Ha! Actually had to look up whut’s a “spud wrench”. Learn something new every day… 
Been saying out of stock for at least the past two years since I broke it… but strange the price keeps changing…?
Glad I still own Craftsman USA made ratchet and combination wrench sets from the 70’s. I wouldn’t touch their stuff made today with a 10’ pole.
Ever wonder who made Craftsman hand tools. Seems it was lots of manufacurers.
Got this from thegaragegazette.com
Craftsman Tool Manufacturer and Date Range Summary Table
And this.
Great informative links. Thank You ! 
well, my Forever J C Penney Battery is no longer honored either
good riddence.
sears has been dead to me for about 20 years.
up till then i bought nothing but craftsman tools.
sears was everywhere and it was never an issue to get a broken tool replaced what few ever failed me.
then they went flaky on warranty’s,closed lots of stores,stopped stocking stuff,ect.
the writing was on the wall….
Lately I bet, most people are only going to Sears to exchange broken tools before the store is gone. I have thought about it… getting all my screwdrivers I have received as gifts over the years Re-Newed. If you know what I mean… Sears is probably giving more tools away than they are selling. Who would buy a Lifetime warranty tool from a brand that may not be here soon? I understand the Name has been sold but not sure about the details.
Looks as if Stanley/Black and Decker now owns the name. Grrr… I haven’t been happy about anything B&D in the last 15+yrs either. My $30 Dustbuster’s battery started failing, and I couldn’t find any replacements under $50. That was my first Li Ion pack I ever made from pulled cells and converted it. That was short lived as there was something internal cutting off the motor after 1min… Something inside the motor, perhaps a heat sensor or a death timer built in. My built batt pack still lives inside a Shark vac I was given.
I work for an advertising media (newspaper). We have not received any advertising from Kmart in well over a month, Sears ads are dwindling to hardly anything. Both stores used to have several ads a week distributed to most of the subscriber list. Easily 200K pieces a week of each store ad in the past. Sears is now down to select areas and about 40K of a single ad a week. The Hometown Brand stores (hardware) are only maybe 3K. This Newspaper gives away more free papers (packs of sale ads) than are actually sold to subscribers. I have been there 30 years and our days are numbered too.
From my view its pretty easy to call what stores are in trouble without keeping up with the news.
I haven’t bought a Craftsman tool in over 20 years. Ratchet designs changed and they are junk ever since. Skipping teeth when force applied has caused me injury. I have had several 1/2in breaker bars break. The cross pins for the pivoting head was not on center making a weak point. Laminated jaws on the locking pliers are not aligned causing minimal surface grabbing force and easily slip. Screwdrivers with thin plating that rust instantly and logos that disappear with a wiff of solvent.
As you can see the etching of the logo in the pliers set above is not meant to be there very long. It will wear off with use. If the tool does not have the logo it will not be exchanged for warranty. Battery powered tools with proprietary batteries that will not be available in 3 years. Lawn equipment manufacturers that change every year. Kenmore appliances with the same… One would think a longer contract may yield a better price.
The home stores brands of Husky and Kobalt are far superior for the money and warranty service. Pittsburgh from HFT even has better ratchets than Craftsman and their ratcheting wrenches are actually pretty good. An auto mechanic friend has a set of Duralast 3/8in sockets, SAE & mm, deep and shallow that he pounds daily with impact and air tools. It really blows my mind how well they have survived, None have broke in the 10yrs I have known him.
I am really a tool snob when it comes to my personal collection. Honestly I only have a few old Snap-on brand tools. 80% of what I own and use are German hand tools. Yes Knipex is king in the pliers world. I have an 8in mini bolt cutters that will cut a clutch or parking brake cable with one hand and several others of the Knipex brand. My wrenches, sockets and ratchets are Hazet. Mostly bought while the exchange rate was good, 10-20 years ago. You may ask what about warranty on these? Yes they are warrantied and it will cost me more to ship it than I could find a replacement for… but they do not break. In 20 years I have broken one 3/8in 10mm deep socket. That was because I did not have a Long 1/2in drive 10mm hex (Allen socket) to get head bolts off. I used a cut-off 10mm Allen wrench in the socket and an adapter to 1/2in breaker bar. Yes the socket broke and it was completely my misuse of the tool. I have been on several big tool trucks. I am really amazed with the amount of rebranded tools they carry. With some research I have acquired several tools from the original manufacturers at a fraction of the price off the truck. One is my Air-Cat 3/8in drive air ratchet. Another is this Evil pliers… Snap-On version pictured
But I got the original manufacturer BAHCO made in Sweden off feebay for much less. This is a Serious tool. It grips harder and harder the more you pull.
mine is truly a “forever” battery.it is dry charged.
wound up with 2 #27 dry charged.
so my lifetime warranty is void now and i havent even tried to use them?
rather short sighted to offer such a thing.quite a few folks buy things they intend to keep forever.
a friend who works for firestone auto center told me 6 months ago they were replacing about 6 of these a month.
and most were 8-10 time replacements.
they underestimated how many customers would be able to use this warranty to the letter for their lifetime!
the set in the first post is actually decent.
those etchings on the metal will not wash off.
code wf=western forge.
Here is another example of the lowering of standards for the “Craftsman” brand.
Home Depots “Ryobi” brand is their low end power tool line. It is adequate for home use, but is not considered to be of professional quality suitable for a “craftsmans” use.
Here is a tear down of both a Craftsman Li-ion tool pack and a Ryobi tool pack
Craftsman = Ryobi
I certainly hope it won’t wash off.
But I do have a couple etched logo Crapsman pliers that have the logos Worn off.