Alternative to USA made Craftsman hand tools

[Otee453]

Just wanted to give everyone a brief review of a possible replacement for USA made Craftsman mechanic tools.

I have always used a 25 year old set of USA made Craftsman sockets & ratchets. Its served me well. Where I needed a size outside of what I had in my set, I bought it, typically from Sears. Ive tried to keep my stuff all Craftsman so I don't have a hodgepodge of stuff and if I ever had to warranty something, I just went to Sears. Well, we lost our Sears store here a couple years ago.... now what??? Additionally, I have compared, side by side the USA made Craftsman with the Chinesium/Tiawanesium Craftsman. Not impressed with offshore Craftsman, including the new Black & decker Craftsman. Ive had some things do OK, others crap.

I just decided to treat myself to a new full contingent of sockets... every size (just about), metric/SAE, deep & shallow, ¼-⅜-½, six point. I compared many makes. My goal was to find the best quality sockets for a reasonable value, made in USA being best, Taiwan 2nd. No-way to chinese

Snap-on - Sorry. Outstanding quality but too expensive.
MAC Tools - Again, too pricy
SK - Once again, too much $$
Matco - see above
Proto - Prices getting better, seem to be very good quality. Mostly made in US
Williams - 90% of products made in USA by Snap-On. Prices considerably less than Snap-On. Reportedly, the US made is identical to Snap-On
Carlyle (Napa brand) - Good prices with 20% off. About double the cost of other Taiwan made sockets. Reportedly very good quality for Taiwan made
Icon (Harbor Freight) - Taiwan made. Appears very nice. Priced very well.
Tekton - Taiwan made. Low price. Reportedly great quality for the dollar
Gearwrench - Taiwan made. Higher price than other Taiwan made brands (probably paying for the branding). Reportedly decent to great quality for Taiwan
Sunex - Taiwan made. Decent quality. Decent price similar to Tekton
Various other Amazon sold brands - All made in Taiwan or China.
Craftsman - Now owned by Black & Decker. No longer able to get full socket sets without finding NOS on eBay (which is now expensive).
Pittsburgh (Harbor Freight) - China made ?? I realize some people have very good experience here, but I did not consider this brand.

So after lots of research.... I went with Williams. I spent $750 total on a full set.
Carlyle is all Taiwan made and with the current 20% off at Napa, the price was the same as the Williams, but Williams was largely made in US, with only a couple sets made in Taiwan. I already had a set of the ICON ½" Deep SAE sockets, so Ive now been able to compare. The US made Williams definitely seem to have more refined machining than the ICON. There is also a difference in the Williams US made and the Taiwan Williams. May not functionally matter, but you can definitely see the quality difference. The Williams seem to have a good finish, but the ICON is much more highly polished (you can brush your hair using ICON as a mirror).

Ultimately, if you're looking for quality, US made at a reasonable price. I highly recommend the Williams. It is about double the cost of Tekton, ICON & Sunex, but largely made in USA. When looking at used prices on eBay of the USA made Craftsman, I suspect my daughters will be able to sell my sockets when I'm gone as opposed to the value of used Taiwan (not much value used). Warranty return is the downfall. It does not appear that Williams has an easy warranty process. This is where Carlyle may come in the champ. Although Carlyle is Taiwanese, warranty exchange is reportedly easy at any Napa. Again, prices between Williams & Carlyle is equal, so pick your poison.... USA/mail in warranty or Taiwan/ease of warranty. I chose US made as I've never busted a socket. If I ever do, I'll just buy another one for $5-$8.

For $300-$400 (full contingency), the ICON seems very nice & super shiny! Warranty is reportedly easy at any Harbor Freight but you must have a receipt or you are in their computer system as being the purchaser. Tekton has a very easy online warranty process, just take a picture, send them the pic and you have a new one in the mail to you.

Last note: There seems to be one place online where Williams products are priced much better than other places. If youre interested, PM me and I'll share it.
I feel content that I've found a good replacement for USA made Craftsman at a reasonable price. Yes, its not snap-on or MAC, but I'm not making my living with my tools either. Hope this helps someone who may be in my shoes someday.

[narly1]

Have you checked out Gray Tools?

Made in Canada which is at least in the western hemisphere, LOL.

[Otee453]

Have you checked out Gray Tools?

Made in Canada which is at least in the western hemisphere, LOL.

I forgot about my friends in the north and how options, prices & availability can be significantly different from the US.

I'd never heard of Gray Tools. Looking at their website, I had to chuckle.... choose french or english language. Thats the first sign you know its Canadian! (or Canadien!)
Looks like good stuff though.

[JohnK]

I totally agree about Wiliams tools. I have their ratcheting wrenches and deep sockets in metric and standard, and it's all very good stuff.

[Bob Cowan]

Like most Old Guys, I have mostly Craftsman tools that I purchased decades ago. You can still buy and return Craftsman tools at Ace Hardware, and some K-Marts.

Lately, I've purchased a couple of new sets for various reasons. I bought Kobalt, from Lowes. Most of them are made in the US. And they have the same warranty that Craftsman used to.

[Mark Eaton]

I have been very happy with Husky tools from Home Depot. When one of them breaks I march right in to Home Depot and find a replacement. I then go straight to the return desk with the new and the broken tool, the employee asks if I have a receipt, I say "no", they wave the wand and I walk out the the new tool!

I have also been very happy with Milwaukee power tools. Mine have taken A LOT of abuse and work very well.

[RBachman]

Williams is the "industrial" line from Snap-On. I recently purchased some Williams stubby ratchet wrenches (Standard and Metric), and really like them. The quality is excellent, the feel is great, made in the USA. Same warranty, and I believe a bit beefier. I have a lot of Snap-On tools also. The biggest difference I see is the cost.

[edwardb]

Hmmm... First I've heard of Williams. I must have been under a rock somewhere. But looking at Amazon questions, reviews, etc. plus several tool sites, they say they're made in Taiwan. Apparently Snap-On bought the company several years ago. That's the connection. But they don't appear to be Snap-On tools with a different name (and cheaper...). Not that there's anything wrong with that. Just responding to the made in USA comments.

I'm one of those guys that has decades old USA made Craftsman stuff back from the old days. Most of it still going strong. I fill in with an occasional Harbor Freight run which I've found adequate in quality. Haven't bought any of their new Icon branded tools, but looked at it in their store and looks pretty good. I've bought a few Kobalt items from Lowes. Agree with Bob Cowan on this one. Seems to be one of the higher quality import options in my opinion. If you can get past all the Craftsman displays in Lowes. They're really pushing that now too. I'm very familiar with Snap-On. My son is an A&P (among other things) and has a full cart packed with them. I know how much they cost since that was part of his college expenses. :p They're nice for sure. But overkill and way too pricey for my amateur status.

[Big Blocker]

Having been an auto mechanic for years and then a facilities engineer for many more, I still have all my Snap-On tools . . . wouldn't trade them for anything.

That being said, I also have a large collection of Craftsman tools that are my every day go-to tools, all older US made. I also have a pretty good collection of MAC tools, Kobalt and Husky. As far as air tools, CP® (Chicago Pneumatic) is my go to choice. Having been in the business, you know that you can't get every tool for every purpose from one vendor . . . As far as home [electric] tools DeWalt, Makita, Skil and Bosch - won't own "Hack & Wrecker".

Just my 2¢

Doc

[Otee453]

Hmmm... First I've heard of Williams. I must have been under a rock somewhere. But looking at Amazon questions, reviews, etc. plus several tool sites, they say they're made in Taiwan. Apparently Snap-On bought the company several years ago. That's the connection. But they don't appear to be Snap-On tools with a different name (and cheaper...). Not that there's anything wrong with that. Just responding to the made in USA comments.

I'm one of those guys that has decades old USA made Craftsman stuff back from the old days. Most of it still going strong. I fill in with an occasional Harbor Freight run which I've found adequate in quality. Haven't bought any of their new Icon branded tools, but looked at it in their store and looks pretty good. I've bought a few Kobalt items from Lowes. Agree with Bob Cowan on this one. Seems to be one of the higher quality import options in my opinion. If you can get past all the Craftsman displays in Lowes. They're really pushing that now too. I'm very familiar with Snap-On. My son is an A&P (among other things) and has a full cart packed with them. I know how much they cost since that was part of his college expenses. :p They're nice for sure. But overkill and way too pricey for my amateur status.

The Williams sockets are in fact largely made in USA. I can verify as they have "Made in USA" or "USA" stamps on them.
Ive seen from various online sources that Williams item numbering scheme is any part number containing letters AND numbers is USA made. Numbers only in the part #, is Taiwan made. My purchase contained 2 new ratchets, the full compliment of 6 pt sockets (about 170 pieces +/-) and a couple extensions.... and I can confirm the part numbering scheme is correct. 90% of the items I purchased are USA made.

A quick look at their ⅜ ratchets and handles... 17 total, 4 of which have part numbers containing only numbers.
I should add, allegedly the ratchet gear replacements are the snap-on kits. Lots of people reportedly buy the Williams ¼ ratchet and put the ⅜ snap on gear kit in it so they have a mini ⅜ ratchet for 20% of the cost of the snap-on.

I don't think Williams is Snap-on for a cheaper price. I would compare it more to the old USA Craftsman level with the ratchets being a significant leap above the old Craftsman ratchets. I have USA Craftsman to compare. The only Snap-on I have is their ½ impact gun, so unable to compare ratchets or sockets.

[edwardb]

The Williams sockets are in fact largely made in USA. I can verify as they have "Made in USA" or "USA" stamps on them.
Ive seen from various online sources that Williams item numbering scheme is any part number containing letters AND numbers is USA made. Numbers only in the part #, is Taiwan made. My purchase contained 2 new ratchets, the full compliment of 6 pt sockets (about 170 pieces +/-) and a couple extensions.... and I can confirm the part numbering scheme is correct. 90% of the items I purchased are USA made.

A quick look at their ⅜ ratchets and handles... 17 total, 4 of which have part numbers containing only numbers.
I should add, allegedly the ratchet gear replacements are the snap-on kits. Lots of people reportedly buy the Williams ¼ ratchet and put the ⅜ snap on gear kit in it so they have a mini ⅜ ratchet for 20% of the cost of the snap-on.

I don't think Williams is Snap-on for a cheaper price. I would compare it more to the old USA Craftsman level with the ratchets being a significant leap above the old Craftsman ratchets. I have USA Craftsman to compare. The only Snap-on I have is their ½ impact gun, so unable to compare ratchets or sockets.

Good to hear. Only going by what descriptions I see when looking at various sites.