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Reasonable cost alternatives to Craftsman tools?

Surj

Surj

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So now that the Craftsman brand is being sold off to Stanley / Black & Decker, I figure I need to start looking for alternatives. I'm not a total tool snob, but grew up in my dad's automotive machine shop and around mechanics that often had Snap-On, Mac, etc—although my pops has always been a fan of buying, breaking and repeatedly replacing cheap hand tools (all his money went to good machines, which lasted forever). My grandfather was a total Craftsman guy, and that rubbed off on me—even now, decades later, when I no longer work my hands (semi-professionally or whatever), I'm still mostly buying Craftsman out of habit.

But like many, I've seen declining quality, and while I've been happy with the quality of some of the Craftsman tools I've bought in the last 10 years, I've probably been unhappy about half the time, lota of stuff like "well, that ratchet didn't last" to thinking sockets ought to grip better, hex keys ought not round off so easily, and so on. I like the warranty on paper, but rarely use it.

I've tried a few options from Amazon, stuff with good reviews, that's pretty decent for the low prices. I've picked up some bits and bobs from Home Depot, OSH, and Harbor Freight—but nothing I've tried has really impressed me beyond being ok for the price.

So... what kind of tools are y'all buying? What's good, what's lasting, what's nice to use? I don't mind investing in good stuff, but I'm tired of buying stuff that doesn't hold up.
 
I have bought a lot of cobalt brand tools from Lowes. If you buy them in sets when they are on sale I have found very good deals. they alwys seem to have sales on a lot of the mechanics tools. I bought a pretty big size mechanics set off Ebay for less than 150 also.
 
Craftsman is still good. Well... some of their stuff. If it says "professional" any where on the package, it is crap. People need to do their due diligence when buying Craftsman and look on the packaging. "Made in USA" = made in the USA. "Made in the USA with Global Components" = Made in China. "Assembled in USA" = Made in China. "Manufacturered in USA" = Made in China.

To answer your question, I am not sure what to do when Craftsman goes 100% China. We live in a sad country right now, if Trump does anything good, hopefully he will bring the steel industry back to the US.
 
dowlinginchico said:
Craftsman is still good. Well... some of their stuff. If it says "professional" any where on the package, it is crap. People need to do their due diligence when buying Craftsman and look on the packaging. "Made in USA" = made in the USA. "Made in the USA with Global Components" = Made in China. "Assembled in USA" = Made in China. "Manufacturered in USA" = Made in China.

To answer your question, I am not sure what to do when Craftsman goes 100% China. We live in a sad country right now, if Trump does anything good, hopefully he will bring the steel industry back to the US.
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Quality costs money, and most people are willing to sacrifice quality for money, or they are uninformed buyers. Look at how many people here support H.F. Its simple really.
 
I need to buy some Snap On tools, just to have... Almost all my stuff is 30 year old Craftsman... I have one huge Mac socket for the Porsche flywheel. I think that is what it is for. I don't much like to wrench anymore.

Isn't Snap On still the standard for awesome tools?
 
Carlyle tools from NAPA auto parts stores. A bit more than craftsman price wise, but superior in every way in quality and fit & finish. Made in Taiwan mostly. I've used them for years as a paid wrench and they hold up great. Lifetime warranty. Gearwrench is also a great bang for the buck...
 
I've had these same questions after seeing Sears closing stores. I'm running a craftsman tool set that's over 20 years old and still on the same ratchets and sockets. I haven't broken anything yet and that's really impressed me considering how hard I am on some of my tools. When it comes down to it though I'll use whatever I can get my hands on, no matter what brand as long as I can source it locally and quickly. Professionals in sure may see it differently, I'm just a humble weekend warrior/backyard mechanic.
 
My current and several previous employers have pur hased Proto tools from Grainger. Made in US and high quality. Don't know the price cuz I don't pay the bill. Never broken anything Proto, we are large commercial HVACR mechanical contracter. All my personal stuff has been Craftsmen, going on 30+ years, lotsa Dad's stuff. Broken a ouple ratchets, stripped a few sockets.
 
No good answers. I've got a mix of Snap-On (my brother gave them to me when he quit being a mechanic), Craftsman (I mostly bought in the 90's) and more recently Tekton off Amazon.

Having used the Snap-On ratchets I now totally understand why people swear by professional tools. That said, the only hand tool I've personally destroyed when using properly was a Snap-On T40 Torx driver. :(

I can say that Tekton does stand 100% behind their tools and they're really cool about making it right. I've been happy (expectations reasonably set) with just about all their stuff- mostly large combination wrenches, deep sockets, impacts and more recently an air hose reel w/ what appears to be a good quality rubber hose. The one time I remember leaving a not great review they reached out to me and shipped me another (on their dime) in order to make it better:

https://www.amazon.com/review/R16WD...&channel=detail-glance&nodeID=228013&store=hi

Honestly, I don't think there are any consumer tool manufacturers which are consistently good quality anymore, but reviews on Amazon are generally a good way to get an idea if it will meet your needs. I've definitely noticed the same tool showing up as 2-4 different manufactures on Amazon- only the color/labeling changed. Sometimes it's also the same tool being sold under one of the HomeDepot house brands (Husky/Rigid).
 
David919 said:
My current and several previous employers have pur hased Proto tools from Grainger. Made in US and high quality. Don't know the price cuz I don't pay the bill. Never broken anything Proto, we are large commercial HVACR mechanical contracter. All my personal stuff has been Craftsmen, going on 30+ years, lotsa Dad's stuff. Broken a ouple ratchets, stripped a few sockets.
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I looked up Proto on line and it also appears they're owned by Stanley.
 
Proto is good stuff plus made here.
 
Hate to say it but I like the Ace PRO wrenches. Sadly they fazed them out when Ace brought on Craftsman.
I have old school Craftsman from the 70's as well but was never impressed with their fit and finish.
I also have had good luck with Crescent brand. They sold a all inclusive kit at Cost-co for around $100 and you can't go wrong for the price. I did service work for nearly 20 years and thats what I carried on my van. Looks like Amazon has the best price on these now.
The only Snap On I have are my torque wrenches. This is one area I would not cheap out .
DT
 
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What I will miss if craftsman goes to junk is the ability to drive down to OSH and get whatever when I need it.

I can't really get exited about doing a bunch of research to buy a tool and I normally just want something I know will be decent at a reasonable price so I can get on with my project.
 
Craftsman has been manufactured under license by other companies for years.

Hand tools:
New Britain
Moore Drop Forging
Stanley (prior to the acquisition plans)
Easco Hand Tools
Danaher Corporation (among others, owns Fluke, too)
Apex Tool Group.
Pratt-Read
Western Forge.

Power tools:
Dewalt
Techtronic Industries.
Emerson Electric Company

I used to have an index to the 3 digit code that identified manufacturer generally forged on the tool, but when I stopped buying Craftsman after they started getting sketchy on warranty returns, & I stopped tracking.
 
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Much of the Armstrong line is still made in the USA

I also think the Proto stuff is ok.


+1 for the Knipex pliers

For wrenches and sockets I really don't like anything but snap-on... I grew up with that quality and feel like Fred Flintstone when I have to use craftsman stuff
 
planegray said:
Much of the Armstrong line is still made in the USA

I also think the Proto stuff is ok.


+1 for the Knipex pliers

For wrenches and sockets I really don't like anything but snap-on... I grew up with that quality and feel like Fred Flintstone when I have to use craftsman stuff
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you don't have to take your pants off to use craftsman, that's all on you
 
You might want to check out S-K tools. I haven't priced them out or looked for them in years but they used to be a good alternative
 
Thanks everyone. I should clarify: I know Craftsman hasn't made their tools for a long time, and that there are different levels. I still have a set that I carried in my truck when I worked in the field back in the nineties, and most of that stuff is still good.

I don't have a beef with the purchase by B&D / Stanley specifically. I have some Stanley stuff that is reasonable, although everything I've seen from with B&D branding on it has been decidedly consumer-y, gimmicky and not durable. This is more about the varying quality I've seen in the last ten-ish years, and a recognition that an acquisition is likely not going to change that. I'll still give Craftsman a first look for a while, though, but in addition to the quality issues, a lot of their focus in recent years has been kinda gimmicky as well. I just want good ratchets wrenches, thanks.

I do have a few Tekton tools—they're the "ok for the price" tools I mentioned. I wasn't familiar with Proto, will check 'em out. I had a couple SK bits back in the day that were ok, but hadn't considered that. As Butch said, Snap-On is kinda the gold standard—maybe I'll just start going that way.
 
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