Is Craftsman still good?

And no questions asked replacement which was unheard of for store bought tools. Everybody could find Sears. Not so easy to find a Snap On truck unless you owned a garage or knew someone who did. We've always had mechanics in the family so it wasn't a problem. Got plenty of both. No idea what current stuff is like.

 

I'd say that's largely arguable as well. I have had the same Husqvarna blower for almost 10 years. Still has the same carburetor and prime bulb on it. By contrast the Troy-bilt 4 stroke trimmer I own goes through a primer bulb every couple years and is on it's second carburetor. They clearly are not all manufactured with the same quality materials. Oddly my Troy-bilt riding mower went 18 years with nothing more than regular maintenance and never has the carb touched on it.

 

Home Depot's hand tools (Husky?) are on the same level as my old Craftsman tools IMO, I think their ratchets are slightly better
I use my 30-40 yr old Craftsman tools almost daily, most of my newer tools are Proto/Williams

 

I used to earn my living with tools, and the Craftsman stuff that I had from the 70's through mid 90's was great. As mentioned, having a store front to hit exactly .6 miles from my house made it completely worth it, especially since Snap On and Matco would stop by once a week, at best. My trade was not known for investing in the expensive tools as you drop a wrench overboard, and it's gone forever. Plus tools rust when you spent 10+ hours a day in the bilge of a boat, so getting easy access to replacements was critical.

I had to replace my entire hand tool inventory after they were pinched at the airport during a job trip, and the new Craftsman I bought in 2005 were a pale comparison to the 1994 and older stuff that I lost. Harbor Freight was on par with anything that Craftsman made at that time. SK, Matco, Snap On, all great stuff if you don't worry about dropping into 12 feet of water and 2 feet of mud.

 

Unfortunately most of my original craftsman were stolen out of my truck after we left AAA Speedway in Fontana. I replaced with a big craftsman set and have been disappointed. It seems that the fit on a 10mm wrench or socket isn't as tight as it was, plus the ratchets aren't as nice as my old ones.

I "hope/like to think" they are still way better than Harbor Freight, or stuff you buy at any auto-parts store when you are in a bind, they do seem to be better than that stuff.

 

I still have and use my Craftsman tools that I've had for 30 years...no issues. Not sure what some of you gorilla hacks are doing to your tools to destroy them...but if used for intended use...no problem. I've had to replace ratchets mechanism a few times, but that's it. I've accumulated some other stuff over the years...but for any homeowner/hobby guy...any of the Kobalt/Husky/Craftsman stuff is just fine. Keep in mind...tools will bring out the toolsnobs in a heartbeat and usually very vocal. LOL

 

dang it Jon, stop making sense...

 

Was that the one that lost the brakes and sent you on a 20mph joy ride? If so, c'mon brakes are maintenance.

 

Most nuts I've encountered don't care what tool is working on them.

 

Yep...I guess I should have done some trans and brake maintenance just prior to that.

 

Sears near me closed down last year so I don't have any reason to buy the brand anymore. I think I may have returned failed tools twice so I guess it's not a big deal. McMaster Carr sells US made tools so I tend to go that route when I need something, too easy to add to an existing order and hits the dock the next day.

 

Just an FYI, apparently lifetime is measured by a dog's life. My old boss stopped by the shop and dropped off some Snap On stuff to be replaced. The dealer looked at some of the old stuff and explained that stuff 12 years or older can be rejected because they fulfilled their "service life". He also said that they can require an original receipt for replacement. Normally my dealer takes care of stuff without question, but he recently had a very good customer get a claim bounced because of "normal wear and tear".

 

I never have liked any of the Sears crap myself. Even when I was a kid and scrounging up whatever I could to work with. Seemed like everyone had a box full of oddball sized sockets that didn’t fit anything and were 12 point on top of that.... It isn’t whether you could break them or not. They all break. It is how much damage you do using the poor quality crap and how much more work it is to deal with it.
My choice to start with was S&K but as I started making a living with tools I started buying Snap-On and Mac stuff. Never cared for Matco much either.

Used to have a Snap-On guy years ago that would fuss about replacing stuff and have heard horror stories of others dealing with Corporate. Right now I have a good guy that gives me no problems when I hand him stuff i broke.

 

I use my tools daily as an industrial refrigeration tech. I replaced my crescents (the brand not the tool) with craftsman and have been happy. I do prefer them over husky but not always worth the additional cost. I do buy quality tools but go cheap on stuff I hardly use. If I had to rank strictly hand tools from my experience it would be

-Klein (expensive)
-rigid (expensive especially aluminum pipe wrenches)
-craftsman
-Husky (really good bang for the buck)
-Milwaukee (not as good as their power tools)
-crescent (crap)
-Pittsburgh/harborfreight (crap but cheap)

 

The one I'm using now belonged to my FIL. It's a 5hp Craftsman that
I believe he bought in the early 80s. Last spring I carefully stored it by
putting it in the shed. Hours before the first snowstorm hit in November
I pulled it out of the shed, put 6-month-old gas in the bone-dry tank,
pumped the bulb 12 times and pushed the starter button and it started
in 5 seconds. Aside to an affinity to break shear pins, it is an amazingly
reliable workhorse that always starts. The only thing I had to replace
were the skids which were worn down to nothing.
My FIL lived in Barre Vermont so it saw heavy use while he had it.

Whatever it cost new, we have certainly got our money's worth out of it.

 

Or suit-up to mow the lawn.

 

They always just say "Lifetime warranty". They never go in to detail about what lifetime they are talking about.

 

I keep looking at the Icon line of hand tools at Harbor Freight, looks like quality stuff

 

I just bought a set of wrenches and a ratchet, so far so good. Their tool boxes look good!

 

Just checked them out. Damn they are spendy!