Bosch making tools for Sears?

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Hi All, I was walking through my local Sears and spotted something that looked very familiar. They had a router combo that looked just like my Bosch 1617 combo. Upon further inspection I could see it was the same router except the motor case had a shiny finish to it and the base was set up to do adjustments from the top of a table. Other than that it was my router exactly. I didn't know Bosch was doing this. Anybody else notice?

[JayStPeter]

Yep, Sears has been slapping the Craftsman logo on a bunch of different tools lately. For a while it was B&D, but they seem to have upgraded lately.

Jay

[Alan DuBoff]

Hi All, I was walking through my local Sears and spotted something that looked very familiar. They had a router combo that looked just like my Bosch 1617 combo. Upon further inspection I could see it was the same router except the motor case had a shiny finish to it and the base was set up to do adjustments from the top of a table. Other than that it was my router exactly. I didn't know Bosch was doing this. Anybody else notice?Sure, many of the circular saws are rebadged Skills. This is a good thing, IMO, it's the power tools they engineer themself that seem to be the ones you don't want.;-)

[jack duren]

years ago dewalt biscuit jointers and craftsmans were exactly alike, even the motors....jack

[Todd Davidson]

Hi Alan~ The companies that Craftsman has contracted to make their power tools (Craftsman, as far as I know, has never made their own power tools) has been touched on recently in a couple other threads (search this site for "Craftsman OEM" or one Corey started about his new jig saw - also made by Bosch/Skil). Ever since Sears/Craftsman parted ways with Emerson (Emerson went on to develop the Ridgid line of stationary and bench top power tools) - and went with Ryobi - Craftsman quality went down hill for quite some time. Even though Ryobi still make the bulk of Craftsman tools Sears has contracted Dewalt, Bosch and recently Orion to make some of their "professional" line of power tools. Given the savings one can achieve with a Craftsman Club membership and Craftsman discount coupons I've purchased a few Dewalt (biscuit joiner & ROS) & Bosch (5 1/2" trim saw) made Craftsman tools and have good luck with them. As soon as the Bosch made router combo you mentioned goes on sale again I'll be purchasing one as it works with all of the accessories I have from my old Craftsman router.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

This is great news as it makes one more store I can go into and drool over the tools. I saw a couple circular saws for $39 that looked pretty good. They were Craftsman and Companion. I'm considering a light CS to use with a guides saw system. Any suggestions on good CS Sears or other?

[Bart Leetch]

These may be fine tools & I hope they are but I still have reservations. In the past Sears has had other manufactures make their tools & has still cut corners. Like having a bearing on the bottom of as router armature & a bushing on the top.

[thomas prevost]

I'm with Bart on this one. Just because it is made by contract by Bosch or others does not mean it is just a relabeled product. Sears can specify many cheaper components under the hood. i.e. undipped windings, bushing vs bearings, roll stock vs tool steel, etc.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Yup, Bart and Thomas I hear you on that one. I was thinking that myself even though the router looked the same. I wondered why the motor housing looked like stainless while I think mine is magnesium. I that case mine has continuing problems with corrosion so maybe the Sears is better here. Who knows but your point is well taken.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I think this is a very good attempt by Sears to get back to quality tools. I think they have realized through the high return rate that TTI's tools are marginal at best and that their bottom line can be fattened by going back to the good stuff.

I wouldn't be afraid in the least to try any tool made by the better tool manufacturers.

[Jim Becker]

Sears always sources tools from various manufacturers, sometimes the same ones we know by other name brands. It's all about cost and the bidding process. Do not assume that any private label tools from Sears or any other retailer are "the same" as the brand name tools, especially internally. That's not saying that they are not good; just that they may be different. And also remember that the brand names don't necessarily make the tools with their names on them, either...contract manufacturing is the way the world works these days, whether it's electronic networking equipment or tools. Engineering specs and quality control are much more important than "where" something comes from or who's name is on it!

[Charlie Plesums]

When I was young (shortly after the invention of electricity) Craftsman tools were the best you could buy. When they went cheap (Crapsman), I stopped going to Sears. Haven't been there in years. Maybe I'm not the only one, and they finally noticed (since they are now owned by KMart). :confused:

[Charles McKinley]

Wood magazine did a router review a few month ago and sears unit did well as I recall. I think it was the same issue that they did the breakdown of what made the difference in the pro vs. home owner router models. Bosch makes Skil and there may be Skill guts in the bosch body in the cman router. I'll look for the issue and see if they looked inside the sears router.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

My boss used to have a craftsman drill that was an exact match for a Dewalt. In fact, even the guts looked the same! (We opened them both up to check :) )

[Lynn Kasdorf]

Here is a page detailing the oem manufacturer list for Craftsman tools. As you can see, the number of vendors over the years is HUGE.

http://www.owwm.com/Craftsman/Manufacturers-Prefix.asp

Cheers