What's the tale of ceramic brakes?

The Real Bev > wrote:
>On 03/07/2020 06:05 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
>>>Stanley Tools purchased the Craftsman line. Craftsman brand
>>>warranties are honored at Lowes and most Ace Hardware stores.
>>
>> However, the replacements aren't worth the trouble. Toss it and buy a
>> Wright or Proto.
>
>Never heard of Wright, but Proto make the most beautiful tools ever. I
>especially like the handles on the tiny electronic pliers -- they're
>spread wide at the hinge (node? joint?) so you don't pinch your hand.

You should check out the Wright wrenches. They feel much more comfortable
in my hand than the Snap-On and Mac wrenches, and they are lighter too.
That goes for both the ratchets and their combination wrenches.
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On 3/7/2020 8:05 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
> Heron > wrote:
>> On 3/7/2020 3:04 PM, Arlen Holder wrote:
>>> On Sat, 7 Mar 2020 09:11:01 -0800, The Real Bev wrote:
>>>
>>>> We haven't driven the van for a long time, but I still have the
>>>> paperwork and Firestone is still in business...
>>>
>>> I know what you mean about being in business for "lifetime warranties".
>>>
>>> I have a Sears "lifetime warranty" ratchet hand tool which I want to
>>> replace but I can't seem to find a nearby Sears anymore.
>>>
>>> Sears is "still in business" but not apparently in the Silicon Valley.
>>
>> Stanley Tools purchased the Craftsman line. Craftsman brand
>> warranties are honored at Lowes and most Ace Hardware stores.
>
> However, the replacements aren't worth the trouble ...
> --scott

What is your evidence for this?

Arlen Holder > wrote:
>On Sat, 7 Mar 2020 20:59:37 -0800, The Real Bev wrote:
>
>> Never heard of Wright, but Proto make the most beautiful tools ever. I
>> especially like the handles on the tiny electronic pliers -- they're
>> spread wide at the hinge (node? joint?) so you don't pinch your hand.
>
>That's nice!
>
>I have huge XXL-gloved hands where the strangely delicate "web" between
>thumb and index finger always gets pinched by my Sears small needlenose
>pliers!

You may want to consider the Swanstrom pliers then. They make them with
several different handle lengths, and there is an extra-long one that
is curved outward for people with large hands. They are standard in the
electronics industry. Erem also makes some similar electronics pliers.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Heron > wrote:
>On 3/7/2020 8:05 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
>> Heron > wrote:
>>> On 3/7/2020 3:04 PM, Arlen Holder wrote:
>>>> On Sat, 7 Mar 2020 09:11:01 -0800, The Real Bev wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> We haven't driven the van for a long time, but I still have the
>>>>> paperwork and Firestone is still in business...
>>>>
>>>> I know what you mean about being in business for "lifetime warranties".
>>>>
>>>> I have a Sears "lifetime warranty" ratchet hand tool which I want to
>>>> replace but I can't seem to find a nearby Sears anymore.
>>>>
>>>> Sears is "still in business" but not apparently in the Silicon Valley.
>>>
>>> Stanley Tools purchased the Craftsman line. Craftsman brand
>>> warranties are honored at Lowes and most Ace Hardware stores.
>>
>> However, the replacements aren't worth the trouble ...
>
>What is your evidence for this?

Go to Ace or Lowes and look at the current production Craftsman tools. They
are all cheap crap, no relation at all to what Craftsman was selling a few
decades ago.

Try the current Craftsman 3/8" ratchets. They look good enough but they will
tear into your hands as badly as the Kobalt ones after a few hours on the job.

I have better things to do with my life than fight with bad tools.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On 03/08/2020 05:39 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
> The Real Bev > wrote:
>>On 03/07/2020 06:05 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
>>>>Stanley Tools purchased the Craftsman line. Craftsman brand
>>>>warranties are honored at Lowes and most Ace Hardware stores.
>>>
>>> However, the replacements aren't worth the trouble. Toss it and buy a
>>> Wright or Proto.
>>
>>Never heard of Wright, but Proto make the most beautiful tools ever. I
>>especially like the handles on the tiny electronic pliers -- they're
>>spread wide at the hinge (node? joint?) so you don't pinch your hand.
>
> You should check out the Wright wrenches. They feel much more comfortable
> in my hand than the Snap-On and Mac wrenches, and they are lighter too.
> That goes for both the ratchets and their combination wrenches.

Which are the ratchets that look like lathe projects? Just WRONG!

You know what's sad? We have all the tools anybody would ever need
(including crowfoot wrenches and some Whitworth stuff) and we just don't
ever want to use them again. Enough is enough. That's why I bought a
Corolla.

Our friend is in a worse position -- his dad was a mechanic for those
large earthmoving machines and he has all his giant tools. My son will
get our tools (he knows how to use them) but the friend's kids aren't at
all interested.

--
Cheers, Bev
This is Usenet. We *are* the trained body for dealing
with psychotics. -- A. Dingley

On 03/08/2020 07:42 AM, Heron wrote:
> On 3/7/2020 8:05 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
>> Heron > wrote:
>>> On 3/7/2020 3:04 PM, Arlen Holder wrote:
>>>> On Sat, 7 Mar 2020 09:11:01 -0800, The Real Bev wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> We haven't driven the van for a long time, but I still have the
>>>>> paperwork and Firestone is still in business...
>>>>
>>>> I know what you mean about being in business for "lifetime warranties".
>>>>
>>>> I have a Sears "lifetime warranty" ratchet hand tool which I want to
>>>> replace but I can't seem to find a nearby Sears anymore.
>>>>
>>>> Sears is "still in business" but not apparently in the Silicon Valley.
>>>
>>> Stanley Tools purchased the Craftsman line. Craftsman brand
>>> warranties are honored at Lowes and most Ace Hardware stores.
>>
>> However, the replacements aren't worth the trouble ...
>> --scott
>
> What is your evidence for this?

Maybe a decade ago I needed to buy a 10mm socket. (Yes, it's true -- no
matter how many you have, eventually they will all disappear.) Sears is
close. I could peel off the chrome with my thumbnail. Not worth
returning for what is essentially cosmetic failure, but I'd never buy
another Craftsman product.

I also broke a Harbor Freight open-end on the 1988 Caddy oil pan drain
plug. They took the set back, of course, and I bought a better one
(still unused), but the one that broke was really PRETTY (sort of a
gunmetal grey, nice design). I still don't understand how anybody could
make such shoddy stuff.

--
Cheers, Bev
This is Usenet. We *are* the trained body for dealing
with psychotics. -- A. Dingley

On 3/8/2020 10:11 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
> Heron > wrote:
>> On 3/7/2020 8:05 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
>>> Heron > wrote:
>>>> On 3/7/2020 3:04 PM, Arlen Holder wrote:
>>>>> On Sat, 7 Mar 2020 09:11:01 -0800, The Real Bev wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> We haven't driven the van for a long time, but I still have the
>>>>>> paperwork and Firestone is still in business...
>>>>>
>>>>> I know what you mean about being in business for "lifetime warranties".
>>>>>
>>>>> I have a Sears "lifetime warranty" ratchet hand tool which I want to
>>>>> replace but I can't seem to find a nearby Sears anymore.
>>>>>
>>>>> Sears is "still in business" but not apparently in the Silicon Valley.
>>>>
>>>> Stanley Tools purchased the Craftsman line. Craftsman brand
>>>> warranties are honored at Lowes and most Ace Hardware stores.
>>>
>>> However, the replacements aren't worth the trouble ...
>>
>> What is your evidence for this?
>
> Go to Ace or Lowes and look at the current production Craftsman tools. They
> are all cheap crap, no relation at all to what Craftsman was selling a few
> decades ago.

Craftsman tools were never of the tier of the Snap-On,
MAC, Maatco ... variety. Then again, they weren't as bad,
and fall apart, as Harbor Freight junk either. Very few
to none of my shop's expensive, well remunerated diesel
mechanics (each of whom having many ten's of thousands
of dollars invested in just hand tools alone) ever relied
on Craftsman tools, although they were and likely continue
to be (to my now dated knowledge) acceptable for shade
tree, Firestone shoppish, and other wrench turners that
don't make such a handsome living solely as mechanics.

> Try the current Craftsman 3/8" ratchets. They look good enough but they will
> tear into your hands as badly as the Kobalt ones after a few hours on the job.
>
> I have better things to do with my life than fight with bad tools.
> --scott

On Sun, 8 Mar 2020 11:05:03 -0500, Heron wrote:

> Craftsman tools were never of the tier of the Snap-On,
> MAC, Maatco ... variety. Then again, they weren't as bad,
> and fall apart, as Harbor Freight junk either.

I use only Craftsman, and now, Pittsburgh (yes, I know, HF stuff).
o All my tools which are decades old are Craftsman though.

For the record on the warranty, this is a photo of the Craftsman six-inch
3/8ths inch ratchet handle whose latch mechanism is becoming balky.
o Craftsman -V-43785 <https://i.postimg.cc/pXj6D3VP/craftsman00.jpg>

Interestingly, I prefer the "round" bar handles to the rectangular ones:
<https://i.postimg.cc/L8RNjX0V/craftsman01.jpg>

But I prefer the "tab" mechanism as opposed to spokes, as shown he
<https://i.postimg.cc/1tNpkhjt/craftsman02.jpg>

Where, unfortunately, the -V-43785 is the rectangular bar type.
o If I can get them to mail me a repair kit, that would work out well.
--
Usenet is so much more valuable, and pleasant, when people act like adults.

Heron > wrote:
>On 3/8/2020 10:11 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
>> Go to Ace or Lowes and look at the current production Craftsman tools. They
>> are all cheap crap, no relation at all to what Craftsman was selling a few
>> decades ago.
>
>Craftsman tools were never of the tier of the Snap-On,
>MAC, Maatco ... variety. Then again, they weren't as bad,
>and fall apart, as Harbor Freight junk either. Very few
>to none of my shop's expensive, well remunerated diesel
>mechanics (each of whom having many ten's of thousands
>of dollars invested in just hand tools alone) ever relied
>on Craftsman tools, although they were and likely continue
>to be (to my now dated knowledge) acceptable for shade
>tree, Firestone shoppish, and other wrench turners that
>don't make such a handsome living solely as mechanics.

Yes. For many years, Craftsman tools were the cheap-but-entirely-acceptable
tools that were perfectly fine for occasional use. They weren't professional,
but they weren't crap either, and Craftsman really did honor the warranty.

There were a few exceptions: for a while Craftsman rebadged a Wiha jeweler's
screwdriver set that was excellent, but at the same time they also had a
nutdriver set that was poorly hardened and worse than useless.

These days the stuff that is being sold under the Craftsman name is several
steps below what it used to be.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On 03/08/2020 10:58 AM, Arlen Holder wrote:

> But I prefer the "tab" mechanism as opposed to spokes, as shown he
> <https://i.postimg.cc/1tNpkhjt/craftsman02.jpg>

Exactly. You can flip it with one hand. One FINGER of the hand that's
holding the wrench deep in the innards. I'm trying to remember why you
might want to do that besides forgetting to flip it the right way
beforehand.

We bought most of our tools at yard sales decades ago when everything
was cheap and good.

--
Cheers, Bev
"I've learned that you can keep puking long
after you think you're finished." -- SL