Just right.

Happy.

quote:

Originally posted by ewills:
old plastic handle screwdrivers that smell like barf when you open the drawer....

Why IS that??
A coworker and I have joked for years that our screwdriver drawers smell like puke. I thought it was just us who had experienced that.

Anyway... I'm glad Craftsman is bringing some manufacturing back. Good!

I have quite a bit of Craftsman tools in the garage. They work well and some of them go back to the 80's.

You do know that cat just died.

This is good news. I still have most of the Craftsmen wrenches and socket sets I purchased in the 70’s. They were built rock solid then.

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:

quote:

Originally posted by ewills:
old plastic handle screwdrivers that smell like barf when you open the drawer....

Why IS that??
A coworker and I have joked for years that our screwdriver drawers smell like puke. I thought it was just us who had experienced that.

Nope. I've noticed it, and wondered about it, myself, for as long as I can remember.

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
It’s important to note that—using more advanced manufacturing techniques—they will be able to produce tools at a cost similar to production costs in China.
We will be seeing more and more manufacturing return to the USA. However, these will be highly automated factories, with far fewer employees than were used in the past.
Apple is going to be manufacturing some products in the US again, I understand.

Despite the fewer jobs, it will be good to be able to buy USA-made products—assuming of course that the quality is there.

Now if only we could bring drug manufacturing back home....

It's still going to be more employees in the US than they had when they were being produced in China.


I do agree with everyone that Kobalt was/is better quality lately than Craftsman, BUT a lot less variety. Craftsman has come up with A LOT of very innovative new tool designs in the past 10 years. I believe Craftsman was bought by Stanley tools a few years back.



I deal with shipping on freighters a lot. What has always baffled me is how it somehow was cheaper to ship the raw material from here (on some goods) to China, have something manufactured out of it, then ship it all of the way back and it's somehow cheaper than just making it down the street.

Hopefully with the changeover the the head of the open end wrenches will go back to the original Craftsman profile. Because the China made wrenches feature a profile that is distinctly bulkier and that makes for interference problems when working in a confined area.

Note, I wish I had the tool box I put together back in the 70's but it was stolen out of my car. Damned thieves stole the car just for that tool box, something that had taken years to put together that contained every tool one might need for a roadside repair and nothing extra at all. BTW, "roadside repair" includes a complete engine dis-assembly and re-assembly. Also did things to personalize the tools such as checkering the grips on the ratchets with a hand file to reduce hand slippage when the hands are greasy.

quote:

Stanley Black & Decker has issued an investor press release, saying that they will be opening a new Craftsman factory in Fort Worth, Texas.