Cordless - Posted by Darrel F. Smith

Real Estate Investing Retail
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Posted by John Merchant on November 20, 2010 at 14:17:01:

Two or three of the world’s best firearms mfrs including Remington and Winchester have moved their mfg plants from N states with horrendous union power/presence and punitive high taxes to a S state that’s far more friendly to mfrs. MS has gained one or two of these and with its friendly attitude toward mfg plants/cos, much lower taxes and willing work forces, it’s not surprising.

Here in WA, the State’s constant and continuing tax attacks on all business including mfrs including Boeing have run off lots of big cos who realize their lives would be much less complicated in a friendlier state. Boeing has consequently moved much of its operations to Wichita KS and our remaining B employees fearfully await the other shoe’s dropping.

It follows that USA tool cos would go the same route, taking their mfg operations to China or “maquiladoras” (MX)where the unions don’t dictate to these mfrs how to run their cos.

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Cordless - Posted by Darrel F. Smith

Posted by Darrel F. Smith on November 17, 2010 at 10:59:41:

Tony
A while back you reported the purchase of new cordless power tools. At that time you were very pleased with your choice. I am about to buy-----are you still happy and what was the name brand?
DinSD
Darrel

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Re: Cordless - Posted by Darrel F. Smith

Posted by Darrel F. Smith on November 18, 2010 at 23:33:27:

Thanks for your comments. I have been using a 19.2 craftsman drill for a long time (maybe 10 years). I stopped by Sears today and they had a 4 tool set on sale for $109 plus tax. Compared to the higher end name brands I could buy this set and replace it 3 or more times for the price of the elite brands. I will report as to the wisdom of my decision to buy. So far the recip saw has worked great.
DinSD
Darrel

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Re: Cordless - Posted by Shawn Sisco

Posted by Shawn Sisco on November 18, 2010 at 12:29:08:

I don’t use my cordless tools much, but I have been pretty impressed with craftsman sets. I realize they are nowhere near top of the line performance wise, but a great value, for some pretty durable power tools.

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Big issue is battery replsmt - Posted by John Merchant

Posted by John Merchant on November 18, 2010 at 11:57:33:

I’ve had 2 or 3 cheapies that were fine until battery died and I found replacements unavailable.

Really thought I’d found Drill Nirvana a few years back when I discovered Coleman “made” such.

Wow, I thought, with a great brand like the Big C I know I can always get replacements.

I couldn’t have been more wrong and found out then and there that there really is NO Coleman Mfg Co but it’s only a marketable name they apparently sell to anybody wanting to have a good USA name to use.

Without any corporate “Coleman” brand parts backup of any kind, so I definitely won’t recommend or buy them again.

Now I see at the Big Boxes that Hitachi,Ryobi and maybe one or two other well known brands are in the battery powered drill biz and apparently also back up their products with batteries and parts.

But only USA brand I’d really trust is DeWalt so Tony’s made a good choice. By the way I’m told that DeWalt used to be Black and Decker and I remember B&D as a very good dependable USA mfr and brand name.

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Re: Cordless - Posted by Tony Colella

Posted by Tony Colella on November 17, 2010 at 17:36:04:

Hey Darrel,

Awhile back I did upgrade my tools to DeWalt 18volt cordless tools and I would not part with them at any price! They were quite a bit more than the tools I had before but to the credit of the other tools I used them for many years and little complaint.

Tony

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Correction, DeWalt was Stanley nt - Posted by John Merchant

Posted by John Merchant on November 18, 2010 at 14:32:46:

n

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Re: Cordless - Posted by Don-NY

Posted by Don-NY on November 18, 2010 at 06:43:57:

DeWalt makes really good tools. But My favorite is Panasonic. Longest lasting, repairable, high quality, great power to weight, good balance. These are not available at HD type stores. You have to go to a contractors supply type store or the internet.

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Actually… - Posted by John Merchant

Posted by John Merchant on November 18, 2010 at 17:00:42:

I just spent a few minutes looking at history of DeWalt, B&D and Stanley and find they’re all 3 old independent cos and very much still in business.

Don’t know where I heard that DeWalt had been Stanley originally but that’s not true and I just wanted to correct the record.

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lithium batteries, right? - Posted by Brenda (OH)

Posted by Brenda (OH) on November 18, 2010 at 13:09:54:

My nickel cad 18 v cordless set has gotten retired to the house to do quick repairs. they are too heavy compared to the new lithium batteries to use for long periods of time… or is there something even newer than Lithium? BB

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Re: More Actually… - Posted by Dr. B. (OH)

Posted by Dr. B. (OH) on November 19, 2010 at 07:48:32:

I went to school in Towson, MD and my stepfather’s father was a tool salesman for Black and Decker all his life. B&D small appliances (line bought from GE) were also everywhere. B&D bought DeWalt tools in the 1960s but did not promote it. My family used B&D, Rockwell, Milwaukee, Porter-Cable, Delta, & Makita brands with good service. My stepfather had a radial-arm saw, designed by DeWalt. The rest of us thought it was an inaccurate POS.

B&D fell on hard times throughout most of the 1980s. In 1992 they re-branded their industrial tools with the DeWalt brand and sold their consumer brands as B&D. Some of my family, including me, bought some DeWalt products and were disappointed, though many contractors thought they were great. We were also disappointed that the formerly-strong B&D name was now relegated to the consumer single-use drills & saws junk.

The DeWalt radial-saw line was sold in 1989 and is now owned by “The Original Saw Company” in Britt, IA.

In 1994 DeWalt (always a subsidiary of B&D) acquired a German woodworking manufacturer ELU and incorporated its technology into their products. IMO, this purchase plus Li-ion batteries is what saved their arse. The products now are very good.

B&D bought Porter-Cable, Delta and DeVillbiss in 2003 from Pentair Inc. They also own Kwikset, Baldwin, and Wieser hardware companies. They merged with Stanley in March of 2010 and changed their name to Stanley Black & Decker and are now headquartered in New Britain, CT.

Steve

P.s. Bosch, Festool, and Fein Tools are the very best and are made in Germany, no outsourcing.

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Re: lithium batteries, right? - Posted by Don-NY

Posted by Don-NY on November 19, 2010 at 06:50:43:

Lithium is king as far as I know

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Failed to Summarize. - Posted by Dr. B. (OH)

Posted by Dr. B. (OH) on November 19, 2010 at 08:02:19:

B&D bought DeWalt in 1960 for its radial arm saw.
Didn’t promote the DeWalt name.
Sold the radial arm saw line in 1989.
Revived the DeWalt name in 1992 for professional power tools.
Merged with Stanley Works in 2010 to become Stanley Black and Decker.

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Thanks for history lesson - Posted by John Merchant

Posted by John Merchant on November 19, 2010 at 21:02:20:

Doc, I thank you for the accurate history of these old-line US tool mfrs.

Just glad to know we’ve not yet ceded everything to the Chinese. I know when I can, I always buy USA and when I can’t I’ll reluctantly buy Harbor “Fright”.

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Sorry, John, but… - Posted by Dr. B. (OH)

Posted by Dr. B. (OH) on November 20, 2010 at 10:46:28:

as Graig(MI) has found, very few power tools are made in USA. Only a couple of specific tools from Milwaukee and Makita are actually made in USA.

The very best (and expensive) tools are actually made in Germany: Bosch, Festool, & Fein Tools. I have a Bosch hammer-drill that has never let me down. My father bought Fein tools whenever he could.

Steve

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Re: Thanks for history lesson - Posted by Craig(MI)

Posted by Craig(MI) on November 20, 2010 at 10:36:03:

I also own and buy Dewalt tools mainly because I can
switch batteries back and forth between them and I like
the feel when used. Unfortunately of the five I checked
all were made in Mexico or China. I used to feel guilty
about buying at Harbor Freight but often I now feel I
just cut out the middleman.

freight