vintage usa craftsman socket vs newer USA,china,taiwan

#craftsman#vintage

[pieman]

I built my road box in the early 80's from the Sears outlet store and harbor freight keep them coming Jeff 👍😎👍

[bigct]

Hey Jeff, great stuff, very interesting. I think I have all these different styles myself, my socket sets are made up of all brands, whatever I could find that was cheap. I bought many single sockets to fill out my sets. Thanks for the video.

[mlieser]

Interesting to see the differences between the sockets. My initial Craftsman sockets were purchased around 1984 when I was in high school. Both the sockets and box wrench corners had sharp points. The Craftsman sockets and wrenches I purchased in 2000 had rounded corners similar to the Snap on Flank Drive. Since the original Flank Drive patent ran out every tool manufacturer now uses a form of "off corner" loading. I think off corner loading tools have a slight amount off play on purpose in order for the rounded corners to act on the flats of the fasteners. If you've ever encountered the Metwrench line of tools that fit both metric and SAE fasteners, they had an amount of play so as to act on the flats of fasteners.
As I've gotten older, I've come to appreciate the laser etching in addition to stamping on sockets. It's much easier on my tired old eyes. I've noticed that the stampings on the newer Craftsman sockets are larger and more pronounced than previous versions. That's a definite step in the right direction for us old farts. 🤣🤣

[JayBird]

Thanks for the video Jeff!
Always interesting!

[VSKULLS]

Good morning Jeff, good video
I personally like the older USA ones, but the letter/numbers are smaller, but the newer over seas ones have those bigger numbers, much easier to see with OLDER EYES😂, it's inevitable we all get older.!

[lawrencelarson]

I wonder what the new craftsman, USA made sold at Lowe’s, would measure at.

[gills]

If you want the really crem of deh crem of vintage craftsman sockets. You want the E stamp. If you look at them they are thicker sockets and seemingly have sharper and higher quality forged sides. Thanks for the awesome upload! God bless!

[donwendling]

I still have my 1980's Craftsman sockets, they are the best for durability. I don't think I ever broke one. I have a NOS. Blackhawk USA socket I'm sending you for HRC testing.

[dben]

Interesting, started out with Allen industrial tool co. (USA) mostly because the mom and pop shop I got my welding and torch bottles from, were not stocking hand tools anymore. Rise of the big box prior to e-commerce. My Allen stuff is great. And I kinda feel unique running it. My understanding is at some point all of the USA “house” brands were made together (gearwrench, Allen, Armstrong, craftsman, kobalt) those brands rapidly changed in the late 90s and on. Shame :)

[douglasmiles]

Thanks Jeff, liking the comparisons so far. Working on farm equipment in the field, you tend to push your tools to the limits and beyond. I've busted sockets from most of the brands I've owned in the past (maybe I should have owned some impact😅), but I've never busted a Craftsman socket. All my craftsman come from the 70s and 80s. I have one set my wife got me in the 90s, I still haven't found the 1/2" ratchet from that set. Come to think of it, we've never busted a Thorsen?? Or a Penn or Penncraft?? From my dad's old sets, that I recall. We really appreciate your videos and effort your giving Jeff. Thanks.

[ashameimaru]

As a person with a father that passed and his tools went to me, the difference between the old USA sockets vs current are night and day when they were dug out from an old shed. He had a number of sockets and wrenches from different manufactured times-- both the old US made and Chinese made ones. The ones that were the newer Chinese made were just completely rusted out and pointless to clean (I tried out of curiosity and just failed)-- the older US sockets, a little of evaporust, some WD-40, and bit of scrubbing made them look all brand new. May not necessarily work on cars all the time, but I do work with arcade machines, pachinko/pachislots, and slot machines that have bolts and glad to at least found a decent collection (including old USA made screwdrivers, pliers, and other hand tools of varying manufacturers) that I can work on machines with and give life to the tools he has.

I'm now seeking through pawn shops, antique picker places, estate sales, and yard sales to complete the set with older USA sockets (including trying to get spare 10mm sockets and wrenches; cars aren't the only thing that eat those!) Plus it's more cheaper for me to get something older anyway.

[ranchosunidos]

I think you got the Taiwan and china ones mixed. I have some six point china made sockets that look similar. Great video

[mechtechtools]

I have both USA V series and Taiwan 1/4" drive Craftsman shallow socket sets. IMO the Taiwan set is better quality and chrome finish nicer.

[jannear]

Great video. I have some early Craftsman and some of the laser etched ones. They have all been good, but I'm not a professional mechanic. How about a "Head to Head" video of Pittsburgh/ICON vs. the new Craftsman.

[Snowmannorth]

Any way to switch that scale to ounces vs. grams? I don’t ever measure anything in grams…Thank you for the Craftsman comparison, Jeff 😁

[Donniedangerously]

Love Tone. A lot of my newer Blackhawk stuff is rebranded Tone. Good stuff.

[PapasHobbyGarage]

I cant even use my old usa 12 point sockets to warn out

[oldguy]

I have several generation of Craftsman sockets and other tools dating from the 50's into mid 2010's.

The largest difference is the tolerance of the sockets; the early sockets to the single "V" USA (made by Easco) have the tightest tolerances; even after 40 to 60 years of age and usage still fit better than some brand new cheap sockets bought in mass merchants.

If you really want to see a difference, check out the box ends of 6 pt metric wrenches vs overseas made ones.

The only real fault is the change in quality of chroming and the size stamping on the sockets on the later USA ones.

[stevecoburn]

Great Video !... I love the old Craftsman !... I am now looking to fill in set(s), with the old sockets... Some went missing, from the kids borrowing my tools, 😢...Lol. So it is kind of like a new hobby. But I also noticed that the old Craftsman sockets command a premium now... Ouch !. Still worth it, (to me !). Thx again. ! Have a great day Sir !

[gamermoejoe]

Got the tiwan stuff and haven’t had any complaints tbh, supposedly comparable to Mac but I get no tool trucks.