[cooperino]

Originally Posted by sawdustdad

In 30 years, I've only ever ruined one tap, the 5/16 NC. I've replaced it with a new Irwin tap, but the old Craftsman taps seem to last forever.

What trusty Craftsman tools do you have that you keep using despite all the new stuff on the market?

It's very likely Irwin made your original set of taps for craftsman. They have been re-branding tools for craftsman, snap-on, mac, and others since they started over 100 years ago. However. your right. Todays irwin tap will not stand up to years before irwin made or craftsman made tap. Same with drill bits. The reason. Simply put. All the stuff today gets made with recycled crap. Today, They want stuff to break. Unfortunately no one gives lifetime on cutting tools with one exception. I have 1 set of Snap-On drill bits I purchased about 20 years ago. They are cobalts and at the time Snap-on gave lifetime on them. They cost about double what the regular set should be but I have gotten my monies worth back in broken bits over the years.. I think Snap on stopped giving lifetime on these for obvious reasons and last 2 new Snap on dealers I have had I had to prove to them that they had lifetime on them lol.. Glad I kept that paperwork!