Sears Craftsman Tools

[DOUG ANGEL]

I've have good things to say about Craftsman hand tools for mechanics. They are a good basic set of tools that bridge the gap between home junk and professional quality. Sears woodworking tools.....NO SO MUCH. What do you think?

[Wayne Lovell]

Sears is not the same store it once was, when I was growing up it was the first place we went for almost everything, good quality and they stood behind their merchandise. Now we rarely go into the place and then the only thing that is still any good are major appliances and in our area they still have good service on those. Everything else is Walmart quality junk.

[Stan Calow]

Wayne, I live fairly close to a full-size Sears store, so go there often for tools and parts. Yes the Craftsman hand tools are still good quality, and often a good price on sales. But their power tools are designed to meet the price point their handyman/homeowner customers want to pay, not be the best. My Sears however, carries most of the major brands -DeWalt, Milwaukee, Bosch, etc. too. Sometimes at good sale prices too.

[glenn bradley]

I imagine anyone over the age of 50 knows that the Craftsman paradigm has shifted. They fell asleep at the World Wide Web Wheel and went from being one of the premier logistics retailers to near obscurity. As in the past, many of their tools are made for them by other manufacturers. We just have so much poor product available to us today that, Sears or not, we must pick and choose carefully. I have "brands" of tools in my shop that are the best examples in their price range while other products from the same label wouldn't get a second glance from me.

[Bill McNiel]

I believe it still pretty much the same as back in the 60s & 70s.....Solid hand tools but if it has a plug on it, NO!

[Charlie Velasquez]

As in the past, many of their tools are made for them by other manufacturers. ..... I have "brands" of tools in my shop that are the best examples in their price range while other products from the same label wouldn't get a second glance from me.In the mid-70's I worked for a while with an office furniture manufacturing company. We supplied products to Sears. We arguably had the best quality control program in the industry. Every drawer, every lock, every weld, every paint job was inspected. Then they were spot checked again by the section foreman. Then the batch was spot inspected again by the shift supervisor, then the packaged product was spot checked again in the warehouse, then spot checked again when delivered to the consumer. They were well built and high quality.

Once a week, usually on a Wednesday or Thursday, we re-tooled for our Sears run. Additional rollers were put on all the drawer slides. Additional welds were added to the drawers, frame, and cross braces, and we used a heavier "gauge" cardboard base in the boxing-out. Each piece was still inspected, but our foreman and supervisor probably double checked a few more than on a normal run.

I had been a Sears fan growing up (my first baseball glove and fishing rod were Ted Williams autograph models) but after seeing how they requested a good product become even better, I became a Sears fanatic. Our entire house was an advertisement for Sears, Craftsman, and Kenmore. I still use my 1976 Craftsman circular saw, my first power tool. I still have my 1/2" drill (too heavy, so it doesn't see much use) and my sockets and wrenches. Our Kenmore washer and dryer got us through 4 kids worth of diapers; baseball, basketball, football, and soccer uniforms before quitting after 20+ years.

So sad to see the name no longer commands the respect from earlier times.

[Brian Elfert]

Has Sears ever manufactured anything themselves? I thought they always have had third parties make their goods?

I have a Craftsman drill that belongs to a friend of mine. It is from the 60s or 70s and is the strongest portable drill I have ever used. I wanted to buy it from him, but he said I could hold on to it and he would know where it is if he needs it. I live in Minnesota and he lives in Florida now, but his son lives here.

[Pat Camara]

Starting in the mid-70's, I acquired a full shop full of Sear's Craftsman stationary tools. They were well built and never broke down even under a lot of use in the home woodworker environment. 20 years later I started upgrading my stationary tools to professional level tools with my first purchase being a Unisaw. When I made the first cut on the Unisaw, I realized the difference between Craftsman and professional level tools was not necessarily the quality of the tool but more in the intended purpose of the tool. Back in the day Craftsman tools were fine for the home woodworker and may still be today but they weren't designed for the rigors of heavy, full-time or semi full-time use. A Unisaw today is probably still overkill for the home woodworker.

[David Weaver]

When I was a kid in the 1980s, we considered their tools to be fairly expensive (parents were homeowners, not pros), and everyone that I knew that had any substantial amount of DIY tools either had a bunch of black and decker stuff or craftsman. Even back then, I remember people saying stuff like "nothing else fits it" (referring to the inability to use anything at all with craftsman tools). My dad still uses a bunch of craftsman tools, but he gets the max amount of dollars out of his work by making stuff for my mother to paint, stuff out of softwood - something that won't challenge the garden variety $300 bandsaw or $100 belt sander or 6x9 belt sander (whatever those cost now). When he wears them out, he gets another one.

It was common back then for people to make kitschy yard art and try to sell it, or get out a square and a circular saw and some screws and make a few benches for the patio with "nice" whitewood lumber from the lumber yard (not home depot).

You got (if you were my dad) the tools from craftsman and you had to buy their low quality bandsaw blades, etc, because there was no other source. The internet and the ability to "mail order" without having to actually send in something mail order has really changed things. Back then, the low cost alternative to sears was tractor supply type places (before those were uniform, too) who must've bought very crude chinese-made tools, they were ugly and had no branding on them.

I don't remember any local stationary tool dealers back then, though you could get pro quality tools through the lumber yard, and our local yard carried makita portable tools. FIL built a house in the late 1970s and bought a small dewalt RAS for $500 back then, a princely sum.

I'm so glad we don't have to buy our large tools from sears or choose another option that costs the moon (because I don't want either of those options). It's a shame sears couldn't change their business model with any fluidity, they've hung on too long trying to sell their own brand of tools at a time when internet buying is easy and many of the professional makes have come down in price. From time to time, someone dies around here or gives up on woodworking, and you see the same "craftsman shop", that horrible fixed table jointer, a 10" or 12" band saw, an old table saw with the open air style wings, a 1/2 horsepower shaper, a small craftsman drill press and a few hand drills or such things.

(a lot of those tools were US made, though, and I'm sure they had a lot of room built into their price so sears could make money. I guess there really wasn't much else anyone could buy at the time, as there certainly wasn't OWWM and other places to get people educated about refurbishing low-priced vintage tools).

My dad still has a bunch of black and decker stuff that was US made and still works well. I don't have anything craftsman except a 3 amp electric drill that is falling apart, but I consider it more handy than most people seem to, because it's fairly small, it has no battery and despite being 3 amps, it has more power than any cordless drill I've used south of $200.

[Jim Koepke]

As with so many products the consumer mass started preferring price over quality. Sears had little choice but to go along or be left by the side.

Some areas of their market were still paying up for quality as in mechanic's hand tools.

jtk

[Keith Hankins]

When I was young, crafstman tools were solid and I've got some old ones, that are great. Today, they don't call em crapsman for nothing. I happened to be in a sears last year at Christmas, and the wrench pack I picked up said made in china.

[Keith Hankins]

I've got a 30-30 winchester that has ted williams name on it. Catalog order!

[Dave Lehnert]

Just in the last week or two I have purchased a lot of Craftsman tools. They have their Black Friday type stuff priced now for sale.

I do not shop Sears for tool as much as before. Only because they closed the local Sears Hardware store. That place was so handy to stop in a pick up a few things. The mall store is only 5 or 6 miles away but not as handy.

[Dave Lehnert]

When I was young, crafstman tools were solid and I've got some old ones, that are great. Today, they don't call em crapsman for nothing. I happened to be in a sears last year at Christmas, and the wrench pack I picked up said made in china.

I was looking at wrench sets at Sears the other day. Their low priced sets are made in China but they also still sell USA made sets for more $$$$$.

[Jim Andrew]

I bought a couple socket sets at Sears years ago. The ratchets are junk. They exchanged them when I returned them, but the replacements are junk. I get pretty good ratchets from Harbor freight now, got a extendable 1/2" a while back that is pretty good, along with a very long breakover bar. Back in the early 70's I bought a belt sander that was very good, and later bought one that looked just like it that was junk. I wore the plate off the first one, and used the second one's plate on the first one.

[cody michael]

I use to love craftsman tools, but all there hand tools I could find are made in china, are much cheaper feeling then my usa stuff. Good thing I have good great deals as they clearance out there usa stuff so I don't need many more hand tools, I am not going to buy any of there China made tools.

[Bruce Wrenn]

The first tools I bought were some Craftsman sockets and a ratchet. My mom lent me twenty dollars to buy something else (1966), but I bought tools instead. Boy was she "hot" when she found out. Paid her twenty bucks back on pay day. Still have sockets and ratchet. In 1984. bought a set of power tools (table saw, band saw, radial saw, and drill press) at one time. Used them to make signs for my employer. Paid for tools, along with a Buick for my wife with those tools. When I upgraded, passed tools onto others to use till they could afford better, with condition that they too would pass them on. Own a couple Sears Industrial (B&D before DeWalt) drills, and screw guns. They are WORKHORSES. Have a thirty year old Sears air compressor, that I'm replacing (one day) with an even older Sears compressor. Have a "shoe string belt" drill press that going ino shop, along with a Model 100 RAS. Unfortunately, if Sears goes away, so does warranty on Craftsman hand tools. Many industrial distributors now sell Craftsman hand tools.

[Rick Potter]

I have a 1941 Sears tool catalog. It is sad to look at it, compared to now.

There were table saws ranging from table top size to cabinet saws, plus a series of lower priced stuff called Dunlop. There were at least 3 or 4 full size metal lathes, self feeding thread cutting and all. Band saws, scroll saws like those old PM and Delta cast iron jobs.

Tooling was fairly extensive also........

Days gone by. Gotta stop here, getting misty.

Rick Potter

[Lee Reep]

I still have my first craftsman router, a 1HP "Commercial" model bought in 1975. Has the best ergonomics of any of my routers. Nice handles, with trigger in the right handle. Clever design -- it controls a cable that opens and close a micro switch in the router body. Still works well after 40 years, although it only has a 1/4" collet so it is mostly used for trim work. I have more powerful routers -- Craftsman and Ridgid, that are dedicated for router table use. The Ridgid is slow start variable speed, but with the switch on top, it makes using it by hand a real pain, except if I take it out of its fixed base in the router table, and put it in the plunge base for handheld use.

My other Craftsman power tool from the 70s is my radial arm saw. Built back when they were built like tanks. This was my first big power tool, and I used it for 30 years for all sawing, and then bought a table saw so I could quit using the RAS for ripping. I put an oversized custom top on the RAS maybe 10 years ago, and align it maybe every 10 years or so. Beautiful tool for crosscuts. Miters were taken over by the compound miter saw a few years back.

Those two old Craftsman products, sadly, are likely to be my last Craftsman tools. But with a little TLC, I think they last me for the rest of my woodworking days. I have a lot of great memories learning to do woodworking with both of them.

I bought a Festool track saw last year and am constantly amazed at what a delight it is to use. I've got some nice older major stationary tools, like my Powermatic bandsaw, so most of my future plans are for some newer//better handheld tools. And the list is all Festool, with a Domino at the top of the list.

[Tony Haukap]

If you remember the paper catalogs you probably also remember that Sears offered 3 levels of power tools - a 'good,' 'better' and 'best' - their 'best' truly was as good as what anyone else offered at the time. I still have a circular saw, drill and router from their best line that get used occasionally.
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Sears mechanics hand tools were also marketed in a similar way with 'Companion,' 'Sears' and 'Craftsman' being the three brand tiers.
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Today however their power tools are junk or gimmicks, and the same can be said of their China made hand tools. I have some of their newer 'Premium Grade Professional' 84-tooth ratchets and what they now call 'Industrial' full-polish wrenches that are very nice, but they are the few remaining exceptions and are also the last of the remaining USA made Craftsman tools.
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For the most part I'm done buying Craftsman tools, with the exception of some old stock USA made stuff that I might want to have duplicates of, otherwise I really have all the hand tools I need.

[Vijay Kumar]

Sears is now owned by Kmart. Enough said.

[Scott Vigder]

Let's be fair. A DeWalt drill is not as good as it once was, nor is Milwaukee, Porter-Cable, etc. I started woodworking as a hobby about 10 years ago, and have owned all brands from Grizzly to Delta to Powermatic to Fein to Harbor Freight. I've found Craftsman tools to be hit-or-miss: I recently downsized the shop due to a move...... I bought the Craftsman bench-top drill press...it works great for the money, with adequate quill travel and negligible run out. I then acquired the Craftsman bench top band saw, and after fine-tuning (ok, lots of fine tuning) it works just as well as my old 14" behemoth. I did buy the Craftsman battery powered multi-tool knockoff and it lasted about 18 minutes before the motor fried itself, so I went back to Milwaukee's version and it's been a real champ.

I don't expect Mercedes quality when I am paying Pinto prices. When shopping for new tools, my research identifies the most and least expensive and I usually throw them out and concentrate on the middle where I get the most bang for my buck. As a hobbyist with a knack for being a perfectionist, this has been a great reality-check for me.

[john davey]

I still have my wrench and sockets from the 70's. They are excellent quality. I have had to exchange the odd broken tool and they honor that fine but the new stuff is not as good. As was previously posted I sadly can say that I bought a socket set to keep in my car from Harbor Fright as it seemed as good as the new sears stuff. Nothing like my old Craftsman tools. But for the price and the fear of loosing them in the car (theft) it just makes sense to use the HF stuff for this. I miss the old Sears. I am 50 and I do remember when solid as sears was a true statement.

[Steve Baumgartner]

Back in the 80s my wife used to refer to me as a "Sears sucker" because when they had a tool sale I'd go nuts. Their list prices were inflated, but if you could wait a month or two, what you needed would almost surely go on sale, and their annual sale catalogs were gold mines.

No more. As others have noted, their hand tools still are a reasonable mid-point between cheap junk and expensive professional grade (think SnapOn). But their Craftsman brand of power tools long ago went to pot. In the meantime Emerson Electric, who used to make almost all of Sears power tools for them, bought the Ridgid name, sealed a deal with Home Depot and is still respected.

[Lee Schierer]

Up until about 25 years ago Craftsman pliers were made by Channellock. If your old Craftsman pliers have a C stamped on the back side they are a Channellock made tool using exactly the same process that regular Channellock pliers went through. Then for a time they were made by a company called Western Forge. I have no idea who makes them now.

[Curt Harms]

Sears is now owned by Kmart. Enough said.

Pretty sure both are owned by Sears Holding Corp. They do have a combo router kit which doesn't feel too bad to my hands. I'm sure they're not Bosch or Milwaukee but for the occasional user they might be fine. Parts down the road? Who knows. I imagine bearings and brushes are available from other sources.

[Jim German]

I recently bought a 3/8" ratchet from sears that was made in china. I happened to have the exact same one from ~10 years ago that was made in the US. I made a video going over the similarities and differences over on my youtube channel. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWg8UOCuv1I)

Short anwser, they are damm similar, but the china one is a little rougher around the edges.