Tools repair and advice - Craftsman vs Chinese-made mechanic's tools

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Craftsman vs Chinese-made mechanic's tools

Nomen Nescio

2005-06-17, 11:34 pm

My Craftsman flex handle (breaker bar) was made in the '60s. Still good,
but I wanted a longer one. I chose a Chinese import. Both are 1/2 inch
drive.

When compared, the Chinese tool is very well made, appearance wise. It is
smooth, polished, and has a rubber grip on the handle end. The old
Craftsman is a rough, all metal, "ugly stick."

There is a notable difference in design philosophy, however. The new
Chinese design is cylinderical of uniform section from the drive end to the
handle. In contrast, the Craftsman is a tapered "I" beam, being of larger
section at the drive end and narrowing until the handle where the forging
has been flattened to form a suitable handle. It is clear that the
American-made Craftsman was more intelligently designed for function. Its
tapered I-beam configuration provides a higher strength-to-weight ratio due
its more efficient use of material than is the case of a plain cylinder.
Obviously the designer of the Craftsman flex handle took into consideration
direction and magnitude of applied force and used formulae to calculate the
optimum shape. The Chinese tool is less elegantly designed, though better
executed in fabrication.

The point of this post is Americans are no dummies and the Chinese are not
supermen. If you are shopping for price, pick the Chinese stuff;
otherwise, you are better buying American-made goods.

Jeffery Davis

2005-06-19, 11:26 pm

Frist I would like to point out that the rough surface of the craftsman
while not as pretty gives better grip ;so it's not just poor finish work.
Second I would like to say that one needs to look at the precision and
strength of tools when choosing . A pretty tool with loose tolerances is
useless especially in sockets or wrenches, fasteners round out or off by
poor fitting tools are real trouble!. This is what sets the Pro Tools apart
they keep tolerances close for a good fit and strength up for durability. I
have had Chinese and Japanese tools that were ok and others that were
useless.
But I would not rate even the best Chinese one on par with Craftsman let
alone the Pro brands like Snap ON , MAC, MATCO and other American Pro
Brands.

Shamrock12

2007-07-12, 3:25 am

I just picked up a 'Made in China' tap and die set from Harbor Freight.
It has to be the biggest POS I've purchased in a long time!! From what I
can see, there's a difference between tools and equipment. Chinese tools
= junk. Chinese equipment = good value (most of the time).

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Shamrock12
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