please reserve your anger and sympathy until you do a few minutes of research.start with the O.P.s. web site.At least he's honest about the history and origin of his product.
I have sold these products since 1988 so 31 years. With If you dont like Ill buy it back I loved just about every minute of it so it was not like work The shows were great and I had a ball terrorising the girls in the local resturants
I just have to jump in here as an "insider" at Eastwood and clear up a few things. 1. The reason you would have been contacted to buy product was to do competitive testing of all of the leading rust coating products with an independent lab. Those salt spray and scratch test results are shared publicly on the website. I can gladly give our product versus another if anyone would like to see it here. The testing was done at a point when the Eastwood formula was already developed and tested internally. I'd be happy to send out a can to a HAMB member for free to test themselves for a HAMB independent test. 2. Eastwood has been selling rust products since the 1980's and we have constantly been working to perfect, redevelop, and evolve the rust coatings lines and this is no different. Rust Encapsulator Platinum was developed with our chemist pulling technology from military and industrial corrosion coatings and modifying it to be DIY/Hobbyist friendly. While the color of the coating or the way it cures (moisture cure) may be similar, MANY other rust products cure the same way and may be a similar color. (add stainless or aluminum to make silver colored paint). You can find the test results and more information about the product here: https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-rust-encapsulator-platinum.html . Just a note; Eastwood has been a HAMB Alliance supporter since 2012. Alliance Members get the best discount for a forum or enthusiast group. (20% off regular priced items). So make sure you're taking advantage of that if you're an Alliance member! I hope this clears up confusion. I'm using some platinum and chassis black on my T frame here in a week or so. Can't wait to get it all sealed up and shiny. -Matt
That last post reads like the true infomercial it really is. Say what you will, Eastwood is infamous for knocking off other peoples products and saying that they developed or changed them. And they don't even do that great a job at it. Case in point. I wanted to buy a tubing bender. Eastwood has knocked off the JD2 bender and sell it cheaper. The problem comes in when you look at their piss poor selection of bending dies. I contacted them and asked why their selection of die sizes was so limited, their response was that the only make the most popular sizes. And I was less than impressed by the attitude of the rep from Eastwood who replied to my inquiry, I thought he was rude and dismissive. I responded that if you're going to copy something and sell it, the least you could do would be to offer a full line selection of bending dies. In the end I bought the JD2 and can get what I want and need and the quality is second to none. Eastwood offers some decent items, buts lets not try to fool anyone how they "develop" them.
I learned my lesson about buying 'off brand' stuff years ago... Not to say I don't buy stuff from places like HF or Eastwood, I do. But I consider those as 'consumables', not legacy purchases, or for very limited/one-time uses. And I'm not trying to make a living with them either. When I was still working in my trade, it was always amusing to see a brand-new apprentice show up with a full set of 'crapsman' hand tools. By the end of his (or her) first year, usually the only thing left was the tool pouch, with everything else replaced with professional-quality tools.
"it was always amusing to see a brand-new apprentice show up with a full set of 'crapsman' hand tools." I've used Craftsman tools for decades on cars, along with Proto, Indestro, etc. and been quite happy with them all. I have also bought a few Snap-on tools, and some some cheap "Canadian Tire" pro series wrenches - which are pretty darn good tools, at least to me. Nicely polished, thin rings and strong. I am not a licensed mechanic, but do work in maintenance so use hand tools daily.
As soon as I seen the photo of the can I knew it was what I used on my 41 back around 1994 ! I want to say I'm really impressed with it, 25 years later no flaking, still durable as hell, still shiny and absolutely no rust has ever came through it. I'm glad I found it again because I'll definitely be using it on my 57, great product and I would highly recommend it to anyone. You can see a bit of the chassis in this photo, 25 years later and still shiny, thanks for your product.
Here is the government website with prices for various copyright applications: https://www.copyright.gov/about/fees.html When I was in the agency business, we filed copyright applications on print ads, photos, press releases, instruction sheets, product labeling, packaging and promotional materials. Every once in awhile, we would have to have an attorney write a letter pointing out copyright violations. While we never ended up in court, it made the point to our client's competitors.
Copyrighting is a protection for artistic, literary, or musical material. It would have absolutely no bearing on this product, or even the label, company name, or logo. A trademark would offer protection for company name and logo. There are only two protection methods for the product itself-- patent (assuming you have something patentable), and trade secret. Trade secrets are "forever" protections, to the extent you can keep the secret. Utility patents last 20 years, at which point it can be copied.
My dad bought me a set 'Crapsman' tools when I was 16 to keep me out of his tool box, That was 56 years ago, I sure miss him. But I don't miss the tools, I still have them, well most of them and use them all most daily. But then I'm not a professional.
Craftsman tools will usually get you by, they used to be a lot better quality than they are now. Sears has changed suppliers several times over the years their tools are now made by Stanley-Black and Decker so that should tell you something about their currant quality. If you are particular about the tools you use there are a lot better options out there than Craftsman.
Wow, my toolbox at work is 75% full of Craftsman tools and has been since I started in this trade in 1990. And I’m no hack either. I’m the Lead Technician at one of the largest independent truck repair shops in St. Louis. I guess I’ll go back to work and tell my box that they can’t do the job anymore since they are “Only Craftsman”. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Craftsman made it's reputation by selling inexpensive mediocre tools with a lifetime warranty (for hand tools only by the way). For the hobbyist, that was fine; if a tool broke, the next time you were at Sears you picked up a new one. But if you were on the job when a tool broke, you were now losing money; you, your employer, or both. The price savings quickly became unimportant. You'd be hard-pressed to find a Craftsman tool owner who hasn't replaced at least one due to breakage/failure. I'm not saying that 'better' tools don't break, but it's a much rarer occasion. I was required to have (in good working order) a specific tool set, all hand tools. No wrenches or sockets were included, or any power tools; those were furnished as needed by the employer. In 35+ years in the trade, I can recall only one instance where a contractor furnished a Craftsman tool for use on the job. We were drilling 3" and 4" holes through metal lathe and plaster with hole saws, and when a tooth on the saw 'caught' on a lathe wire the 1/2" Milwaukee drillmotors we usually used would either try to throw you off the top of the ladder, shatter the plaster requiring ceiling repair, or both. The less-powerful Craftsman drillmotors we ended up using could be stopped, limiting repair work needed and just being safer to use in this case. With a 20 man crew, over the course of the job we burned up one at least one a week. I'll note that Sears wouldn't warrantee them for 'commercial service'... I also had the misfortune of buying a Craftsman-branded oxy-acetylene outfit in the early '70s. Now Sears didn't build their tools; they contracted it out, usually to second-tier manufacturers, using their own 'proprietary' design. Now, I feel that this sort of item should be a 'legacy' purchase. With care, this should last a hobbyist their lifetime, with replacement of consumables (tips) being the only expense. The set came with limited tips, but I was assured that a full range of them was available on order. Imagine my dismay when 8 years later when I needed some different cutting tips that I find that they're all discontinued.. NLA. Worse yet, the original manufacturer has gone out of business, so no hope there either. Sears response? "We feel that this item has a service life of ten years, so we'll offer a 20% discount off the price of our current cutting attachment". Which won't fit my existing torch handle, so by the time I pay retail list for the handle only and get my 20% off retail on the attachment, I'm pretty damn close to cost of a new full set. That was the last straw for me; I never bought another Sears tool. I had a couple of other Craftsman tools that had consumables that met the same fate, although these weren't legacy purchases. The oxy-acetylene set? Replaced with a Victor. Ended up scrapping the Sears set for the brass, nobody wanted it...
I have 5 items I would like to patent, however, the system is complicated and needs a lawyer to sort it out. That is the first step.....Now it comes down to who is going to produce your new product? You have this hot patent and now you find out the manufacturer has to make 10,000 on a run due to set up costs and material. After all that you only make a third of the profit that you had anticipated and its pennies on the dollar.......been there, done that. At least I got to walk around the Pierce -Arrow building. TOOLS, My father gave me a full Craftsman two drawer tool set in 1960. I still have the box and about half of the tools. Most were "borrowed" and never returned. We used the box when we raced for 15 years 75-90. I sprayed painted all the tools I took to the track bright orange, they still have the paint.
I've got a dozen or more US and international patents to my name. Those and a nickle will buy me... well... nothin' All my patents were assigned to our corporate overlords. While every one of them came from my own work product (my brain, my expertise, my ideas, my engineered solutions, solving my employer's problems, and arguably on my own time-- countless hours/"exempt" employee) they got full ownership of all rights. I got a few t-shirts, plastic awards, and mentions at company all-hands meetings. I also get to point to them and say, "hey, that's me." Thanks. The little guy simply can't afford the process, the fees, the more fees, the still more fees (when USPTO makes you resubmit something 3-4 times due to incorrect information THEY provided... but you still have to pay to resubmit), the wait... and finally, the litigation often required to enforce rights (take a look at the perpetual Apple v Samsung patent litigation). Budget for a single one of my patent submissions was $30k-- to cover fees, documentation and design drawings (there are very specific requirements), attorney time, etc. And that didn't cover the cost of me doing original design, write-up, or countless hours explaining things to attorneys who didn't really understand what I was telling them anyway. The system is just too cumbersome and expensive for the little people.
Trademarks and patents are only as good as the amount of money you have to hire lawyers to defend same.
In my trade we issued Channellock 440's. The guys would lose them and replace them with Fuller's because they were cheaper but guaranteed to slip groove and bust your knuckles. If I saw a guy with a pair of yellow handles sticking out of his pocket I would ask to borrow them for a minute and then throw them as far as I could.
When I was turning wrenches professionally I used Snap On exclusively. Everything I had at home in the garage was Craftsman, now that we no longer have a Sears store here I will probably have to find another source. It kind of makes me wish I hadn't sold my Snap On collection when I quit being a mechanic and took them home
Pats55, Man would you post up a link to your product web-site? I think I found it but not to sure. I would be real interested in hearing more about that ceramic coating.
In the past, my advice to students starting out was to buy as big a set of Craftsman tools as they could afford. It would give them the largest range of tools for the money, even if 10 of the count was hacksaw blades. As they worked they could then afford better tools. As an example I would tell them about doing Toro-Flow diesel head gaskets back in the 60's. There were 28 head bolts with a 9/16" 12 point head. A Craftsman socket would take both heads off and torque 1 and 1/2 heads back down before it broke. I still have my Snap-On socket.
The Jalopy Journal
