There has been a lot of discussion on this board about "Crapsman" tools. Some good some not-so-good. I happen to like their tools...most that is w/ a few exceptions... the router being one of them.
I'm wondering who makes Craftsman power tools? Is it a wholly owned company or an exsiting co. that makes tools under it's own name or different comanies? I know the Danaher tool co of Conn. (or is that Mass ?) makes their hand tools like ratchet wrenches and sockets etc. It's easy to see that their refridgerators are made by Whirlpool, but who makes their power tools like cordless/ corded drills, saws etc?
There's a list of who has made their tools over the years. It may not be totally up-to-date, and changes may occur even as someone tells you who makes what. Most of the pneumatic tools (nailers, etc.) are from Colovos Co., while Orion makes the new line of table saws. Colovos also provides the industrial table saws, jointer, planers. I think, but won't swear to this, that Ryobi makes many of the smaller power tools, the cordless drills, etc. There are numerous others in the mix, too, and who makes what can change from year to year, as contracts run out and new designs pop up. For example, Emerson made the table saws for many years, with Ryobi taking over from them. That didn't last too long as Orion brought on their new designs. As an incidental point, the people running Orion are old Delta hands who weren't happy with the move from Pittsburgh. There is constant competition, though. And the contract details, of course, are not public, so you don't normally know what the terms are. My bet is that very seldom is a term over three years. Short term lengths tend to keep competition keen.
Charlie Self "The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." John Kenneth Galbraith
Depends on the tool. Different brands. They have a 5-1/4" angle grinder that's made by Skil and a jigsaw made by Bosch for example. Don't know who makes the cheap stuff.
Everyone knocks Sears, but can you imagine how many folks started off with their tools [myself included] .There was a time not that long ago when there were not that many tool supplyers around. Oh their quality was not that of many of the top dealers today but neither were their prices ....mjh
I have used crapsman tools for a few years but after replacing the first one with a real tool I was then kind of mad at myself for wasting the money on the craftsman when I could have spent a bit more on better tools and saved a few pieces of wood and some frustration when the tools didn't perform as well as they should. In the short term the cheaper craftsman tools look like a good deal but looking at the long term, I've had to replace each one so I'm out both the money of the good tool and the money spent on the craftsman. The cost of a couple craftsman tools that had to be replaced was enough to buy something better in the first place. Of course its not just craftsman, I have a worthless Black and Decker jigsaw and threw away and old skil circular saw a few years ago because I bought cheap. But I have learned that buying cheaper tools doesn't save any $ because you have to re-buy them again. I have bought my father three different cordless drills over the last few years and still have and use and abuse my 9.6V Makita from 1995. So when he needed another cordless drill (4th one now) I picked up a Makita and now instead of buying a new drill every couple years I buy him something else to go along with the one he has because it actually lasts more than a couple years. My point is if you don't start with the cheap stuff then you don't need to upgrade as soon.
I too believe Craftsman tools often get an unfair knock. My first table saw was a Craftsman and it served me well for many years as I was learning my woodworking skills -- particularly after I added a Biesemeyer home shop fence to it. I believe if you start out with these moderately priced tools, once you are ready to upgrade, you have a much better idea of what you want/need.
You're both right. Some Craftsman tools are just re-branded tools by other makers, good or bad. Some of the older tools were pretty good. At some point, profit at a low selling price became the main theme of tool design and the quality faded.
If you re-brand tools from Bosch, Milwaukee, etc, the offerings are better than those from Ryobi or B & D. Use caution and investigate and you may get a good buy. Sears often has deep discount on the sale items.
While what you say about cheap tools is in general true, it is true of all brands of cheap tool and not only of Craftsman. And there are many high quality tools sold under the Craftsman brand at prices similar to those charged for the same tool under the manufacturer's brand.
If you look at their $180 biscuit jointer, it's obvious that it's a DeWalt 672... I was at Orchard Supply (the cheap place to buy Craftsman) looking at sabre/jig saws and they actually had them displayed WITH the Skill brand ones... one quick look at each model side by side and you could see that they were Skill with different labels..
And my point is often that if some people can't start with low end stuff, then they'll NEVER be able to afford to start. The yuppie viewpoint is great, but not everyone can afford to pay for it.
Charlie Self "The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." John Kenneth Galbraith
I'm positively not getting into any political discussion, but I thought you might find the following interesting as it shows how the current liberal & conservative behave before a presidential run.
From:
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's returns from 1995 and earlier, before his marriage to Heinz, have sometimes attracted criticism over the issue of charitable giving.
In 1995, according to published reports, Kerry reported a taxable income of $126,179, and charitable contributions of $0. In 1994, he reported income of $127,884, and charitable donations of $2,039. In 1993, he reported income of $130,345, and contributions of $175. In 1992, he reported income of $127,646, and contributions of $820. In 1991, he reported income of $113,857, and contributions of $0.
As far as Bush is concerned, in 1991, the future president, then a private citizen, reportedly had income of $179,591, and charitable contributions of $28,236. In 1992, Bush reported income of $212.313, and contributions of $31,914. In 1993, Bush reported income of $610,772, and contributions of $31,292. In 1994, Bush reported income of $474,937 and in 1995, income of $419,481. Published reports at that time did not list Bush's charitable contributions for those two years.
In 5 years John Kerry, who earned $625,911 in that period, donated $3,034 to charity. That's .5% of his income.
In those same 5 years George Bush, who earned $1,893,091, donated $91,442 (more likely the amount was over $150,00 if the missing years were added). Even minus the two missing years that's 4.8% of his income.
If you assume that Bush's donations were actually $150,000 (probably a low estimate) over the five years, he would have donated 7.9% of his income to charity.
It seems that Senator Kerry should be the last person to talk about the Good Samaritans.
To his credit once Kerry married money he started giving to charity on a level comparable to what George Bush had been doing for years. Remember to thank Teresa for getting Kerry started down the charitable contribution path...
Not to mention the fact that some of the good tool companies have some cheap crap as well. I usually buy Delta, and I'm almost always very happy with their tools- but then you get something like a benchmaster disc/belt sander combo, and while it is good for the price, it's hardly an impressive tool. Ditto for the small band saws- the big ones may be wonderful (I don't know) but the little one I've got is barely worth the deeply discounted price I paid for it.
On the other hand, their customer service kicks ass!
I resemble that remark. If I hadn't been able to get a $130 band saw at Sears when I was a student, I probably would never have had a band saw. It was a piece of crap as band saws go, but it was better than nothing.
wow.. you rang a bell there, Trent! The router that I've been using for over 20 years and never thought about brand-wise is a craftsman... After all the use and abuse of just about all of my friends and neighbors, and me once in a while, I had my first problem with it last week.. The return spring on the little arm that locks the shaft for bit changes broke... I replaced it with one I had (I never throw ANYTHING away) in about 20 min... most of that time was taken to clean under and around the faceplate for the 1st time ever..
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