Did some trading for this one. Marked "CRAFTSMAN" on the front of the tang, and "Distributed by Sears, Robuck and Company Chicago, IL" on the back. No other marks to determine if it was made by Ern, Sta-Sharp, or another company. It is also a much less fancy model than many I have seen. The seller reported that when he purchased this, it had never been sharpened outside of the factory, and he sent it to be honed, and that's it. My pictures don't show the condition of this blade very well, but it is mint. Any idea on the manufacturer, or the date made?
ERN, Kohler, and Wilbert are the ones I know of My understanding is if it is marked "Craftsman" it is newer like after 1930
Ern and Koeller are the two I know. Typically from Germany. Good razors. Edit: I've seen some marked GRS (Gebrüder Richartz & Söhne) as well. Some of those are just marked Richartz and have a whale logo.
I have some of my grandfather's craftsman wrenches. I will put those up against Snap-On and other high end tools any day. The stuff they make now is junk. If they made a razor now, I would probably feel the same way.
'Hidden' jewels if you can find them in usable condition. This 3-pin Craftsman from GRS in great condition was a fortunate find at a great price from a local antique shop. Great shavers!
One day when I was a kid (about 10 or 11), my dad and I were working in the back yard and I was going after some sun-baked dirt with an equally sun-baked hoe. The wood handle on the thing was a splinter fest, totally brittle. Sure enough, one good thrust into the unforgiving soil and the handle snapped right where it attached to the blade. My dad said, "Get in the truck, bring that with you." We drove to Sears. We walked to the tool department where my dad held up the two pieces of the hoe and the girl behind the counter said, "Go get another one." A quick trip by the checkout so the girl could ring out the stock and we were on our way. I noticed no money changed hands. When we got back in the truck my dad caught the puzzled look on my face. "It was a Craftsman." he said. "If you break one of their tools, they'll give you another one. Always buy Craftsman tools."
When I was in college I welded a wrench to a broken tie rod with two batteries, nickels, and jumper cables. We were about twenty five miles from town, and it was enough to get us there. We broke the wrench off while replacing the tie rod, and took it to Sears. The wrench was severely bent and still had weld splatter on it, and the guy at Sears just laughed and let us exchange it. I don't think they would do that today.
When I was in college, I remember one of my classmates talking about using a screwdriver as a prybar and then taking it in saying "I broked it." Sure enough, they replaced it I've got a lot of Craftsman tools... Besides the guarantee, they're good tools to begin with.
