Craftsman Power Tools

Craftsman lawn mowers are getting known for their poor quality as well. It's sad to see such a great brand name go downhill like this. When will they discontinue guaranteeing hand tools? Quality always wins in the end, but I'm not certain these items that are being made in China have the same level of quality. I've always been willing to pay more for the Craftsman tools. I had a 25 year old, beat up Crafstman circular saw that I sold for the same price I paid for it (unbelieveable, but true). The thing was indestructible!

One thing I can't understand is how much Craftsman tool boxes cost. What makes them worth hundreds of dollars?

ace1210 said…

Craftsman lawn mowers are getting known for their poor quality as well. It's sad to see such a great brand name go downhill like this. When will they discontinue guaranteeing hand tools? Quality always wins in the end, but I'm not certain these items that are being made in China have the same level of quality. I've always been willing to pay more for the Craftsman tools. I had a 25 year old, beat up Crafstman circular saw that I sold for the same price I paid for it (unbelieveable, but true). The thing was indestructible!

One thing I can't understand is how much Craftsman tool boxes cost. What makes them worth hundreds of dollars?

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hey its expensive to ship lead over from china

Well, I've had many of my Craftsman power tools for over 30 years.

My Craftsman "Sell Me" mulching mower for over 5 years - going strong.

My Craftsman Chipper/Shredder since around 2004 - an MTD tank.

Just got the Craftsman riding mower about 3-1/2 years ago - puttering around the 1-1/2 acres just fine.

Oh, that Craftsman high-wheel trimmer is just amazing...  It's been smashing down over-grown black-berry vines for almost 4 years now.

I do my own tuneups and change the oil regularly.

What's not working again?

Sad to say that I agree with you. I've noticed the quality has gradually gotten worse and worse over the past few years. I really hate that,really I do. Sears Craftsman tools were once highly recommended. I remember while growing up Craftsman power tools were the "coup de Gras" of all power tools. I have a router I bought at an auction a few years ago,it was old then and older now but it operates better than any sears powe tool I have pur. in the last 5 years. EASILY! But I'll break down someday soon and will get that tool that I just HAVETA HAVE. Thats inevitable, Yea you could say Im a glutton for punishment,After all I beenmarried 3 times. Insanity= doing the same thing over & over and getting the same NEGATIVE RESULTS. However I still like their wrenches.

I'm not seeing any drop off in quality, in fact I've been highly impressed with how Craftsman is staying strong given the market and all.  Keep in mind that Craftsman is not made by Sears, but rather is just a name for tools made by another company (whose name escapes me at the moment).

In fact, all these years I thought you could only buy Craftsman tools at Sears and when I was in Kansas City about two weeks ago we passed a professional tool repair and dealer and they had the Craftsman logo on their building.  Apparently Craftsman has a wide, wide range of professional tools that I never even knew about -- and you can buy them at other places than Sears.

 

is there a web site to acquire aN instruction mannual for a CRAFTSMAN circular saw?

Managemyhome.com

Hey Gang, It is important to put things in perspective. Sears owns a marketing name CRAFTSMAN as well as dozens of others. They source products from venders who will build to Sears specifications. These specs are not always the same as OEM brands but may mirror many features. Most lawn/garden tractors are built by Electrolux Home Products, while tool chests are built by Waterloo Industries. Sears provides the best bang for the buck! Regards These companies have plants in Iowa, Ga, NC, and employ our neighbors, family and friends. I trust everyone who works a job does the very best they can to insure a quality product. Do you ? note,,I do have a bro-inlaw that I wouldn't trust to build sawdust without screwing it up,,,but fortunately Sears doesn't sell that......

I will no longer purchase ANY Craftsman branded power tool.  JUNK! 

I still have some confidence in the hand tools but recent findings that Chinese made tools have infiltrated the brand likely means I will not be recommending the brand to my son as my grandfather and father did for me.     

I concur I was going to start my kids on Craftsmen tools but I am not buying any that are made in RED CHINA. I also don't like many of the yard tools are assembled here not made in the USA. I also don't trust Sears to guarantee the hand tools anymore!

Find me a brand of power tools manufactured in the United States.

I'll give you all the time you need.

Has anyone tried the new Craftsman power hammer?

It is unfortunate that manufacturing in the United States is essentially extinct but manufacturing source is not relevant to the OP point.

Quality, reliability and usefulness are the points.  Craftsman power tools demand a higher price then cheaper brands under the pretense of quality that the brand garnered in recognition from years gone bye .  The power tools being offered today are not the Craftsman tools of our fathers.  It is unlikely that any of their power tool purchased today, will be passed down to future children or grandchildren as previously.

Craftsman power tools were never a top tier but they were a respectable and high rated mid tier.  Now, they are no better then the Chicago Electric Power Tools that Harbor Freight sells but these tools are muuuuch cheaper.

Crafsman power tools are living on the reputation of a previous generation.

Well, I can't say I agree. Craftsman's C3 cordless tools are very high quality, powerful, durable, and versatile. Craftsman table saws, circular saws, miter saws, and radial arm saws are available in various grades for a variety of customer demands. There is also the Craftsman Professional line, which utilizes some of the world's finest premium components, like Biesmeyer rip fences. It all depends on what you want to do with the tool and what you're willing to invest.

If all you look at is the lowest priced merchandise, then yes, they're not all that great. They're designed for beginners and for people who are unwilling to invest a little more into a tool that will give them far greater performance and satisfaction. Rather than telling them we have nothing to sell them and letting them walk, we have options for them, too.

I suggest you check out 00911550 and 00911548000 on sears.com and read the reviews.

Thanks Blue.  I checked out your reference to the C3 tools.  The reviews looked quite good and positive.  It maybe these are exceptionally good cordless tools ... but ... sorry, my attraction towards the brand has been badly tarnished ... I'll have to take a pass, even with heavy endorsement. 

I grew up with the impression that ALL craftsman tools were quality; however, my experience has proven this untrue.  Granted, I bought tools on sale and on the low side of the price range.  I expected lower price power tools to miss features and bonuses of the higher priced sibling but I did not expect inferior, junk quality.

I am no business major but I personally believe it is a BIG mistake on the part of Sears to blemish an established and respected name with low quality tools.  It would be much better to put another name on the low quality, low price tools then to damage their brand. 

If I wanted a 20+ gallon Craftsman air compressor but couldn't find one for less then ... say $500.  I would know I needed to save but that when I got it, it would have the quality I expected with the Craftsman's name.  Buying one at $199 on a sunday sale quickly loses the euphoric enthusiasm of a great bargain on a quality name when it breaks because of cheap construction soon after purchase.

My point and belief is rather then selling a customer a seriously inferior tool with an established name, sell only quality.  If the concern is the customer will walk out the store and buy a cheap tool from another seller, why not sell lower line tools with a different name ... or maybe it would be better in the long term to let them walk as they will likely return when the cheap tool proves it's true value?

Anyway, the current business model has severely damaged my impression of the brand.  I still hold some confidence with the hand tool line but even there my faith has been shaken.  And while it may be true that the higher priced Craftsmans have good quality and reliablity ... because of my experience, I have the impression that all modern Craftsman power tools are equivalent to junk. 

Pardon me for saying, but that's a rather foolish approach. To say that everything is bad because the very cheapest models aren't very good is like saying the best Kenmore dishwasher is junk because the very cheapest Kenmore dishwasher isn't very good. What sense would that approach make? If you went to a hospital and had a couple bad doctors over the years, does that mean that every doctor at that hospital is bad?

I know that people have emotional ties to things they grew up with, and they get resentful when their experiences later on don't match up to their nostalgic visions. And, I agree that the lower quality tools should be under a different brand. And, further, I think that some of those tools (like the Companion single-speed electric drills, for instance) shouldn't be sold at all because they're complete garbage. 

However, to claim that the entire power tool line is bad because of the lower quality at the low end of the price spectrum simply doesn't make any sense, and I doubt you'd apply that same standard to something to which you didn't have a glowing childhood connection. I'm not saying you're wrong to expect great things, but I am saying that painting the entire line with the same broad brush is unfair to the vast majority of the product line.

As for only making Craftsman products that are the best in the industry, we'd have no customers if we did that. Our prices would be beyond what 99% of customers would be willing to pay (thanks, Wal-Mart), and we'd go out of business. I'm sure you wouldn't want us to price ourselves out of the market by offering only the very best products available. 

Let's face it, you wouldn't spend $500 on a 20 gallon compressor. You'd figure that you'd be able to do everything you need to do with the $200 version, just like every other American consumer, and you'd wonder why Sears didn't offer something more affordable for the common man. That doesn't make you bad, it makes you an average person.

We can cater to the people who demand the best and are willing to pay for it no matter what, or we can cater to the people who want the best but can afford pretty darn good. We cater to the latter, and we have some stuff for the people who are just plain cheap to keep them from going to our competitors. 

Don't buy the stuff the cheap people buy; buy the stuff that provides good quality, good performance, and a reasonable price. That will cover 99% of your needs. If you go for mid-level power tools (for hand-held power, stuff in the $120 range; for miter saws, stuff in the $150 range; for tablesaws, stuff in the $250 range), you'll generally be very pleased with the quality and performance.

There's an old saying, "what's cheap is expensive." In other words, when you try to pay as little as possible, it ends up costing you more by having to either replace the item often or fix it or modify it extensively to make it do what you need it to do. Sometimes, it's cheaper to bite the bullet up front and spend a little more to get a lot more satisfaction out of the purchase. As with so many things in life, you get what you pay for.

I'd suggest you ask your local Sears hardware associate if they could let you try out some of the cordless C3 tools, and you can see for yourself the kind of power, quality, and versatility they offer. I think you'd be pleasantly surprised, and maybe even decide it's worth giving Craftsman another shot (by the way, many of the older vendors that made junky power tools for us have been let go, and TTI and Chervon make much better stuff than the others did).

Good luck.

There's an old saying, "what's cheap is expensive." I haven't heard that expression before. SOOO true. That is a good one, BlueCrew!

Why buy goods manufactured in other countries? We have some very smart people right here at home! Just the other day I heard our own government will now own and operate, yes operate, automobile manufacturing businesses. What a Country! But wait! The service manuals and instructions will be printed in several languages and will be several hundred pages long. Best of all they will be printed by our very own Government Printed Office, at no cost to you, the consumer. Well almost no cost. Word to the wise, don't get rid of your old Craftsman riding lawn mower, the automobile as we know it will be replaced by these same riding mowers! I would have never given politicians so much credit, but  if they can print money, they can do anything! Right? Moral of the story: You get what you pay for, or what Uncle Sam thinks is best for us.

wait. what?

All of the Craftsman tools have their place of manufacture VERY clearly marked on the packaging and often the tool itself.

The hand tools are primarily still U.S. made.

Since the high 90's percentage of the Craftsman hand tools are lifetime warranted, regardless of manufacturing location, why the problem?

The power tools, like most of Sears competitors' power tools, have moved away from our shores.