Craftsman Tool Sale: 3-pc Mini Box Joint Pliers Set $9, 3-pc Pry Bar Set in Tray $20, Corded Reciprocating 6 Amps Saw w/ Dual LED Lights $25.50 & More + Free In-Store Pickup

Quote from decolores9 : Yes. Sets of open end wrenches, for example, were shrink-wrapped in the US. For "loose" wrenches, they attached UPC labels, put them in a plastic hang tag, or did other minor "assembly" or "packaging" in the US. The chinese-made "made in USA" tools will be around for a little while - they had to retool the forging dies to take off the "made in USA" label for many of the tools and that took a while. They should all be properly labelled within another year or so. The ironic part is that the "made in USA" tools that people say are higher quality are, in fact, higher quality because they were made in China. The original outsourcing effort was driven by declining quality of tool production in the US. Economics was also part of it, but the main reason was they could not find a US manufacturer that could meet the quality and durability standards.

Quote from Medic311 : really??? i wasn't aware that tools with forged "USA" were actually made in China. i thought it was strictly a packaging loop hole....are you sure about that? i did the research and i thought it centered around the packaging loop hole. and you have a solid point about quality. the Chinese-made wrenches actually have a MUCH nicer polish than the USA-made ones. the USA-made ones have a rough polish - not smooth whatsoever. the Chinese-made ones are very very smooth. ratchets are a different story - you can easily tell the Chinese ones from the USA ones as the Chinese ones have sharper edges on the handle indents

Ha, I thought it was just something I noticed. Ive been buying a few made in usa pieces from sears, and while they look good, I didnt notice a night and day difference in quality or presentation... in fact presentation wise seemed to favor many of my made somewhere in asia tools (like the crescent set from taiwan) with a fantastic polish, super thick chrome plating, quality 6 point sockets that are curved slightly to grip only the sides and not the edges, etc. versus the made in usa set CM stuff with a meh finish, sometimes sketchy chrome plating and stamping, but still good quality internal 6 pt grips. The USA CM might be higher quality (maybe the ones that say forged?) and less likely to break, but Ive been beating my HF composite ratchet and their super cheap but ever useful 1/2" extendable for quite a while and mechanisms are still in fantastic shape.

Quote from ducky2802 : Ha, I thought it was just something I noticed. Ive been buying a few made in usa pieces from sears, and while they look good, I didnt notice a night and day difference in quality or presentation... in fact presentation wise seemed to favor many of my made somewhere in asia tools (like the crescent set from taiwan) with a fantastic polish, super thick chrome plating, quality 6 point sockets that are curved slightly to grip only the sides and not the edges, etc. versus the made in usa set CM stuff with a meh finish, sometimes sketchy chrome plating and stamping, but still good quality internal 6 pt grips. The USA CM might be higher quality (maybe the ones that say forged?) and less likely to break, but Ive been beating my HF composite ratchet and their super cheap but ever useful 1/2" extendable for quite a while and mechanisms are still in fantastic shape.

yeah the asia tools seem to look better, but looks are deceiving sometimes especially with tools.

i'm torn on the whole thing and to be honest i feel betrayed since i have spent extra $$ and my time looking for USA-made Craftsman tools and believing if they say "USA" forged into the handle that actually means made in China. i want to know for sure if that's the case.

otherwise, i might throw in the towel on everything - go return all of my crap back to Sears and just buy everything at HF. i mean what's the point anyways.......ugh.

rant over

yikes, not so sure $9 is a good deal for those small pliers.
The husky version of that set is regularly on sale for $5-$7 at hd

Quote from Evan55 : yikes, not so sure $9 is a good deal for those small pliers. The husky version of that set is regularly on sale for $5-$7 at hd

and these are made in the USA and the Husky ones are made in China. spending an extra $2 out of your pocket is a smaller price to pay than the continual increase in your state unemployment taxes as more people lose their manufacturing jobs to Chinese suppliers.

you can make that call though

Quote from Medic311 : and these are made in the USA and the Husky ones are made in China. spending an extra $2 out of your pocket is a smaller price to pay than the continual increase in your state unemployment taxes as more people lose their manufacturing jobs to Chinese suppliers. you can make that call though

I think these are the made in china version. I picked up a similar 6 piece set 3 mo ago with a case. The jaws on 1 or 2 were not ground symmetric. Identical set to HF from what I saw in the store: http://www.harborfreight.com/6-pi...94931.html

Quote from ducky2802 : I think these are the made in china version. I picked up a similar 6 piece set 3 mo ago with a case. The jaws on 1 or 2 were not ground symmetric. Identical set to HF from what I saw in the store: http://www.harborfreight.com/6-pi...94931.html

hmmm

i could have sworn it said "Made In USA" on the pliers. i just checked the website and it doesn't say it. shiiiiiiiiiit
i guess i'll find out when i pick them up this afternoon

i hope this isn't another kick to the balls with Craftsman.........

Quote from Medic311 : and these are made in the USA and the Husky ones are made in China. spending an extra $2 out of your pocket is a smaller price to pay than the continual increase in your state unemployment taxes as more people lose their manufacturing jobs to Chinese suppliers. you can make that call though

I don't think these are made in the USA (The Sears' ones)

FYI: I just recently realized that the Reciprocating Saw could be had for $25.49 with free store pickup if you add code TRY15 through mygofer.com. Wish I had realized it sooner.

http://www.mygofer.com/craftsman-...917175000P

Quote from tennis8363 : I don't think these are made in the USA (The Sears' ones)

yeah i think may have been mistaken

i will verify when i pick them up tonight

Quote from Medic311 : yeah i think may have been mistaken i will verify when i pick them up tonight

I just checked my 4pc professional set with gold/black handles that appear to be basically the same pliers. Unfortunately, there was "China" marked on the back. This is on a set that I bought at least 3 - 4 years ago, so apparently the little pliers have been made there for quite awhile.

funny the sockets looks similar to harbor freights [harborfreight.com] only $12 they have different ones and they really feel like they are good quality

This whole Craftsman/china crap is depressing.
I went there on black friday to buy both sets of 26 pc (i think) wrenches. I picked up the metric set and it was made in USA. I picked up the SAE set and it was made in china! I was upset and amused at the same time. I thought it was rather ironic that the SAE set was asian and the metric set was American!
There was a huge stack of each on a table in the center isle. I went to where they were normally stocked and found a few more sets stacked on the shelf. The very bottom set of SAE wrenches was made in USA!! SCORE!!

I refuse to buy a chinese/taiwanese tool from Sears. Why pay USA prices for chinese products. If they lowered the prices to HF prices...then maybe...MAYBE!

(Anybody else notice I didn't capitalize the word "china"??)

Perpetual deal or not...I may have to get the prybars while still USA made.

D

Quote from Xtreme-D : This whole Craftsman/china crap is depressing. I went there on black friday to buy both sets of 26 pc (i think) wrenches. I picked up the metric set and it was made in USA. I picked up the SAE set and it was made in china! I was upset and amused at the same time. I thought it was rather ironic that the SAE set was asian and the metric set was American! There was a huge stack of each on a table in the center isle. I went to where they were normally stocked and found a few more sets stacked on the shelf. The very bottom set of SAE wrenches was made in USA!! SCORE!! I refuse to buy a chinese/taiwanese tool from Sears. Why pay USA prices for chinese products. If they lowered the prices to HF prices...then maybe...MAYBE! (Anybody else notice I didn't capitalize the word "china"??) Perpetual deal or not...I may have to get the prybars while still USA made. D

the opposite thing happened to me - the metric set was made in the China and the SAE set was made in the USA

Chinese metric set has MUCH better polish than the USA made SAE kit. looks are deceiving though - the USA made set could be structurally superior. only time will tell...if i don't end up returning both in disgust that the sets don't even visually match

Quote from Corwin76 : FYI: I just recently realized that the Reciprocating Saw could be had for $25.49 with free store pickup if you add code TRY15 through mygofer.com. Wish I had realized it sooner. http://www.mygofer.com/craftsman-...917175000P

Damn it. I just managed to pass it up for $29.99. For $25.49.. I can't. It's just too cheap not to buy.