manufactured tooling. It's ok in a pinch and for the price you pay if you do a project with it and then throw it away you really haven't lost anything.

 

More importantly do they still replace it no questions asked?

 

Not as good as before but still good for store bought. Pretty sure still carries lifetime warranty which is awesome when there are stores everywhere with them.

 

For hobby level use, it is fine. The old stuff is more better. I still have most of the pieces from the starter set I bought back in 1970. What I don't have was lost, not broken. I have used Kobalt and whatever the Home Depot stuff is for home projects. Neither is great, but it will suffice for no more often than I use them. If I were using them to make a living, I would go elsewhere.

 

Such as?

I don't make my living with my tools but its nice to have "quality". Doesn't one of the big box store offer free replacement on their tools?

 

It’s not bad, I have a set in a rolling toolbox that I take with me when riding MX. I do make a living with tools and I have purchased some of their bigger sockets for my box. If it’s stuff I’m using every single day then yes I’ll purchase snapon or Matco, in my opinion the difference is enough to justify the cost. If it’s stuff that gets used few and far between then I’ll purchase craftsman or husky.

 

Pawn shops and craigslist (if you do your due diligence). You can sometimes get Snap on, Matco and Mac for pennies on the dollar.

 

As many times as it takes....

 

I don't think they're any better than Harbor Freight these days.

 

Ask someone who makes their living with them. That's what I would do.

 

I don't know what people are all nostalgic about, but old Craftsman wasn't that good at all. The ratchets were old and a crappy design, the raised panel wrenches, also crap.

 

SB&D built a plant in Fort Worth to serve the Craftsman hand tool lines (probably some of their other brands too though), so they should be at least some made in USA stuff making it's way in after all the other stuff gets sold through.

 

Absent access to Snapon or Matco (primarily available off the truck at the repair shops), Craftsman was about all that was readily available to the casual user 50 years back. The internet didn't exist.

 

Craftsman always work in a pinch but never understood the hype on them.
I've still got a set of SK Wayne sockets and drives my cousin gave me back in'67.


OK Boomer.

 

Slightly off topic, but never buy craftsman lawn and garden equipment. Anything from the 90s forward was made by AYP and is the cheapest garbage you can buy. If it is older stuff it might be ok. But after working in the lawn and garden equipment distribution for 11 years I would just plain steer clear of all craftsman branded equipment.

 

Yeah I have a Craftsman snow thrower and its been nothing but trouble. The rubber prime button was toast after one year.

 

In all fairness, fuel today kills those prime bulbs. Most were not made to withstand ethanol and some of the additives used in gasoline now.