Craftsman has the perfect durability on all the tools that you might be getting out there.
Not only are the craftsman tools perfect in order to ensure that you are getting the right edge of using them for a vast number of needs.
Yet, you also need to maintain your tools efficiently and ensure that you are not facing any such problems with them either that can later cause you to have problems or downtime with your work.
Educating yourself on the proper care requirements will help you get a robust response from the tools.
A bit of attention to the maintenance of the tools will go a long way when it comes to keeping them in perfect condition. There are no quick fixes when it comes to managing your tools.
So, you need to keep track of the tool maintenance to avoid more issues with the power tools.
Dating your tools is a great way to keep an eye on the health conditions of your tools and make them work in the right manner. A few such things to know about it are:
What is it For?
Dating means figuring out the manufacturing date and year of any tools that you might have been using.
While you might be wondering why I would need to know when my tool was manufactured, there are several reasons for it.
You need to know them all if you want to have a seamless experience with any of these tools that you might be having.
It will also help you to make sure that you are replacing any wearable components on the tools that you might have.
It is also useful for finding the right user manual for any of the tools and getting support for these tools at the same time if you are encountering any problems with these tools.
How to Date Craftsman Tools?
Luckily, Craftsman has engraving on all their tools that will help you to know when a particular tool was manufactured.
There are several ways to mark your craftsman tools, and the best thing would be to look for any markings that you might have on these.
These markings might be visible to you without any aid, or at times you might need to use a magnifying glass to be able to properly read out these markings.
The best thing is that these engraved markings will not only let you know the date your tool was manufactured but will also be coming in handy for knowing the origin of the tool that you have, or in other words.
In this facility, the particular tool was manufactured. Here are the methods that are most commonly used to date the Craftsman tools.
- Check the Model Number
The first thing that you should do is check the model number for the tools. While this will not give you an exact idea of the unit’s purchase, you will still get a basic understanding of the production date.
This is especially true for all of the power tools. So, before anything else, just take a peek at the model number.
Once that is done, you can proceed to do your research on the model and then match the model number with the production date.
That will be more than enough to help you through the majority of issues with figuring out the age of the tool.
- Check For Hardware Issues
Next, you need to check up on the hardware side of things. You will be able to easily take a guess on the age of the tool by checking for faulty sections.
If you do find defects in the system and the pivot points are clogged up, then there is a good chance that it has been in use for years.
This method will not be as accurate when you’re new to the market, and the basic usage of the unit can always vary from project to project.
However, that does not mean that you can’t make an educated guess based on the defects in the power tools.
So, all that you need to do is to engage the unit and then cycle through all of the features.
This will help you get a better hang of the situation without seeking help from anyone else. From there, you can go about figuring out the right fit for your system.
- Seek Pointers From Local Experts
At this point, you should just reach out to local experts to get a better hang of the situation. This is especially true if you don’t have much experience in the market.
So, if you’re new, just take the tool that you’re planning to purchase to the local repair center. From there, you can ask the professionals working there to date your tool.
They will look at the wear and the rough patches on the unit to give you a rough idea. Their guess will be pretty accurate, and you will get a decent idea of how much you should pay for this unit.
You can also get opinions from other owners by taking some pictures and clips of the tools and then uploading them on the community forums.
This will make it much easier to get a complete perspective on the situation, and you will not have to waste more time in finalizing the purchase.
All it takes is a bit of effort on your end, and seeking help from more experienced users is always the best move.
So, when you can’t seem to date the Craftsman tools by looking at the model number yourself, just take some pictures and send them to the experts.
These experts will make it effortless to decide whether or not you should make the purchase on the toolset.
Hopefully, you will be able to save yourself from a bad decision by taking some pointers from experts.
- Search It Online
There are a number of guides, but you might not be able to get the right ones with those guides.
The best way would be to search the date or code that you find on your tool online to ensure that you are able to get precise information on the manufacturing of your tool.
You can also search by image even when the model number and all the relevant markings are removed from the unit.
You will be able to find similar units in the Craftsman portfolio, and that will make it much easier for you to figure out the production date for this unit.
From there, you can develop an accurate estimate of the unit itself and how you should go about the purchase.
Even though purchasing second-hand tools is not always the best decision, you can still find a good deal if you’re aware of how to root out bad options.
- Find the Diamond Mark
For such tools that don’t have any visible patent date on them, there is always a Diamond mark that is followed by a number.
That will refer to the catalog of a particular year that you bought this tool or the year the tool was manufactured.
With that, you can find the most accurate information about the tool that you might have. You can look at these markers to also define the origin of the tool, along with the assembly and the distribution.
You will be able to find symbols from GX to LX that will indicate that the unit was produced anywhere between the 1920s and 1980s.
Similarly, you can take a peek at the CT markings to figure out whether the unit was produced in Taiwan or not.
Lastly, you also have the option of comparing the current tool with their latest model and figuring out the missing features.
If you can’t find any significant difference in the design and the features, then you’re dealing with a relatively new unit.
On the other hand, if there are a ton of differences, then you might be out of luck, and the current unit will be fairly old.
So, it all comes down to the basic shape and the features that are missing from this unit when you can’t seem to find the age of the tools.
Wrapping Up
While there are no accurate ways that can help you date a Craftsman tool set, you can still make pretty reliable guesses about the pricing and the age of the unit.
It all comes down to your experience as a workman, and you need to look at the wear and the rough patches to find the right fit.
Figuring out the best usage of the unit can be a bit hard at times. If you’re confused and don’t know whether or not you should invest in a second-hand kit, then be sure to seek pointers from an expert.
That will save you a lot of time down the road, and you will get some reliable pointers.
Similarly, you can also compare the tool kit with the latest model and figure out the differences in the features and the design to make an educated guess yourself.