[Jazzbass]

It seems almost all Craftsman tools are now made in China.

Went to Sears today to pick up a set of metric allen sockets for the basement shop. I found one last set of US made allen sockets on the back of the rack, and bought it. There was a noticeable quality difference between the US and China made units. I started looking around and almost all the newer tools were made in China now. Wrenches, sockets, ratchets, etc. Only things I found still made in the US were pliers and some open stock wrenches. All the wrench sets - even the expensive "professional" ones - are now Chinese made and look it.

This doesn't mean I'll never shop there again - hell I buy shit from HF all the time. But I won't be going out of my way now to buy tools at Sears, and I definitely won't be paying US made prices for Chinese made stuff. Lowes sells Taiwanese made Kobalt tools which look to be as good if not better than the Chinese made Craftsman stuff and cheaper too. Lifetime warranty on that stuff, too.

Looks like I'll be buying more SK and eBay Snap-On stuff from now on.

[APKhaos]

Damn shame. Some of the Craftsman stuff was pretty good quality and lasted well. Their line of full polish ratcheting double end wrenches are my faves. Lifetime warranty loses its value if the stuff they are offering as replacement is crap.

Take a look at Stanley Proto - very nice stuff and still US made, or it was the last time I bought from them.....

[VaSteve]

Bummer. I find myself at Lowes more than sears anyhow. I don't often break things, so the replacement guarantee isn't *that* important, but at the same time it is. I have almost everything I need. Sears doesnt sell triple squares!

[Vicegrip]

Agree.

Switched to Husky brand for working grade wrenches and the like. Sears hand tools went in the dumper and I stopped buying a good while ago. Things like screwdrivers that twist and bend and socket drivers that are stiff notchy and break in your hands.
Wrenches and sockets seem to be OK regardless of maker and brand so long as you stay above the bargain grade stuff. I know that will cheeze off the snappy fappys but I can't remember the last time I broke a wrench or socket. Socket drivers and insert type tools like tripple square or hex on the other hand are best from the top makers. As mentioned the Stanly Proto line is still good with good drivers. Sears socket drivers have been bad for a while......

[VaSteve]

I snapped a 10mm Allen socket taking apart my motorcycle. Sears gave me a hassle returning it. Well it was the counter guy not sears corporate.

My dad retired from sears so I get a discount but I only use it for big things ...

[Jazzbass]

Originally Posted by Vicegrip

Wrenches and sockets seem to be OK regardless of maker and brand so long as you stay above the bargain grade stuff.

I've always thought the same - I really like my Craftsman wrenches. However, the one tool that I almost always hear pros talk about being worth the SnapOn price is wrenches. "I won't use anything but SnapOn wrenches, they're worth the extra $$$$" is a comment/post I see a lot.

[Lupin..the..3rd]

Sears ratchets turned to crap years ago, even the "Professional" models. I've broken those 6 or 7 times now in the past 5 years. They always replace them, but the hassle of taking it to the store, waiting in line, etc. isn't worth it. Its the ratchet mechanism inside that fails every time. The one Sears ratchet that I haven't broken yet, is one my dad bought in the late 70's, still going strong.

Been happy with the Sears and Gearwrench brand wrenches, I don't see what the snap-on premium gains you there.

Lots of value in used snap-on, williams, mac, matco, etc.

[roundel]

I really like a fancy pants ratchet. I have Facom for a little guy but the other ones are older Craftsman and they seem nice to me.

My wrenches are Williams. My father gave me a nice metric and SAE set long ago and they have remained in stellar shape despite me using cheater bars and other brilliant ways to try to hurt them.

I have two sets of screwdrivers. Some nice Klein stuff and another set of HF stuff for the times I intend to use them in a way not intended.

[cmartin]

Snap on generally has a finer gear in the ratchet and they dont break as much. Sure feel nice in your hand too but that might be a bit much.

A decent lower cost option is husky. I'm pretty happy with their wrenches and ratchets.

[smdubovsky]

Gearwrench wenches have really impressed me. The non-moving parts ones (don't have exp w/ their actually ratcheting ones.) They make a long pattern set for 1/3 the price of my USA make SKs and are almost perfect clones. Made in taiwan (which is better than china.) My SKs are metric so I bought the Gearwrench set in imperial. I made Wonger buy a metric set (actually I bought it and billed it to him) His wrench collection, I could swear, was from years of collecting the stamped stuff they include w/ ikea furniture I couldn't take using them anymore.