Hand tool brand name Poll

[LCHIEN]

Does anyone know who is the OEM who makes the Craftsman wrenches and socket wrenches and sockets?

EDIT: Answering my own question, via Wikipedia,
The hardline mechanic's tools (wrenches, ratchets, and sockets) that make up the core of the brand have been made by a variety of manufacturers over the years, including New Britain,^[23]Moore Drop Forging,^[15]Stanley,^[24]Easco Hand Tools,^[25]Danaher Corporation, and most recently Apex Tool Group.
Warranty[edit]

Most Craftsman hand tools are advertised as having an unlimited lifetime warranty.^[29] This lifetime warranty program was instituted by Sears when they began selling the Craftsman line in 1927.^[30] This warranty program requires no receipt or dated proof of purchase. If the owner takes the item into a local retail store, it may be replaced or repaired free of charge.^[31] In some cases, such as ratchets, the customer may be offered a repair kit with which to repair the item or an already refurbished item.

The full text of the warranty is as follows:

If for any reason your Craftsman hand tool ever fails to provide complete satisfaction, return it to any Sears store or other Craftsman outlet in the United States for free repair or replacement. This warranty gives you specific legal rights and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state.^[32]

Sears has reduced the warranty in effect on many Craftsman non-powered lawn and garden products including rakes, shovels, clippers, brooms, trowels, pruners, hoses, sprinklers, hose nozzles, and other small gardening hand tools. Previously it was a lifetime warranty which on August 2, 2012, was reduced to 25 years with receipt required.^[33] The lifetime warranty does not include precision hand tools, such as calipers and torque wrenches,^[34]

[tfischer]

Well, its still early, but maybe this is why Stanley bought Craftsman's name for $900 million:
Craftsman 36%, Stanley, 0%

I honestly don't even know where to buy a wide selection of Stanley tools. I see their tape measures, and a small selection of other things, but as far as wrench sets and stuff...

I said Husky and Kobalt as I'd likely run to HD or Lowes to pick something up if I needed it. I hold Craftsman in good regard too but Sears is further away. Pittsburg has served me well for a low-end tool but the fit and finish isn't the same.

[Black wallnut]

By the way not sure if it is still true but 15ish years ago Stanley owned MAC Tools. IIRC per my MAC dealer.

[woodturner]

The lifetime warranty does not include precision hand tools, such as calipers and torque wrenches,^[34]

FWIW, beam type torque wrenches do have the lifetime warranty, it's the electronic and click type that do not (and never did). Basically tools that wear out in normal use never had the lifetime warranty.

[LCHIEN]

Something just jumped into my mind: Powr Kraft.
Wasn't that Montgomery Wards' brand name? With a lifetime warranty to compete with Craftsman?

Anybody tried to go to Wards to get their tool warranted lately, haha.

Google is great:
I bought a Powr Kraft Professional socket set from Montgomery Ward many years ago (1970s?). It has a written lifetime guarantee (see bottom right of attached photo from inside cover of the set) stating "If any Powr Kraft tool fails to give complete satisfaction, return to any Mongomery Ward branch for free replacement". The driver head on the socket has internally jammed, making it unusable. I called Montgomery Ward customer service on September 25, 2014, and spoke with a customer service representative named Becky. After she checked with her supervisor, I was told that the current owners of the company bought the mail order business only, and do not honor previous warranties. They offered no remedy or compensation. A lifetime warranty...?

There is an interesting history of Montgomery Ward at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery_Ward

Looks like the company went through hard times, including bankruptcy in 1997, and the Montgomery Ward name has been sold several times, including to DMSI in 2009. According to the article, "The DMSI version of Montgomery Ward was not the same company as the original. The company did not honor obligations of the previous company, such as gift-cards and items sold with a lifetime guarantee." DMSI was the owner previous to the current owner, so perhaps I really can't blame the current owner too much...

So that;s what happens when your company goes out of business.

[tfischer]

I didn't realize the Monkey Ward name was still being used at all. I bought a sofa sleeper from them for my first house in 1996, and it broke after a year. The comedy of errors that resulted from my attempting to get warranty service on it takes me about 20 or 30 minutes to tell in person, and I'm starting to get fuzzy on the details after 20 years. I should probably attempt to write it down sometime so I can remember myself.

Short version: I had 3 different techs out at least 4 times, and every time they showed up they had no idea anyone had ever been there before. In the end they agreed to replace the entire sofa sleeper mechanism (mattress and all), but then they "lost" it, and had to order a second one. They claimed they had shipped it to the store I purchased the couch at, which had gone out of business in the meantime.

The hilarious part was several years later, after I had moved and sold that couch for next to nothing, they closed the very last store in the Minneapolis area, and one of the items for sale was a sofa sleeper mechanism, no doubt my first one.

[LCHIEN]

Funny story - while I was reading tool reviews, looking for a set for the SIL, I came across a review of a 3/8" socket/ratchet set on one of the big box stores.
One set was nice, advertised the quick release ratchets where you press a button on the back center of the ratchet head and it retracts the detent balls, dropping the socket off easily.
This one reviewer downgraded the set taking off several stars.
His complaint? The sockets were incredibly hard to remove. He had to resort to pliers and a vise to remove the sockets from the ratchet!

[cwsmith]

Back in 1965 or 1966 I bought a small 3/8" Craftsman socket set and the ratchet handle had both a quick-release button for the socket and a thumb wheel to quickly turn a loosened nut. That wrench has a flat-handle and I really like it. Several years later I bought a larger, more complete Craftsman set that had both imperial and metric sockets in 1/4-, 3/8-, and 1/2-inch drives. Those ratchets were high-polish round handles and did not have either the quick-release button.

Using sockets with the newer (non-button) ratchet wrenches is easy enough, but I do like the quick-release button on the older ratchet. However, if you don't know what that button is for, it is almost impossible to remove a socket; and as you mention, I think you'd almost have to seriously pry those sockets off, possibly damaging the ratchet in the process. (Why do some guys simply not know how their tools work?)

CWS

[tfischer]

Funny story - while I was reading tool reviews, looking for a set for the SIL, I came across a review of a 3/8" socket/ratchet set on one of the big box stores.
One set was nice, advertised the quick release ratchets where you press a button on the back center of the ratchet head and it retracts the detent balls, dropping the socket off easily.
This one reviewer downgraded the set taking off several stars.
His complaint? The sockets were incredibly hard to remove. He had to resort to pliers and a vise to remove the sockets from the ratchet!

I probably shouldn't admit this but I bought my Husky set years ago and it has that feature and I had the same problem with it, I'd practically cuss and swear about how hard it was to remove the sockets.

There was no separate "button", you had to press the knob that reverses direction. I eventually figured that out by accident one time and felt really stupid lol.

[LCHIEN]

Something to be said for the QR socket buttons. Who here has lost their spark plug socket that wanted to stay with the newly installed spark plug rather than come out with the two extensions and U-joint it took to put it in? I had some spark plugs you had to change extensions halfway through installations because there was so little working room.And I recall at least one spark plug I had to put a 3/8" square bar cut to length to use a wrench on because there was no clearance for the ratchet. Had to switch to an extension with the ball retainer to get the spark plug socket back.
And I do recall one car I never changed the 8th spark plug on because it apparently required removing or at least partly jacking the engine out to access that last plug. Needless to say that was a few years back; haven't had 8 cylinders since the 70's.

[cwsmith]

I can't remember specifics as it wasn't my car; but seems to me a friend had a Sunbeam Alpine back in the sixties. I believe it was a "Tiger", which had either a small Ford V-8 or "6" in it... you had to access the rear plugs through the firewall, IIRC.

CWS

[Chadwilliam1]

Sk is my into but snap on and proto are good options. I try to buy made in USA when possible if buying China mad I will likely get gearwrench. When it comes to screwdrivers I go with felo.

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