Craftsman tools

[God mode restorations]

Afternoon guys.
Does anyone have or use craftsman tool. Socket sets spanners ECT. They are supposed to be a life time guarantee. I got a small screwdriver adapter set. Didn't go a lot on it to be honest....

 

[Shox Dr]

I'd be interested in peoples thoughts as well. I need another set of Imperial spanners; fixed and ratchet type

 

[steveo3002]

got quiet alot , they dont really match up to the american forums high praise , usa stuff is reasonble enough for the diy'er i guess and i got most of mine at good prices when the exchange rate was good

had a set of flare nut spanners...total rubbish rounded off loads of brake fittings with em until i had the sense to invest in a 1970s snap on set that never failed me sinse

i think most of it is china made now vs was all usa a few years back

 

[daleyd]

Can you get hold of them (easily) in the uk?

 

[steveo3002]

Can you get hold of them (easily) in the uk?

not noticed much...costco did a budget socket set at one time

dunno where you warrenty stuff either ?

as much as i dont like halfords i think as far as warrenty goes not many other outlets are open eves and weekends and most of us could manage to get there and exchange stuff fast

 

[God mode restorations]

They are supposed to be good. But the screwdriver adapter set I got I only used once and its rounded the head off the Philips adapter...made of cheese material and its faffed me right off

 

[steveo3002]

they do differant ranges too , billy budget xmas gifts and nicer stuff

 

[God mode restorations]

they do differant ranges too , billy budget xmas gifts and nicer stuff

Ah. This I didn't no. They have a huge range of stuff.

 

[God mode restorations]

My set.

 

[steveo3002]

is it a costco set?

 

[God mode restorations]

is it a costco set?

Wouldn't have clue. I got if off eBay as there loads on there. Never used it until today

 

[God mode restorations]

Unless I got the Friday evening set

 

[steveo3002]

not surprised

if you didnt know theyre sold by a large chain of department stores in the u.s called sears its thier own brand they do tyres and allsorts , yanks can just march em back and exchange stuff , we cant lol

 

[God mode restorations]

I will give the rest of the stuff a miss lol

 

[nickk]

my BSA thunderbolt had a SEARS front tyre.

 

[MattF]

The modern Craftsman gear seems to get slated no end by the Yanks. But, saying that, a lot of them also swear that USA made is better than anything else out there, so make your own conclusion. By the sounds of it, it seems to be generic import gear nowadays.

 

[armalites]

I think the USA held on to the home built ethos at lot longer than we did. In the old days Craftsmen stuff was good. They do sell a huge amount of good stuff. I've got a Halfords Industrial roll cab and top box and I remember seeing exactly the same one in Sears. It does have a lifetime warranty but that's not really any use here.

I've got a 3/8 flex ratchet which I like, not had any issues and had it for years.

 

[MattF]

A lot of it tends to be tool snobbery, over there especially. It is what it is. Decent stuff for general use, but not likely to stick the pace for heavy use. Conversely, some mention that they use it almost daily and have no complaints. Seems half the problem is how they use & treat their kit as much as owt else.

 

[Richard.]

Having never owned any myself my opinion is purely based on what I've read about them. It's meant to be half decent gear and a lot of the yanks say it's up there with the mac and snap on tools but there are people who say not.
Now the life time warranty has its conditions from what I've read with it been limited to non professional use but how they police this or whether it's actually true I don't know. Personally if I was looking for good tools and wasn't prepared to pay big brass for snap on I'd be looking at Kennedy professional tools. They are extremely good and seem to be one of very few that have held on to quality through there modern range of tools.

 

[grim_d]

They are like everything else, used to be very good but now the quality has dropped significanty, the bread and butter stuff is still fine for use. I really dont like the square handles on the ratchets.

Personally if I'm buying offshore made American brand it's gearwrench but im biased since almost all my sockets and spanners at work and home are gearwrench. Very very happy with them.