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Craftsman Tools - Back to the USA

mlinkibikr

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Location
Fulshear, Tx
First Name
David
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Little
So you know that Sears sold Craftsman tools to Black and Decker. Well, thanks to the Big Orange Guy and his tariffs, they figure that they can make the tools cheaper in the USA than they can in China. So they are pouring some bucks into a plant in Ft Worth that will manufacture wrenches, ratchets, and sockets right back here in 'Merica. So start looking for the "Made in USA" label and buy the once revered brand again with pride.

I'm so psyched - all my tools are old Craftsman, now I can finally start adding some new goodies.

They've been making the tool chests in the US recently as well. Love it!!

Dave.
 
Good news. I have a bunch of older Craftsman tools and several rollers. Always been happy with all of the Craftsman tools I have.
 
Hopefully they will bring back production of lawn tools. I have several Craftsman items that need replacing under their "LIFETIME" warranty. Lowe's does not honor them on Craftsman.
 
Darrell, I think that lifetime guarantee is long gone. It was a sweet policy while it lasted. Last time I tried to take one back to Sears they said it was part of a pack of tools and the whole pack needed to be returned. Yet I remember a screwdriver that was in a set that they happily broke a new set just to meet my return. Those were the good old days.

I've got a few lifetime ranch garden hoses (about $1/foot) that I'll never see a dollar on. Kinda sad.

But I'm glad we are making tools again. Dude from India once told me America was once known as the world leader in tool quality. We could be again and it WOULD sell.

For a biker on a lonesome highway, good tools are essential.
 
I guess I might be excited if the prices don't go up... Let's face it, that is what the tariff does. It just serves to increase the cost to favor local producers that cannot make the goods as inexpensively as can foreign producers. Sure, it is great for the local producer and their workers, but in the end, it means higher prices for consumers.
 
So Stanley Black & Decker is gonna make tools (expensive tools due to the tariffs) using Japanese built robots until their competitors can get the production lines of cheaper tools going in China Vietnam/India/Bangladesh after which Craftsmen sales will drop and bankruptcy will ensue. Until then, we all pay more and see little in local jobs due to the automated methods of manufacturing. But hey, I'm sure they got this all planned out.

https://www.globest.com/2019/06/02/craftsman-plant-sets-roots-in-alliancetexas/
 
Also see this announcement. I'll pay a bit more to keep jobs here and money circulating in my state. Zero hedge recently had an article that indicated moving cell phone production out of China was not going to add as much cost as was anticipated. My guess is that would apply to many industries. I believe that many of the assumptions used by economist for years have been wrong.

There's also a German company that is opening a plant for performance automotive parts in Kilgore. There are still many manufacturing companies in the world and we can have many of them here if we have a level playing field.
 
Also see this announcement. I'll pay a bit more to keep jobs here and money circulating in my state. Zero hedge recently had an article that indicated moving cell phone production out of China was not going to add as much cost as was anticipated. My guess is that would apply to many industries. I believe that many of the assumptions used by economist for years have been wrong.

There's also a German company that is opening a plant for performance automotive parts in Kilgore. There are still many manufacturing companies in the world and we can have many of them here if we have a level playing field.
:clap: Thank you for doing the homework that most don't. Short term pain after surgery with long term benefit after rehab!
 
Mission was the 2017 plant opening. Here's the press on the Fort Worth opening.

I think that VEC's joke hits the nail on the head. I suspect that none of my underemployed relatives still living in Cowtown will have the skills needed to find a job using the new technology B&D plans to install.
Thanks for the info. I love my Craftsman tools and rollers.
 
They've had plants in Reynosa for some years now, so one might expect that they put their injection plant in Mission to take advantage of their two Reynosa plants. It will be interesting to see if they can use Industry 4.0 to drive out enough labor costs and make their new Fort Worth plant competitive long term. But enough non motorcycle talk from me. I just hope they go back to the sleek tools from their early days and not the chunky later ones.
 
They've had plants in Reynosa for some years now, so one might expect that they put their injection plant in Mission to take advantage of their two Reynosa plants. It will be interesting to see if they can use Industry 4.0 to drive out enough labor costs and make their new Fort Worth plant competitive long term. But enough non motorcycle talk from me. I just hope they go back to the sleek tools from their early days and not the chunky later ones.

I buy a lot of my tools used what do you look for in Craftsman to kinda know what is a good year model tool?
 
Dad was a mechanic and first introduced me to Craftsman tools. The old tools from his toolbox were slimmer and had a better finish than the ones I bought in the 80s. Later tools are heavier and have inconsistent finish. I have some of the later tools where the plating has come off in places. Dad said they lowered the quality in later years to be more competitive by removing vanadium. Whether that is true or not I don't know.
m
 
I buy a lot of my tools used what do you look for in Craftsman to kinda know what is a good year model tool?

235991
 
I buy a lot of my tools used what do you look for in Craftsman to kinda know what is a good year model tool?
It's usually pretty obvious. Typically the older the tool the prettier it is. I've bought some used old wrenches back when I started gathering tools, and they were all polished triple-chromed. Then later ones only had the ends polished, with the center left bead blasted. Then even later they don't even bother finishing the center and just left them more-or-less in the raw forged state. Last time I looked in the Craftsman store cabinet, some of the open-ends aren't even polished.

It's the same way with other brands. I bought some Cobalt wrenches when Lowes first introduced them. They are the prettiest ones in all my collection. Then over the years they cheapened the finish just like Craftsperson.
 
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