Sears has more chinese made tools than..

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Rand

Rand

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Sears has more chinese made tools than.. harbor freight?

I swear I was just at sears... every tool i saw except for an occasional gem was made in china.. even the BRAND name stuff is made in china now? Ie IRWIN vice grips.

The hammer section seems to be the last holdout of made in usa.
 
I think right now one of the best ways to get good US made tools is at auctions or flea markets. I have seen huge chests of Craftsman tools go for $350 at local sales. And they have it all included from simple wrenches to torques wrenches, etc.
 
There's not a thing wrong with stuff made in Red China -- provided the Western company has staff that maintains VERY close oversight and control over quality. All the big guys (including the automakers) do it that way. The problems come when that oversight is missing (I've got a few stories...). The Red Chinese are like small children: You need to be supervising them every minute, or they'll get into mischief.

I used to do a lot of work (and still do a bit) with companies that do stuff overseas, and I'm amazed how much difference culture makes: People in Hong Kong and Taiwan come from the same ethnic stock as the Red Chinese, but Hong Kong and Taiwan products are made with essentially zero Western oversight, and are of exemplary quality.
 
The problem is that when nothing is made in your country and all of your countries money flows out, what is left? That country will soon be a bankrupt. It's hard to compete against near slave labor when price point is the most important.


Originally Posted By: Tegger
There's not a thing wrong with stuff made in Red China -- provided the Western company has staff that maintains VERY close oversight and control over quality. All the big guys (including the automakers) do it that way. The problems come when that oversight is missing (I've got a few stories...). The Red Chinese are like small children: You need to be supervising them every minute, or they'll get into mischief.

I used to do a lot of work (and still do a bit) with companies that do stuff overseas, and I'm amazed how much difference culture makes: People in Hong Kong and Taiwan come from the same ethnic stock as the Red Chinese, but Hong Kong and Taiwan products are made with essentially zero Western oversight, and are of exemplary quality.
 
It is our fault really. Sears was selling Evolv tools to Craftsman 5:1.

The new China stuff is awful looking. I picked up some combination wrenches (online) and was shocked at China's lobster claw design - obviously required for low quality steel.
 
I'm glad I grabbed some Craftsman stuff when it was still made in the USA. I did notice in Sears the other day that the Made in USA label is gone from all of the socket sets.

Luckily I'll be coming into what I suspect is a cache of American made tools once I am able to make a trip back home to stop by my grandmother's house.
 
Originally Posted By: chevyboy14
some craftsmans are still usa made.


Haven't you heard? It all turned Chinese overnight. Even the stuff that isn't Chinese.
 
Originally Posted By: Gabe
It is our fault really. Sears was selling Evolv tools to Craftsman 5:1.

The new China stuff is awful looking. I picked up some combination wrenches (online) and was shocked at China's lobster claw design - obviously required for low quality steel.



Exactly. We the people, the 47% or whatever you want to call them who are reliant on these jobs are doing this.
 
I remember a story a few years back...
one of the new government regs required the military to buy made in the USA tools and hardware.

one of the branches was prepping to either build new, or remodel existing housing on a base in Alaska, or some such, they had to apply for a waiver to the regulation, as they found the Entire domestic out put of the needed materials was less than what they needed.
This was Simple stuff, like Screws, and Towel Bars, Basic Hardware store stuff.
 
OSH has been clearancing the USA made tools and replacing them with the Chinese ones. I reciently bought a 1/2 drive SAE Impact set. It goes from 3/8's to 1-1/16.

Look to be very well made USA sockets. They were $10 in the clearance bin.
 
Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
sears craftsman used to be my favorite now i wont buy them


Agreed.

You know it is NOT a "bad" thing to have national pride that encourages one to back and support the "Home Team", whether that means buying US made tools that are a bit more expensive, or some other items, and including supporting tariffs where unfair labor practices (especially in China) are prmoted to purposely under cut the competition and flood the market with cheap goods thereby making it impossible for other nations to compete.

China plays very dirty, and should be penalized for it.
 
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