USA made tools

[Sir Henry]

I work all day outside and then at night I shop ebay for American made tools. I bid low on many items and usually only win one in twenty if even that. Here is a Snap-On breaker bar and set of hex sockets, a Craftsman torx and Allen wrench’s and a Utica gas fitting pliers. The 1/4” driver is a Williams. These are all separate listings and I got them cheap. Sometimes listings just don’t get high bids.

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[daytime dave]

Nice assortment of tools Gene.

[Cowboy Gun Fan]

Love USA Made stuff.

For a while, everything I had was USA Made, till it became almost impossible or ridiculously too unreasonable.

All my Guns still are though, Cars and Trucks too!

[dave77]

Great that you are able to find affordable quality used tools on Ebay. I don't know who can afford to buy new Snap On tools. $400 for a 13 pc 1/2" socket set, $210 for a 1/2" ratchet, $620 for a 11 piece wrench set, $220 for a 7 piece screwdriver set. $1450 for a very basic set of tools, $1000's more for other necessary tools. You could just break down and get their top of the line complete set for only $56,285.

https://shop.snapon.com/product/US-Set- ... )/9600GSBO

[Cowboy Gun Fan]

Great that you are able to find affordable quality used tools on Ebay. I don't know who can afford to buy new Snap On tools. $400 for a 13 pc 1/2" socket set, $210 for a 1/2" ratchet, $620 for a 11 piece wrench set, $220 for a 7 piece screwdriver set. $1450 for a very basic set of tools, $1000's more for other necessary tools. You could just break down and get their top of the line complete set for only $56,285.

https://shop.snapon.com/product/US-Set- ... )/9600GSBO

Falls in the category of ridiculous that I mentioned above, lol.

I wanted an Axle Puller once. I walked inside a Snap On truck and almost fell over on the price. I then asked him how much just for the flange part figuring that I could make the rest of it myself. The price just for the flange? $100. Soon after I found a whole Axle Puller Kit with Extra Accessories and Metal Box to boot from Harbor Freight for $36. Guess which one I bought, lol. Works great any time I need it.

[Sir Henry]

Great that you are able to find affordable quality used tools on Ebay. I don't know who can afford to buy new Snap On tools. $400 for a 13 pc 1/2" socket set, $210 for a 1/2" ratchet, $620 for a 11 piece wrench set, $220 for a 7 piece screwdriver set. $1450 for a very basic set of tools, $1000's more for other necessary tools. You could just break down and get their top of the line complete set for only $56,285.

https://shop.snapon.com/product/US-Set- ... )/9600GSBO

Some of the vintage USA made Craftsman tools are almost that expensive. Garage sales are a great place to get them cheap and of course ebay if you want to spend hours and hours shopping. I like to listen to the Brewers games on the radio and will often be scouring ebay at the same time.

[clovishound]

I got hooked on buying old woodworking hand tools years ago. Most of that was at flea markets, and occasionally antique shops. My brother and I would try and hit a few fleas whenever I went down to Florida to visit. The fun thing about most of them was picking them up cheap and then rehabbing them back into working order. I was never that good at saw sharpening, but I could put a hand plane back into shape to take nice paper thin shavings. Most of the planes were pre-WWII Stanley planes. A few were pre WWI.

[dave77]

Great that you are able to find affordable quality used tools on Ebay. I don't know who can afford to buy new Snap On tools. $400 for a 13 pc 1/2" socket set, $210 for a 1/2" ratchet, $620 for a 11 piece wrench set, $220 for a 7 piece screwdriver set. $1450 for a very basic set of tools, $1000's more for other necessary tools. You could just break down and get their top of the line complete set for only $56,285.

https://shop.snapon.com/product/US-Set- ... )/9600GSBO

Some of the vintage USA made Craftsman tools are almost that expensive. Garage sales are a great place to get them cheap and of course ebay if you want to spend hours and hours shopping. I like to listen to the Brewers games on the radio and will often be scouring ebay at the same time.

How old? I still have my Craftsman 1/2" ratchet, breaker bar, socket set and combination wrench set from the late 60's. Also have a 1/4" socket set inherited from my step father, not sure of it's age but older than my 1/2"set.

[dave77]

I got hooked on buying old woodworking hand tools years ago. Most of that was at flea markets, and occasionally antique shops. My brother and I would try and hit a few fleas whenever I went down to Florida to visit. The fun thing about most of them was picking them up cheap and then rehabbing them back into working order. I was never that good at saw sharpening, but I could put a hand plane back into shape to take nice paper thin shavings. Most of the planes were pre-WWII Stanley planes. A few were pre WWI.

Do you ever watch the Woodwright's Shop? Amazing how many different tools they used to use. Here's a whole episode on beading planes.

https://www.pbs.org/video/the-venerable-bead-rvo9nq/

[Sir Henry]

Great that you are able to find affordable quality used tools on Ebay. I don't know who can afford to buy new Snap On tools. $400 for a 13 pc 1/2" socket set, $210 for a 1/2" ratchet, $620 for a 11 piece wrench set, $220 for a 7 piece screwdriver set. $1450 for a very basic set of tools, $1000's more for other necessary tools. You could just break down and get their top of the line complete set for only $56,285.

https://shop.snapon.com/product/US-Set- ... )/9600GSBO

Some of the vintage USA made Craftsman tools are almost that expensive. Garage sales are a great place to get them cheap and of course ebay if you want to spend hours and hours shopping. I like to listen to the Brewers games on the radio and will often be scouring ebay at the same time.

How old? I still have my Craftsman 1/2" ratchet, breaker bar, socket set and combination wrench set from the late 60's. Also have a 1/4" socket set inherited from my step father, not sure of it's age but older than my 1/2"set.

I’m guessing you have the V-series.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/195900030546?m ... media=COPY

Surprisingly it’s the newer stuff made just before it was being made in China that has the real value.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/175867729344?m ... media=COPY

[Cowboy Gun Fan]

I've bought many of my Craftsman tools at the Flea Market. The nice thing is that they "were" guaranteed for life. Since Sears has gone out, I don't believe they are guaranteed anymore. Even though many places are still selling them.

[daytime dave]

I have mostly Craftsman tools from the 90's until they started to not be made in the US of A. I found the guarantee almost unneccessary as they have lasted very well. I can count on one hand how many Craftsman tool exchanges I had to make (when you could).
I have also purchased some tools at Harbor Freight. They are the secondary tools for things like camp and barn. I have since re-thought that strategy because when I needed to use them in a difficult application, I have found some of them coming up a little short.
My new thought process is USA made John Deere tools. They get pricey.

[clovishound]

Do you ever watch the Woodwright's Shop? Amazing how many different tools they used to use. Here's a whole episode on beading planes.

https://www.pbs.org/video/the-venerable-bead-rvo9nq/

Yes, I am quite familiar with "Saint Roy". He is both entertaining and educational. I don't have any beading planes, despite the fact that wooden beading and moulding planes were common and often inexpensive items at a lot of the fleas. I really never had a use for them, and was a little intimidated at sharpening them. I do have a (hand) router plane that does a good job with some applications.

[Cowboy Gun Fan]

I have mostly Craftsman tools from the 90's until they started to not be made in the US of A. I found the guarantee almost unneccessary as they have lasted very well. I can count on one hand how many Craftsman tool exchanges I had to make (when you could).

Same here Dave. In over 50 years of collecting tools, mostly Craftsman, I have returned very few all through the years. But a few are showing their wear now and I asked at Lowes, who now sell them too, and was told no more guarantee. But I'm going to give it another try somewhere just to verify that.

[Ernie]

I got an older craftsman socket wrench replaced at Lowes a couple of months ago. Maybe they won't replace the new tools.

[clovishound]

I bought a 1/2 in drive Craftsman socket set when I was in high school, probably 1971. At some point the ratchet stopped working properly. I quit using it for a while and then one day decided to see if I could get it repaired. I went to a local Sears, they were still open at that time, and they wanted to exchange it for a rebuilt one. I said, "No, it's got sentimental value since I'd had it so long.". He said they had some repair kits for the ratchet mechanism. He found one that fit that model, and I said I could install it myself. Got it back up and running.

[Sir Henry]

I thought this lawsuit about Craftsman fraud might interest people.

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/ ... tsman.html

[Hatchdog]

Yesterday I needed to pull the water heater anode rod out to drain the tank in the rv. I grabbed the 1/2” ratchet I always use which is a craftsman and yep, made in the USA. I have lots of craftsman tools and have had them for many years so I expect they are all USA made. I have a small 4” bench vise from craftsman and it too says made in the USA.

[Sir Henry]

This website will tell you when and where your Craftsman tool was made. Fascinating reading if you like Craftsman.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/thr ... ges.84807/

[Sir Henry]

I bought a few Craftsman V,VV, and G code 1/2” drive sockets and ratchet/breaker/spinner tools. The sockets go up to 1-1/2” and 32mm. The Channels locks and other tools I’ve had.

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These weren’t a super bargain but still a good deal.