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Exactly even Canada and USA made products, electronics especially will have off shore parts. At least some jobs are kept here. Before the big economic crash, I said where will the jobs come from with all the manufactering going over to China. Once the bs job market collasped, no jobs. If I could figure that out, where in hell was everyone else, the experts? We are doing better here thank goodness.
Just wanted to share this if anyone needs. Craftsman is moving their Professional line manufacturing offshore so they have the US made ones on clearance http://www.sears.com/craftsman-9pc-prof ... ockType=G4
I ordered a set & they are indeed marked Made in the USA
For compaison I could only find a 13 pc set compared to nine for the US ones but they are $90 compared to $36 http://www.sears.com/craftsman-professi ... ckType=G19
There is not much of a description here. But if these are indeed still the USA made tools, this is one heck of a deal. $3330.00 full retail for $500. I ordered one. If it turns out to be China (even in part), it goes back.
I stopped buying Craftsman tools when the local Sears made me jump through hoops of fire to exchange tools under the lifetime warranty. Now I just buy the Home Depot or Lowes brand. They have a lifetime warranty that is honored.
Speaking of the last U.S. made televsion (prior to Vizio coming online in 2002), I don't think it was Curtis-Mathes, which still exists, by the way, at least as a brand. CM stopped making TVs in 1982, but Zenith, at least, kept making them into the mid-90s I believe. They eventually were bought out by LG Electronics, a South Korean company. I think the Zenith name is still used by LG.
By the way, Vizio is like GM, Ford, and lots of other U.S. manufacturing companies. They're U.S.-based, and their TVs are assembled in the U.S., but not every part in them is U.S.-made.
Made in Irvine, Ca if I recall. 6 years ago I got 4 of them, bedroom, living room and 2 for my camper, no problems at all.
I had problems returning a broken 25 yo ratchet from Sears, they had to send it out to get rebuilt, no exchange. That's great when you were in the middle of a project, luckily I have a gear head neighbor.
From 1973 t0 1985 I worked for The New Britain Machine Co. in New Britain Ct.One of our divisions was New Britain Handtools.We made ALL the tools for Craftsman,Penncrest.New Britain,Husky and Blackhawk.All were 100% made in New Britain untill Litton Industries(parent company after 1980) decided to move all operatios down south.Unfortunately no one down south wanted to work for those cheap bastards and the rest ,as they say ,is history.
Yup. Connecticut is why this country is going down and can never come back.
Well, not the reason, but the illustration.
You will recall, Splicer, that back at that time, CT was full of factories, mostly built in the 1800s, that were full of machinery that made screws, springs, guns, car parts, watches -- all kinds of intricate, close-tolerance, high quality stuff.
Those factories were full of guys, old and young, who were experts at running the machines.
The old guys would show the young guys how to get the jobs just right.
A lot of the old guys came from the "old country" - Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia - places where they or their parents had been skilled machinists for decades, and they brought their knowledge and skills here, and used them tb build the factories and the machines, and used those machines to build pocket watches, locomotives, pistols, rifles, cannons, bomb sights, and used those to win two world wars.
Well, as you pointed out, the bosses decided they could make more money down South, so one by one they moved their factories there. The buildings and the machines in CT were left to rot, and ultimately to be knocked down or scrapped. Then they saw a better deal in China, and moved their plants there.
The guys, old and young, who had worked in the factories in CT, sometimes for generations, got jobs doing other things, like you did. The old ones died off before they could fully train the young ones, and the young ones forgot what they had learned.
Now, if China suddenly shut off the valve and stopped our supply of machined goods, there would be no way we could survive - we've scrapped the machines, leveled the factories, and let the pool of knowledge run dry.
Sure, in theory, with enough time, we could reconstruct it all, but you know that will never happen, and could never happen fast enough in the event that we were attacked.
So we're screwed, and we have nobody but ourselves to blame.
I have a set of 1/2 drive std impact sockets about 25 years old on them and they have tiawan stamped on them.Any way why are all of these companies going off shore?imho a couple of reasons the american worker is to blame ie unions,and profit-greed in the company.look at all of these ceos that walk away with those multi million dollar severance packages.oh don't get me started,i did'nt vote for him.lol
Again Stanley, Proto, Armstrong and a few others are still made here last I checked.
You can help by purchasing their tools and what ever else is made here. You have to look. Not sure about Snapoff or Mac etc... haven't been in the tool truck in a few years. Another example; Libman brooms vs the Quickie brand. Libman is a small old USA company still doing it here! Libmans broom $10 for a great broom...Quickie, $20 for the same china version that falls apart in a year. Sams sells Libman. I sent them an email (Libman) thanking them for keeping it here. I was almost positive Home Deep Hole Low....s tools were all chinaesium. Everything else in both the sheet holes is. Waiting for them to import lumber next...
X2...MDchanic & 65 cutlass. Americans are not willing to work for 28 cents an hour. Nor should we.
Hint for you guys...market forces work. For those that are going to use a tool once and who cares if it fails, chinese is going to be the choice.
If the failure of a tool costs you more than the tool, forget chinese.
$5 line wrenches destroying $100 brake lines is another good example.
You will never sustain expensive low cost, low liability product at high wages in the US.
I have a set of 1/2 drive std impact sockets about 25 years old on them and they have tiawan stamped on them.Any way why are all of these companies going off shore?imho a couple of reasons the american worker is to blame ie unions,and profit-greed in the company.look at all of these ceos that walk away with those multi million dollar severance packages.oh don't get me started,i did'nt vote for him.lol
Oh, Oh....I had NO idea that Craftsman was now Crapsman. I just broke a regular (non USA, overseas made) 9/16 combo box end wrench trying to get my brake booster nuts off my '71 Cutlass. Top 2 nuts loosened just fine, bottom two, not so much. I rounded one nut off, & had trouble getting the other one off. I went to SEARS to see what they had, & bought a CRAFTSMAN ratchet wrench with the adjustable angle box end on it to gain more leverage on the bottom nut closest to the fender. I thought at the time, the locking mechansim for the angle adjustment seemed a little cheesily made. I haven't tried it yet, but now I'm worried. I hope it don't go "SNAP" when I apply torque to it. I'll keep ya all posted, as I haven't got back to the project again yet....
Last edited by calicanuck66; May 9th, 2013 at 06:00 PM.
I was also put off by the Sears policy that changed from exchanging a bad tool to mailing you one and waiting weeks to get it. That being said, last week I went to a large Sears store and actually got an exchange for a busted ratchet right there on the spot. I had it sitting around for years but figured what did I have to lose by trying. Either their policy has changed or this is just what this store does on it's own (doubt that).
Since most of my tools are Craftsman I like the change. No complaints on Sears tools, everything can break no matter what name is on it. My cheap *** Harbor Freight torque wrench is within one pound +/- after a dozen years so it's not always about the name or where it's manufactured. I'm not advocating off shore stuff but just saying everything has built in obsolescence.
I have a Vizio in my bedroom and it has been great.
I bought my first tools in 1969. All Craftsman wrenches, rachets and sockets, screw drivers and a few other odds and ends, and they have been excellent for an avid hobbiest. My 1/2 inch ratchet broke after about 25 years and I had it replaced. The first one had a small spring loaded ball bearing in the end to oil the ratchet. The replacement didn't. Since then, I think I have replaced that 1/2 inch ratchet 5 or 6 times. JUNK! My originals are fine. I think I will pay more attention to the flea markets for used ones too.
Here's where I put my Crapsman vise. In the trash where it belongs. All I was doing was pressing 2 pieces of plywood together with wood glue to make kid furniture. Of course nobody honored the Crapsman warranty and I even had the receipt.
Here's where I put my Crapsman vise. In the trash where it belongs. All I was doing was pressing 2 pieces of plywood together with wood glue to make kid furniture. Of course nobody honored the Crapsman warranty and I even had the receipt.
Craftsman is no longer Craftsman has not been for a long time.
I would buy a good used one off of Craigslist [Made in England, USA, Canada, Europe]
Last edited by Bernhard; December 7th, 2019 at 07:53 PM.
If its on the shelf its been payed for. If you dont buy it they find a way to make money on it and write off the loss to the tax man so we loose in the end. I have cheap stuff at home. Mac, snap on, cornwell, matco sit in my snap on triple bank at my shop box.
I used to rant about buy American back in the '80s when everything was Japanese made. I've continued that pointless crusade since, but I have witnessed since then American companies go to crap and slide into oblivion and Japanese companies rise to excellence and domination. I have also witnessed the rise of China and the threat that it has become. I have given up on American made, it largely doesn't exist and if it does, it's not for long. Now I just urge people to just buy anything but Chinese. Korean, Mexican, Canadian, German, Japanese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Indian, whatever... FINE. Get those. Just not Chinese!
I understand, sometimes you have no choice. Every package you pick up says Made in China and that's the problem!! We have concentrated our dependence on manufacturing and our debt in just one single country that really doesn't like us all that much and would like to take over as world leaders. If you are forced to buy made in China, pick the US based company over the foreign one. That brings the money here even if it doesn't employ many US workers. If there is is no US company, pick the company that is friendliest, or allied to America.
Since this is a car site, for the love of God and country- Stop buying from Harbor Freight!! They and companies like them are the root cause of the problem. Now that I said all this, Mods, feel free to close the thread. This is headed nowhere but angry political white man rants and nobody really needs that.
May god strike me if im lying ……. But the whole concept of our economy is to make as much as possible while spending as little as possible. That means making more money for less work , getting more for spending less ETC ETC. See where im going with this. Its only an inherent issue that we outsource and find cheaper labor and cheaper things because we want more for less. We reap what we sow. Lets face it We the American people want more for less . its why stores like Wal-Mart , and now amazon thrive. I love the 2 day free shipping.
Last edited by coppercutlass; December 8th, 2019 at 12:38 AM.
Stanley tools which purchased the Craftsman line a couple of years ago has made a vow to make Craftsman line a premium line again, notice the expanded product line in Lowes. They are currently building a 425,000 sq. ft. manufacturing plant in N. Ft. Worth Tx. to make Craftsman tools Made In The USA again. Sears had fragmented the line & quality over the years by out sourcing to overseas hence the Crapman tools it has been selling. It should be up and running next fall as they will be hiring for 500 manufacturing jobs next summer.
Stanley tools which purchased the Craftsman line a couple of years ago has made a vow to make Craftsman line a premium line again, notice the expanded product line in Lowes. They are currently building a 425,000 sq. ft. manufacturing plant in N. Ft. Worth Tx. to make Craftsman tools Made In The USA again. Sears had fragmented the line & quality over the years by out sourcing to overseas hence the Crapman tools it has been selling. It should be up and running next fall as they will be hiring for 500 manufacturing jobs next summer.
That is awesome !
It's nice to see Stanley returning some jobs to the USA
They are one of the worse out souring company's to off shore manufacturing. Pick up a modern tool sold by Stanley and 99.99 percent of the time it will read China, Taiwan etc.
500 jobs is a good start but its a drop in the bucket.
I have some tools that were made in Taiwan that are better than my early Craftsman for fit and finish under the Gear Wrench brand
so their new tool line has some stiff competition in the moderately priced tool category. Snap on, Mac are still pro grade lines.
I look forward to the new Craftsman made in the USA again, I hope they produce a quality product like they once did.
A lot of tools that were sold by craftsman were made by leading USA tool manufacturers like Porter Cable, DeViilbis,etc
Last edited by Bernhard; December 8th, 2019 at 09:09 AM.
I will add, If you have some crapsman laying around broken, take them to Lowe's for replacement.
I have a bag of broken sockets and ratchets bouncing around the toolbox and need to go myself.
I will add, If you have some crapsman laying around broken, take them to Lowe's for replacement.
I have a bag of broken sockets and ratchets bouncing around the toolbox and need to go myself.
If you have any ratchets that are skipping like they might have stripped gears.
Take them apart,clean and re grease them.
I had a few like this that were US made,when I went to Sears to exchange them,they were going to give me made in China ratchets for replacement,I declined. I wasn't going to trade my US made stuff for China made stuff.
When I got home I decided I didn't have anything to loose,I took them apart and discovered the factory grease was dried and caked into the teeth of the gears causing them to skip like they were stripped.
A good spray with brake clean,some new grease and they work like new again.
I've also discovered many rebuild kits containing nos parts are available on ebay.
^^This^^
I went to Sears a few years ago and made the mistake of swapping out a 30-year old, Craftsman torque wrench that was "skipping" for a cheap-azz, Chinese made one. The Chinese replacement only lasted 2 years before it broke and I didn't use it that often. I should have cleaned and re-lubed it (like w-30dreamin) did; I would probably still have a strong, working Craftsman torque wrench! The other thing that makes me mad about the swap, that 30 year old torque wrench was given to me by my father when I went off to college, with the admonition to, "always by Craftsman tools because they have a lifetime guaranty".
I will add, If you have some crapsman laying around broken, take them to Lowe's for replacement.
Originally Posted by cdrod
The other thing that makes me mad about the swap, that 30 year old torque wrench was given to me by my father when I went off to college, with the admonition to, "always by Craftsman tools because they have a lifetime guaranty".
The problem is that Lowes/Sears/Ace Hardware no longer honor the lifetime warranty the tools were sold with. Regardless of where their new tools are made. I had that bench vise on my workbench when this thread first started 6+ years ago. I suppose it could have been made in China/Taiwan.
I guess I should look at the bright side. Since they didn't honor the warranty I won't get stuck with a POS Crapsman bench vise.
The problem is that Lowes/Sears/Ace Hardware no longer honor the lifetime warranty the tools were sold with..
Its interesting to note that K-Mart who was in bankruptcy proceedings BOUGHT Sears and operated Sears in the same way that got K-Mart into bankruptcy. It was flawed wisdom that sold off the Craftsman product line to Stanley-Black & Decker with no stipulations.
And yet harborjunk and all the other retailers spewing this chineasium junk are chock-full of dumb conditioned customers
If you condition the customer that a 3/8" ratchet is a bic disposable razor versus a durable good all the cows will walk off the cliff one by one without asking questions. We don't pay attention as a general rule. It has burned the USA throughout history
.
What to reverse this stop buying the junk. I know it's unrealistic but if you simply leave the junk on the retailer's shelves eventually they/ll get it as the container ships stuffed with this garbage back up in port and are forced to turn around and go back where they came from or dump it overboard where it belongs. Pipe dream I know.
I'm doing my part. I haven't purchased a new hand tool in quite a while. I can't find anything new USA made. I go to Garage and Estate sales. Last score was an 8" Wilton vice Made in the USA...$20 at an estate sale.
Does this mean my extensive SnapOn, Mac, Matco, Craftsman, Proto, Stanley, Armstrong et al USA made tool collection amassed since the mid-70s has just risen exponentially in value...YES IMO And I should increase the insurance accordingly!
April 26th, 2013, 09:37 PM
so they have the US made ones on clearance
Of course nobody honored the Crapsman warranty and I even had the receipt. 
