"Back in the day" Old fart rants.

[Mike Tonon]

I wonder if it's that the good ones last and the crap is recycled. You can still get good toolboxes now but you have to look harder and pay for the quality. I found a BNIB westward 6 drawer tool chest on kijiji for $80.00. It was a heavy box, the metal was definately heavy guage, comparable to my 70's vintage snapon tool cabinet that I picked up for $100.00. The westward normally goes for $225.00 online. I'm still looking for a toolbox similar to the one Mike posted in another thread for a more portable solution at the track.

The 6500 Craftsman box seems relatively common, but finding one in good condition is probably rare. My dad has one, too. His is rough, though. And yea, good stuff usually costs big bucks, now. Hey, btw, I was always told that Sears replaces every broken Craftsman tool you bring them, for free. Do they still do that? How about with tool boxes?

Got one of those old steel Scotts drop spreaders on ebay a few years back. It looked like it was used once and kept in storage for 40 years. I made one of the wheels spin freely, because having both of them locked, makes turning technically imposable, but when the spreader is more than 1/3 filled, the engaged wheel doesn't like to spin. And it takes a lot more passes than a broadcast spreader and sometimes it's difficult to know exactly where I left off on the last pass. One thing that's nice about it is that I can neatly fertilize narrow areas of grass, where as those broadcast spreaders would swath too wide, I think. How about those new E-Z snap Scotts broadcast spreaders? Are they better?

 

[Mickey Bitsko]

Oh well this thread was good while it lasted..

What went wrong here

 

[Mike Tonon]

Oh well this thread was good while it lasted..

What went wrong here

Back in the day, we all used to talk about whatever and just go with it. lol, sorry.

How is talking about old tools, not 'back in the day' thread stuff?

 

[Turbroke]

Back in the day, we all used to talk about whatever and just go with it. lol, sorry.

How is talking about old tools, not 'back in the day' thread stuff?

Craftsman has always, and still does honor their replacement guarantees. They once shipped me a very elaborate; nicely designed/made blade guard, and new table (value apx $130.) for a radial arm saw that was over 25 years old at the time as a safety upgrade. I saw an ad urging all owners of these particular saws to contact them, so I did. Absolutely free! No "shipping and handling" either. I've used Craftsman all my life as did my dad and his. They're not always THE best tools, but they're comparable if not close to the best, and their guarantee is more than rock solid, but I'm sure many other quality tool makers are as just good. I like Craftsman. I can always find what I want. They have gotten expensive, but what hasn't. "Back in the day" I made X dollars a week, and cost of living was Y. I still make X dollars a week but cost of living = (Y)4. What gives? Eh? I don't understand how most folks are able to survive today. I live VERY frugally, and just squeak by with no perks. (Health insurance, savings, "disposable income" LOL) Back in the day we had this thing called "disposable income" in single income households!!! Sad part is it wasn't really THAT long ago. Oh, and we all (providing we had a job) pretty much had health insurance too.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I believe the craftsman guarantee is also their undoing. Unscrupulous people will buy junk tools at flea markets etc. and exchange them for good tools. Nothing wrong with it if you bought the tool from sears in the first place but wrong if you didn't. This has got to have cost the company millions over the years and may be one of the reasons sears tool department is such shit now. It sucks as I grew up with sears tools too, it was the first set my dad bought me when I was 16, over 35 years ago. I remember when......their tool department took up a good portion of the floor space, no more and that's sad. ( see how I brought it back to " back in the day"[emoji12] )

Sent from my XT1032

 

[Mark_88]

I see Sears tools sort of like the difference between sex when we were young and sex today. If we took our today tools back to Sears for a replacement because they were worn out I think the Sears folks would laugh us out of the store..."you want to exchange that old thing for a new one...."

So...you're probably right...it was their downfall...Canadian Tire was like that when I was a kid...it was a dream store when I was a kid...they actually had gun cases showing the guns that could be bought...and ammunition for my pellet guns or BB guns right on the shelf...

It was almost like yesterday that I could see myself picking up a box or bag of ammunition for those 'pretend guns' and not being old enough to get sexually excited about how cool it was and not knowing that in 40 years I wouldn't care about the sexual stuff so much any more and not knowing that at the same time today I couldn't even find a gun in the store...

That's Canada for you...not sure if that's progress...but I'm too old to return my tools now...

 

[Mike Tonon]

Attacks on the family unit. How did it happen? People forgot where they came from and got greedy. Anyways, I don't want to offend anyone with that topic (well, boohoo, truth is truth), so moving on.

Yea, people abuse things and it messes it up for everyone else. My dad had a lot of Craftsman tools, actually still does. Still seems like pretty good quality. We had a Sears Hardware store here in my town, but they closed last year. Even shortly after they opened, about 10-15 years ago, even then, it wasn't busy in there every time I went in. I think the closest Sears now is a couple towns over.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

IMO sears was a middle of the road tool that had/has an awesome gaurantee. In Canada canadian tire has stepped into that spot with a gaurantee that is real close if you buy their "maximum" brand. They also have a decent selection and the tools go on sale for up to 75% off, the same as sears did/does. For a while I refused to buy at CT because of problems returning tools but they seem to have turned that around to the good. CT had a real bad rep with me and my friends when I was growing up, for bad quality auto parts, but that has changed a bit too. Now everyone has bad quality parts for sale, it's the norm.

 

[Mark_88]

That's true about the bad quality being the norm today. Part of the problem with quality is where they are made...and I've returned a few tools to CT a few too many times for my liking...but they keep giving me new ones when they break...and it may be their downfall.

Rubbermaid used to have an in-store replacement option years ago...buy any of their products and if it breaks (usually for any reason at all) just bring it in....don't usually need a receipt...but that all changed not too long ago.

Their (Rubbermaid) storage bins used to be almost indestructible...but I figured that one out...just leave them outside in winter and they will crack and self destruct in not time...

I remember CT used to sell rebuilt motors...

 

[Turbroke]

( see how I brought it back to " back in the day"[emoji12] )

Sent from my XT1032

NICE! Has anyone ever seen a Sears & Roebuck catalog from the 1890's to early 1900's? Amazing. They sold EVERYTHING. Even houses. I restored two "Craftsman" houses from the 20's for customers over the years. They were amazingly well built; even compared to the high quality standards most homes were built to back then. Sears was an American business that stood behind American products and the American ideal. Sad to see what it has become. "Made in U.S.A." used to mean everything, and we actually DID make the best stuff in the world. "Back in the day." I have several appliances that belonged to my grandparents that still work as well as the day they were made. Four "Hunter" oscillating fans. I use them constantly. They weigh about 40 pounds each, (Shop fan easily weighs 150 pounds) will blow you out of the room, and will probably still work for my grandchildren as long as someone keeps them lubricated. I look for "antiques" when I must shop for many things. They are usually inexpensive, work REALLY well, last forever and put money in a hard working, honest person's pocket in my own community unlike the disposable crap that's available today. "Planned obsolescence" replaced "quality craftsmanship," and fraudulent robbery has replaced a fair deal in business, healthcare, government, finance.... Oh, and MIKE TOONAN: I take no offense in anything you, or anybody else posts. I love to hear what other folks think; even if I disagree. We are all entitled to our beliefs and ways in a free society, and I love diversity. It's what makes a truly dynamic society, and an interesting place to live. When fascist governments tell you what to think, be and feel, you wind up with...Well,... North Korea. It seems we are headed in that direction too. What a stupid, and shortsighted if not plain evil choice. How did we ever get here? God save and bless us all no matter what we call him or how we worship, and may good prevail over ignorance, Amen.

 

[Mark_88]

I think one of the chain fast food stores (Mr Sub???) used to have a Sears & Roebuck catalog on every table...but not sure...

I've also seen them on-line and I once helped to renovate a house built in the 1890's that had newspaper for insulation...really! By the time we tore off the inside walls in the 1970's it was all sitting in a heap at the bottom of the wall...sometimes with large enough sections to see the date it was printed and other news articles were pretty easy to read...but newspaper was a pretty good insulator before we had global warming or global cooling...

 

[Turbroke]

Newspaper was a very common material used for insulation back then. Nothing for insulation was far more common. Houses were cold in the winter and hot in the summer.

 

[Mark_88]

Oh, yeah, I can attest to that. After we finished insulating and hanging all the drywall the whole house it was much nicer...not that I knew from experience, but my girlfriend's family said it made a huge difference. Heating bills became manageable.

But that was the first time I'd seen newspaper...and I saw it quite a bit after that...every house built before fiberglass insulation (except the ones using asbestos bats) used newspaper. I also remember removing a few asbestos wraps around pipes before I learned that it was dangerous to breathe...

 

[Turbroke]

Oh, yeah, I can attest to that. After we finished insulating and hanging all the drywall the whole house it was much nicer...not that I knew from experience, but my girlfriend's family said it made a huge difference. Heating bills became manageable.

But that was the first time I'd seen newspaper...and I saw it quite a bit after that...every house built before fiberglass insulation (except the ones using asbestos bats) used newspaper. I also remember removing a few asbestos wraps around pipes before I learned that it was dangerous to breathe...

I used to restore/renovate old Victorian and colonial era homes. Some of the materials and building techniques I encountered regularly were astounding. One day we had to reposition an original beam in a home built in New York in 1772. When we worked it loose and slid the bottom out a flood of nearly uncirculated, pre-civil war, silver dollars came pouring out of it like a Vegas slot machine jackpot! There were roughly 1800 of them all together; a lot of money during that time. The overjoyed home owner did some research and discovered that the home was inhabited by a family who's last surviving member died suddenly in July, 1864, and had probably hidden his life's savings in that beam in case the Confederate army made it that far north as many people feared at the time. I loved working on those old houses. There were always surprises of various kinds hidden in them. Traces of times, builders and owners past.

 

[Mark_88]

Haha...that would have been nice to see...every old house I've lived in and/or renovated I or the owner had the same dream. When my family was young we used to visit one of my Uncles who lived in a newly built house with the old house built in the late 1800s on the same property. We used to go exploring in it and I always thought it would be neat to fix it up...

I ended up doing plenty of work for a friend on a house built around 1850...she told me that if I find any platinum rings they were hers...lol...not sure if platinum was even discovered back then...but I had a lot of fun fixing that old house...didn't find anything more exciting than mouse turds in the fiberglass insulation...and they were not historic mouse turds...I should have had them tested for authenticity...