Craftsman never manufactured their own things, it was always contracted out. So long as DeWalt is fine with the quality and supports the product I don’t see the difference
A lot of the Made in USA Craftsman hand tools were made by Western Forge. There's usually a "WF" somewhere on the tool on those. These are generally good quality. Craftsman then moved production to China and the Western Forge plant shut down, although the company is still around.
In this case it’s dewalt, one of the most premium high end tool brands, selling their brand recognition to porter cable, the lowest of the low end tools.
The idea that Dewalt is "one of the most premium high end tool brands" is ridiculous to anyone with even a modest understanding of tools. I wouldn't even consider Dewalt to be middle of the road when it comes to consumer hand tools, much less premium.
Premium tool brands are like Festool, Mafell, etc. Stuff that weekend warriors freak out about when they see the price tag. Dewalt just has a big marketing budget, recognizable colors, and is in every big box store.
Interesting, I use my dad's old Porter Cable Router from the 80's, and its rock solid (they also owned Delta). Looks like in 2004 they were bought by Black and Decker.
Ironically, another manufacturer that used to make great tools but went 'consumer'. I got to use an old +20yr B&D circular saw not long ago and it was still fantastic
Porter Cable actually used to be great and dewalt was iffy, ive never heard anyone consider Dewalt to be premium though... Either way they sell the same tools now in just different colors, like their mid-size trim router is exactly the same but in Dewalt, PC or (i forget the third brand i saw, same router though) colors
I usually use the AK-47 as an example for Dewalt -- they use such sloppy bearings and construction there isnt much to wear out that it doesnt work. Its not well built, just sloppy enough to take a beating
The two dewalt impact drills which have had their chuck become detached from the motor under light work loads and the half dozen Porter Cable tools which I've used reliably on almost every DIY project for the last 10 years, all of which are sitting in my garage, suggest otherwise.
Before Sears imploded, the power tools were mostly made by Black and Decker, which owns DeWalt but also makes a lot of low-end crap that ended up in the Craftsman line. I'm not sure who makes them now.
Sears sold the Craftsman name just recently for nearly a billion dollars. Stanley Black and Decker purchased it. Very confusing, because the agreement allows for both to use the name for a time...so your Sears Craftsman power tools aren't compatible with the Lowes ones.
