Stanley Black Decker is officially discontinuing Craftsman V-Series hand tools, which I consider to be the brand’s best offerings.
Specifically, Craftsman will be “phasing out V-Series mechanics tools as part of a strategic shift to focus on the brand’s core product line as well as its Overdrive offering.”
I asked about how this will affect the lifetime warranty, as a reader recently wrote to me complaining about how Craftsman customer service won’t send them a direct replacement for a V-Series tool.
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Craftsman says that they will “honor the V-series warranty with the next equal value Craftsman product.”
Craftsman has not yet updated their website, which continues to advertise the V-Series tools.
I very enthusiastically recommended Craftsman V-Series tools over the years, including last holiday season when Lowe’s stores nationwide had fantastic pricing on core tools such as rachets, sockets, wrenches, screwdrivers, and portable tool kits.
I bought V-Series tools for my own use, even before the holiday season deals, and would buy them again.
I bought the Facom and USAG tools that the Craftsman V-Series tools are largely based on, and would buy those again too.
Dewalt – Craftsman’s sibling company – sent a marketing email today with the subject line “Expect Excellence. Accept Nothing Less.”
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Craftsman V-Series are great tools and among the excellence I still expect from the brand.
I expressed my disappointment to Craftsman and asked if they can offer any kind of statement to help me and you see any positives in this news, but have not yet heard back.
Dave
Craftsman does not exist. There is only a brand name on chinese tools called crafts man. Who honors craftsman tools bought elsewhere? Just let it go, man.
Stuart
These are – were – made in Taiwan and pretty good quality.
Vards Uzvards
Screw and nut drivers, as well as pliers, were all made in France.
Kevin
The screwdrivers by me are and have been made in China
Stuart
They’re talking about the V-Series, which is the sole focus of this post. To my knowledge they ARE made in France. I was thinking of the wrenches, ratchets, and sockets when I mentioned Taiwan as the COO.
Joe E.
eBay scalpers rejoice.
Craftsman has been mismanaged from the very beginning of Stanley Black & Decker’s acquisition of the brand. They’ve blundered opportunities to make certain tools in the USA. They’ve stuck with outdated, poor quality Stanley rebrands. They’ve even taken the iconic raised panel wrenches and shifted production to India.
I don’t give Craftsman a second look anymore. If I’m shopping at Lowe’s, I walk right past the tool department and don’t stop. Their offerings are so bad in my opinion, they make me long for the 2010’s when I could buy quality made Chinese Craftsman tools from Sears.
Martin
You are mis-informed. The V Series line of Craftsman tools are very high quality. It’s too bad they didn’t go over well. Craftsman Overdrive wrenches and sockets use MAC tools “Rounded Bolt Removal Technology”. The wrenches made Torque Test channels #1 top tool of 2024, they performed better than Snap On!. While the entry level Craftsman tools are nothing fancy they work well and still have a lifetime warranty. They problem today is that everyone lumps Chinese made tools into the low quality bucket. This is not the case. Remember… Milwaukee, DeWalt, Bosch, etc power tools are ALL made in China.
Ryan S.
He is not misinformed, he’s right. The V series was decent, but overpriced. Taiwan made Overdrive stuff is pretty nice. All the other new Craftsman made ratchets are clunky junk. Wrenches made in India- junk. Pliers made in China- junk. I can get better quality stuff at Harbor Freight, for cheaper, with an easier warranty.
Joe E.
Misinformed I am not. You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know. I was the first person in the country to get my hands on a Craftsman V-Series ratchet months before the line was announced and released. I shared it on a well known tool forum July 27, 2021 which began a speculation firestorm. You can still find that multi page thread with a quick use of Google.
I’m very much aware of Overdrive. I own the 154 Pc. set, and while the sockets and wrenches are okay, the ratchets are trash. They’re better used as a hammer.
Lastly, there’s a difference between quality Chinese made tools and low quality Chinese made tools. Compared to the offerings of their direct competitors, the Craftsman brand under SB&D’s ownership falls behind in several categories. They have raced to the bottom, and introducing a fancy shmancy new line of tools every couple of years isn’t going to make people think otherwise.
Luis
just wondering, if the Overdrive ratchets are trash, why didn’t you take full advantage of the no questions asked return policy ?
Stuart
I can’t answer for them, but feel obligated to chime in that I absolutely don’t consider the Overdrive ratchets to be trash. They’re not the best or worst, and I do feel they’re a step up from Craftsman’s regular line.
Joe E.
I can’t return the ratchets unless I return the entire 154 piece set. I bought the set for the the Overdrive sockets and wrenches, not for the ratchets. I used the ratchets once and wasn’t impressed. They’ve been untouched since and will remain that way in the case unless I need to beat on something.
Saulac
More reasons to appreciate what Harbor Freight is doing to their Icon brand.
Nathan
Not surprised I wonder how well they sold comparatively. The sales were a bit surprising. But yes the name now is there to serve lowes. Quality craftsman items died in the 90s of that.
meh.
Stuart
Most people weren’t aware of V-Series until the tools appeared at Lowe’s stores nationwide in October, and so I’m sure sales volume was abysmal until then.
Scott K
I wonder if those huge sales were in anticipation of this…
Dave
Not a craftsman fan, but I bought some V series sets and they are great quality, was very impressed. Finally thought they were moving in the right direction, because all the other stuff I’ve bought from them is junk.
Jared
I REALLY liked some of the V-series offerings – the wrenches especially. This is very disappointing news.
It might somewhat explain why some V-series stuff has shown up in the “surplus” section of Princess Auto. I thought that was weird because the tools were great and surely SBD didn’t make too much of it…
I might have to pick up some sets while I can. My garage burned down a couple weeks ago – with my three V-series wrench sets inside (along with a bunch of other stuff of course). I’m still waiting for my insurance to decide how much they’ll pay, but I would be really annoyed if I couldn’t replace those wrenches.
Scott K
Sorry to hear – hopefully nobody was hurt. Best of luck as you go through the insurance and rebuilding process.
Jared
Thanks. Yes everyone was ok.
I’m fortunate to have a garage and a separate shop (I live on a farm), so it’s not like I lost everything – just a lot.
It’s been pretty annoying. I’m not used to being unable to do things – e.g. all my power tools were in there and I needed to drive some screws today… what – am I going to do that BY HAND?!
Stuart
Yikes, I hope everyone is okay!
If you can’t get V-Series replacements, you might have to look at Facom or USAG.
Jared
Thanks. Everyone got out safe fortunately. I had a detached garage, so although one side of my house is melted and singed, its mostly OK- could have been a lot worse!
Those V-series sets are WAY cheaper than their FACOM/USAG counterparts – which is why Im disappointed to hear they’re gone. I might just have to shell out now and hope my insurance covers me later.
Chris
Craftsman/SBD keeps shooting themselves in the foot. I kinda figured this was coming when Lowe’s had some v series tools for insanely low prices.
I’ve been really into tools for going on 12 years now. I’ve been following toolguyd for about 9 years or so. I have NEVER seen a brand create and drop new lines of tools so fast as Craftsman has been doing, especially once they were bought out by SBD. And I don’t understand it. Granted there isn’t a whole hell of a lot of R&D investments they’re wasting if they were just rebranding Facom or proto tools.
It’s so frustrating to see a brand, no matter the product, just make stupid choices. I was hopeful SBD would bring the craftsman name back from the grave. But all they’re doing is raising hopes and then driving them back into the ground again.
Stuart
Dewalt had 2 lines of USA-made screwdrivers that very few people ever knew about. Instead of boosting awareness, they discontinued everything. https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/dewalt-industrial-usa-screwdrivers-discontinued/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
The way I see it, that’s pretty much what happened here with Craftsman V-Series.
Aram
Yikes. Cue the Simpsons Skinner joke:
“Am I so out of touch?”
“No, no, it’s the customers who are wrong.”
Stuart
To Craftsman corporate, you and I are not customers, we’re end users. Lowe’s is their primary customer. Apparently Lowe’s doesn’t want Craftsman V-Series, and so we don’t get Craftsman V-Series.
Craftsman abandoned their USA factory plans for the same reason. There were problems and long delays. Retailers – presumably Lowe’s – cancelled their orders, and the factory was closed.
Kevin A
So glad I bought most while on clearance or on sale and snagged any at other stores my store didn’t have. The v series is my best set currently don’t own the icon ratchets but man when I got them I had lots of tight spaces and it was a breeze truly love them.
Jared
That’s a good point actually. V-series probably wasn’t something SBD could push on their own. They needed Lowes to promote it.
Lowes did eventually, sort of – by selling off deeply-discounted stock. That’s not going to get SBD to make a bunch more though.
Steven Phillips
This is a good point you bring up about customers vs consumers and maybe could be in a post explaining that to people about marketing. I used to work for a food company and it was the same thing, the stores are the customers for the manufacturer and the consumers are the shoppers at the store, the store’s customers, the end users, you. The retailer is in the middle and gets very strong say in what products get on to their shelves. A manufacturer isn’t going to make something that nobody will put on their shelves.
Fowler
Retailers drive a ton of decisions for consumer products. If a brand seems like they release things half baked, or scramble to introduce features that most people aren’t interested in, it’s probably because they promised it to a retailer to keep their shelf space or get more orders
Stuart
@Fowler, I will keep repeating an understanding that took me years to realize. When it comes to availability at retailers such as Home Depot and Lowe’s, *they* are the brands’ customers, not us, and brands *will* cater to them, some to a much greater extent than others.
Years ago I asked a manufacturer about an atrocious tool they made for a home center’s private label brand. It came down to “that’s what the customer wanted – they kept asking us to add in more and more features.”
sdsdv10
This just begs the question, why the huge disconnect between what the customer (Lowes/Home Depot) purchase from manufacture’s and what they push to the end user (us the actual final buyers). It doesn’t make sense. After all these years you would think the big box stores would have methods to figure out what we the people actually want.
Stuart
That’s the thing; people say what they want, but retailers see what they choose to buy.
It’s like someone saying that they’re trying to live a healthier lifestyle, but you then watch them eat a double bacon cheeseburger with a large fries and Oreo milkshake.
After all these years, retailers DO have methods to know what people actually want. What people say they want doesn’t matter if it doesn’t agree with how and where they spend their money. Actions speak louder than words, and retailers can measure their customers’ actions.
Hon Cho
SBD has had a tough time making their purchase of the Craftsman brand work for them in the hand tool segment. The debacle with the Texas hand tool plant and trying to figure out how to get Craftsman hand tools back into the public’s mind as a top choice are examples of their ongoing challenges. For more mature (read: older) buyers that were longtime Sears customers expecting made in USA with easy warranty, there is probably no winning with that crowd. For everyone else, there are plenty of cost competitive options that are plenty good enough for 98 percent of user requirements.
Vernon Riedel
I heard they built a huge factory in Texas, but never produced a wrench. Couldn’t get quality people to work there.
Stuart
https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/craftsman-hand-tools-factory-texas-closing-2023/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/craftsman-failed-usa-tool-factory/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Vernon Riedel
I made Craftsman tools for 38 years. The quality at the end was so much worse than when I started.
Started at Moore drop forge, then Easco then Danaher and finally Apex Quality went down as each company tried to get cheaper and cheaper. Apex mismanaged worse than any of them. Finally lost the Craftsman contract.
Got laid off in 2015.wouldnt buy anything Apec or Craftsman now.
Stuart
I went to a Kobalt media event in 2011, and spoke with a product manager about why they were shifting their core hand tools (e.g. wrenches, socket sets) away from USA-made to imported. They said that they were switching suppliers to get better quality.
I didn’t fully believe it, but what you say here agrees with that.
I also remember having to return some Craftsman USA-made Cross Force wrenches to Sears because of too many finish defects. That was also maybe around 2010 or 2011 or so. I inspected other sets in-store and they were no better.
Vernon Riedel
We made kobalt for few years as well
Stan
I worked there for a while also on N C
Terry S
I can believe it. I have always tried to buy American-made tools, or at least quality tools from a place where I know the workers are paid a living wage. That means a lot to me, more than just price, though I can’t justify the likes of Snap-On as I am not earning money with my tools.
After Sears Craftsman gave up on their final American-made lines with Craftsman Professional/Industrial, I continued to build out my tool chest with Armstrong tools.
The Armstrong wrenches were very high quality, but the ratchets and sockets? Late-stage Armstrong quality under Apex management was atrocious. I was kind of shocked at how bad it was, not just in terms of clunky ratchets or extensions that didn’t fit inside sockets, but also mismatched components in sets.
As a customer, I felt like the lights had been turned off before they actually turned the lights off.
Vernon Riedel
We made flat wrenches at the Springdale AR plant at the end. Sockets and ratchets were made at Gastonia for years then moved to the Texas plant. That plant was always a problem. Constantly having to send people from AR to straighten it up. Workers were getting away with everything. Constantly producing rework so they could work 7 days a week. Basically they drug us down. AR plant always did good in spite of management. Lots of tears of experience. Hard to replace.
Terry S
Thanks for sharing, Vernon. Like I said, the wrenches are top notch; the ratchets less so. It’s a shame that the workers sabotaged their efforts for the O.T.
I love the idea of buying American, but it’s harder and harder everyday. Misguided and greedy management + that kind of worker sabotage + very few end user customers who care where something is made does not make for a formula to allow that to happen.
Eric
I have lost a lot of faith in SBD over this whole Craftsman disaster. They created a lot of hype but other than a few exceptions like the V-series stuff have just delivered disappointment after disappointment.
Lee
As soon as craftsman went out of the u.s.a made phase I moved along I’ve had to warranty out a few old USA made tools for their new junk I don’t even bother anymore I’ll buy a good USA replacement instead
kent_skinner
More than once I have talked crap about Craftsman, and every time I get shouted down with “they are owned by B&D, and it’ll all good again”.
I’m so sad to see this happen, but once again they prove that the Cman warranty is worthless. It’s sad to say that Harbor Freight has replaced CMan as affordable tools that are reasonably well made and have a warranty you can count on.
I’ll keep my 80’s & 90’s CMan wrenches, but if something happened, there’s a zero percent chance I’d replace them with more Cman .
Stuart
I feel that Craftsman and SBD get a lot of unfair criticism. I tend to see a lot of generalizations and a lot of misdirected rage. In today’s moderation queue, there are comments about Eddie Lampert, imported Snap-on tools, and other tangential topics completely unrelated to the V-Series tools being discontinued.
Craftsman is a tool brand that many people used to love and now love to hate.
I was optimistic, open-minded, and hopeful. I tried very hard to keep the post neutral in tone, but I did not mince words in my email to them.
Kentucky fan
Sbd bought a license to print money with craftsman and completely screwed it up in every fathomable way. The sad part is realistically speaking the v series and overdrive tools are better than any of the old USA craftsman stuff that people fawn over. The problem is that no one knows this because sbd has done an awful job of marketing. They could have had an equivalent to the old craftsman pro by simply rebranding the USA Blackhawk but instead they tried to build a new factory and gave up way too early.
It’s honestly a masterclass in how to screw up a brand. Craftsman used to be what you bought if you needed hand tools. There was no shopping around if a person was a serious diyer or beyond you bought craftsman two decades of sheer lunacy have destroyed the brand and the reputation. I have some new craftsman hand tools and they are so inconsistent in quality between items that it is mind blowing. The overdrive wrenches are just as good as my Williams and proto but their standard line tool kit wrenches are harbor freight Pittsburgh quality. You can’t run a brand like that and expect to succeed.
Stuart
Under Sears, there was Craftsman Evolv (formerly Companion), Craftsman (mainly USA-made), and Craftsman Professional (mainly USA made and widely believed to be comparable to Armstrong quality).
Craftsman Evolv: entry level at low price point
Craftsman: good quality at a great value
Craftsman Professional: great quality at affordable pricing
Under SBD, Craftsman tools are okay. They’re not special, but they’re not terrible. I bought some and would buy them again.
Craftsman V-Series are very good quality European styled tools with better accessibility. Enthusiasts no longer had to special order Facom or USAG.
Overdrive are upper tier for Craftsman, but thus far it’s only included a couple of sets at Lowe’s stores.
What about screwdrivers? Pliers? Wire strippers?
I’m not disappointed because a couple of tools are being discontinued. I’m disappointed because it’s becoming clear Craftsman is not achieving their potential, and they seem disinterested in doing so.
USA-made tools? Sorry, can’t have that. Premium EU-style hand tools? Sorry, those are gone too. So what’s next? I guess maybe whatever Lowe’s wants to place a large order for?
We’ve seen how that goes. https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/offshored-klein-tools-found-at-lowes-stores/%3C/a%3E https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/klein-plumbing-tools/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
This just means they’ll have to earn my optimism back.
Kentucky fan
My optimism Is gone for them it’s sad I was extremely excited for the opportunity they had. Sbd already manufactures the finest hand tools in existence in their proto line (in my opinion) they have manufacturing capabilities all over the planet but didn’t utilize them to even a fraction of their possibilities.
Ryan S.
It’s no secret that Sears started the process of ruining Craftsman, but I don’t think they did it on purpose. Between trying to prop up the whole empire with profits from the tool division, and US suppliers like Western Forge dropping them… they didn’t have much hope of things going well. But what amazes me is how thoroughly one of the biggest tool and hardware conglomerates in the world (SBD) has been able to screw up a brand. Even with what Sears had done over the last few years, Craftsman was still “the” name in tools when SBD bought them. Now most people don’t even give Craftsman a thought. In my opinion, the only way SBD can fix their mess is to go back to the “good American made tools, good prices, good warranty, good availability” model that Sears had for years.
Jim Felt
And I’d like to go to a “Buick” dealer and buy a 360hp Riviera Grand Sport for six grand. Maybe Marty and Doc could help?
Stuart
https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/craftsman-usa-hand-tool-history-2023/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Sears dropped USA tools and then kept doing so. At some point they started replacing them with imported copies.
https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/fyi-craftsman-pry-bars-now-made-in-taiwan/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Sears started fighting with their suppliers a few years after that. https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/sears-craftsman-sues-western-forge-usa-tool-supplier-also-releases-more-imported-pliers/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Sears sued Western Forge for not renewing their contract in 2017. That was several years after they shifted away from USA-made tools.
I don’t recall the reasons, but by 2017 there might have been concerns about Sears not being able to pay their bills. Sears sold Craftsman to SBD in 2017 and filed for Bankruptcy in 2018. Again, this was all years after they got rid of the Craftsman Professional line and replaced USA-made core tools with imports.
If you look at the photo of imported Sears Craftsman pliers, there are designs that look exclusive to Apex Tool Group, such as the “Double-X” design.
Sears had USA-made Craftsman tools at import tool pricing, and it brought people to their stores and website. This was apparently unsustainable for Sears.
Vernon Riedel
I was at Danaher when they did a corporate merger with Cooper tools and split us off and called it Apex. Cooper had tool factories in China , so we immediately started losing orders here in America. Pretty soon that’s all Sears wanted. Don’t forget that Kmart bought Sears as well. Kmart definitely didn’t are where the tools were made.
I remember working 7 days a week trying fill Kmart shelves up with tools when they first bought Sears. Didn’t last long.
I just chalk it up to corporate greed, bosses hired right from college and a blameless workforce. Programs like SAP (stop all production) no common sense.
It’s sad, but that’s the way anymore.
Robert
Craftsman says that they will “honor the V-series warranty with the next equal value Craftsman product.”
Whoa, that is so sleazy, disappointing. There is no “next equal value” Craftsman product. That’s the crux of the problem.
Steven Phillips
And now we know why they had the holiday season promo ratchet and wrench deals, to clear inventory.
Stuart
I remain convinced that we saw way too much inventory to have just been sitting around in a warehouse. Until then, the V-Series were only available online.
https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/craftsman-v-series-tool-deals-lowes-2024/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
One store near me had 10 each of 4 different ratchets, not including anything in the different sets. Another had maybe 13 each of 5 different ratchets, also not including what was in sets.
Let’s go with the lower number, and assume some smaller stores never got any tools. So that’s 40 ratchets x 1500 stores (out of 1700) = 60,000 open stock ratchets.
Holiday season tool deals are huge contracts that typically involve made-to-order inventory, not whatever amounts are collecting dust on a warehouse shelf somewhere.
The holiday season deals involved around 20 SKUs loaded onto thousands of pallets. I can’t imagine that being remnant inventory.
Casey Pries
When it came time for me to invest in a bunch of new hand tools I looked at Craftsman and passed. I can’t trust them to come out with a comprehensive set of tools and stick with them. I did buy some overdrive wrenches but they are supplemental rather than daily drivers. Instead I went with Wright wrenches and Tekton ratchets and sockets. I’m very happy with the decision.
Tdot77
Yeah Tekton has largely became what
Craftsman used to be. They’re not all USA made entirely but they are making quite a few things here and they tell you on the website exactly where every single piece is made AND what metal\alloy each is made of. Their warranty is very simple – send a picture of broken tool, replacement gets shipped right out to you, no proof of anything, and no returning of broken piece. I also love that they give you points for each dollar you spend(10% back) with them to buy more tools from them(Amazon purchase doesn’t get points though so order on their website) in the future. I had to replace an old craftsman socket set & wrench collection, so I ordered a full Tekton ⅜” socket set – NO SKIPS!(¼”-1″ & 4-22mm -shallow&deep, ratchet, 24″breaker bar, universal & 2 extensions{3″&6″} all in a sturdy, well-made, snug-fitting, blow molded case) which is a very good set and have not had 1 single problem with anything. I also got the full set of regular combi. wrenches both SAE & metric (same size range as above w\ no skips) in the ‘canvas’ tool roll-ups which is also handy to keep them all together nice &tightly. I’m very happy with these tools and would buy again in a second without question.
Another thing that has seriously hurt Craftsman™ is the very many, many tools you can now easily order on Amazon, etc that are equal or better than what they sold. Ever since Sears closed and Craftsman was shuttered there’s no brick & mortar place that comes close except for Harbor Freight possibly. Although they’re not all USA made tools, they are easy to purchase, look at in person, easy walk-in warranty, and you really can see that Harbor Freight is legitimately trying to make good tools even better now. They’ve seriously been steadily improving their tools for decades and have became a serious contender especially with the Icon line they now have. Between them and all the brands available with just a few clicks on your phone, Craftsman was doomed from their ‘re-start’ at SBD. You can order anything from Gearwrench, SK, Sunex & Capri down to Amazon basics brand tools on Amazon nowadays and have it in hand next day. The amount of good tools available there is astounding. This easy access to good tools has doomed the Craftsman brand since it stopped being at Sears\Sears hardware\KMart stores many years ago. There’s just so many very decent tools available so easily they[Cman] are just done as a brand unfortunately. DeWalt, Milwaukee, SK, Capri, Michaels Pro, Stanley, Sunex, Icon\Quinn\Pit., Carlyle, Kobalt, Husky, Astro, Tekton, and the many dozens of others I can’t think of right now have took over what Craftsman used to be whether Taiwan made or not.
Those that exclusively want USA made tools still know where to buy them from, for most others I don’t think it matters as much so long as they’re getting good quality tools at decent prices and have a good warranty should you need it. It’s sad but it’s another part of history that’s gonna be gone forever due to technology and online shopping practices becoming the norm.
Stuart
That there are now so many entry and mid-level options is why a connection to the end user is so important.
Patrick T
Well, this is a bummer. I quite like the V-series tools. Everything but the ratchets. The hive-mind has spoken and, they are just… meh.
The V-Series tools seemed well positioned to stand out in a crowded US market and they just… fizzled. The wrenches have a unique (and great) shape. They come in this cool “clip” organizers. The screwdrivers are also great and feel great (to me). The cases for the socket sets are amazing.
I have to imagine that the way SBD managed the craftsman brand will become a case study in business schools. Harbor Freight has that bit-ratchet set that looks a lot like a Facom set. They couldn’t keep that thing in stock. Craftsman has an entire line or socket sets in similar cases and… nothing.
The holiday pricing was fantastic. They also often had good sales on the tools, when you could find them. Outside of a random two-piece screwdriver set I saw at Ace, I never saw these tools in a store until the Holidays. What a shame.
CA
Yeah that holiday pricing was a steal. I had been waiting for some decent pricing on ratchet wrenches and pounced on that deal along with some ratchets.
Julian Tracy
The old USA ratchets that folks remember fondly from so many years ago, honestly, weren’t that great. I’m 57 and have many fond memories of going into Sears simply to wander the tool aisles as a kid and young adult and spent many many hours perusing the Craftsman tool catalogs.
I have one of the craftsman elite/premium line tools boxes and it was supposed to have a lifetime warranty. Called the number inside the box about 7 years ago about some bad drawer slides and they said I was out of luck as they had a different supplier now.
Harbor freight has become the new Sears for today’s young adults and they’re doing a better job of it than Sears ever did. I still might hesitate to buy anything with a plug there, but mechanics hand tools absolutely are a great value and though they’ve stopped doing the huge % off anything coupons for the most part, each week they have some very compelling sales throughout the store.
Stuart
The raised panel ratchets were serviceable. Sears’ Craftsman low-profile ratchets were excellent, and then the Premium ratchets were also good.
Harbor Freight is not yet the new Sears, but I think they have the potential to be.
Was it a USA-made tool box? SBD, Craftsman’s current parent company, bought Waterloo more than 7 years ago. They should have still been able to help you, but I guess I’m not surprised. I regularly get emails from end users along the lines of “help, I need a Craftsman V60 cordless outdoor power tool battery and can’t find one!” and there’s nothing I can tell them.
ITCD
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I feel like they really blew a prime opportunity with V Series. They were picking the name based off a supplier code from back in the day that is held in high regard, and were promising USA made stuff. I think if anything, they should have reserved the V branding for the USA stuff and could have bumped up the quality a bit compared to the main line, and tacked those prices they wanted for V stuff onto the USA stuff (or more ideally been a bit more competitive with pricing), and utilized that higher price point to open up the possibility of making the tools in a more traditional and understood way rather than the failed gamble on automation.
Could it perhaps still have crashed and burned? Yes, yes it could have. After all it’s not so simple as “well just make it in USA and even though it costs a fair bit more people will just eat it up,” but it would have been a better shot than what they did end up doing IMO.
Joe E.
I’m blown away reading through the comments, but not at all surprised. 8 years after SB&D’s acquisition and people still show so much disdain for the brand. That’s not good.
Craftsman USA made tools will probably never come back, and most of us understand and have accepted that. I think what most of us want is for the brand to better position itself into more of the “advanced DIY/Home Pro” segment, sort of where SB&D has positioned DeWalt mechanics and hand tools. No thrills, no frills, just good quality, solid looking tools at a reasonable price. The Craftsman brand today has positioned themselves in the entry level segment. It’s something I would buy for my college kid moving into their new dorm, but not for working on my own stuff.
Will
I wonder if part of the problem is Lowes. They don’t seem to be marketing Craftsman very well. Didn’t even know about V series until they were on close out.
The thing with Craftsman is it was a decent quality USA made hands tool that you could get nationwide for a good deal.
The world changed and companies all started down the road of importing everything from Asia to increase profits. Now there are almost no USA made tools and the ones that exist are much pricier than imports.
Craftsman isn’t special anymore, it’s just another import budget brand competing with dozens of similar brands. Used to be Craftsman was “the” choice because of Sears distribution chain. Now there are Harbor Freight everywhere with Icon, Lowes with Craftsman and a bunch of other brands, Home Depot with Dewalt, Gearwrench and a bunch of other brands.
On top of this, there’s the online stores and two day shipping that makes the stores less necessary than they used to be.
If you want a decent budget hand tool, there are so many choices now, it’s watered down every brand.
I grew up collecting Craftsman Pro series. Still have them thirty plus years later, they are still top notch quality, but they are from a different time. That Craftsman is gone.
OldDominionDIYer
I love my Craftsman Professional Series wrenches, they are legit, USA made and have served me well for many years. I have a cheap set of China made wrenches should I need to abuse them but for most jobs they are great. I started investing in the Milwaukee hand tools and I am very satisfied with the quality of them. My brother bought a lot of SK hand tools decades ago and those are also fantastic. I purchased a few new SK tools since their buy out and they’re basically junk, what a disappointment. Icon brand from Harbor Freight could be the next generations “Craftsman” but there is certainly a lot more competition nowadays.
eddiesky
BS in full swing.
“Craftsman says that they will “honor the V-series warranty with the next equal value Craftsman product.” Won’t even honor with lower value!
Lowes customer service refused to exchange a -V- series long handle 3/8” flex head ratchet for “similar” that was in store. Only a polished handle flex head with bent handle was on the rack, a rack that you turn the knob to release the item and can’t put back. Customer service told me to go find comparable. I only found this item and when I returned, a difference Lowes CS person (assist mgr) was outloud, “NOPE. No. That is NOT the same!” And I’m like, “this is comparable and all you have. The one with non-bent handle is out of stock, the rack is empty”. “No. We cannot exchange that. No.” she again was belligerent. “Look, if you won’t honor Craftsman warranty, then I will go to Ace hardware.” and I left.
Now, I have looked up the V part online, I visited Craftsman support… OMG… their chat changed to Swedish! Their phone support had me on hold for 20 mins and my battery was getting low (I hung up) and the web site form for warranty would not allow me to enter my street address. Comment section was filled with negatives about 4-6 weeks to get replacement parts/tools.
All I want is either fix the loose head on the ratchet (it flips down, won’t stay locked) and under load, the mechanism strips out..which almost broke my wrist. And if it can’t be fixed, replace it. The CMMT86323V is $75 and out of stock EVERYWHERE so that confirms discontinued. The CMMT99426 … $75 shows one in stock at nearest LOWES (that is a lie – One means None). Then I found model CMMT99439 and CMMT99427 Full Polished model, which is $47 and also one left (not in stock). I believe THAT last model would be similar to my -v- 42793 “Forged in USA” 3/8″. I just wish there was a kit to rebuild, and press out the pin, replace the spring/head that droops, and I’d be happy.
I do not like driving back and around to various Lowes to find they won’t honor or lack the stock to replace. Mine is a V model, and I should have it replaced with a V model, 3/8″ flex head with long handle and button release.
And visiting Ace hardware? Guess what, all the Ace Hardware by me are now owned by the Costello family, and they won’t honor Craftsman warranty! Because I was at two of their store and two clerks told me the same thing: Sorry, we don’t replace Craftsman hand tools. (Costello Mercerville, Warren, Princeton, Newtown, Chester, … many of them.)
I was just at the Lowes in West Windsor NJ. I will never visit there again. Matter of fact, I filled out the survey with complaints that date back to 2019. I will likely cut up My Lowes card since the taste left from that store is horrible. The management, the store, the lack of checkouts, the cluttered aisles, failed Pella installation, lost orders, the missing items, the poor stock, the lack of inventory and poor updating on their website.
Update: I’m keeping this Vintage ratchet and just found a deal on a Tekton long hand, flexhead 3/8″ with release button, for $30 because I had a credit.
Shame on you Craftsman, Lowes and Ace.
OldDominionDIYer
SB&D has all the resources to effectively advertise and reach their target audience had that been what they wanted to do. It is clear to me that they never really got behind Craftsman and this is just another example of a miserable failure that continues to plague the Craftsman brand. I’m afraid there really is no hope for the brands redemption at this point. If I were to speculate, I think this discontinuation is related to the closure of the failed USA production factory. I suspect the “V” series were perhaps intended to be a stopgap higher quality tool offering until their USA made hands tools could hit the market. With the complete failure of the USA production facilities SB&D had to decide what to do with the V series and apparently, we know exactly what that decision is. Not at all surprised, in fact it would appear to be the most likely result of a series of strange decisions taken by SB&D over the once iconic tool brand.
JK
Stuart, as always, you’ve provided a thoughtful examination and your historical context.
It’s unfortunate, as the V-Series is quite good. I have some Facom, so I understand the value/quality.
The Lowe’s significant price reduction last fall prompted me to stock up on V-Series. The $10 blowout was quite the deal.
“people say what they want, but retailers see what they choose to buy.”
Well stated.
Ron
Crapsman was a mere paper company under Sears holdings via Sears dept. store. Craftsman never made any tools it was just a name their tools were made by easco, danaher, apex, and now acquired by SBD. I had the last generation “Made in USA” craftsman bought in 2009-2010. After that they all made by the CCP. No thanks, I also bought Snap-on around the same time and stuck with them, they make way better tools and still made in the USA with 15 manufacturing plants nationwide. I still kept my craftsman made in USA as the last gen american made but don’t use them anymore.
If you want better tools buy Proto on Amazon they are cheap compared to MAC.
Stuart
Craftsman still had brand managers and decision makers, and they did good work up to a point. Consider Craftsman from 15 years ago and Husky or Kobalt from today. It’s not bad that Sears’ Craftsman brand sourced tools from various OEMs and partners.
The new Klein pliers – https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/klein-tools-long-reach-pliers/%3C/a%3E – look nearly identical to those made by Apex Tool Group under various brand names. If so, what would be the difference between ATG making tools for Klein vs Sears’ Craftsman?
SK Gimbal Ratchet: https://www.amazon.com/SK-Drive-Gimbal-Ratchet-Reversible/dp/B0D957GK4F/?tag=toolguyd-20
Gearwrench Gimbal Ratchet: https://www.amazon.com/GearWrench-81270-Drive-Gimbal-Ratchet/dp/B00HDSSJKU/?tag=toolguyd-20
Craftsman Gimbal Ratchet Set: https://www.amazon.com/CRAFTSMAN-Socket-Ratchet-26-Piece-CMMT12004/dp/B07QKPKQ23/?tag=toolguyd-20
Sears also had Craftsman gimbal ratchets – https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/craftsman-gimbal-ratchets/%3C/a%3E – that predate Stanley Black & Decker’s purchase of the brand name.
Would you agree that ATG likely made all of them? ATG made gimbal ratchets for Craftsman under Sears, and appears to be making gimbal ratchets for Craftsman under SBD. Meaning, that Craftsman was a “mere paper company under Sears” doesn’t hold much meaning as far as the tools are concerned.
Cody
Bought a few V-Series items at Lowe’s when they had them at blowout prices over Christmas. Have to be some of my favorite tools, and much of it was rebranded USAG/Facom from Europe. A dealer in Euro tools has the USAG version of essentally the same set I have as V-Series–$150 when I paid like $30.
Modern Lowe’s Craftsman however, hand tools and power tools–your best best it just to skip Lowe’s and go on to Harbor Freight. Cheaper and better quality. I’d put a lot of Icon on par with V-Series. Even a lot of the lower-end items from Quinn, Doyle/Bremen, and Pittsburgh are quite good.
For regular use tools, I stick with Proto or CAT/Williams as they’re reasonably priced, but US-made (though both brands have outsourced quite a bit to Taiwan lately). Also, a lot of Knipex and PB Swiss.