Shopsmith Forums

For anyone interested, did you see that Stanley Black & Decker is opening both a new factory and a new distribution center for Craftsman tools in Texas? I still have mixed feelings with Craftsman going to Stanley, but probably for the best given Sears' downfall. Hoping this is a step in the right direction for getting back to the old Craftsman reputation of quality and being made in America.

http://fortworthtexas.gov/news/2019/05/ ... cker-Deal/

Glad to see them being made in the USA however I am a little concerned on how they fall into the line. Seems like there is a lot of overlap in Stanley/Black and Decker line up. I think the line includes Dewalt, Porter Cable, Black and Decker and now Craftsman. In the cordless tool world it just adds another battery platform which already is a mess.

Also since Lowe’s seems to be highlighting the Craftsman line I see the Kobalt line decreasing which is sad since they offered some of the lowest prices on cordless tool batteries.

Ed in Tampa wrote:Glad to see them being made in the USA however I am a little concerned on how they fall into the line. Seems like there is a lot of overlap in Stanley/Black and Decker line up. I think the line includes Dewalt, Porter Cable, Black and Decker and now Craftsman. In the cordless tool world it just adds another battery platform which already is a mess.

Also since Lowe’s seems to be highlighting the Craftsman line I see the Kobalt line decreasing which is sad since they offered some of the lowest prices on cordless tool batteries.

Yeah, I was thinking more of the Craftsman hand tools (non powered) like wrenches, etc, but you make a good point. I don't know which tool lines they'll manufacture here versus those made overseas. I bought a Craftsman tool cabinet about 2 decades ago and have used it and loved it this entire time. I had intended to fill it with Craftsman tools in the intervening years, but by the time I got around to it they were making more stuff overseas and the quality had gone down based on what I heard from friends that bought them. Of course with the Craftsman lifetime guarantee you could always take an item in for replacement if you broke it. I really liked the Kobalt line at Lowes and was hoping to go that direction for sockets, etc but then I heard recently that Lowes is supplanting it with the Craftsman tools as well. I hate to see Kobalt disappear. Guess I am still in a holding pattern on upgrading my hand tools (sockets, etc.). For cordless tools I been a Milwaukee Fuel fanatic for a few years now, but DeWalt is also a great brand. A lot of my corded woodworking tools are Porter Cable (because of Norm Abrams influence) and I still use them...although it seems like Porter Cable has kind of fallen behind, i.e. not kept up with adding new features and improving their tools like Festool and a lot of other brands.

My toolbox is full of almost exclusively Craftsman tools. I bought most of mine back in the 70s and have not replaced any of my older Craftsman tools. I did have one newer ratchet from the 90s that gave up early so I traded it at Sears for an old rebuilt one from the 70s. The old one works great while the newer one was crap.
If they make the new Craftsman tools in the US and keep the old quality, I would buy more when I need them. And, they need to keep the lifetime warranty that Sears had.
The last few years I've been adding to my old Craftsman set when needed by shopping at a local used tool store where I can pick up used US made tools. Now I might consider buying new again.

garys wrote:My toolbox is full of almost exclusively Craftsman tools. I bought most of mine back in the 70s and have not replaced any of my older Craftsman tools. I did have one newer ratchet from the 90s that gave up early so I traded it at Sears for an old rebuilt one from the 70s. The old one works great while the newer one was crap.
If they make the new Craftsman tools in the US and keep the old quality, I would buy more when I need them. And, they need to keep the lifetime warranty that Sears had.
The last few years I've been adding to my old Craftsman set when needed by shopping at a local used tool store where I can pick up used US made tools. Now I might consider buying new again.

Nice! That is what I always wanted. Of course, I guess I could go around to yard sales and try to cobble together a set, but I'll bet a lot of people are holding onto those older quality Craftsman hand tools and not selling them...

I read somewhere that the new facility would be manufacturing just mechanic's hand tools. No Crsftsman power tools. The posted article wasn't real clear on that point.

Here is a link to a Woodworkers Journal article about the new plant. It came in the Woodworkers Journal email news letter today.

https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/stan ... dium=email