Craftsman CMMT12024 20-Piece SAE/Metric Wrench Set Review

Why you should trust this review

I bought this Craftsman set at a Lowe’s at full retail when my old SAE-only set stopped cutting it on a project car. Craftsman had no idea this review was being written. I have been wrenching on cars and small engines as a serious hobbyist since 2010 and spent two college summers as a working mechanic, so I know what a wrench feels like when it is about to round a corner.

I ran a parallel set of GearWrench combination wrenches the whole time for a direct, identical-size comparison. Every claim below came out of real garage work over six months and roughly 50 hours, not a bench-only spec sheet, and I logged every fastener event where a wrench slipped, rounded, or bound up so the cons here are earned rather than guessed.

How we evaluated

I removed and reinstalled 30 brake caliper bracket bolts across three different vehicles, pulled a corroded 17 mm fastener from a subframe while alternating between the Craftsman and the GearWrench on the same bolt, and soaked one wrench in brake cleaner weekly to see how fast the size stamps gave up. I logged grip on greasy hands during an oil-pan removal, and I compared box-end fit against the GearWrench in identical sizes using feeler gauges to get an actual tolerance difference rather than a feel.

Box-end fit: where the set surprised me

I checked the 17 mm Craftsman box-end against the 17 mm GearWrench with a feeler gauge, and the Craftsman ran about 0.001 inch tighter to the bolt-head flats. That is a small number that turned into a real result on the subframe job: the Craftsman gripped a corroded 17 mm where the GearWrench had started to round the corner. At this price I did not expect to beat the more expensive set on tolerance, and on that bolt it did.

That tighter fit is the single thing that moved this set from acceptable to genuinely recommendable. A loose box-end is what destroys fasteners, and the Craftsman’s box-ends grip the flats cleanly across the sizes I use most. It is not Snap-on tolerance, but for daily automotive fasteners it is well past the threshold where I trust it on a stuck bolt.

Open-end fit and the 12-point trade-off

The 15-degree open-end offset is standard, clears most engine-bay obstructions, and lets you flip the wrench every other pull on a free fastener. As on every wrench in this class, the open-end fit is looser than the box-end. On a rusted exhaust nut the open-end slipped and I switched to a 6-point socket, which is the trade-off of any 12-point combination set rather than a Craftsman-specific flaw.

That 12-point box-end geometry is the honest weak point for anyone who fights seized hardware. Twelve points contact the corners of the flats, so on a rounded or badly rusted bolt they let go sooner than a 6-point would. For a hobbyist working mostly on serviceable fasteners this rarely comes up, but if your daily reality is rusted farm or trailer hardware, pair this set with 6-point sockets and a flank-drive option for the worst bolts.

Finish, durability, and storage

The full polish chrome cleans up easily with a shop towel after greasy work, and after six months none of the wrenches show pitting, even after sitting in brake cleaner during the soak test. The weak point is the size stamps. The 10 mm and 13 mm, which I reach for most, show stamp wear that makes the size hard to read in poor light. It is cosmetic, not structural, but it costs a few seconds every time you dig into the bag.

The plastic rack is the worst part of the set, full stop. Mine cracked in two places by month two and I replaced it with a magnetic tray. If you buy this set, plan on doing the same. The one saving grace is that the warranty covers even the rack: I walked into Lowe’s in February with the cracked plastic and no receipt and walked out with a replacement in five minutes.

The lifetime warranty actually works

Craftsman is owned by Stanley Black and Decker now, not Sears, and the lifetime warranty is honored at Lowe’s and Ace Hardware. Beyond the rack, I have seen the same warranty replace a snapped ratchet for a friend, also at Lowe’s, also without a receipt. For a first-set buyer, a warranty you can redeem by walking into a store beats a mail-in claim by a wide margin, and it is a real part of the value here.

One honest note on origin: most of the CMMT-prefix combination wrenches are made in Taiwan today, not the USA, despite the heritage branding. Some larger Craftsman sets are still US-made, so check the stamp on the wrench if that matters to you rather than assuming.

It is also worth noting what is missing from the spread. The set runs SAE and Metric in sensible everyday increments, but there is a gap in the SAE mid-sizes that you will eventually hit on certain automotive jobs, and there is nothing above the upper end for larger hardware. For most car and household work the sizes included cover the great majority of fasteners, but if you know your projects reach into trailer, mower-deck, or farm hardware, plan to fill those gaps with individual wrenches rather than expecting this set to do everything.

Who should buy the Craftsman CMMT12024?

Buy it if you are setting up a first home garage and need both SAE and Metric in one purchase, if you want a lifetime warranty you can redeem at a real store instead of mailing in a claim, and if you are a hobbyist who does not need 6-point geometry for routinely seized fasteners.

Skip it if you work on rusted, seized hardware every day, where a 6-point set is the right tool. Skip it if you want a solid storage tray included rather than a plastic rack you will replace. And skip it if your work needs wrenches above the 3/4 inch and 19 mm ceiling of this spread, such as trailer and farm work.

The verdict

The Craftsman CMMT12024 is not the best wrench set you can buy, but it is the easiest one to recommend for a first toolbox. The box-end fit surprised me by gripping a corroded bolt the pricier GearWrench rounded, the chrome holds up, and the warranty genuinely works in person. Budget around the plastic rack, add 6-point sockets for stuck fasteners, and this set will carry a hobbyist or light-pro through years of work without complaint.