craftsman drill bit made in china

[The motor guy]

I went to buy a craftsman 1/2" drill bit from sears and I get home and opened it up to find it doesn't even have a brand name on it like my others plus it's made in china! So I spent 18 dollars on a drill bit thinking it was high quality american made only to discover I could have bought one at autozone for 8 bucks instead. All my other drill bits say craftman USA on the bottom.

 

[daman]

Pretty good we cant even make drill bits in the US.

 

[KD0AXS]

So take it back and tell them you're returning it because you thought you were buying a quality American made product, not some Chinese garbage.

That being said, just because it's made in China doesn't mean it's not a quality product. All depends on what kind of quality control they have. There's plenty of good quality stuff that's made in China, and plenty of [censored] that's made in the USA.

 

[expat]

$18 for a 1/2" drill bit

 

[scurvy]

You must not have shopped for Craftsman tools recently - they seem to be bringing in all new stock of nearly everything from southeast Asia.

My go-to tools, raised panel ratchets & wrenches, are now all Chinese made. I stopped buying any tools from Sears for this exact reason and because I've never had to take them up on their warranty. Hazard Fraught has the exact same warranty on their imported tools at a fraction of Sears' price if you need something quick or one you don't mind cutting up to make a custom one-time use thing.

All my new hand tools have been US-made Williams bought from McMaster. Quite happy with the fit, finish, service & price! I also just got a set of German made Wiha hex keys at work and they're also extremely nice.

 

[The motor guy]

I already opened it. It just says HSS on it.

 

[Tempest]

Quote:
Hazard Fraught has the exact same warranty on their imported tools at a fraction of Sears' price if you need something quick or one you don't mind cutting up to make a custom one-time use thing.

I've been buying a lot more at HF for this reason and a lot less at Sears. And the nice HF stuff is a least Taiwan.

I think Sears really cut their own throat on the China move.

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted By: Tempest
Quote:
Hazard Fraught has the exact same warranty on their imported tools at a fraction of Sears' price if you need something quick or one you don't mind cutting up to make a custom one-time use thing.

I've been buying a lot more at HF for this reason and a lot less at Sears. And the nice HF stuff is a least Taiwan.

I think Sears really cut their own throat on the China move.


Me too. I'll get it from Sears if I can find it made in the USA. If not, it's off to Harbor Freight. If I'm going cheap I may as well save some $$. Unfortunately the only other made in the USA stuff is out of my price range given that I'm a weekend warrior rather than a pro!

 

[NHGUY]

Sears is on the downhill slide anyway,given time it and K Mart will be gone soon.

 

[callbay]

I opened up a tin of cookies I bought and looked at the back of the tin. Made in China. Cookies!

We need to buy American whenever possible and tell companies we do't like it when we see made in somewhere besides the US on the package.

 

[larryinnewyork]

Hello everyone.
Happy New Year.

I have recently seen on the evening news:

Some USA made items,
don't recall exactly what (not tools)
sell very well in China.

Reason: The Chinese like to see: Made in USA.

I have to really think about that and wonder where
it's all headed.

 

[mmack66]

So you don't like a product because it is made in China, and not made in the USA, but you will buy something at Harbor Freight that is made in Taiwan, and not made in the USA?

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: callbay
I opened up a tin of cookies I bought and looked at the back of the tin. Made in China. Cookies!

We need to buy American whenever possible and tell companies we don't like it when we see made in somewhere besides the US on the package.

I don't feel exactly the same way.

I don't mind buying tools from places like Canada, Germany, or any other place where you can't treat the workers and environment as disposable items.

So I still avoid tools from China.

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted By: mmack66
So you don't like a product because it is made in China, and not made in the USA, but you will buy something at Harbor Freight that is made in Taiwan, and not made in the USA?


For me it is my budget is X for tools. That used to get me decent made in the USA Craftsman stuff. I didn't mind paying more as I felt it was good to support my fellow American. Now that Craftsman is moving to Made in China I may as well get more tools for my money by shopping Harbor Freight. Either way I'm sending my money outside of the USA.

Should Craftsman come back, I'll start shopping there again. Until then I can get similar tools at HF with a similar warranty for less money

 

[stephen9666]

Originally Posted By: mmack66
So you don't like a product because it is made in China, and not made in the USA, but you will buy something at Harbor Freight that is made in Taiwan, and not made in the USA?


There is a huge difference between Taiwan and China for those of us who are country of origin nerds.

Without getting political, lets just say there are lots of reasons to choose Taiwanese over Chinese products. Taiwanese products are often higher quality, too.

 

[jcwit]

Amazing how many actually know the working/living conditions in china having never been there. Course I've never been there either, but I also do not fall for all the propaganda I'm fed.

 

[cptbarkey]

paying 18 bucks for a drill bit in the first place is not very smart. i consider them disposable myself and usually find the cheapest one i can.

 

[Rand]

I see both sides of the argument

I'm not an apologist I do shop certain things at harbor freight

for example their 9.99$ breaker bars are nice. Replace the factory joke lugnut wrench for 12$ with socket.


The other part is if I'm going to pay 150$ for china at sears why not 75$ at harbor freight.

I'd do try to buy made in the usa then first world countries.

but I dont wrench for a living so its hard to spend 3x the amount for a tool I use once every couple years.

I also get gifted tools from lowes etc that seem to be china too.


so to summary I see both sides. Also people living where the cost of living is high and wages are higher.. have an easier time than say.. SE ohio where the cost of living is fairly low but the job market is pretty bad too.

let us please not let this dissolve into a "horror freight" rant.

Its getting old.

Thanks.

 

[JHZR2]

Go return it and send a note to Sears. Vote with your wallet for US jobs and tax base.

I buy most of my drills at HD because the Ridgid line is US made.

 

[kaboom10]

I bought a 5/8" drill for $12 from Production Tool. I've seen their stuff since I was in a die shop. Good stuff at a good price. Another place I get my drill bits from is Terminal Supply. There was a customer in there with me one day that was raving about them. Word of mouth is some strong advertising.