Do you care where your tools are manufactured?

My Craftsman tool set was bought in 1965. The differences are less, but still there in the open end set, dramatic on the box wrenches. I'd pay more for a 1965 model that a free one from the present set.

Do I ever know that smell!

At the bicycle shop, we call that smell "L'essence de China".

It's a mixture of paint, sea container "stank", plastic fumes, and the sweat of children and forced labor.

Anytime we open a shipment from North America or Europe, the smell is noticably missing.

Oddly enough, they sell them everywhere else but North America. Many Tacomas are sold worldwide, as the Hilux, with diesel engines. The 4 liter gas V6 is a North America-only powerplant.

The pickup truck as we know it, is kind of an American novelty in certain ways.

Everywhere I've been around the world, most light commercial trucks are either Sprinter-style vans or small, 6 wheel diesel cabover trucks, ala Mitsubishi or Hino. I've seen both with 4 wheel drive.

It's very rare to see something like our leather-encrusted, quad-cab, chrome plated pickups. It's not that you wouldn't see NICE, _EXPENSIVE_ vehicles around, just that they're usually cars. The rest of the world seems to have a much more distinct line between truck and car, and different tastes.

FWIW, Toyota is playing with a large dually diesel now:

It's got an 8.0 litre, inline-six turbo diesel.

Craftsman open end and box wrenches both come in several patterns, in different lengths and offsets. The ones you got 40 years ago didn't have so much variety. So make sure you're comparing apples with apples and not comparing one wrench with another designed for a different purpose.

Your comment was "not nearly enough". The customer base for the product was steadily growing and the operation was quite profitable, more so than the other segment in the company that had always depended on imports and big box positioning. Under what criteria do you assign a "not nearly enough" definition to the size of that select customer base?

If you are right, with the strategy of consolidation and globalization now firmly in place, it should be growing even faster and even more profitable. Not so. Try shrinking and losing.

Frank

You might want to check again. While China is nominally Communist they have in fact recognized that Taiwan and British Hong Kong were eating their lunch and so they have implemented a number of free trade zones that work on a capitalistic system.

What, specifically, are the differences? Other than the style of print and other cosmetic differences, I see absolutely no other changes from the earliest to the latest in the combination sets/pieces I have. Granted other than this one replacement, there probably isn't one that's less than 10, but this was just last year the jaw on one combo wrench failed (of course, it has some help in that... :) ).

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At least it's U.S. companies, which represents a vast improvement over the previous administration, whose cronies were (and still are) the paid agents of the ChiComm government and military. Google "John Huang" and "Charlie Hsu" for examples.

Well, not having full access to the books nor having a seat on the board of directors, it's not quite possible to fully answer in detail for your specific former employer. The remark was, however, made as an overall generalization, not a specific case study.

There was also one very important additional word in the comment you have chosen to not quote and that was "apparently" which was simply a reflection of the reality of what was chosen to be done. If they were satisfied w/ the growth and size of the market one would presume the decision would have gone another direction.

I understand your position and sympathize but facts is facts on both sides of the equation. You see one set; it's pretty clear management saw another based on their actions.

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Yes, that simply completes a transition that started roughly 20 years ago...

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Until recently their Craftsman Professional jigsaw was a Bosch. Now it's an Australian made Triton, which may be a brilliant move on both parts--Triton makes good stuff and they've never had a major US distributer before. If I hadn't just gotten a new Bosch I might give it a try just to see if it's as good as other Triton stuff.

The only smell I've ever assciated with anything from Harbor Freight is that of cutting oil and Cosmoline. I've not noticed such a smell at any of the Sears in the area.

Every tool I've ever had with a polished plastic case has shown that "bit of oily film"--it's mold release.

I don't really give a damn about cardboard boxes--if I want a case for a tool I'll make or buy one. Every time I've used a cardboard box the bottom has come out of it at an inconvenient time. If they want to use cheaper boxes that's fine.

Coffee.

Which table saws?

What specific corners were cut?

Aside from a few pricey German models intended for precision miniature work most of them are, from anybody.

For certain values of "job".

The new ones are

Is the frame plastic? If not then what difference does it make if the accessories are?

The Orion-built Craftsman saw comes standard with a Biesemeyer fence. No "upselling", it comes in the box.

How long ago? There was a time when 500 bucks would get you a new car.

What is "HD"? Ordinarily I would assume "Home Depot" but they discontinued Jet a long time ago. If you want to say that Sears doesn't have a decent contractor saw I'll agree with you. If you want a good 500 buck saw Ridgid is probably your best bet.

This is hardly unique to Sears.

So are hamburgers, coffee, and gas. What of it? It's called "inflation".

The Craftsman wrenches are also American made. If you object to their selling American made goods be sure and write them and tell them that you'd prefer they sell Chinese for a fraction of the price, but don't come crying to me when they take you at your word.

So you're asserting that the Chinese product is superior to the American product?

Looks to me like you're judging the quality of tools based on the odor of the store and the quality of the packaging rather than on how well they work.

That 'scent' makes me gag. I have posted to that topic before and since then (not because of) I have noticed more and more people complaining about it. I'm looking for 4 tires for Angela's car, so I poked my head around the corner at our local WalMart and FN lost my lunch. Tire stores used to smell GOOD!

I tried a line of solid surface sinks (to be undermounted) made in China. My distributor gave me a couple to play with. They were actually well packaged, but a part of the package was a slab of...mmm..whatshallIcallit...kinda particle board, sorta pressed horseshit,..but VERY stinky. An oily, pissy, vomity, college-bathroom- pub-floor (so I been told). The $ 50.00 savings per sink didn't cut it.

Bonehenge now, huh? Love it!

So what part of my post do you disbelieve and need additional proof? I'm constrained from being able to offer it, just curious as to why you would question my credibility.

I see, however, you commented in a portion of the thread that was talking about woodworking machinery.

I have no idea what you just said.

Corporate leaders, who have not really done much but have fast tracked to the top, rarely have the insight to leave well enough alone when they have the "golden goose" They often want to kill it to get the "gold"

There are no facts on the Corporate hack side of the equation, only speculation. Sustained profitability and growth over a long period of time is a fact. A strategy of greed is not based on any fact whatsoever, just a gleem in ones eye. "if we can squeeze a little more out of this thing, our bonuses will be much larger". I'm sorry you can find sympathy in that attitude, it is one of the reasons they get away with it.

Frank

The wrenches I have are styled like the deep offset, but are not as deep.

Looking on their web page, I found some deep offset wrenches

Same here, but the point I was making is that quality and "made in the USA" are not always the same thing. In fact, they are not usually the same thing most of time. Where a product is made should be irrelevant to what the quality of the product is. A toy made with lead paint is dangerous whether it's made in China or Chicago. Far too many people act like "Made in the USA" is a stamp of quality, not location.

Different computer.

I'm _always_ B A R R Y!

Also because they figured the gravy train would never end so why bother worrying about it. Now, instead of quality, most U.S. products are made on the cheap, with tech support in India, and merchandised to people who think "Made in the USA" means it's decent.

Precisely. They succeed because they want to succeed, they're hungry for success. You get a lot of American companies who think that because they bother to open their doors in the morning, they deserve success and the world will beat a path to their door because they're Americans.

Ain't so.

There was a time 15-20 years ago when Delta was the top of the line and brands like Jet were looked upon as crap. Now the situation has reversed and you're getting the brands that were laughed at years ago getting all the awards and traditionally respected brands losing out.