My precision measuring stuff is all Starrett. When I was in industry I kept them calibrated, but I don’t do precision measuring anymore so it isn’t worth it. I’m sure they all need cleaning, lubing, and checking. It’s been 21 years.
Honestly, though, what is “Craftsman tools” in 2017?
Sears is going bankrupt. It is selling off everything of value before that day. The NAME is an asset, and AFAIK gas been sold.
For example, after PanAm went bust following Lockerbie, the NAME was auctioned off, and now some puddle-jumper airline making flights between Miami and the Bahamas flies under Pan Am livery. Whether or not it’s “really” Pan Am is, I suppose, a matter of personal opinion.
I’ll try them out; see if they are any good. IMO, though, it isn’t “really Craftsman.”
+1
I’m extremely pleased with my HF torque wrench that I bought ~6 years ago.
This item was manufactured in Taiwan (The Republic of China), so it is very possible/likely that it is of higher quality than something that was manufactured in Communist China.
I only need and own two tools–a sledge hammer and a propane torch that I use to fix everything. If I can’t beat it to pieces with my sledge hammer, I burn it up with my propane torch.
Seriously, I don’t pay much attention to the brand name on tools. Years ago, I bought a 3/8" drive socket set with the S & H green stamps we used to get at the grocery store. The set is the Husky brand and came in a red metal box. I’ve used the set for 50 years. I also have a 3/8" reversible Craftsman drill that I got for a present about 40 years ago. The bearing plate inside the drill failed, but I was able to get a replacement bearing plate from Sears. However, the Sears service department couldn’t tell me what kind of grease to use in repacking the front of the drill. I used the grease out of my grease gun and it worked just fine. I did buy a rechargeable battery drill at Harbor Freight, but the old Craftsman drill has more torque. It is convenient not to have to struggle with extension cords and not to have to use a chuck key, but unless I am not near a power source I use the old Craftsman.
Craftsman tools are Stanley Black and Decker tools since SBD bought the line from Sears. Some of the tools are made domestically and some are made in other countries.
For battery power tools I’ve been bulking up on Porter Cable and like them. I didn’t know what “bare” meant so I bought one of those vibrator saws for $35. Got it home and no battery which is why it was so cheap. Back to the farm store and a charger was $50 and a battery $35 but I could buy a drill with a charger and two batteries for $100. So I figured who couldn’t use another drill. So then as long as I had the batteries I bought a new circular saw. I’ve really been happy with the torque, and the time the batteries last even with the lower amp batteries. I know they aren’t what they used to be but for the cost and what I need, they fit me just fine.
Just to give you gentlemen a chuckle, I had a few of my great-grandfather’s tools from when he was a blacksmith in the latter half of the 1800s.
When my house was undergoing major repairs and rehab several years ago the workers actually made use of the hand drill in a tight spot and later used the woodworking plane to smooth where they were framing in to replace a glass patio sliding door in the basement with solid french doors.
One of the workers tried to buy the old tools from me. Nope. They’ve gone to a cousin who has taken up woodworking.
To keep this jokingly car related, the sledge my cousin declined sits in the garage next to where I park my car. 
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Until about 15 years ago we still had a blacksmith in business here and whose business was acquired from an elderly blacksmith who retired.
They were using antique tools; most of whom I had no idea of the function.
He had a slick '53 Ford 2 DR HT bone stock original and a mint '39 Packard. Unfortunately, no pilot’s license, 2 heavy passengers, a few beers, and the addition of some cast iron parts in the storage bin led to the way overloaded plane going down on a hot summer day. He got sued and lost both business and cars even though one was killed.
I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner. On Sunday afternoons he would buzz the town; practically dragging the tricycle landing gear through the tree tops.
I’ve never understood taking someone’s business just to sell the assets. Better to have a lien against it and sweat the guy’s profits for years to come.
I expect it is done b/c of various tax loopholes, financial incentives etc written into the law. Stuff only tax, pension, and business lawyers could understand. Not b/c it is common sense.
Because no one is going to continue to work very hard at a business where profits are going to someone else. Once it fails, you get nothing. It’s maximum worth is the day it is seized…
Plus there’s the quick profit aspect. Better to get a million right now and be able to buy more investments than to get a million over 20 years and not be able to put it to work as fast.
Porter Cable is another SBD brand.
It just depends on the type of bankruptcy. Plenty of businesses declare bankruptcy then come back out. But if there’s no reasonable expectation of reviving a business, then it’s liquidated.
That’s because you’re looking at it from a perspective other than that of the investors. When a business’ survival becomes unfeasible, investors seek to stop the losses in the way that will recover as much of the value as possible. In many cases that means breaking up the business, selling it piecemeal, and liquidating whatever’s left.
Many times the assets are worth far more then business as a whole. Especially if they have large real-estate holdings.
Many buyouts in the tech industry are for the patents. The business is doing OK, but the patents is where the money is. I forget the name of the company…but this one company had the patents to this imaging device. Well after a few years it seems everyone had copied this device. One of the companies the copied it also realized that how good it was and that the company that invented it never enforced the patent. So they bought the company at double what it was worth and started enforcing the patents. They made MILLIONS…almost tripling their investment in just a couple of years.
This all started with OKs post regarding a guy that was sued, found liable and lost the businesses and possessions. It’s not about bankruptcies or other liquidations…
My Chinese-made Greenworks mower is heavier than I expected, and does a wonderful job on my medium-sized lawn.
Thank you @TwinTurbo Correct, it was not about bankruptcy but about a putting a one man blacksmith shop out of business due to a judgement against him. I can’t imagine selling the assets of a blacksmith shop returned much money to the plaintiffs but the lawyers must be paid.
Yep, I know that Porter Cable is part of the same family and has been for a few years. Still I have been happy with their products in the past and currently. Actually DeWalt too. Got a lot of their stuff. And I even like my made in China Milwaukee chop saw and Sawzall. So its not just the fact that its made in China but you cannot depend on the quality that comes out of China.
You have to depend on the importer to make sure they buy quality tools. If an importer, like Stanley for instance, wants repeat business, they will make sure that they have good purchase specs and that the overseas supplier builds what they said they would.