Torque Wrench

It happens over and over, somebody makes a good product and then some bean-counter or ad-man tells them with their reputation they could make it cheaper and make a bigger profit.
So, it gets cheaper. Sometimes they value-engineer it so it doesn't really hurt the product but often not. You ride on your name for a while and then either start making good stuff again or sell off/close down. *Many* years ago Black and Decker used to make excellent tools (I have a drill from ~1930), then they wanted to increase profits so they broke the line into homeowner tools and industrial tools. The industrial line remained excellent but the homeowner line got so bad that the brand wasn't worth anything and people wouldn't touch the still very good industrial tools. They eventually (1992) had to re-brand all the industrial tools so they would sell, that's why you know the name DeWalt...

 

Yes, when I was growing up, one could safely assume anything from Craftsman was good quality. I have an old grinder from Black & Decker from the '70s (or maybe early '80s) that just won't quit and is obviously well-made. Today, anything with the Black & Decker name on it is a joke and power tools from Craftsman are problematic at best.

I do have a Craftsman clicker torque wrench that is probably about 5 years old. I've never bothered to have it checked for accuracy but maybe I should. I always figured I was safe because most torque specs offer a range -- e.g. 50-75 ft/lbs. So there is a tolerance built in to the manufacturer specs.