I have seen many people refer to 'Craftsman' as 'Crapsman' and when I saw
this item

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...=00 921754000

referred to in an earlier thread, I must admit to being tempted.

This brand is not seen in Australia, and the US$1900 price tag is a touch
too much to take a punt on, so...

Is the 'crapsman' moniker deserved?

Mekon

Mekon wrote:

Is the 'crapsman' moniker deserved?

Sears spent over a 100 years developing the Craftsman brand as a very
good, affordable, homeowner, light commercial grade of products.

They have spent the last 20 years destroying that image by offering
bottom of the line products.

Sears has been in a state of decline for at least the last 10 years.

(WalMart is eating them alive, IMHO)

Today they are owned by the same guy who owns K-Mart and is known as a
liquidator of company assets before he closes them down.

Sears is very rich in property (the store sites) which today is their
principle asset.

If I were a betting man, it would not surprise me if Sears went out of
business within 10 years, 15 at the most.

Lew

Mekon wrote:
I have seen many people refer to 'Craftsman' as 'Crapsman' and when I saw
this item

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...=00 921754000

referred to in an earlier thread, I must admit to being tempted.

This brand is not seen in Australia, and the US$1900 price tag is a touch
too much to take a punt on, so...

Is the 'crapsman' moniker deserved?

Mekon
Since you're an Aussie, I'm gonna assume you really don't know and you
aren't just trying to start a war. So I'll give you my take on it.
I'm sure somebody will disagree.
A generation ago, Craftsman made tools fit for a professional. In the
last 20 years or so, they transitioned to a few high-end consumer
quality goods and a lot of low-end homeowner quality tools fit only for
the weekend fixer-upper. They traded off of their reputation for
reliabilty while appealing to the gadget lover. These tools are often
loaded with gadgets that work poorly or don't add real value. They
came out with various Rube Goldberg devices that carry a router to
carve spiral table legs and signs and 3-dimensional carvings. Think of
them as an expensive toy instead of a serious woodworking machine.
They often have bushings in places where quality tools have bearings
and plastic in place of metal.
Most folks on this side of the pond have had a Craftsman tool or three
early in their experience but we have mostly abandoned Craftsman tools
by the time we get seriously into woodworking.
Personally, I would never sink that much money into anything with their
name on it. When Bosch or Porter Cable comes out with a similar
machine it may be time to think about it.

DonkeyHody
"Even an old blind hog finds an acorn every now and then."

I have a number of Craftsman wrenches which still look new after many years.
I have purchased a number of Craftsman products with motors which broke down
too soon.

Despite my hestitance about tools with motors, I did purchase the 22144
Hybrid table saw after reading it was made by a decent contractor, Orion, or
some similar name. The saw is working well after two years. It does not
make me want to purchase any tool with a motor. For example, Sears makes a
version of my Bosch 1617EVS router. I am hesitant to buy this since I do
not know if they altered any specifications.

My Bosch 1617EVS works very well, except for a well known switch problem and
in my older units like mine, oxidation of the magnesium body.

This unit is really the CarveWright with a Sears label. The folks who have
purchase from CarveWright appear to like the company and the product.

The CarveWright product is tempting, but it is not a $1900 shopbot. It is a
carving system. If this is what you need, then consider this seriously.

Go to the manufacturers site for more information and forum.
http://www.carvewright.com/

Dave Paine.

"Mekon" wrote in message
...
I have seen many people refer to 'Craftsman' as 'Crapsman' and when I saw
this item

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...=00 921754000

referred to in an earlier thread, I must admit to being tempted.

This brand is not seen in Australia, and the US$1900 price tag is a touch
too much to take a punt on, so...

Is the 'crapsman' moniker deserved?

Mekon

I still use some of the Craftsman tools purchased before 1990.
After that I had problem with their warranty. It appears that they started
to outsource some of the power tool to Ryobi and other lowest bidders. I
have two belt sanders and one biscuit cutter. The three of them gave me
problems.
On the other hand the average buyer does not use his tool as often as the
serious wood worker. Most of the time the tools are not used much and are
stored on the shelves. In this case Craftsman may be suitable.

"Tyke" wrote in message
...
I have a number of Craftsman wrenches which still look new after many
years. I have purchased a number of Craftsman products with motors which
broke down too soon.

Despite my hestitance about tools with motors, I did purchase the 22144
Hybrid table saw after reading it was made by a decent contractor, Orion,
or some similar name. The saw is working well after two years. It does
not make me want to purchase any tool with a motor. For example, Sears
makes a version of my Bosch 1617EVS router. I am hesitant to buy this
since I do not know if they altered any specifications.

My Bosch 1617EVS works very well, except for a well known switch problem
and in my older units like mine, oxidation of the magnesium body.

This unit is really the CarveWright with a Sears label. The folks who
have purchase from CarveWright appear to like the company and the product.

The CarveWright product is tempting, but it is not a $1900 shopbot. It is
a carving system. If this is what you need, then consider this seriously.

Go to the manufacturers site for more information and forum.
http://www.carvewright.com/

Dave Paine.

"Mekon" wrote in message
...
I have seen many people refer to 'Craftsman' as 'Crapsman' and when I saw
this item

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...=00 921754000

referred to in an earlier thread, I must admit to being tempted.

This brand is not seen in Australia, and the US$1900 price tag is a touch
too much to take a punt on, so...

Is the 'crapsman' moniker deserved?

Mekon

The Craftsman name used to be used on a line of pretty good tools. In
fact, some of the woodworking tools built during the 50's and 60's were
heavy-duty, well made equipment. I run across iron-topped Craftsman table
saws in estate sales from time to time and they still get good attention. I
own a router and circular saw that was purchased during the mid-70's and
they provide good service. My '78 vintage drill press continues to work
well. They still produce a pretty good line of hand tools (sockets, drives,
ratches), but they are priced at about twice comparable hardware-store
items.

Sometime since then they turned their backs on their home-shop customers and
started producing (IMHO) junk. During this latter period they also started
offering gimmicks instead of good tools. One example is their
router-crafter which is a contraption that looks like a lathe and is
supposed to allow the user to produce lathe-type turnings with a router (A
hot item in the garage-sale circuit for years - many of them on their 4th or
5th rotation). I suspect his carver is another such device.

Sears claims to have stepped back into the "serious woodworking" market
during the past couple of years with a group of 'heavy-duty' table saws.
They even call one of them a cabinet saw. Being the owner of a cabinet saw,
it took one peek inside the cabinet to see what was going on - sheet metal
added to what is basically a fairly mundane contractor's saw. This machine
is a close cousin to the $289 garage saw I purchased years ago and no longer
own. The main difference is they want $1,000 for this one.

Don't be tempted. Crapsman is alive and well.

RonB


"Mekon" wrote in message
...
I have seen many people refer to 'Craftsman' as 'Crapsman' and when I saw
this item

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...=00 921754000

referred to in an earlier thread, I must admit to being tempted.

This brand is not seen in Australia, and the US$1900 price tag is a touch
too much to take a punt on, so...

Is the 'crapsman' moniker deserved?

Mekon

Too much gadetry. I wouldn't have that thing from any manufacturer.
Where's the fun in being at the mercy of yet another computer?
Wilson
"Mekon" wrote in message
...
I have seen many people refer to 'Craftsman' as 'Crapsman' and when I saw
this item

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...=00 921754000

referred to in an earlier thread, I must admit to being tempted.

This brand is not seen in Australia, and the US$1900 price tag is a touch
too much to take a punt on, so...

Is the 'crapsman' moniker deserved?

Mekon

"Mekon" wrote in message
...
I have seen many people refer to 'Craftsman' as 'Crapsman' and when I saw
this item

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...=00 921754000

referred to in an earlier thread, I must admit to being tempted.

This brand is not seen in Australia, and the US$1900 price tag is a touch
too much to take a punt on, so...

Is the 'crapsman' moniker deserved?

Mekon


Once upon a time, Sears sold mechandise that had slightly above average
quality for a slightly below average price. They abandoned this practice
some time ago.

They have changed all of their lines to be about average (or slightly below
average) in quality but for about average (or slightly above average) prices
(not just Craftsman).
While times may be changing at Sears, they will find that it is lots easier
to lose customers than it is to get them back.

Jim

On Thu, 28 Dec 2006 19:43:36 -0600, "RonB" wrote:

The Craftsman name used to be used on a line of pretty good tools.

Since then they turned their backs on their customers and
started producing junk.

Sears claims to have stepped back into the "serious woodworking" market
during the past couple of years with a group of 'heavy-duty' table saws.
They even call one of them a cabinet saw. This machine
is a close cousin to the $289 saw I purchased years ago and no longer
own. The main difference is they want $1,000 for this one.

Don't be tempted. Crapsman is alive and well.

RonB



Tough crowd!

Thanks all.



Mekon

Sears and Kmart are now the same company called Sears Holdings. Eddie
Lampert is the majority stock holder (i.e ESL Investments). He also
controls AutoZone and AutoNation, among other companies.



Lew Hodgett wrote:
Mekon wrote:
Today they are owned by the same guy who owns K-Mart and is known as a
liquidator of company assets before he closes them down.

Sears is very rich in property (the store sites) which today is their
principle asset.

If I were a betting man, it would not surprise me if Sears went out of
business within 10 years, 15 at the most.

Lew

"Wilson" wrote in message
news
Too much gadetry. I wouldn't have that thing from any manufacturer.
Where's the fun in being at the mercy of yet another computer?
Wilson

Well for better or worse the decision was made for me. It only comes in a
110 volts Australia has 220-240v as standard throughout.

Mekon

Mekon wrote:

Well for better or worse the decision was made for me. It only
comes in a
110 volts Australia has 220-240v as standard throughout.

Doesn't OZ also operate on 50HZ?

Lew

Is the 'crapsman' moniker deserved?

Yes and No.

Yes: The C*man router I was given for Christmas many years ago was
unusable. Between the "Random Height Adjustment" and the "Poly-axular Angle
Adjustment" features it was less accurate than I was, just a few hours into
the WW hobby. By contrast, I used my Delta bench saw for over a year before
I upgraded to a Grizzly contractor saw.

No: I have a lot of Craftsman hand tools, screwdrivers and the like, some
more than 20 years old. I've never had problems exchanging worn out,
lifetime warrantee Craftsman tools. If I hit the Lotto I am gonna buy the
25,000 piece Craftsman tool set. ;-)

-- Mark

On Fri, 29 Dec 2006 04:34:27 GMT, Mapdude wrote:

Sears and Kmart are now the same company called Sears Holdings. Eddie
Lampert is the majority stock holder (i.e ESL Investments). He also
controls AutoZone and AutoNation, among other companies.



When Kmart emerged from bankruptcy and issued their new stock, the new
stock issue was at $15. My thought was, "nothing has fundamentally changed
vis a vis Kmart's market nor competition -- this looks really risky,
K-mart's going to be back in bankruptcy soon, and all those people holding
the stock will get screwed". The merged company SHLD closed today at $168.
Ah well.

OTOH, I called it right when Krispy Kreme looked like the dream stock of
the past couple years.


Lew Hodgett wrote:
Mekon wrote:
Today they are owned by the same guy who owns K-Mart and is known as a
liquidator of company assets before he closes them down.

Sears is very rich in property (the store sites) which today is their
principle asset.

If I were a betting man, it would not surprise me if Sears went out of
business within 10 years, 15 at the most.

Lew


+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Mekon wrote:
| Thanks all.
|
|
|
| Mekon

Before you leave, let me encourage you to at least think about
building your own machine. It's not as difficult as you might expect.

I just realized that everything in the machine I built (including the
stepper motors) runs on 48V (or less) DC - for use in Oz, I'd just
change out the step-down transformer...

....hmm, might be able to do something like that with the machine you
were looking at.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

Mark Jerde wrote:

If I hit the Lotto I am gonna buy the
25,000 piece Craftsman tool set. ;-)

WHAT ! ! !

You mean no SnapOnG

Lew

In article et,
Lew Hodgett wrote:
Mark Jerde wrote:

If I hit the Lotto I am gonna buy the
25,000 piece Craftsman tool set. ;-)

WHAT ! ! !

You mean no SnapOnG

Lew

25,000 pieces fron Snap On you would need to hit the Lotto twice.
--
Make it as simple as possible, but no simpler.

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland -

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
news
Mekon wrote:

Well for better or worse the decision was made for me. It only
comes in a
110 volts Australia has 220-240v as standard throughout.

Doesn't OZ also operate on 50HZ?

Lew

Yep, that sounds about right...

Mekon

"Mekon" wrote in message
...
I have seen many people refer to 'Craftsman' as 'Crapsman' and when I saw
this item

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...=00 921754000

referred to in an earlier thread, I must admit to being tempted.

This brand is not seen in Australia, and the US$1900 price tag is a touch
too much to take a punt on, so...

Is the 'crapsman' moniker deserved?

Mekon



Craftsman, like any other manufacturer builds good stuff and bad stuff.
Craftsman has it's stinkers and so does every one else. Being a relatively
new concept in scale I would be leery of this tool even if it had a better
brand name badge on it.

"Mark & Juanita" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 29 Dec 2006 04:34:27 GMT, Mapdude wrote:

Sears and Kmart are now the same company called Sears Holdings. Eddie
Lampert is the majority stock holder (i.e ESL Investments). He also
controls AutoZone and AutoNation, among other companies.

Does Auto Nation still exist? There were 5 or 6 in the Houston area several
years ago but have been gone for at least 3 or 4 years.


When Kmart emerged from bankruptcy and issued their new stock, the new
stock issue was at $15. My thought was, "nothing has fundamentally
changed
vis a vis Kmart's market nor competition -- this looks really risky,
K-mart's going to be back in bankruptcy soon, and all those people holding
the stock will get screwed". The merged company SHLD closed today at
$168.
Ah well.

About 15 years ago a financial advisor told me that Kmart's biggest problem
was similar to the American auto industry, too many non productive people
getting paid way too much money. On a store level the company was
profitable but the profit turned into losses after paying the bloated list
of recipients.





OTOH, I called it right when Krispy Kreme looked like the dream stock of
the past couple years.

Again, Krispy Cream is no longer in Houston. Did you dump their stock?

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
ink.net...

Today they are owned by the same guy who owns K-Mart and is known as a
liquidator of company assets before he closes them down.

Sears is very rich in property (the store sites) which today is their
principle asset.

If I were a betting man, it would not surprise me if Sears went out of
business within 10 years, 15 at the most.


I think you just hit the nail on the head on all counts. They really started
screwing up late 60's early 70's with their better than thou attitude.

RM~ (sears retiree)

"Mark Jerde" wrote in message
news:XV1lh.5174$Ej7.1051@trnddc02...
Is the 'crapsman' moniker deserved?

Snip


No: I have a lot of Craftsman hand tools, screwdrivers and the like, some
more than 20 years old. I've never had problems exchanging worn out,
lifetime warrantee Craftsman tools. If I hit the Lotto I am gonna buy the
25,000 piece Craftsman tool set. ;-)


You do realize that the 25,000 piece tool set will have 20,000 hack saw
blades, 3,000 Allen wrenches, and 1,000 ignition wrenches. ;~)

"George Max" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 28 Dec 2006 19:43:36 -0600, "RonB" wrote:

Tough crowd!


And I guess we are getting tougher. We have two things going for us:

1) As old farts we feel a more than a little animosity toward Sears. Years
ago, many of us didn't even shop for tools, we just went to Sears because we
thought we were getting good equipment at a good price. They betrayed us.

2) I'm reaching that age: "Anybody can have more birthdays; but it takes
balls to get old!"

RonB

On Fri, 29 Dec 2006 08:20:15 -0600, "Leon"
wrote:


"Mark & Juanita" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 29 Dec 2006 04:34:27 GMT, Mapdude wrote:

Sears and Kmart are now the same company called Sears Holdings. Eddie
Lampert is the majority stock holder (i.e ESL Investments). He also
controls AutoZone and AutoNation, among other companies.

... snip




OTOH, I called it right when Krispy Kreme looked like the dream stock of
the past couple years.

Again, Krispy Cream is no longer in Houston. Did you dump their stock?


Never bought it; I considered it when it was heading upward and the
company was rapidly expanding. I didn't buy because it seemed to be going
up too fast.

They also closed their franchise in Tucson. Apparently their success
really was too good to be true -- a few too many sweetheart deals with some
of the franchisees as well as just bad luck, the "low-carb" craze hit
during their march upward and really hit their sales.



+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

On Fri, 29 Dec 2006 09:08:03 -0600, "RonB" wrote:

"George Max" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 28 Dec 2006 19:43:36 -0600, "RonB" wrote:

Tough crowd!


And I guess we are getting tougher. We have two things going for us:

1) As old farts we feel a more than a little animosity toward Sears. Years
ago, many of us didn't even shop for tools, we just went to Sears because we
thought we were getting good equipment at a good price. They betrayed us.

2) I'm reaching that age: "Anybody can have more birthdays; but it takes
balls to get old!"

RonB


Ha!

I remember a time when I was a boy and my parents wanted anything,
they went to Sears. Everybody seemed to. During the holiday season,
the local store employed a guy that stood on top of the building and
directed people to parking spots during the holiday season.

When I got married, wifey and I bought most of our stuff there. When
we needed anything, we went to Sears. Clothes, appliances, tools,
anything.

Then not long after getting married, Sears decided quality cost too
much. Maybe they though they saw Wal-Mart making lots of money
selling crap so they would too. Big mistake. People that remember
when Sears was really good for everything feel let down. Cheated if
you will.

"RonB" wrote in message
...

I'm reaching that age: "Anybody can have more birthdays; but it takes
balls to get old!"

My doctor say's "getting old ain't for sissies" and I'm inclined to agree.
RM~

On Fri, 29 Dec 2006 11:05:28 -0600, George Max
wrote:

On Fri, 29 Dec 2006 09:08:03 -0600, "RonB" wrote:

"George Max" wrote in message
. ..
On Thu, 28 Dec 2006 19:43:36 -0600, "RonB" wrote:

Tough crowd!


And I guess we are getting tougher. We have two things going for us:

1) As old farts we feel a more than a little animosity toward Sears. Years
ago, many of us didn't even shop for tools, we just went to Sears because we
thought we were getting good equipment at a good price. They betrayed us.

2) I'm reaching that age: "Anybody can have more birthdays; but it takes
balls to get old!"

RonB


Ha!

I remember a time when I was a boy and my parents wanted anything,
they went to Sears. Everybody seemed to. During the holiday season,
the local store employed a guy that stood on top of the building and
directed people to parking spots during the holiday season.


Yep. Mail-order for those in rural areas was a huge draw also. My dad
grew up on the Eastern plains of Colorado, several hundred miles from
Denver. He said they could fill out an order, put it in the mail one day
and receive their orders two days later (one day to Denver, one day to
process, one day to deliver).

When I got married, wifey and I bought most of our stuff there. When
we needed anything, we went to Sears. Clothes, appliances, tools,
anything.


I grew up in Sears, Penney's and Wards clothes

Then not long after getting married, Sears decided quality cost too
much. Maybe they though they saw Wal-Mart making lots of money
selling crap so they would too. Big mistake. People that remember
when Sears was really good for everything feel let down. Cheated if
you will.

Yep. Bet you bought some of those "value-engineered" tools before finding
out what pieces of junk they were -- a reasonable justification to feel
cheated.

The first tools I bought when I got out of college were Craftman. When I
decided to get into woodworking, my first thought was to go to Sears.
Luckily I found this newsgroup first and learned about the automatic random
height adjusting features of Sears routers. In addition, I already had
experience with those tools I had bought earlier and was more than a little
disappointed with. They weren't like Dad's Sabre Saw at all.



+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Craftsman wrenches, screw drivers, and such without any moving parts
are average or above average. I attempted to return a Craftsman
hand-screw wooden clamp and a sales man told me that the lifetime
warranty does not include items with moving parts. The handle of the
clamp became loose, even after a few epoxy attempts. My personal
policy is to stay away from Taiwan and China-made tools (baskets,
clothes and shoes are okay), no matter what the brand.

Wrong salesman. If that were the case, ratchets, u joints, pliers, slide
hammers, gear pullers, ect would also not be covered.

"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
I attempted to return a Craftsman
hand-screw wooden clamp and a sales man told me that the lifetime
warranty does not include items with moving parts.

On Sat, 30 Dec 2006 00:35:50 GMT, Phisherman wrote:

Craftsman wrenches, screw drivers, and such without any moving parts
are average or above average. I attempted to return a Craftsman
hand-screw wooden clamp and a sales man told me that the lifetime
warranty does not include items with moving parts. The handle of the
clamp became loose, even after a few epoxy attempts. My personal
policy is to stay away from Taiwan and China-made tools (baskets,
clothes and shoes are okay), no matter what the brand.

Yep. I'm not going to chime in about any Sears power tools, because I
neither own nor use any, but when it comes to chisels, hand saws or
tape measures, they almost always get my $$$. (Well, maybe not in the
case of the tape measure- technically, I only bought one, but it's
been exchanged many times over the years.)

Especially their black handled chisels.... if you haven't looked at
them, I'd suggest doing so. They may not be as good as some
million-dollar hand forged Japanese chisel made by a guy whose family
forged samuri swords for a thousand years, but they're awfully nice
for anyone with realistic expectations- they'll shave your arm hair
after a few passes on an oil stone, and they've got a lot of steel on
them for the money. They hold that sharp edge pretty well, too.

On Sat, 30 Dec 2006 00:35:50 GMT, Phisherman wrote:

Craftsman wrenches, screw drivers, and such without any moving parts
are average or above average. I attempted to return a Craftsman
hand-screw wooden clamp and a sales man told me that the lifetime
warranty does not include items with moving parts. The handle of the
clamp became loose, even after a few epoxy attempts. My personal
policy is to stay away from Taiwan and China-made tools (baskets,
clothes and shoes are okay), no matter what the brand.


For Christmas this year I (take a deep breath) asked for a Craftsman
combination wrench set. In metric sizes. Yeah, Santa brought one.
They look as nice as the inch size ones I bought 30 years ago.

Sorry to hear about the hand screw problem. Maybe you should go back
with it and talk to a different rep.

"CW" wrote in message
ink.net...

Wrong salesman.

Evidently, sounds like he may have been new on the job. I took a 10 year old
tree limb lopper in a couple of months ago and they gave me a new one. No
questions asked and the new one appeared to be lot better quality than the
old one. RM~

PS, My advice would be to go back and ask for the division manager. If it's
a non powered tool that says craftsman on it they gotta take it.

Prometheus wrote:
On Sat, 30 Dec 2006 00:35:50 GMT, Phisherman wrote:



Yep. I'm not going to chime in about any Sears power tools, because I
neither own nor use any, but when it comes to chisels, hand saws or
tape measures, they almost always get my $$$. (Well, maybe not in the
case of the tape measure- technically, I only bought one, but it's
been exchanged many times over the years.)

Especially their black handled chisels.... if you haven't looked at
them, I'd suggest doing so. They may not be as good as some
million-dollar hand forged Japanese chisel made by a guy whose family
forged samuri swords for a thousand years, but they're awfully nice
for anyone with realistic expectations- they'll shave your arm hair
after a few passes on an oil stone, and they've got a lot of steel on
them for the money. They hold that sharp edge pretty well, too.

I too have a shop full of Craftsman hand, portable power, and stationary
power tools. Most of them are old and all are pretty good. Some of
them I can remember buying as far back as the 1960's. Some of them I
inherited from my father.
With reluctance, I have come to the conclusion that the current
Craftsman stuff is of uneven quality. Some of it is OK, some of it is
not, and it is difficult to tell one from the other while standing in
the aisle at Sears. So I don't buy much Craftsman stuff anymore.
Perhaps this is why Kmart bought Sears rather than the other way round.
There are a few things still going for Sears. The "if it breaks
we'll give you a new one" guarantee still works far as I know. And you
can get parts for old Craftsman stuff. I was pleasantly surprised to be
able to order a replacement speed control assembly for a 20 year old
variable speed drill and receive it, snail mail, inside of three days.
And it fit. The Sears website has customer written reviews of tools.
You can read some very harsh reviews there.
As far as that computer driven milling/carving machine for $2k, I'd
worry that it would not be rugged enough to last, or that it would not
be accurate enough to be worthwhile. I'd wait a year and see if it is
still offered for sale. And wait for a review in the magazines.

David Starr

Agree - Wrong salesman. They replaced a ratchet handle that was broken in
half for me. Drove over it.

However, that was several years ago.


RonB

"Rob Mills" wrote in message
...

"CW" wrote in message
ink.net...

Wrong salesman.

Evidently, sounds like he may have been new on the job. I took a 10 year
old
tree limb lopper in a couple of months ago and they gave me a new one. No
questions asked and the new one appeared to be lot better quality than the
old one. RM~

PS, My advice would be to go back and ask for the division manager. If
it's
a non powered tool that says craftsman on it they gotta take it.