Craftsman replacing Kobalt?

[Everlearn]

I don’t like what’s happened to the Craftsman stuff. I have vintage hand tools and a mechanics set of Craftsman I bought at an estate sale 5-6 years ago. Priceless stuff to me. The rest is a mix of what I like best. All my battery stuff is 20v Dewalt Max XR, some of my shop stuff is Dewalt. I’ve had a love hate with Harbor Freight for years. Some of their stuff is unbeatable for price/performance. I have a pipe bender, threader, parts washer (heavily modified in another thread) wheel dollies and some impact stuff from them. In my wood shop, Dewalt, Jet, Porter Cable, Delta. I have a 1957 Dewalt radial arm saw I got at the thrift store up the street for $20. Came with a metal box full of the original manual, bill of sale, vintage blades and a dado set. Looks almost new. My favorite is a 1953 Foley Belsaw 13” bed planer. Bought it for $10. Fixed the power cord, mounted a new set of carbide blades and fired it up. It’s got a 5hp 220v motor. Chews thru stuff my Dewalt 735 wimps out on.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Since I have had pretty good luck with Pittsburg impact sockets and people were speaking highly of the Pro stuff I looked at them today when I was at HF.

Looked neat (maybe nitrided?) but they only had laser etching for the sizes. My cheapies are stamped which I very much prefer.

 

[Josh B]

Husky indeed is Home Depot's house brand.

Husky (disambiguation) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Werner is a private manufacturer primarily of ladders. They are sold at many retailers, not just Home Depot.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Co

.

I think you're talking tools sir, and I'm only referring to ladders.
Do a search on Husky ladder Home depot and follow any Home Depot link, see what kind of ladders you find there. Then go into a store and look. All I found at either one were Werner

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I think you're talking tools sir, and I'm only referring to ladders.
Do a search on Husky ladder Home depot and follow any Home Depot link, see what kind of ladders you find there. Then go into a store and look. All I found at either one were Werner

I've been dealing with ladders for most of my working life (about 35 years) doing siding. Werner ladders is well known to make good ladders. I have no doubt that they will make ladders for husky and home depot too.
PS it could be that Werner was taken over by HD or Husky.

 

[Dirtman]

I make my own ladders.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

I make my own ladders.

View attachment 34100

Man. That guy must hate his business.

Or its just an Ace. And we know their ladders are sh*try.

 

[Josh B]

I've been dealing with ladders for most of my working life (about 35 years) doing siding. Werner ladders is well known to make good ladders. I have no doubt that they will make ladders for husky and home depot too.
PS it could be that Werner was taken over by HD or Husky.

I have no clue Always, but after seeing an 8ft Husky at an estate sale, knowing it from the countless times I had used them on commercial job-sites, and buying it, I began a search for it's current status, price, etc. and could find absolutely nothing current about an actual Husky.

I think around 95 I took a vacation and came home a week or two, picked up an aluminum folding ladder at a sale of some sort for I think it was $5, and left it here for my father. It was in two sections, and folded into three places, as a 6ft, then a very wide spot, and then out into a straight 12ft. It was obviously missing the bottom outrigger due to the notches in each leg bottom. I found an 800 number on one of the labels and from TN I called them to order another outrigger bar(simple straight aluminum bar that spanned the legs and extended out each side a foot or so to add stability)

Called them up and the guy was more than happy to send me a new bar, no charge. I even called him back and asked if he'd send it to my father in OK instead, as I'd left it there for him, he seemed just happy to send it to him.
Then I forgot about it till moving home in 2006 and found it still here, and still works just great, handy as hek.

I did some internet searches for the brand, and apparently they'd been under an enormous lawsuit over a lemon ladder at the time I had talked to them about the outrigger bar, and had long since vanished.

After acquiring the Husky I had to wonder if they had met the same fate, but as I pointed out in earlier posts, it seems they all do some shell game maneuvers after either getting stressed, or maybe stripped by their prospective corporations

 

[Locotomb]

I still have my 316 pc set I bought when I was 18. Almost 20 years now, and they still work great. Unfortunately I hear you have to mail in your broken tools to craftsman to get the warranty. No more in store. I may be wrong.

 

[Dirtman]

Do Sears even exist anymore? I use to bring broken tools to Sears all the time to get them replaced... I'd pick up some new pants, get a new pair of glasses, grab a few fishing lures, stock up on motor oil, and get a toilet seat while I was there. Man Sears was awesome.

 

[Locotomb]

Here in WA, they do not. But I think they still run their website and a few stores in other locations.

 

[sgtsandman]

Do Sears even exist anymore? I use to bring broken tools to Sears all the time to get them replaced... I'd pick up some new pants, get a new pair of glasses, grab a few fishing lures, stock up on motor oil, and get a toilet seat while I was there. Man Sears was awesome.

There are a few stores around but they are becoming more rare than hen's teeth. I fully expect Kmart and Sears to fully fold in the next few years.

 

[Josh B]

I think Sear's lost it's edge with the purchase of Kmart, which from what I saw was one of the earlier purveyors of the shell game trick(or whatever it would be) where they changed products every 90 days or so in order to (from what I believed) avoid upholding warranties and such.
It always seemed like a short time after buying an item, if you went back there looking for accessories or parts, the item would be (in their store anyway) "obsolete"

 

[Dirtman]

I think Sear's lost it's edge with the purchase of Kmart, which from what I saw was one of the earlier purveyors of the shell game trick(or whatever it would be) where they changed products every 90 days or so in order to (from what I believed) avoid upholding warranties and such.
It always seemed like a short time after buying an item, if you went back there looking for accessories or parts, the item would be (in their store anyway) "obsolete"

This is why I started buying dewalt cordless stuff and refuse to buy anything else. Every other damn tool company comes out with a different battery style every year so when the batteries die you need to buy whole new tools. Dewalt has had the same battery for 20+ years. They may upgrade them as new tech comes out but they keep the same connection so you can put the new batteries on old tools.

I look at fancy cordless stuff and just shake my head because I know itll be in a dumpster in a few years even if the tool itself still works fine.

 

[Curious Hound]

Do Sears even exist anymore? I use to bring broken tools to Sears all the time to get them replaced... I'd pick up some new pants, get a new pair of glasses, grab a few fishing lures, stock up on motor oil, and get a toilet seat while I was there. Man Sears was awesome.

WAS. Awesome

 

[Everlearn]

WAS. Awesome

Corporate frickin greed, and the hollowing out of the middle class since the mid-70’s. Union labor (and wages) built this country post-WW2. Once Reagan broke the ATC Union, the die was cast......Sears was the Amazon of the day. You could buy anything from a kit house to a tractor via mail order. Imagine if they had survived into the Internet era. They already had the model, just no vision. Once the corporate raiders descended, all the money went to their minions.