On Sat, 13 Dec 2014 22:00:20 +0000 (UTC), John McCoy
wrote:

woodchucker wrote in news:6oGdnbZAT_hpDRHJnZ2dnUU7-
:

The rigid is not a cheap tool. It's got an induction motor not universal
and is surprisingly well made.

Ridgid (two "d"s *) power tools are a bit unpredictable. Most of
them are made by Ryobi, I beleive, with corresponding quality.

Not really (made by Ryobi). Both are made by the parent company, TTI,
(the other name in the TTI group is "Milwaukee"). Ryobi is meant for
the low-end consumer market, while Ridgid is intended for the higher
end consumer and low end contractor. Milwaukee, of course, is
intended for the pro-sumer or industrial markets.

A few of them are made by other vendors (some might even be
made by Emerson Electric, who actually own the Ridgid name and
make the Ridgid plumbers tools), which sometimes means a higher
spec tool.

AIUI, Ridge (Emerson) owns the (Ridge and Ridgid) trademarks but
they're licensed to TTI, who actually manufactures most of the tools.

The tool biz is really convoluted.