Easco Hand Tools was an American manufacturer of hand tools. It is best known for being the main supplier of mechanic's tools for the

Craftsman Craftsman may refer to: A profession *Artisan, a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative *Master craftsman, an artisan who has achieved such a standard that he may establish his own workshop and take o ...

brand. Its tools were also sold under the

Allen Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Univ ...

and ''KD Tools'' brands after its acquisition by

Danaher Corporation Danaher Corporation is an American global conglomerate founded in 1984 by brothers Steven and Mitchell Rales. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the company designs, manufactures, and markets medical, industrial, and commercial products and ...

. The brand name was gradually phased out by Danaher.

History

The company began as ''Moore Drop Forging Company'' in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...

in 1900 or 1901. In 1938 Moore became a vendor for

Sears Roebuck Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwa ...

. In 1967, Moore Drop Forging was acquired by ''Eastern Stainless Steel Corporation'' (Easco), a manufacturer of stainless and specialty

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

. Easco continued the Craftsman contract with

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

. By 1969, the parent company was known as Easco Corporation. Tools made by MDF for Sears have a "V" maker's mark on them, those by Danaher had a "V^" (V and upside down V, sometimes a right-side up V). Variations of the "VV" exist including three digit codes on tools such as ratchets. It is believed that these denote the time frame of manufacture, as well as the plant that made them. "V" typically meant the tool was made in the Springfield, MA plant, "VV" typically meant it was made in the Springdale, AR plant and "G" meant it was made in the Gastonia, NC plant. This has been confirmed with various plant employees who worked at these facilities. In 1985, Easco Corporation was acquired via a hostile takeover by Equity Group Holdings, controlled by the investment brothers Steven Rales and

Mitchell Rales Mitchell P. Rales (born August 1956) is an American businessman and art curator. He co-founded Danaher Corporation with his brother Steven Rales in 1984 and the art museum Glenstone with his wife Emily Wei in 2006. Rales is also the chairman of ...

and taken private. The hand tools division of the company was taken public, and the other divisions were sold to an investment group including Citicorp Venture Capital. In 1990, the hand tool company was acquired by the brothers'

. This acquisition made the tools division the largest part of Danaher. In 1991, Sears selected Danaher to be the exclusive supplier of Craftsman mechanic's tools. In 2010, Danaher merged its tools division with Cooper Tools to form

Apex Tool Group Apex Tool Group is an American supplier of hand tools and power tools. It was formed as a joint venture of Cooper Industries and Danaher Corporation, Danaher by the merger of Cooper Tools and Danaher's Tools and Components segment. In October 2 ...

. In 2013, Apex closed the

Gastonia, North Carolina Gastonia is the most populous city in and the county seat of Gaston County, North Carolina, United States. It is the second-largest satellite city of the Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte area, behind Concord, North Carolina, Concord. The po ...

plant where Easco manufactured sockets since 1978.

Gallery

Image:Easco ratchet.jpg, An Easco

ratchet Ratchet may refer to: Devices * Ratchet (device), a mechanical device that allows movement in only one direction * Ratchet effect in sociology and economics * Ratchet, metonymic name for a socket wrench incorporating a ratcheting device * Ratc ...

. Image:Easco spinner handle.jpg, An Easco spinner handle.

References

{{Tool manufacturers Tool manufacturing companies of the United States Manufacturing companies established in 1900 Goods manufactured in the United States 1900 establishments in Massachusetts Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1990 1990 disestablishments in Maryland