Craftsmans Chinese Crapola

I wanted a better quality buffer/grinder so I finally located a nice one with a stand at Sears...Nice looking unit in the couple hundred dollar range...Figured Id pay more and only have to do it once...WRONG....It has a rheostat to control the motor speed....If used on any thing but low you have to chase the thing around the room as it vibrates and hops around...but thats not an issue anymore as the rheostate apparently burned up after a few hours use and now high speed and vibration is all it will produce....This was right before after about 45 minutes of contineous use the plastic light got so hot from heat from the motor case it melted and came off the case and fell down and contacted the wheel.....This is like several other Craftsman items I have bought recently, a floor jack that worked once, and a air tank that the guage exploded inside the face after a few uses...All this stuff was made in, you guessed it,,,China,,,Crap,,,If I had wanted junk I would have gone to a place where thats what they specialize in, not tried to rely on a good name gone bad like Craftsman....Shame on you Sears for letting us all down and following in the path of selling cheap inferior junk....Bob Reno

I've got some of my original Craftsman tools from the 70s (and some from before!) and those are good - not snap-on great, but good. I've got many ratchets and a few power tools from way back when.
Not all of their current line is "chinese" but it's seemingly moving that direction.  My Craftsman air compressor I bought back in the 80's is still chugging along, even though I've abused it with blasting, painting, and forgetting to drain the tank (which has a bad not so solid sound now days).
It finally sprung a leak at the pressure switch area, but it's over 25 years old, so what can one expect having been in a machine shed with a dirt floor, and other various places in its life. I suspect the replacement from Sears today would not hold up so well to my abuse.
I tend to buy Sears tools from garage sales and swap meets now so I can get some of the older good stuff.

I wonder if you have to buy the Crafstman "professional" versions now to get a decent product?

Most of my hand tools are Craftsman; collected over the past 30 years; all made in Canada or US. I wandered through the local Sears a few months ago and noted all their hand tools have "Imported by Sears" on the packaging save for a few screwdriver sets still made in Canada. I won't be buying any more tools from Sears. Like billd said, I'll keep my eyes open at swap meets and flea markets for the 20-year- old good stuff.

I thought all the Craftsman hand tools (wrenches, ratchets, etc.) were built by Western Forge here in the U.S.  We have a WF plant here in town, and I know they have a banner hanging on the building that says "Craftsmen Building Craftsman for 100 Years."