Craftsman hand tools in year 2022

[Brian Roth]

For decades, my Grandad, Dad, and now me bought "ordinary" Craftsman hand tools....screw drivers, nut drivers, etc. I have a large personal collection.

However, I am reworking the hodge-podge of tools here at the Mastering Lab so I can keep my own tools in my main shop.

Are currently made Craftsman hand tools the same quality as I have in my tool collection? Talking about phillips/flat/torx/robertson blade screwdrivers and imperial/metric nut drivers....maybe a few other "ordinary" tools as well.

/Edit

Starting with this:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/CRAFTSMAN-...wdriver-Set/1000595963#preview-specifications
Look exactly like the tools I've owned for years and still have a lifetime Warrenty

Oddball things like small hex head drivers will come from Wiha to match my collection. Then we go down various rabbit holes....<g>.

Thanks!

Bri

 

[JohnRoberts]

That horse left the barn years ago....

JR

 

[andYz00m]

New Craftsman is poor quality in my opinion. I usually buy hand tools used as I have a used tool store three blocks from my house with bins and bins of the good stuff.

I also really like the US made channel lock acetate tools. Bought a set of these many years ago and they still are very good. Plan to give ‘em to my boys.
https://www.acmetools.com/professio...MI3fT5nbHc9gIVWD2tBh0HogQjEAQYBCABEgIIh_D_BwE

 

[JohnRoberts]

I still have an old tool box full of original craftsman wrenches and socket sets. These are at least 50 years old and still work.

JR

 

[dmp]

Pretty sure Stanley bought Craftsman from Sears a few years ago. And Stanley is a good brand. They have basically a good warranty on their brands (i.e. Proto also).
A downside is you don't have a local sears to walk and swap and shipping adds a cost on to the exchange. I have done warranty exchanges on Stanley and Proto with them and was happy. I had a huge super old Proto breaker bar that they replaced at no cost.
I have mostly craftsman tools that I bought decades ago and haven't regretted it. I think the quality is good enough for the price. The craftsman tools I've bought in the last few years has been fine

 

[Gold]

If there is the budget for it I would suggest PB Swiss Tools screwdrivers. The finest screwdrivers made. I am a recovering addict. It should be a crime not to use a PB Swiss 8140.3-50 on the Neumann cutter head suspensions for head mounting. There is a US distributor in Atlanta. When you went to Studer tech school you got a tool kit with PB Swiss drivers as part of the price.

I haven't used Craftsman screwdrivers in a while but they look same as they ever were to me. Recently Wiha has made a big push in the US. They are much more widely distributed in the US now.

 

[JerryPbury]

Just bought a set of Craftsman Screwdrivers a couple of days ago to replace my old beat up US made set. Chinese, all Chinese. I’m so old my first set of tools was Plumb. Anybody remember them?

 

[PermO]

PB Swiss Tools are the best indeed,... does not come cheap tough.

These have such perfect fit, if you have a level surface with a screw in it, you can put your screwdriver in the screw and it will just sit there, standing upright.

 

[Rusan]

I have some Craftsman tools of USA and Japan manufacture from the late 70's and early 80's, and I agree that current production is definitely not the same quality. Craftsman's decline actually began all the way back in the early 90's, when Sears ceased replacing broken ratchets and instead rebuilt them in-store while you waited. The replacement guts were not as good as the OEM stuff. From there, the overall quality began a slow decline to what it is today. Even current production, USA-made Craftsman tool chests are junk.

Nobody has mentioned Klein or Bondhus yet; they both make excellent screwdrivers. Brian, since you're in North America, you might also consider Harbor Freight's "Icon" brand screwdrivers. They're supposedly made by the same factory that makes Snap-On, and have a lifetime warranty.

I’m so old my first set of tools was Plumb. Anybody remember them?

Wow, I never knew Plumb made any hand tools other than hammers and hatchets. That must've been a looooong time ago indeed.

 

[JerryPbury]

Wow, I never knew Plumb made any hand tools other than hammers and hatchets. That must've been a looooong time ago indeed.

They were given to me in the late 60’s by my Girlfriends (ex wife) grandfather. He had them from the 30’s.

 

[soapfoot]

There are YouTube channels that serve as a sort of modern Consumer Reports on things like tools—putting them through batteries of tests with methodology disclosed.

Sometimes the methodologies are really quite impressive, and the results occasionally deviate from the predictable.

I tend to check there whenever I’m in the market

 

[Gold]

KC Tool carries many of the good German brands. I wish Xcelite or other American brands were as good or had the wide selection of the German tools.

https://www.kctool.com

 

[HP200CD]

I also have a vast collection of 50 year old Craftsman tools. I buy Klein screwdrivers nowadays.

And Excelta pliers, for PC assembly and soldering. So well made, such precision. Pure joy to use.
I found them while working in aerospace plants. Got totally spoiled.