Couldn't resists a new Craftsman tool box.

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tourrider

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Tourrider, well done. I also replaced two 40 yr old Sears tool box's last week. Great discounts at our local store. 1/2 off. Then I spent the week reorg the tools, cleaning up the box's and re labeling the drawers. Long over due. Very satisfying. BTW, rummer is, Sears will re org. New management team. A number of the people in our store say they are staying to see. Just think how shrewd Harbor Freight is. They see the change in competition, Sears OSH etc. So they adjust their business model to move away from all low end quality and price and now offer some good quality choices. Can still get the "use it once" cheap stuff but now they get the customer who wants quality for value. Our store was packed this weekend.

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Looking good! i'm keeping my eye on Sears :) I don't worry too much about the warranty thing. I think in over 40 years, I've exchange maybe 12 pieces. Mostly ratchets, screw drivers, and a couple of sockets. The sockets were usually my fault due to misuse with an impact gun. My tool mutilations were usually when I broke out a cutting touch or welder to make some specially tool.
 
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Jendsley06

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Warranties are good don’t get me wrong. They just don’t do the warranty in store. Gotta mail or drive aways to exchange items


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Last week I need to go to the local Lowe's and asked about the Craftsman tools replacement policy. The cashier seemed shocked that I even asked. She called a manager who confirmed what she thought. If it's in the store they will warranty it. Just not sure how much selection they have yet.
 

Jwithing

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Since when did Lowe's start selling Craftsman??? I'm in there 3+ times a week and never noticed. Last I saw/heard years ago, Craftsman started manufacturing in China and it turned to crap and they also dropped the lifetime warranty. Did I miss something?
 

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I was at our Lowe's yesterday. Isle were full of Craftsman tool box's that just came in. Tool manager says he was told that Sears licensed Lowe's to sell the line. But other member's are right regarding change in quality. Found that there are now 4 grades of Craftsman tool box's.
 

SYKRAMMAN

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This sucks, I have a large box full of old broken sockets, ratchets, wrenches that I collected over the years and now cannot return them like I used to!
:wtf::mad3::favorites68::emotions122: I shouldn’t of waited so long to return them!
 

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My ole' Red, the box on the right is 42 years old. I bought it when I was eighteen and went to work as a mechanic for an excavating company, and side work for local farmers. The box is tired. I got the cheap black one to take some load of old red. Got what I paided for. I though I could get rid of the two for the new one. Don't know what I was smoking. Moved stuff the the new box, and then filled the old ones with all the stuff kicking around the rest of the garage.


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Bought the nifty Harbor Freight Rubber glove dispenser and paper towel holder.
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Still got my 42 year old electronic tuning tools :) Timing light and Dwell meter for the old MOPAR Muscle.
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I too have a craftsman. First tool box I ever bought in 1992. Dropped the top chest and wrecked it, but the bottom is still good.hard to pass up the one I use now though. Cost me 900 cdn top and bottom when it was discontinued and a really solid box. The newer version is way more money and a cheaper built box. 15430382030379032249378880564198.jpg 1543037945647764751824292888781.jpg
 

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Certainly not going to pooh pooh anyone's new toolbox but want to add that if you have a Harbor Freight tool store near you the US General box they sell is hard to beat for the money. I have a large craftsman box I purchased maybe 8-10 years ago to replace a smaller craftsman box I had. Shortly after buying my box I was introduced to the US General by a friend and I immediately had buyers remorse. The only way I felt sort of OK about my craftsman purchase was the fact I got it all on sale and saved a few hundred dollars. Hands down the US General is a better built box though.

As for Craftsman going to China for manufacturing that's a shame. I wised up quickly when they started to switch over to china made maybe 5 or 6 years ago and bought a couple of combination wrench sets and ratcheting box end wrench sets that were still USA made. This way I have some duplicates for the lost or broken stuff down the road. Also, over the years I purchased Snap On for my most used frequently used tools. I'm not drinking any Snap On cool-aid cause the tools are damn expensive but they are nice tools.
 

madtrucker2016

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I have a big red also ,love that tool box if I didn't have it I would never find any tool aim looking for. My tool box came with the top box was a different color red- the bottom and top did not match. Went back to store and they gave me 20 percent off the top box. That made me OK with it. I think this box will last forever.
 

ramportin1

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I think the vast majority of dislike for certain companies or products is just one person repeating what they have heard and then those people repeating it etc etc, or just a kind of prejudice against it not being "made in the U.S.A." Of course not all, but the majority I think.
I was a big craftsman fan before the change because they made a good quality (not AMAZING, but good) product for a fair price compared to the big dogs like snap-on who makes a amazing product for the biggest amount of money possible. I mean a $50 craftsman product could legitimately be in the $450 range for snap-on and that's just insanity. The craftsman change happened and immediately you started hearing about crap products being made and craftsman is now crapman and pure trash products, and people love to repeat things they hear like its fact that is just human nature happens all the time, but I have continued to buy craftsman products and have not yet got a bad one. Maybe I am just super lucky but I never am lol but idk I just know my experience. I probably have over 100 tools that are the new china made craftsman products and still have not been disappointed in quality when you compare price. I can say with absolute certainty that in my experience the china made craftsman ratchet wrenches are a better product than gear wrench yet gear wrench is far more popular, and you can get craftsman sets for cheaper then GW these days as well. I have 3 broken GW ratchet wrenches right now that I need to try and return and they are newer than my craftsman ones. My battery 1/2" craftsman impact gun is a absolute beast that gets abused pretty badly, has definitely been dropped multiple times and still works like clockwork.
This is all just my personal experience of course and opinion, not saying anyone is right or wrong.
Super long story short, I love my craftsman tool boxes and tools [emoji23]

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ramportin1

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Certainly not going to pooh pooh anyone's new toolbox but want to add that if you have a Harbor Freight tool store near you the US General box they sell is hard to beat for the money. I have a large craftsman box I purchased maybe 8-10 years ago to replace a smaller craftsman box I had. Shortly after buying my box I was introduced to the US General by a friend and I immediately had buyers remorse. The only way I felt sort of OK about my craftsman purchase was the fact I got it all on sale and saved a few hundred dollars. Hands down the US General is a better built box though.

As for Craftsman going to China for manufacturing that's a shame. I wised up quickly when they started to switch over to china made maybe 5 or 6 years ago and bought a couple of combination wrench sets and ratcheting box end wrench sets that were still USA made. This way I have some duplicates for the lost or broken stuff down the road. Also, over the years I purchased Snap On for my most used frequently used tools. I'm not drinking any Snap On cool-aid cause the tools are damn expensive but they are nice tools.
I have been eyeballing those boxes for a while now and have been real interested in checking them out. Now I think I'm going to have to! I've been wanting a real long bottom box for long time

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Halligan

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I have been eyeballing those boxes for a while now and have been real interested in checking them out. Now I think I'm going to have to! I've been wanting a real long bottom box for long time

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Whats nice is they offer them in different colors too. Red, orange, blue, lime green and I think yellow.
 

ramportin1

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Whats nice is they offer them in different colors too. Red, orange, blue, lime green and I think yellow.
Yeah for sure! I get the magazines mailed to me all the time and those are always on the front page, have been meaning to check them out for like a year or so just never have but now I think I'm going to. HF has some real gems mixed in with the junk that are awesome deals

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^^^The HF box's are decent quality. But to your point they are the same quality as a Craftsman professional. Our Sears store has always been a big tool dept store. The China price point tool cabinets are in fact red junk. Thin sheet metal poor quality soft China steel. BUT, when you go up to their bearing drawer heavier cabinets, they are decent but expensive. With the exception of those crap casters. Fitz
 

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I've been eyeing up the Craftsman boxes ever since Lowe's started carrying them. They seem like really good value for the money. I'll need to eventually replace/consolidate my boxes. I'm a diehard Milwaukee guy though so I might have to get their red box to match my tools [emoji23]
None of my boxes match though which bugs me.780281ee58afbbf3ed56837cbe790857.jpg
 
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