Bye Bye Craftsman ???

Dave Trask

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186
Location
Pa
I find it interesting Sears is moving in a big way toward selling other brand name power and hand tools.
I noticed on their website today, they now have a large selection of Dewalt, Milwaukee, Jet, Lincoln Electric,
Sk and K&D. products
It makes me wonder if Sears is going to drop Craftsman all together in the coming years.
 
As the former owner of a Sears store, I can tell you that when Sears made a conscious decision to no longer back their products they went downhill fast. They went from #1 to cellar and are still looking for ways to struggle back. I don't believe any conclusions can be reached by anything they do. I no longer shop with them at all..
 
On the web site they are carrying a lot of other stuff, but in the stores not as much, other than handheld power tools from what I've seen. They really aren't competitive on the non-Craftsman stuff either. For example I was looking at circular saws a while back and Lowes was a good $20 cheaper for the same PC saw. They seem to be working pretty hard to reinvent the brand and bring at least some of the quality back--many of the stationary tools introduced in the last few years have gotten great reviews from realy people. Still, for those of us bitten by a past Craftsman purchase from the bad years its a tough sell. I'm quite happy with my Craftsman hand tools, but when I was looking at drill presses last year, I couldn't bring myself to buy a Craftsman despite the fact that they had one with all the features I wanted, at a good price with good reviews--I just kept remembering my late 90's vintage Craftsman table saw.
 
I also gave up on Craftsman power tools years ago, I have been eyeing up their 14" band saw,
It had great reviews and was really a good deal for the money, but now it seems to be discontinued,
no longer on the website nor in their most recent catalog.
I do still buy hand tools from them but even the hand tools do not seem to have the fit and finish they
had years ago.
 
I also gave up on Craftsman power tools years ago, I have been eyeing up their 14" band saw,
It had great reviews and was really a good deal for the money, but now it seems to be discontinued,
no longer on the website nor in their most recent catalog.
I do still buy hand tools from them but even the hand tools do not seem to have the fit and finish they
had years ago.

I just bought the 14in bandsaw you mentioned. That was an additional reason that I jumped on it when I did. If you are looking for one. Go to a store, and ask them to see if they have any in the back room - If you are really going to buy one, don't trust the computer, have the sales person go back and actually check. If the computer says only one in stock, it might be the display model, which I would avoid.

I saw that it was not online anymore. I also saw that only the 12in was in the new Craftsman tool cataloge. I asked the sales guy if it was being discontinued and he said not that he knew of. He even showed me the computer screen, and there was nothing there about it being discontinued. That really doesn't mean anything, as the decision is made well above the individual store level.

For a list of some features and reasons that I bought mine check out my post. I also have some of the minuses posted there too. The way I see it just about every bandsaw needs something done to it to make it run at peak, this one is no different.
 
I also gave up on Craftsman power tools years ago, I have been eyeing up their 14" band saw,
It had great reviews and was really a good deal for the money, but now it seems to be discontinued,
no longer on the website nor in their most recent catalog.

The 15" Craftsman lathe got great reviews too, but you can buy the same lathe (but made to better specs) directly from Palmgren (the manufacturer) for half the price. Of course I didn't find this out until after I bought mine. I no longer have this lathe and after becoming dissatisfied w/Sear's ever growing lack of customer service I started selling off everything I had with the Craftsman label on it.

JMO, but I'd buy the same tool from Harbor Freight first. I wouldn't sell my HF 14" bandsaw for 4 times what I paid for it.;)
 
I have some Craftsman Tools, both power tools and hand tools and don't really mind them. My tablesaw has been around since the 1950's and my bandsaw was created in the 80's. I seem to get by alright, but then again I am not one to just let things slide or replace parts with store bought parts. I make my own parts, and am constantly improving the tools with my own add ons.

When a Craftsman router table began to sag for instance, I did not swear at it, instead I machined out a plate that sat on top of it, made it more ridgid and has lasted for 10 years or more. Still most woodworkers don't have the resources that I do, so I can see why they would be upset with the tool line.

I do like their hand tools though. I have to buy hand tools in 3 sets. One for my woodworking shop, one for work and one for my snowmobile shed. If I had to buy snap on or SK for these 3 places, I would be broke. Craftsman seems to fit a nice cross between economy and quality when it comes to hand tools and wrenches.

I'll miss the tool line if it does come to an end, but yet I understand why others would not.
 
Did Craftsman make their own tools at one time? It seems to me that 35 years ago there wasn't much else out there other then Black and Decker. How many of those Craftman routers were sold out of their catalogue? Hundreds of thousands I am will to bet. Same goes for the table saw.
 
I suspect Sears being owned by Kmart will lead to a lack of the Sears and Craftsman as well as Kenmore brands and the quality they used to have. I wore Sears brand jeans for years and years but they dropped that line several years ago to go with "name" brands. Of course there is no reason to buy the name brands there because they are higher than elsewhere.

I fully expect Sears to be as worthless as a Kmart store in a few years.

Garry
 
I suspect Sears being owned by Kmart will lead to a lack of the Sears and Craftsman as well as Kenmore brands and the quality they used to have. I wore Sears brand jeans for years and years but they dropped that line several years ago to go with "name" brands. Of course there is no reason to buy the name brands there because they are higher than elsewhere.

I fully expect Sears to be as worthless as a Kmart store in a few years.

Garry

I suspect you are correct.
About the only thing I go to Sears for anymore is for he hand tools and they do have some neat little gadgets and accessories for woodworking.

We use to buy clothing and appliances there, but my wife tells me she rarely buys clothes there anymore because they don't sell the most current fashions and as far as appliances, the big box stores now have them beat on selection and price.
 
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Did Craftsman make their own tools at one time? It seems to me that 35 years ago there wasn't much else out there other then Black and Decker. How many of those Craftman routers were sold out of their catalogue? Hundreds of thousands I am will to bet. Same goes for the table saw.


Apparently they did at one time, but now they rely on other tool
companies to make the tools and they put the Craftsman brand on
their tools.

http://www.professional-power-tool-guide.com/Craftsman-Power-Tool-Company.htm
 
Did Craftsman make their own tools at one time? It seems to me that 35 years ago there wasn't much else out there other then Black and Decker. How many of those Craftman routers were sold out of their catalogue? Hundreds of thousands I am will to bet. Same goes for the table saw.

Craftsman is a name and in name only. Emerson Electric, Ryobi, King Seeley...there has been a mile long list of companies that made "Craftsman Tools, both then and now.

The quality, or lack thereof, never was because of a particular company not making quality tools, it came because the powers that be at Sears decided that lower priced tools was better for their bottomline. They wanted lower cost machines, and allowed lower quality parts to be put into these tools to get that lower price.

Interestingly, you can find this same thing going on today. You can go to a BORG and pick up say a Milwaukee Drill. Unless you examine a Milwaukee drill from another retail outlet, you would never notice that the serial numbers are ONE digit off. This is a unit made exclusively for a BORG to get the price down. The drill will not turn as fast, have less copper windings, have lower quality bearings and not have the torque of the other drill, but few people notice this.

In most aspects, it does not really matter. The BORG drill may be just fine for the homeowner who uses these tools on the weekends or to do a major home project. For the people that use the drill in the trades, it does not really matter either. A drill that lasts say 4 houses "has paid for itself" and thus it is replaced with another drill from the BORG.

The only people that high quality tools made to last really appeal to, are people like us...and unfortunately we make up a very small section of the tool industry.
 
Warrantee is what sells and Sears forgot that (or at least the bean counters didn't pay attention) Look at the success of Walmart, This past summer some fellows and I went together and bought an older houseboat, We cleaned it up and reworked the structure to form a nice place to get away and do some serious fishing whilst relaxing. In the cleanup there were several old batteries. We threw them away to the dock battery barge. One I noticed was less than 2 years old but it was dead as the sides had split from freezing. It had stamped on it 2 year replacement, Just this week I took the battery to the local Walmart, they looked at the dates, said nothing of the condition or what or why but ran the numbers through the computer. replace the battery w/o question and as they were feeding numbers the computer said that the first owner paid more for the old battery than it costs now, so I walked out with a new battery and $13 plus change.... that is the way Sears used to be, but break a craftsman tool and try to get replacement.... Ever pull eyeteeth with pliars? Would be the same. Ergo.... Sales at Sears is dropping faster than cost of gas can rise.
 
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