Dad always bought Craftsman tools. I’ve used your standard hardware store brands, and I have to say that I liked dad’s tools better. I don’t use tools every day, but most of mine are Craftsman (some inherited from dad, others I bought myself). I know a lot of people think they’re not great tools. Some admit the American-made ones are good, but not the foreign-made ones. Others prefer to use ‘professional-grade’ tools instead.
Me? I don’t need professional-grade. But I do like good quality. For me, Craftsman tools are just what I need (when I need a tool).
Anecdote: My dad’s youngest brother bought a Craftsman tool in the '60s or '70s. I think it was a screwdriver. He managed to bend it, which pissed him off. He strode into Sears with the screwdriver in his hand, and an employee saw him coming. By the time my uncle reached him, he’d obtained another screwdriver. They exchanged the tools and my uncle left – without a word being spoken by either of them.
I just replaced my Craftsman drill with another Craftsman drill. The old drill I’d had for about 12 years and had the batteries rebuilt, and it just stopped working one day. If I get another 12 years from the new one I bought, I’ll be happy.
Great tools for the occasional user but there has been a marked decrease in quality in the last few years. Sears is in the process of switching to foreign made tools for many of their historically made in the US products. I’d take an older Craftsman set over a new Chinese made one any day.
I think they’re great for more than occasional use. Dad did most of his own work on cars, built an airplane (until it was damaged in a move), and built a lot of stuff around the house. I’d say they are good tools for the frequent, but non-professional user.
I can’t comment on current quality vs. modern quality. All of mine happen to be U.S.-made that are several years old. I only wish I didn’t keep losing the screwdrivers.
His standard line was that Craftsman was an adequate tool for the typical home handyman. Professional mechanics were a different matter. And the passionate amateur who did a LOT of work with a few particular tools may want to spring for a few Snap-On products.
I inherited a whole mess of Snap-On tools from him, and it drives a few folks crazy to see me do my occasional tinkering with tools that are worth far more than the thing I’m working on.
I have a few Craftsman power tools that have performed very well over many years. One is a bottom of the line circular saw that I have had for over thirty years. I am a week-end warrior, not a pro, but this saw has been my main saw for some fairly big projects and many small ones over the years. I also have a Craftsman contractor-grade table saw that not only does well on contractor-type cuts, but which I have adjusted to the point where I routinely do wood-working cuts on it. I bought this saw used about twenty-five years ago. I bought a used Craftsman radial-arm saw about ten years ago. I put a new deck on it, and it performs well. I also have a fairly new Craftsman sliding compound miter saw that I am really happy with.
On a less happy note, I had to replace my old Skil jig saw a few years ago and bought a Craftsman which turned out to be a pretty shoddy saw.
The Craftsman Replacement policy was sweet. Yes most good tools had free replacement, but the Snap-On guy didn’t drive to our house. Just take the shards to Sears and walk out with a shiny new one, they seemed to relish a good story of stupidity.
Salesman: “Here you go, you know I don’t think Any one has ever brought in a 1 and 1/2 inch crescent wrench broken before.”
Dad:" Well there is the huge old gate, on this huge old post, and the hinge bolt was completely rusted, so I put a pipe over it for some leverage"
Saleman " Ahh the pipe gave enough leverage to break the wrench?"
Dad: Well, once I started pushing the pipe with the truck it did.
I do HVAC/Electrical/Plumbing for a living and use tools daily in my job. That said, I think tradesmen like me are vulnerable—like the rest of society----to astute marketing.
So I think at least some of our affinity towards a specific brand is years of direct marketing to specific trades. Klein/Fluke for electricians, Rigid/Starrett for plumbing, Robinair/Yellow Jacket for HVAC etc etc etc.
Other tradesmen pay attention and it’s understood that a professional electrician uses Klein screwdrivers. (as one example)
Still, there is a marked difference in quality. I think Craftsman hand tools have been acceptable/good. (although an auto mechanic who uses them all day long won’t touch them)
I have many bad experiences with their power tools. I won’t own them. For occasional work I have some Craftsman tools in the garage.
I have 4 complete sets of tools, mostly Craftsman. I don’t break stuff often. If I were to bend a screwdriver it would be from misuse. Sure they would replace it, but I don’t expect any company to cover my mistakes for me. Sears does this replacement because it cost little over time and it helps their reputation. This is cheap PR. Every once in a while Craftsman comes out with a new design “trick” tool and they usually don’t work for me. I have returned them due to defective design. I can remember one pair of self adjusting vise grips that were bad news from the start. All my stuff is very old and well made. I can imagine what the newer foreign stuff must be like.
Well, the example in the other thread was that a Craftsman open-ended wrench widens and doesn’t return to its original shape after normal use. Seems to me like that would require extra-human strength.
My experience with Craftsman is that they make excellent hand tools but if I consider a Craftsman tool and it has a motor, I avoid it. There’s a woodworking forum I visit and most there refer to Sears Craftsman power tools as Crapsman. Many years ago however, they were top notch.
Craftsman hand tools have always been fine for me. I used to do a lot of work on cars and motorcycles, but not so much anymore. I don’t care for their power tools though, and have always had a few preferences for things like tape measures and hammers that are not Craftsman. But those are all more in line with the building trades and not mechanics.
I bought a Craftsman mitre saw w/stand a few years ago when I renovated a bedroom. I’m using it on the current renovation. I could wish for a larger blade, and the laser guide seems only to be accurate for cutting straight down when you’re keeping the left side of the wood. I haven’t figured out how to use it when the saw is tilted (e.g., for cutting 45º angles on baseboards), but I did figure out that if I’m keeping the right side of the wood I need to add a blade width. It would be nice if it tilted right as well as left, too. Since I’m not using it frequently, it does what it needs to when I need it to. And for a hundred and fifty bucks, I can’t complain.
Dad had a large Craftsman radial-arm saw that he used all the time. He got it in the '60s. He also had a Craftsman motor with a grinding wheel on one end and a wire brush on the other, on a stand he welded himself with his Craftsman welder, and a couple of Craftsman hand drills (the ones with the metal case), all from the '60s. They lasted him the rest of his life (the end of 1998). My BIL got them, and I don’t know if he uses them. But I’m sure they’re still fully functional.
I think one of my cordless drills is a Craftsman. I have more than one cordless drill because the batteries keep dying. I don’t know where to get them re-celled, and the battery packs change designs frequently so I can’t just buy a new one. But the drills never gave me any trouble when they had power.
I will add my opinion to a full field here. If you go into my garage you will see two large rolling Craftsman tool boxes (the professional ones) and each loaded exclusively with Craftsman tools. I am not a mechanic, but enjoy working on and restoring cars. For me they are more than good enough quality. I will confess that I have always wanted a Snap On set up, but couldn’t afford them.
Craftsman offers good quality at a reasonable price. Also, perhaps it is because my father always used Craftsman that I have a loyalty to them. The replacement policy of Craftsman is second to none and there is always a Sears around to honor it. For the professional mechanic the convenience of a Snap On rep coming to work is great, but us home mechanics don’t have that luxury.
When I was a teen racing motocross I worked on my bikes. I was, like most teens, cash strapped. In order to get all the tools that I needed I would go to the flea markets on a regular basis and purchase broken Craftsman tools. Bent screwdrivers, broken ratchets, etc… Then I would head to my local Sears and trade them in for new ones. Built up quite a collection.
I’ll admit that I’ve always wanted Snap-On, but they don’t have retail store that allows me to browse, and I don’t have a relationship with a Snap-On distributor, and I’m not a profession (said: repeat) buy and hence I’m unsure if a distributor would even give me the time of day.
I started getting into woodworking and construction and auto mechanical stuff back in my early college days (early 1980’s). I was working at a place not too far from the Tijuana border that sold really high-quality cabinetry parts and home construction parts. I asked one of our salesmen if he’d sell me a circular saw from our inventory and he said I shouldn’t bother with it. I said it was good enough for the customers so it should be good enough for me.
No, he countered, even the poor guys coming up from Mexico for supplies bought Hettich Multi-line panel drills and Delta saws – stuff I couldn’t afford as a college kid and didn’t need as an amateur woodworker. The tools in our inventory were cheap stuff that some of the customers would buy when closing out an overcredited account – something they’d gift to a friend or brother-in-law. For my purposes, he advised me to head to Sears and get their Craftsman stuff, particularly because if it broke they’d replace it free with no questions asked.
So I bought Black-and-Decker power tools anyway, and they died in less than a year. I replaced the circular saw and router with Craftsman, I replaced the drill with DeWalt.
I gotten a little more into woodworking (which would probably surprise the hell out of my Jr. High shop teacher, if he were still around) and from reading forums and reviews I’ve learned – well, Craftsman is good for apprentices and is certainly better than, say Great Neck or Olympia, but lacks the precision that a journeyman or craftsman needs to do the higher quality work. You’ll be fine framing a shack or building a fence with Craftsman tools [though I’d go with a Vaughan hammer], but if you want a fine cabinet or table (or intricately detailed projects) you’ll want Delta, Blum, Hettich, Porter/Cable and those higher-end tools that general hardware and department stores just don’t carry.
—G!
“I See!” said the blind man, as he picked up a hammer and saw.
I always thought of Craftsman as the Sony of tools. they aren’t the best but they are usually pretty good. I bought one of their snow blowers about 5 years ago. It’s built to be serviced. I like stuff built to be serviced.
I still have a Frigidaire gas furnace because it’s built like a tank and easily worked on. Give it a little oil every couple of years and it’s happy. Sadly, stuff like this is vanishing. Sealed bearings are the work of the devil.
I’m a chick with a tool box of mostly Craftsman hand tools.
When each of us kids moved out on our own, Dad set us up with a small tool box filled with Craftsman hand tools we’d need to maintain our first apartments. He’d collected these over the years at auctions, yard sales and flea markets, some broken and exchanged, and filled in the boxes as needed. My Craftsman tools are mostly vintage (50s - 70s).
Dad used the heck out of Craftsman power saws over the years until he went to industrial grade. He still has one of their radial arm saws from the late sixties, with several motor rebuilds / replacements over the years. I still have my grandfather’s Craftsman corded drill from the early sixties. I don’t use it much, most of what I use a drill for is light weight enough for a cordless, but it still works.
I’ll likely pass my toolbox down to a family member when I get too old to want to do any home maintenance. They will still be serviceable, no doubt. Not industrial stuff, but like others have posted, they’re decent quality for the price.