Over the years, the “Craftsman” name has been synonymous with hand tool quality. Recent developments, though, have challenged that perception in a big way.
If you’re looking to build a comprehensive starter set for the DIY’er in your life, is Craftsman still the way to go? For the record, I’m a Sears guy., but my father was employed by Sears my entire life, and still, most of the hand tools I have were tools that he either purchased at the store for his own use or purchased for me. Over the last 30 years of use and abuse, those tools have proven themselves to be quality items.
Contact Us
I’ve never broken a ratchet or rounded off a socket. The screwdrivers still maintain their Phillips and slotted tips (for the most part — we’ll get to that later), and the wrenches have never come apart.
I’ve never had to use Sears’ lifetime warranty to replace a tool, because they’ve simply never broken. What’s the problem, then? If those tools have worked well for 30 years, why not just recommend starting and ending the tool quest at the local Sears store? Well, if you can find a complete Craftsman set from 1986, buy it. One thing nice about older Craftsman tools is that they have a model number prefix, which you can decode to determine the original manufacturer of the tool. Look at the first three digits before the decimal point on the tool and.
Craftsman tools and the return policy on them have changed a lot in the meantime, and there may be significantly better options, with much greater variety, at a competitive price. We’ll compare four similarly-priced mechanics tool sets on quality, quantity and warranty and we’ve provided links to the online store for purchase, and to the complete warranties available online. All of these sets come it at around $150, but we’re calling the set “$200” because we’re also adding the one essential mechanic’s tool that’s never included in a “mechanic’s tool set”: a 3/8-inch drive torque wrench. We’ll select the 3/8-inch “clicker” style wrench that you dial to your preferred setting.
When you hit that torque value, the wrench clicks to indicate it’s tight.
I've been shopping for a 1/2' Torque Wrench mainly to change my mag wheels on my Miata which needs an average torque of approx 80 ft-lb. So far, I narrowed my choice down to the following two: 1) Sears (in Canada) has the Craftsman for $99.00. Many here have talked about it on the boards and seems to be a popular choice. This one has a torque range of 20 to 150 ft-lbs; and a warranty of 90 days for its calibration, and 1 year for everything else. 2) Canadian Tire, sells a brand name called MasterCraft Maximum which is also $99.00 but has a range of 50 to 250 ft-lbs.
It is a bit longer (26') and feels heavier too. The warranty is also 90 days for the calibration part BUT everything else is guaranteed for life! Afer reading many of the posts here, I see people really like the one from Sears, but I haven't seen anything about this Mastercraft one.
Maybe because it is exclusive to Canadian Tire? I even did a google search to see if there is anything like this in USA.
But Nothing came up. Except what's sold here at Canadian Tire. Has anyone had experience with it, and/or can comment about the pros and cons between those two? Having just recenlty moved to Canada I can say that the Mastercraft Maximum(MM) is better than Craftsman. Sears Sucks in Canada, at least here in Victoria! They never have anything in stock and no one knows anything?
I bought the MM gear wrenches and they are relabled Gear Wrench brand tools! With the MM brand they are cheaper then the nmae brand they slap MM on! SO what I am saying is if I already didn't have the Craftsman 1/2 dr torque wrench I would buy the MM FIRST! I have their MM compound miter saw and it is top of the line! AND it went on sale for $60 off the week after I bought it and I went in and they gave me the difference!:) You can't beat that for customer service!
I will always buy MM brand tools from Canadian Tire over Craftsman! Mainly to change my mag wheels 80 ft-lb.
Craftsman range of 20 to 150 ft-lbs MasterCraft Maximum range of 50 to 250 ft-lbs. I have absolutely no problems with my several Craftsman torque wrenches (different ranges). Also, you can usually find sales on Craftsman tools when you can buy them at very significant discounts if you can wait for the sale. But in any case, Torque Wrenches are more accurate and do a better job in the middle of their range. The MM wrench will be near the bottom of it's range and will not be as accurate as the Craftsman which will be closer to the middle of its range. They also make various ranges (thats why I have about 6 different torque wrenches).
Sears will not honor the warranty on their torque wrenches. Depends on which store and who you ask. In the old days, the torque wrenches were guaranteed accurate for either 1 year or 90 days - I don't remember which. But the mechanicals were guaranteed for life.
Some of the old timers at the stores will still exchange a broken one. If the entire thing is rusted, dented, and bent, then maybe not, but there is absolutely no reason why they shouldn't replace a torque wrench with a broken ratchet for a new one. If that doesn't work, I knew a guy that threatened to take back his entire roll-away full of tools. Sears guarantee 'satisfaction or your money back'. They replaced his out of warranty tool (a power tool, not a torque wrench).:D Oh yea, my 30+ year old torque wrench is still going strong, as is my 4 your old one. Still accurate too.
They are precision instruments - treat them like one, and they will out last you. Tim: It's less of a 'which store' issue now. More of a 'which generation tool'.
For at least the last 10 years the Torque wrenches have been outside the normal Sears warranty. Easy to read print in the catalogs, slighty hard to read print on the packing and, when I bought mine, even a printed note on the receipt. Even the signage for the sale tag at the time was footnoted. You may be able to bull an associate into a replacement but you'd be hard pressed to use 'nobody told me' as a defense. 'Satisfaction guaranteed' does have a time limit. My guess is you live somewhere where the return policy doesn't have to be posted all over the place.
The consumer protection laws in CA can cut both ways.:) -Rich. 2) Canadian Tire, sells a brand name called MasterCraft Maximum which is also $99.00 but has a range of 50 to 250 ft-lbs.
It is a bit longer (26') and feels heavier too. The warranty is also 90 days for the calibration part BUT everything else is guaranteed for life! Sorry for going off-topic or hijacking the thread but I have a question about the MM wrench. I got the 1/2' Maximum torque wrench mentioned above to augment my well-used Mastercraft Professional Series (precursor to their Maximum line and is over 8 years old now). The Maximum manual states NOT to turn more than one revolution past the minimum or maximum scale (50 for min, 250 for max).
How would I 'reset' the torque wrench back to 'zero' then? My older Mastercraft Professional series torque wrench has a 'zero' to reset to. I know for the more expensive torque wrenches, using split beam technology, etc won't require a reset to 'zero' after each use but I doubt the Mastercraft Maximum is in that category.
The Maximum manual states NOT to turn more than one revolution past the minimum or maximum scale (50 for min, 250 for max). How would I 'reset' the torque wrench back to 'zero' then?You don't go to 'zero' - you need to set the wrench to it's lowest setting on the scale. It's less of a 'which store' issue now. More of a 'which generation tool'. It can still be 'which person'. I've watched as someone took a wrench back (mine have never failed me). The young guy said 'It's not under warranty', but then the 'old' guy said, 'Well it should be', and he replaced it.
It was a well cared for wrench and the ratcheting mechanism failed - the stuff that used to be guaranteed forever. I suspect the reason they are no longer warranted forever, is that people though it should be accurate forever - that was never warranted forever, but people didn't understand it. It's easier to just give a short warranty for the entire thing than try to explain the differences to people. In any case, it's all a mute point to me, as my various Craftsman torque wrenches are all going fine. An out of cal torque wrench makes a great paper weight! I have a ratchet. How do you get them recalibrated?
There are a few places that do recalibrations. Search for them on the internet.
It should cost you $25-$50. How do you know it's out of calibration? Unless left set at a high torque setting for a long time or used very extensively, they really shouldn't go bad. For example, my 30+ year old Craftsman torque wrench is still in great calibration. Here's a place I've used. ($25 plus around $10 for shipping.
Ditto what Tim said; rachet pawls shouldn't bust. And try to position yourself so that you're pulling up on the wrench next time.:) -Rich Sears SELLS a repair kit. Once you put in the repair kit, the wrench then has to be recalibrated, which is an additional cost. If I remember, with the recalibration, the repair kit and time wasted, it wasn't worth messing with. The wrench works sometimes and sometimes it slips. Ergonomically, if the ratchet pawls slip and give way, pushing down you can break something - knuckles, wrist, hand.
Pulling up, you can hurt your back. With 80# of torque, I don't know of any position that's safe if the pawls give way. Sears and Craftsman used to be gold plated brands. I still have Craftsman tools that are 40 years old.
When I had a couple of bad ratchets a few years ago, I had no questions on the exchange. But with the torque wrench, several different Sears stores, and their Parts/ Repair outlet wouldn't exchange it.
I finally gave up. I used to have unquestioned brand loyalty to Craftsman ( and Kenmore) (and Diehard). I recently bought a Sears Diehard 100amp battery charger / starter. I'm on the 2nd one and it still has not started a car with a dead battery ( like it's advertised to do).
The battery has to have a little juice for the electronics to 'analyze' the battery. Another dead former gold plated brand in my opinion. I have 2 Craftsman torque wrenches and one Snap-On. All are nice but the SO is covered by warranty forever.And how often have you had to use that warranty?
I've read here about some people having problems with their Craftsman torque wrenches, but my experience has been that I've never had a problem. In my life time, I've only had to exchange about three Craftsman tools - one ratchet that was broke when I bought it, and two sockets - one broke because of the heavy duty impact I was using (on a regular 3/8ths drive socket), and the other broke because of the 8 foot 'cheater pipe' on the end of the breaker bar. I do like the idea that should I break a tool in the middle of a project on a Saturday afternoon, I can get the tool replaced now. With a Snap-On, I'd have to wait until Monday then track down the Snap-On truck and hopefully he would have it on the truck.
More like mastercrap! Yea, I know he isn't asking about it anymore, but I figured I'd say it anyway. I call it MasterCrap all the time cause most of their stuff is junk anyways. However, I do own a numerous amount of MasterCraft tools. Got a few hammers, gloves, screwdrivers, nut drivers, pliers, levels and socket set from them. They seem to hold up well to the abuse I put them through. Much better then some of the other names on the market.
However, the best part I like about them is their lifetime warranty. I break it and I take it back and get a new one. Just as brutus says.
The only stuff ill buy thats mastercraft is wrecking bars or rubber mallets. They go on sale for 60% off all the time You can't beat the sale price. Sometimes they go up to 70 or 75% here in Ontario. On a busy weekend if you go into Crappy you'll see the amount of those tools they sell. From your HO to your GC, everyone buys them.
Once you've registered your Italian Grand Expansion Pack, the Unlock Code obtained from this page will unlock your copy of Ivory along with the attached Italian Grand Expansion Pack. The Ivory Serial Number can be found on the inside cover of your Ivory manual. Italian Grand v1.5 Expansion If you own. Italian Grand. The extraordinary Italian 10 Foot Concert Grand Piano with Synthogy's highly acclaimed and groundbreaking Ivory II piano engine. Ivory II Studio Grands has been nominated by UK Future Music and Computer Music magazines as the Best Ivory Mobile Grand Now Available For. Synthogy ivory v1 5 keygen music. Native Instruments Alicia's Keys Big Concert Hall Preset sampled from Alicia Keys own Yamaha C3 Neo.
Heck I've even seen guys on Holmes on Homes use MasterCraft occasionally. They are cheap and so to speak expendable. If you lose one you can afford to replace it without breaking the bank.
If it breaks take it back and get a new one. I have a Klein 7/8 nut driver that I bought at HD for like 15 dollars max including the tax. I have a whole nut driver set from MasterCraft that I bought for under 10 dollars.
Not the same quality, 100% agreed. For what I use it for can the MasterCraft withstand the abuse, 100% yes. Eventhough its comparing apples to oranges, but bang for buck you come out winning. Now to pay full price for some of that MasterCraft stuff you go to be kidding me, no way some of it is over priced. I might buy something Masterforce if its something I don't regularly use (like a grinder or something like that). But for daily use, even if they're decent its still embarrassing to wip out your Masterforce hammer out of your Masterforce tool belt, get your Masterforce tape and get busy. I'll pay a few extra dollars for a little dignity.
Free download songs hindi film dushman rajesh khanna. Celomusic.com is not responsible for third party website content.
Just saying My former boss had a Masterforce hammer drill that was put through its paces and wouldn't quit. 1000s of tapcons, 1000s of holes in schedule 40 pipe. I was impressed, even though we'd talk smack when he bought it and whipped it out. 'May the force be with you' I did some research and what I found was they're Makitas with different name and color.
I own a MF linesman pliers. They have performed as fine as linesman could. At least they're better than Menards Tool Shop line!!!
This article does not any. Unsourced material may be challenged and. (December 2009) This article is about the brand, and not related to the Mastercraft product line sold in the US at, where the brand is used primarily for interior & exterior Doors. Mastercraft (stylized MasterCraft) is the exclusive hardware line of products. It is broken down into two lines: Mastercraft, which is the household series, and Mastercraft Maximum (formerly the Mastercraft Professional Series), which is the new professional series.
Warranties on lifetime guarantee products such as screwdrivers, socket sets, etc., are often honored without proof of purchase. Warranties with time limits such as those for power tools from Mastercraft or Mastercraft Maximum (often 3 and 5 years respectively) will only be honored with a proof of purchase. The items that are carried are classified in six categories, Stationary Power Tools, Handheld Power Tools, Hand Tools, Air Tools, Tool/Garage Storage, and Other Hardware accessories. Contents. Stationary power tools These include: table saws, bench grinders, table or spindle sanders, drill presses, arc welders, etc. Handheld power tools These Include: 12V, 14.4V, 18v and 20V cordless drills, 5A and 8A hammer drills, cordless 3K0 impact gun, reciprocating saws, circular saws, spin saws, rotary saws, angle grinders, electric stapler/nailers, cordless screwdrivers, chainsaws,sanders etc.
The latest additions to the portfolio are powered by 10.8V and 12V Lithium-Ion batteries. Hand tools These include: tape measures, sockets, ratchets, wrenches, squeeze tools (pliers, visegrips), screwdrivers, hammers, prybars, axes, handsaws, chisels, staple guns, hand sanders, gear wrenches, levels, chalk line, etc. In general, all hand tools are warrantied for their entire lifetime.
For example, if one breaks (under normal use) a socket or torque wrench fails, Canadian Tire will replace it. There are some exceptions to the warranty. For instance, when it comes to tape measures only the shell is warranted and not the tape itself. Air tools These include: compressors, brad nailers, air ratchets, die grinders, paint sprayers, etc.
Tool and garage storage This includes tool chests, boxes, bags, belts, and a roof mounted storage system that utilizes unused space in the garage. Other Hardware This includes: glues, silicones, sandpaper, drill bits, and all other power tool accessories.