Craftsman hand tools in year 2022

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Brian Roth

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 20, 2005
Messages
3,184
Location
Salina Kansas
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
 
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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
 
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.
 
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?
 
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.
 
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.
 
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
 
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.
 
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