With even the main hand tools being imported. Where does this leave the Craftsman brand?
One of the big reasons many bought and supported the Craftsman brand for so many years was the fact that they were made on the USA. Now that has largely fallen by the way side.
How many will pay USA tool prices for imported tools? You might as well buy Gearwrenches at least they don’t try to hide where they are made! Trying to find a country of origin on the new packages from Craftsman is a major exercise of your detective abilities.
The new Harbor Freight Pittsburgh line from Taiwan exhibits a better chrome appearance and better machining at a much lower price point.
Now add in the dilution of the brand by the selling of Craftsman tools by every store around.
It all adds up to the end of Craftsman tools as we have known them.
SK ratchets?
By rusty | Filed in CommentaryWhile I own a 1/2 inch drive SK and love the SK stubbie. I’ve never really been a big fan of SK ratchets.
Recently while going through some of my tools I realized I have a boat load of SK sockets. I’ve bought them and used them for years. In my experience they are one of the toughest sockets on the market. While mine are no show pieces, being well worn and very used in appearance, they continue to give great service.
To me looks means nothing in tools. The one and only important item is the way in which the tool preforms it’s job. When I need it will it do what is needed? From SK sockets the answer has always been yes. I will admit that I have broken a few of them over the years. How ever this has been in situations where other brands have failed as well. I have cracked SK’s and then turned around and cracked Snap on’s on the same bolt. Some times the bolts are just in there too well. This is especially true here in the rust belt. The bolts can rust weld in place and be about impossible to get out.
To get back on subject I have decided that with Ideal now producing new SK tools maybe I need to get some new production ratchets and stress test them. Maybe even start to work on the 74 Jeep I’ve had on the back burner for the past couple of decades. That thing should be rusted enough to be a real challenge for them.