Originally Posted by
HillRider
Interesting observation. Most of my Craftsman tools are 20+ years old and far predate the K-Mart take-over of Sears. I wonder if K-Mart has lowered the quality.
Craftsman used to be American-made - "Forged in USA". In the 90's Sears canceled the contract with the American supplier and went offshore. I've heard much feedback that the quality dropped around then, but all my own Craftsman tools pre-date the change. (I've taken to acquiring vintage Craftsman, like a (free!) 8" mill vise that is around 100 years old and works just fine, thank you.
)
I believe the previous supplier uses the old tooling for another brand but I can't remember which.