Bionic Wrench

[db5]

Some of you may have seen this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O87gD0lrjyc

Sears of course says they have done nothing wrong.

Some of you may remember when Sears introduced the Socket Wrench with the push button quick release on top in 1965; but you may not know the whole story. Sears told the inventor, who worked at Sears that there was really no market for the wrench but offered to pay him $10,000 for the patent to reward him for his good thinking. With in a few months he discovered these were being sold by the thousands by Sears. He sued.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1989 ... -new-trial

Of course Sears has done nothing wrong, ever. And they wonder why Sears and KMart are almost gone (like Montgomery Ward).

[dgale]

Pretty sleazy but not surprising. I used to be a pretty religious Craftsman shopper back in the 80's...mostly for their no questions asked warranty on hand tools but also because at least back then the quality was pretty good. No days I rarely go there as the quality has tanked and of course everything is made in China. Now I also realize at least some of it is stolen ideas as well. When I do go to Sears, it's usually to replace a broken tool but even that has proven to not always be a great deal - recently I returned some yard tools (pruners and loppers), only to find that the quality of what I was returning was significantly higher than the China Craftsman junk they had to replace it with. Granted I can just keep returning as long as the kunk breaks (and Sears stays in business), but I want tools that work, not ones that I can replace free. Sears is doomed and it's their own fault. My guess is that within a handful of years Sears will reduce themselves to only selling appliances and tools and will continue to broaden where they sell their stuff, eventually all but abandoning the retail outlet. Their stuff is in Ace Hardware now and occasionally sold at Costco as well. They're banking on brand recognition but to me, their brand nowadays is cheap China crap...I do much better buying older/used stuff at Yard Sales.

[dgale]

Pretty sleazy but not surprising. I used to be a pretty religious Craftsman shopper back in the 80's...mostly for their no questions asked warranty on hand tools but also because at least back then the quality was pretty good. No days I rarely go there as the quality has tanked and of course everything is made in China. Now I also realize at least some of it is stolen ideas as well. When I do go to Sears, it's usually to replace a broken tool but even that has proven to not always be a great deal - recently I returned some yard tools (pruners and loppers), only to find that the quality of what I was returning was significantly higher than the China Craftsman junk they had to replace it with. Granted I can just keep returning as long as the kunk breaks (and Sears stays in business), but I want tools that work, not ones that I can replace free. Sears is doomed and it's their own fault. My guess is that within a handful of years Sears will reduce themselves to only selling appliances and tools and will continue to broaden where they sell their stuff, eventually all but abandoning the retail outlet. Their stuff is in Ace Hardware now and occasionally sold at Costco as well. They're banking on brand recognition but to me, their brand nowadays is cheap China crap...I do much better buying older/used stuff at Yard Sales.

[dgale]

After watching this video and scratching my head a bit, I realized I had a couple of these out in the garage I bought at Costco probably 8-10 years ago. I dug them up and they are stamped "Made in the USA", a patent #, and "Loggerhead Tools"...a quick google search reveals that Costco indeed sold the real McCoy:

http://loggerheadtools.com

[db5]

After watching this video and scratching my head a bit, I realized I had a couple of these out in the garage I bought at Costco probably 8-10 years ago. I dug them up and they are stamped "Made in the USA", a patent #, and "Loggerhead Tools"...a quick google search reveals that Costco indeed sold the real McCoy:

http://loggerheadtools.com

Be a good sport and research on the lawsuit and send this to the plaintiff's attorneys.

[freedomlives]

I started shopping in Sears only around 2008, when I learned that almost all of their hand tools were made in the USA. Now I drop by there when I'm in the U.S. visiting my mother, and I notice each time how fewer and fewer hand tools are even made in the U.S. there.

They'll pay-- the reason I would make the drive over to Sears instead of just popping in Autozone or Home Depot was a desire to pay a bit more for higher quality, which is generally the case with Made in the USA tools.

Interestingly, if you check at the online tool dealer Harry J. Epstein, you'll find that their closeouts page has a ton of craftsman stuff from Western Forge. Western Forge being the manufacturer of most of the U.S. made Sears hand tools.

I hope its OK to post the link, I certainly don't have any connection to the company except being an occasional customer: http://store.harryepstein.com/c/WesternForge.html

Their online store is neat in that it lists country of origin for the different tools.

Ultimately, I think that free trade is a good thing though, and that US manufacturers, if they can manufacture a higher quality product than the Chinese, need to work on advertising and retailing, part of which would be building brands that are exclusively U.S. made. We all "know" Crafstman brand tools, and because they used for many decades American manufacturers, they built up a good reputation that the management is now profiting on. No-one knows who Western Forge is (for example), even though they made many of those Craftsman tools that are now made in China.

A sad thing I often notice is that a U.S. tool maker will "branch out" and offer some other tools with their brand made in China. E.g. a company that makes pliers in the U.S. will then add a line of screwdrivers made in China. I think it would serve them better to source their screwdrivers from another U.S. company.

Its something similar with agriculture. Times have changed, and if a farmer wants to be profitable, he can't just sell truckloads of corn to a grain elevator for whatever they'll give him. Marketing has to become part of the game for manufacturers and producers to be profitable.

[damagi]

http://money.msn.com/now/post.aspx?post ... estorPlace

Hits on some of the high points as to why sears seems to be doing so poorly

[frank81]

I started shopping in Sears only around 2008, when I learned that almost all of their hand tools were made in the USA. Now I drop by there when I'm in the U.S. visiting my mother, and I notice each time how fewer and fewer hand tools are even made in the U.S. there.

They'll pay-- the reason I would make the drive over to Sears instead of just popping in Autozone or Home Depot was a desire to pay a bit more for higher quality, which is generally the case with Made in the USA tools.

Interestingly, if you check at the online tool dealer Harry J. Epstein, you'll find that their closeouts page has a ton of craftsman stuff from Western Forge. Western Forge being the manufacturer of most of the U.S. made Sears hand tools.

I hope its OK to post the link, I certainly don't have any connection to the company except being an occasional customer: http://store.harryepstein.com/c/WesternForge.html

Their online store is neat in that it lists country of origin for the different tools.

Ultimately, I think that free trade is a good thing though, and that US manufacturers, if they can manufacture a higher quality product than the Chinese, need to work on advertising and retailing, part of which would be building brands that are exclusively U.S. made. We all "know" Crafstman brand tools, and because they used for many decades American manufacturers, they built up a good reputation that the management is now profiting on. No-one knows who Western Forge is (for example), even though they made many of those Craftsman tools that are now made in China.

A sad thing I often notice is that a U.S. tool maker will "branch out" and offer some other tools with their brand made in China. E.g. a company that makes pliers in the U.S. will then add a line of screwdrivers made in China. I think it would serve them better to source their screwdrivers from another U.S. company.

Its something similar with agriculture. Times have changed, and if a farmer wants to be profitable, he can't just sell truckloads of corn to a grain elevator for whatever they'll give him. Marketing has to become part of the game for manufacturers and producers to be profitable.

Sears (not just Crafstman) has never been a manufacturer, for core products they designed (or purchased designs) and contracted out the manufacturing. For non-core products they rebadge, like Century welders and Campbell Hausfeld air compressors. It has been this way for over 100 years.

It's not so much that Crafstman is going into China as much as its the US based forges moving operations over there and Crafstman takes the lower price rather than protesting. The tool makers have mostly consolidated into a few holding companies owned by private equity firms making things worse. The outsourcing is on a tool by tool basis for most of these brands making it less visible to the consumer.

Personally, I used to be strictly Craftsman. Now I only buy their wrenches new, though I will buy older used stuff on ebay. I use Kobalt hand tools, great quality and materials even though they switched manufacturers from Snap-On to China. I guess when both of those eventually go to crap I'll be hunting for them on eBay or switching over to tool truck brand.

[Ed in Tampa]

I once bought Craftsman for the replacement policy. Then for Christmas I got a multipiece pin punch set. On nearly every punch the tip bent over. I took them back to Sears and they replaced them and they bent. I asked about it and the salesman said yes they would bend. They aren't hardened. Why because a harden punch can shatter when struck and that opens Sears to a lawsuit. I got the new punches and put the whole thing in a garage sale and got rid of it. Bought a similar set from Northern tool I think and I have had it for years no problem.

My father in law will not buy Craftsmen. I asked why and he said he earned his money depending on tools not going and getting replacements for the broken tools. He only buys tools that he knows won't break in normal use.

A very good friend has a bus company and he does most of the repair work. He will not use Craftsmen. I asked why and he showed me the Craftsmen socket. He said notice how the top edge is rounded over and the actual nut engaging section is about 1/16 down into the socket. Well aparently after you round over enough bolts and nuts becasue of this you get sockets that was ground so the actual engaging part is right at the edge of the socket.

I thought about this and you know he is right I can't say how many bolts and nuts where I couldn't get the socket fully on for one reason or another and had them round off. I looked at some other brand of sockets and sure enough though they were still slightly rounded the part that engaged the bolt started much closer to the leading edge of the socket.

I haven't gone to snap on but I do shop Kobalt and Husky more than Craftsman.

I also have a standing rule I will buy NO TOOL from SEARS that has a motor or engine. I have been burnt too many times on this. I simply will not even consider them.

I will say we have Sear appliances and they seem to work well. Go figure.

[dgale]

It is sad what's become of Sears...not enough sense in management to stick with quality over jumping on the high profit China band wagon. Much like the agriculture example where people are slowly shifting to recognizing the quality and benefits of organic, local produce, farmer's markets etc., people will hopefully rebel at some point and just say no to cheap crap. This is why I'm very picky when I go to Harbor Freight - yes, the prices are always enticing but more often than not, you'll get what you pay for...not always the case there so pays to be a shrewd consumer. Problem these days is if you say no to a place like Harbor Freight over quality, your options for increased quality are fewer and farther between. Once upon a time Craftsman is what I would have bought but I now reocognize they are just overpriced versions of what's in Harbor Freight in many cases. We don't have any big box hardware stores near us but all the Ace stores that predominate around here are selling crap as well. My #1 source these days is garage sales, estate sales, and CraigsList - I gobble up any older stuff I can find. I recently bought a bunch of old Craftsman yard tools in good shape at a yard sale - all probably from the 70's or so and all clearly superior quality to anything you would buy there new...I bought them all for $1-2 each and they will outlast me, and no, I will not return them to Sears if they break if at all possible to fix them, as I know what I'll get in replacement.