Likes/Dislikes

[RobS]

I still buy and use Craftsman hand tools. Available at our local Ace Hardware and Amazon so it's convenient. Haven't been in a Sears store in ages. I gave up on their power and lawn tools some time ago.

 

[ultrarunner]

I remember looking through the new Sears Catalog each year... pretty much each page and I always made at least a couple of orders... I liked their work shirts too.

 

[Travelover]

I think Atlas made some lathes for Sears... not certain.

Yes they did - a 6" and a 12" model. I've still got the 6" and used to buy accessories for it from Sears.

 

[sdef]

Years ago Sears used to be my go-to place for any tool they sold. I even had a large garden tractor that provided excellent service for 15 years that was purchased ~ 1998 and I passed to a friend when I moved into a rental during the building of our new home. As others have noted, for quite some time their power tools have not been any better than Wal-Mart's. The only tools from Sears I would now purchase are strictly Craftsman hand tools, such as combination wrenches, as even their ratchets are now lower quality. I have purchased quite a few hand tools and power tools from Lowes or Home Depot the last few years, or the Internet, instead of Sears. Last Christmas I purchased two of their digital torque wrenches that were on sale for a large discount and returned the same day after I got them home and was able to inspect closely. Very disappointed.

In our new home we supplied our own Kenmore kitchen appliances per Consumer Reports ratings for specific models tested and so far are very pleased. We also got them for ~ 30% discount as we just happened to luck into the apppliance industry's annual sales. Kenmore as a brand for large appliances are usually pretty good. As is typical, the home builder's appliance selection did not meet my standards. Neither did their windows, hot water heater nor insulation, etc., but that is a topic for a different post.

 

[MossRoad]

I just bought a set of hand tools from them two years ago. I switched jobs and had to buy my own tools. It was on sale and met my standard of not the best and not the worst. I use them every day to make my living and they haven't let me down so far. It was one of those 250ish piece tool sets with 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2" drives, a bunch of sockets in both standard and metric, some allen wrenches, some open end wrenches and a bit driver handle and some common bits. I complemented that with a large screwdriver set and a 20 piece ratcheting wrench set. None of them have broken in two years, as compared to my collection of Harbor Freight tools that have failed. Snapped allen wrenches, bent screwdrivers, broken ratchets, etc....

I will no longer buy electric power tools from Sears. I can get other brands of what appears to be better quality for similar prices at a local tool supply place. I looked for tool boxes at Sears and went with a mid-range box from Menard's instead for 2/3 the price. Never had any gas powered Sears equipment.

I have a Craftsman electric lawn edger that I beat the snot out of every year for the last 30 years. Still works! I just used my Sears table saw yesterday that's about 20 years old. And I still have my original socket set I bought from them when I was 17 or 18 years old.

Have only been in the store once or twice in the last two years, and that was mostly because the parking there is empty and we walk through to the rest of the mall.

 

[ultrarunner]

My old craftsman 3.5 hp push mower never died... and it got a lot of use... what happened is the deck eventually rusted through.

A few years back I bought a socket/ratchet set in a cheap case with the plastic hinges... first thing I did was measure the drawer width in my Craftsman tool box and used a band saw to cut both halves of the case to fit my drawer... works great and was cheap.

I also bought 6 craftsman roll-aways for use in the operating rooms at work for Anesthesia... they were 20 cents on the dollar compared to cabinets marketed through the medical lines and the Docs like them... even made another one into a crash cart...

 

[Toyboy]

Since Sears started sourcing the hand tools (wrenches, sockets,screwdrivers, etc) from China, all of my friends have dropped buying there. Now we search out the quality USA stuff from garage sales & flea mkts.

 

[MossRoad]

My old craftsman 3.5 hp push mower never died... ......

When we got married in 1985 and bought our house, my in-laws gave us a brand new 2.5hp Craftsman mower. Geeze, I forgot about that. Anyhow, it was not self-propelled. I had dreams of a self-propelled Lawn Boy back then, and for some stupid reason, I was kinda upset that they would interfere with our marriage and buy us a cheap Sears lawnmower without consultation.... especially since my father-in-law was so particular about his lawn and had Lawn Boys (I slowly changed my mind over the years, realized I was an idiot, and appreciated the nice gesture they did for us, becoming more of a good son-in-law than the unappreciative moron I was). Anyhow, being the stupid kind of young punk that I was, I beat the heck out of that lawnmower the first year and shoved it in the garage for the winter. The following spring, I pulled it out, put gas in it, topped off the oil and the stupid thing started on the first pull. I again beat the snot out of it and repeated shoving it into the garage for the winter. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, etc... 18 or 19 years later.... Never an oil change. Never a spark plug change. Never drained the gas. Original air cleaner just tapped out once a year. Topped off the oil once per spring. And the dang thing still would start on the first pull!!! We'd even make a big deal out of it and gather the wife and kids to see if the thing would start fist pull each spring, and it would! I grew to love that lawnmower and looked forward to using it every week and the hope of it starting again each spring. Finally, the areas on the deck where the front wheels mounted had bent so badly over the years, that the wheels where pointing more to the sides than forward, the deck was cracking beyond repair, and it was time to retire it.

I saved the engine and it holds a place of honor in my garage..... the engine that wouldn't die! And I have a great relationship with my now elderly in-laws. They are now my parents and I watch out for them and help them any way I can. That lawnmower was way more than a lawnmower. :thumbsup:

 

[MossRoad]

Geeze, the more I think about it.....

When we got married and bought our house, my parents bought themselves a Sears gas snow thrower. One of those rubber paddle styles with the little chute. They had me to shovel snow, so when I moved out, they bought the blower. Anyhow, it was some kind of crazy sale, so they bought one with electric start and we bought one with pull start only. My wife and I bought a house on a corner, so we had 75 x 145 of sidewalk and a driveway. And I'd do our elderly neighbor's 65' of sidewalk, 65' of alley to their garage, and their 20' driveway, too. Snow blower wouldn't die. When my folks passed away, I got theirs and it still worked, too. So I had two. As plastic pieces would fall off of one, I'd cannibalize the other. Just last year I used the last of the parts up and now its dead. That's 30 years. Wow, I'd forgotten about that one, too.

 

[dragoneggs]

Funny, Moss... yeah thinking about it.. between what I inherited from my dad and all the stuff I bought in my early days of tool collecting, a good bunch was Craftsman. Still have a craftsman 14in chainsaw, an old craftsman power washer, an old craftsman drill press, radial arm saw, and there is probably more I am forgetting. Sad to see that institution go by the wayside. Times are a changing. And for those that summarily dismiss anything made in China... you should take another look. Lots of high quality stuff (like the iPhone). The problem is that many US companies are spec'ing low to get cheap products because consumers desire low prices over quality. China is just manufacturing what we demand, unfortunately. Hand tools being one of them.

 

[MossRoad]

I think I have three working Craftsman circular saws. I bought one and inherited two. I keep different blades on each so I don't have to switch out. I forget which one, but one is a DOG! The other two have power. I have two or three 3/8" drills. All of them have squeals now. One 1/2" drill that isn't variable speed. It'll rip your arms off if you're not careful. Doesn't get much use.

The last drill I bought was last year. I bought a 1/2" Harbor Freight to drill 2.5" holes in floor joists for a kitchen sink drain re-route. I needed to drill 8-9 floor joists and I figured the cost of the drill into the disposables like PVC pipe glue and nails! :laughing:

 

[mapper]

Moss, I have a craftsmen lawn mower of about the same vintage in the shop, I think it will still start although I rarely use it, I kind of trashed one of the wheels last year setting the FEL down on it by accident. It's got to be about 35 years old.
I also inherited a craftsman floor style drill press from my father in law that is probably older than I. It's my go to of the two drillpresses in the shop, quiet and rock solid.

 

[ultrarunner]

Moss... my Craftsman was circa 1988 and I did keep the motor because it never failed and I used it one day each week all day for property management and it bounced around on my trailer from site to site... it also was thrifty when it came to fuel...

I was given a 6hp Craftsman and it sure had power and used twice the fuel and was not a smooth or quiet as the old one.

Around 1975 I bought a Sears 1/2 drill cheap... it was the drill to abuse and I would clamp it in the vise to use it for a grinding wheel and also when I was rebuilding Model A Distributors and Water Pumps the drill would spin the shafts to break them in... still have it.

There was a time when I always went for Sears Best... painted a lot of cars with my Sears Best 30 gallon air compressor.

 

[MossRoad]

I remember my wife's grandpa, anytime someone mentioned painting, he'd yell "GO TO SEARS! The paint's ALWAYS on sale!!!" And he was right, too! hahaha We painted many a room with Sears paint.

 

[dragoneggs]

Oh yeah... Forgot about my most recent purchase about 5 years ago... A shopvac.

 

[Threepoint]

This thread brings back memories of many decades ago, late 50s early 60s. I loved to go through the Sears tool dept. with my dad every few weeks and imagine buying one of everything. :laughing:

 

[MossRoad]

Hmm.... I also have two Sears shop vacs. Again, one of those situations where my parents bought one on a good sale, told us about it, we bought one, and then I inherited theirs after they passed away. I keep one in the garage with a 25' swimming pool hose on it for doing the cars and one in the basement for indoor needs as they arise.