Are you going to “give the gift of Craftsman” this year? Are you going to get Craftsman tools as a gift?
Lowes has started ramping up their advertising, and their latest newsletter inspired me to think about the new Craftsman tool deals I’d find enticing to buy for the holidays, or to potentially give or receive for average DIYers.
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Craftsman Swivel Head LED Flashlight
Raise your hand if you can always use another LED flashlight. I saw this Craftsman swivel-head LED flashlight at my local Lowes, and bought one on the spot. It felt well-made and had a magnetic base.
For $10, it seems like a good buy.
There are other new Craftsman LED flashlights on display as well. I wanted to pick up a 2-pack of the penlights, but I accidentally forgot about it. I’ll try to get it on my next visit. The keychain LED light and bottle opener seems like it could be a good kitchen gadget drawer light.
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Tape Measures
I previously wrote about the Craftsman Black Friday 2018 tape measure deals I came across at my local Lowes. Well, there are more.
There are 5 different deals so far – two types of 2-packs, two different singles, and a 4-pack of high-viz tapes.
I think the 4-pack is the best buy for most people. If you know you like one of the other styles better, go for it.
Buy Now(via Lowes)
New Cordless Drill & Impact Combo or Air Compressor
I mentioned the new Craftsman V20 cordless drill and impact driver kit in my cordless drill deals roundup, and I also bought a set for review purposes. And, I also bought and reviewed the same drill, which is bundled as part of a $69 special buy. I think that it’s a good kit, relatively speaking, and definitely compared to the entry-priced kits from a few years ago.
There’s also the USA-made 6-gallon air compressor. If I could just have one, it’d be the… air compressor deal. I think that both of these are going to be very strong sellers. A few years ago, I’d have loved the cordless combo kit. Now? My needs are a little different – I’d want a premium compact brushless set. But the compressor? For how often I use one, this would fit my needs perfectly.
Buy Now(Craftsman V20 drill and impact driver combo kit)
Buy Now(Craftsman air compressor)
Cordless Jig Saw Kit
When shopping for specific cordless tools, such as a cordless jig saw, or a cordless angle grinder, there are usually a couple of kit and bare tool options when looking at pro brands. When looking at DIYer brands, you generally have to buy a bare tool and a starter set, or find some other kit to buy into the system with.
Because of that, I was surprised to find a new Craftsman V20 cordless jig saw kit (CMCS600D1), priced at $99. It comes with the saw, a charger, and 2.0Ah battery pack.
It’s such an unusual concept that Lowes’ product description specifically says (battery included) in the headline. If I were a DIYer who wanted a cordless cutting solution, this would probably be on my holiday season shortlist.
Organizer Tool Box
Who doesn’t need more parts organizers?
This Craftsman 12-compartment organizer didn’t woo me at first sight, but it stuck in my mind as something you guys might be interested in seeing. I wonder if it’s stacking-compatible with Dewalt and FatMax pro-series organizers…
Craftsman Mini Socket Set
There are a couple of small Craftsman socket sets, which seem like good portable or travel kits for someone who already has a bigger kit, or as a sort of sample to try out before investing in a pricier assortment.
Craftsman Shop Vacuum Deal?
Lastly, do you think there’s going to be a Craftsman shop vacuum deal this year? There were enough boxes of 16 gallon wet/dry vacs on display that I’d the answer is yes. Lowes typically features a Shop Vac-branded wet/dry vacuum in their Black Friday weekend sales. Will they be featuring a Craftsman deal this year instead?
Popgun42
I like some of the Craftsman items. I am building a tool chest for a grandson soon to graduate college and stocking with tools. Some of the items you posted look interesting. I have made two chest for GS so far. Thanks for posting, it will help me decide…
Stuart
Now’s actually a great time for that, since both big box retailers have promos on “staple” tools, such as adjustable wrenches, screwdriver sets (I’d go with Milwaukee’s $20 set over Craftsman’s), and even basic claw hammers.
fred
I always wanted to get around to building a classic tool chest (a la Duncan Phyfe or Studley ) – but as yet no one in my family has ever expressed interest in one. I have managed to build some beds, chairs, tables, desks, bookcases and the other odd bit of furniture for some of my heirs.
William
Hopefully they’ve appreciate your willingness to do that. Tried doing that with mine my kid’s wife had a fit. Not worth the stress, I didn’t retire to deal with being told how to accomplish tasks I’ve done for several decades.
Let them buy factory made stuff then, they’ll pay more and the quality won’t be nearly as good, but not my problem.
Ari
When i saw that right angle flashlight, picked it up and felt gods honest metal i said “yes please” pretty much as fast as you did.
Brian
I stumbled across a combo that had the air compressor plus a Brad nailer, finish nailer, and crown stapler for $199, which seemed like a decent deal.
Craig
They have the same under Bostitch brand as well on Amazon
satch
Stuart, I was in Iowa City, Iowa all last week. My wife’s employer had sent her there and I went along. Sitting in the hotel was no option and I noted a Lowe’s acroos the road. I of course looked over the tool section and found most of the items you linked to here.
Two things jumped out at me about the Craftsman Versastack boxes and the bit organisers. First, the Versastack items look to be identical to the DeWalt and FatMax TSTAK models and should be interchangeable with them as you alluded to in your post about them. Also, they are just a pinch cheaper than the other versions.
Second, they had a number of the new bit box organisers in Craftsman red and I think they are much more versatile than the yellow DeWalt versions. At least until DeWalt updates them to make them like these or the ones they sell in UK. All of them have the plastic locking clips and they also had the versions that would allow two of the samll ones to clip to the top of them as well. And they had those larger ones in two versions. One with a 3/8 drive socket set and another with bits and socket bit drivers. This could be one handy system.
I also see the Craftsman organiser box you showmas more versatile than the DeWalt becuase it makes full use of the box space unlike the DeWalt which is cut outmat the handle area.
Also, I know this is off the topic of this post but today I saw the new Metabo-HPT 36 volt toolsmat Menards. They have four tools on display. A reciprocating saw, cicular saw, hammerdrill, and impact driver. All are bare tools and range in price from 350-400 dollars! However, there is a placard by the display which says there is a ‘free’ 4.0a battery and charger with each purchase. First time I had seen the new Metabo-HPT tools in the wild.
aaron
also worth noting on those versastack: They’ve made improvements over the dewalt ones at least. The suitcase box has a gasket to make it ip54 water and dust resistant. They also changed the latches on the sides that hold the boxes together. They have a metal pin in them now instead of plastic. Its actually a better box for a cheaper price just because it has the nonpremium brand on it.
satch
Indeed. Right now they are a better investment than the DeWalt branded stuff.
I was just over at Home Depot and grabbed three forty count packs of Rayovac AAA batteries for 7.88 each. A great deal.
I also grabbed a PackOut thin suitcase style organiser. Surprised they had them at our store.
And last, the 110 piece DeWalt bit organiser set(didn’t buy it) has the locking tabs and notches on it the Craftsman and European DeWalt versions do. So maybe we will see a sensible shift over to that system here. It will make on the job organising an easier task. BTW, the set also has one of the little pillbox style clear lid cases that has notches and tabs on it to allow secure nesting inside the small organiser boxes. We are getting there.
A W
I may have to pick up that set of penlights. I’m looking to replace my Milwaukee 2105 from last year since the top cap wore out.
Coach James
The green 4 pack of C-man tapes looks like the 4 packs of Stanley tapes I have bought. Same color, just a different name. They have worked fine and I would not hesitate to buy them branded as Stanley or C-man.
Toolfreak
I was at Lowe’s today and checked out all the BF displays, of course including all this Craftsman stuff.
It all just strikes me as a low-effort money grab by SBD, just slapping the Craftsman name on existing products, with a color change, and contracting out for the even cheaper stuff like the lights.
I think it may work short-term on the clueless public, most of who just think anything with the Craftsman name on it has a lifetime replacement warranty, and who will be disappointed en masse when they inevitably bring stuff back to Lowe’s long after any warranty it ever had expired and are told so, but long term, they had really better step up their game and bring the USA-made core tools to market before the consensus becomes all the new Craftsman stuff at Lowe’s is more made-in-China junk.
6PT socket
Like Milwaukee? COO is no longer assurance of good or bad quality. The Chinese are capable of making the best stuff if that is what the seller is paying for and oversees production. They will also make the cheapest junk for sellers that demand the lowest price, which people will buy because they can’t pass up a bargain and then complain when it falls apart.
Toolfreak
China is certainly as capable as any other country of manufacturing to the highest standards, and doing it at a cheaper price than many other places, but when it comes to the Craftsman brand specifically, there’s a connotation between “Made in USA” and Craftsman quality.
The power tools, as the other brands China-made offerings, are ok (I think the bright red is overused, though), but SBD going all-China on the hand tools when so many were hoping for USA-made offerings sooner rather than later is a real slap in the face.
I get that maybe SBD is just buying lots of what Apex isn’t shipping to Sears anymore, along with branding a lot of Stanley stuff for holiday shopping, but still, I just got the feeling looking at all this stuff that I didn’t really want any of it.
The yeti
Where are the hard line tools. The large sized wrenches. The mechanics tools. The lawn and garden stuff.
So much missing from the line up.
Robear
They have a lineup of 1200 new tools. They didn’t all rollout at once. All the things you mentioned are in the pipeline and will be coming out. I’ve bought a few of the new SBD Craftsman products and not one has disappointed me.
CT
SBD is in the process of acquiring MTD/Cub Cadet/TroyBilt so the lawn & garden equipment is on its way. Lowes is already selling snowblowers.
Joe
Please take note when your looking at products to review or list ,to Always include the country of Origin…. A couple items you mentioned had COO, but not most… I appreciate when you do and so do many others. …..thanks for the good list of Craftsman products.
Stuart
Sometimes it’s easy, other times it’s not.
Above, I’m 99% sure the organizer was made in Israel (I checked, but it was a week ago), one of the standalone tape measures is made in the USA (with global materials), the vacuum is marked as made in USA with global materials. The others are imported from Asia.
Anton
Can we stop with the 3x aaa flashlights please? That swivel light looks pretty good but I refuse to buy any more that use those batteries (although I’ll grab the occasional free HF one). 18650 seems like a much better form factor.
Nate Bezanson
I was just clicking open the item links to add this info to the comments, yeah. The flashlights are AAA-only, no USB charge port, no 18650. Puh-leeeze. Those things are a white elephant now. Would you buy a cellphone that ran on disposable batteries? Rechargeable is the only way to fly!
Also, the tape measures are inch-only, no metric scale. I don’t know about anyone else here, but I have a foot in both worlds (though it’s 30cm over there), and I can’t stand single-system tapes anymore.
Stuart
It’s $10!
A lot of people don’t want to mess around with rechargeable everything. Even for my LED flashlights, I prefer AA, AAA, and CR123A. With AA or AAA, I do use slow-self-drain high-performance, lithium, or alkaline for some.
If it’s not a “daily driver” flashlight, does it really need to be rechargeable?
Nathan
what’s wrong with 3aaa’s? you get 4.2 Volts nominal (yes with alkilines they would start life at 4.5V) and roughly 500mAh. or .5Ah. Seems like a good tradeoff without the cost of rechargeable platform.
Neighbor Joe
Chinese made Craftsman tools at Harbor Freight pricing. Really SBD???? Is this the big revamping of the made in USA Craftsman brand. For all the tool nuts whom believe China makes high quality tools…well, enjoy the Koolaide. Beyond disappointed in SBD. Yea, I bought their new Waterloo made tool cabinets and Cherwa SC made drill but the hand tools were the items most of us had anticipated as made in USA. That ain’t happening.
Matt
I’m with ya on the hand tools. I’ve gone out to specifically buy the USA brushless drill/drivers. I also have every intention of buying a USA 3000 series cabinet/box. The hand tools though I have zero interest in. I do understand not everything will be US made. And I do like several of the items they have that aren’t like a few of their new lights for instance and some of their upcoming OPE tools which I assume won’t be US made either. Oddly enough, I can kind of accept that on the OPE stuff or flashlights but not so much on traditional things like drills or saws.
When I walk into Lowe’s and see the new pliers, screwdrivers and socket sets though, I just walk right past them. I just can’t bring myself to buy a traditional type Craftsman hand tool that doesn’t say Made In USA. I’m not saying they’re not good or fully capable. They’re just not for me. In my mind if I just wanted something cheap and didn’t care about USA made I’ll just go to Wal-Mart and get some Stanley tools.
Phil
Stuart, do you have any more pics or a SKU on that 1/4″ mini socket set? I can’t find it on the Craftsman site or anywhere else online. Thanks!
Stuart
CMMT12009 for SAE, CMMT12010 for metric.
There’s also a bit set (CMMT12007 or CMMT12005 maybe?) that I saw at the launch event, but not in stores yet.
Phil
Thanks…. only goes up to 13mm. Still on the hunt for the perfect 8-19mm set for my truck toolbag!
Stuart
1/4″ socket with 19mm socket? Looking at a few options, 13mm seems to be largest size for smaller kits.
Phil
Doesn’t need to be 1/4″, just looking at the small format. I think this looks interesting: https://tengtoolsusa.com/products/teng-tools-t3834s-34-piece-3-8-inch-drive-flex-head-ratchet-socket-set
Tyler
My local Lowe’s has two versions of the $10 90* flashlight. The one Stuey shows is the better one, model 0818. This one has better machining on both sides of the 90* rotating section, tighter action of rotating assembly, has darker color red of the handle grip and two cut outs on the lens bezel.
The other model, 0518, had kind of sloppy rotating action, poor machining on/around the joint, and a washed out almost pink handle grip. The cutouts on the bezel don’t matter really just a way to identify, the 0518 model has 3 cutouts. I’m not entirely sure what the cutouts are even for.
I bought the 0818 and seems to be a great little light.