Stanley buys Craftsman brand

[dogwood]

I hear you Lloyd. In the hand power tool category I've fairly recently had to toss a Dewalt drywall screw driver, a Makita drill, and an inexpensive Milwaukee right angle drill, I replaced with the traditional Milwaukee right angle drill. I think Bosch still might be making good power tools. The Snap-ons I keep an eye out for on Ebay and Craiglist. I've heard good things about the Festool line of power tools but they seem to be as pricey as the Snap-on line of mechanics hand tools.

 

[Lcback]

What do you guys do to wear out tools so much?
My father has a car repair shop. He has mostly snap on tools. But only since he quit the dealership and brought his big toolbox home. Before that he had a tool box full of harbor freight for his home shop. Has be broke them? Sure. Here and there. But certainly not enough to justify the penny snap on and Matco want for it. And for the record I have seen him break snap on wrarchets too.
My grandfather had a farm tractor repair shop. He bought all used proto tools from a closing mine. Haven't seen one worn out yet and when he passed they wee handed down to me.


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[dogwood]

LcBack, I've had good luck with all my Proto wrenches just like your Grandfather. Couldn't tell you why the torque adjustment on the Dewalt drywall screwdriver went bad. The drills I tossed were consumer items and not up to the rigors of building and remodeling. I've got some much older power tools bought second hand, built of steel not plastic, that I'll pass down to the next generation. I'm sad to see the decline in quality of brand names that used to mean something and stood for quality like Stanley once did. I refuse to buy poor quality merchandise anymore, even though that's a lot of what you find at the big box and chain hardware stores .

Along the same lines, The body of my expensive John Deere riding mower (not one of the Lowes' John Deere models either) is made of plastic. It broke after the first year. The "made in China" carburetor on my Stihl weed eater has had to be replaced twice. Dealer said that's par for the course. A name like Stihl or John Deere used to mean something too.

I'm sick of all the junk that comes out of China, or God knows where else, from doorknobs to pipe fittings, that are constantly in need of repair. For example last evening I had to replace the handle on our toilet again for the second time. That's ridiculous. Went to Lowes and Home Depot and couldn't find one not made with plastic parts or the cheapest metal. The wheels and brackets on the racks of our KitchenAid dishwasher have all broken off. I fixed one again today. The replacement soap dispenser in that same dishwasher lasted only a couple months, The hanging bracket holding up the drawers in our expensive GE Cafe model refrigerator's freezer broke off. Turns out it was made of plastic. A Chinese made Bluetooth transmitter from Best Buy I replaced yesterday after only three months use. A salesman from there and another at True-value said everything in their stores is from China. I even had to rewire my Tarm Solo Innova wood boiler when brand new. I purchased it thinking it was manufactured in Denmark, only to find out later manufacturing had been transferred to Turkey by a conglomerate that bought Tarm out.

So, I'd like to learn who is still making quality tools. And which company and brand names you can trust nowadays. The fact Craftsman is being bought up by Stanley is part of the mess of conglomerate ownership and meaningless brand names. I try and research stuff I purchase and often come across inferior products being made by a single factory somewhere in Asia and rebranded with former high quality company names. Don't get me wrong, I am happy to purchase quality, reliable products from overseas from companies like Bosch or Toyota (though they might have lost a step of late). Hell, even Breyer's ice cream was bought out, is no longer "all natural", and does taste like crap. Is nothing sacred?

Mike

 

[greg13]

Proto is now owned by (you guessed it) Stanley. Again I think it will come down to if they maintain the brand names the quality of the brands.

 

[festerw]

Proto is now owned by (you guessed it) Stanley. Again I think it will come down to if they maintain the brand names the quality of the brands.

Proto has been owned by Stanley since 1984, so I'm guessing the quality is probably safe.

 

[Brian26]

Found this 1955 Craftsman catalog in my basement. They used to make really good tools...

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

FYI
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-sears-divestiture-stanley-black-idUSKBN14P1FI

Some businesses get started because of the passion of the founder. Once they are gone, whoever ends up with the business is in it for the buck. The formula that seems to be most widely applied by private equity is to run on the momentum of the original quality of the brand, cut costs as much as possible (inevitably lowering the quality), and then sell the business to someone else when the numbers look good. The buyer pays based upon the increased profitability that resulted from the cost cutting, and eventually the consumers catch on that the quality has declined and go elsewhere. Destroys the brand, and the only real winner are the private equity guys who build fortunes on such tactics.

Today's world is full of these people, most have MBAs. Eddie Kampert is one such guy who bought Sears and Kmart for the value of the real estate, and he is slowly stripping out every last bit of value from the companies, Craftsman is just the latest. Soon the real estate will be all that's left, and that'll get sold off, too.

 

[Jazzberry]

Man $93 for a circular saw in 1955 seems outrageous. Seems like $93.00 would buy 15 of 20 of them or like a Volkswagen maybe.

 

[dogwood]

ED 3000, appreciate your insight in how these formerly reputable companies end up going to the dogs the way they do. Its really a crying shame.

Mike

 

[blades]

In my area he has already been dumping the real estate based on the traffic value of commercial areas. About a year ago I was in the sears store that always was one off the main anchors of the first enclosed mall in the area- other than the gardening tool section the rest of the store has gone to the dogs. Just could not believe how shabby it looked. I will bet the bottom dollar that location is being shopped as we speak.