On Wednesday, July 20, 2016 at 12:45:33 PM UTC-4, Rudy Canoza wrote:
On 7/19/2016 4:35 AM, Ed Huntress wrote:
Fab Shop magazine just published an article on the state of the art in
cordless tools:

http://magazine.fsmdirect.com/2016/july/d/#page7

RCM members should find it interesting. (How about a 2,500-Watt,
battery-powered, 9-inch angle-head grinder?)

Good stuff, good article.

I don't do enough work using power tools to justify buying new cordless
tools to replaced my corded ones. I have a drill, a circular saw, a
jigsaw and an orbital sander, all corded. I have given some thought to
replacing the drill, the tool I use most often, but the use is still
seldom enough that I can't quite justify it.

In your view, are the brands typically available at, say, Home Depot all
of roughly comparable quality? Off the top of my head, I recall seeing
DeWalt, Milwaukee, Makita, Ryobi, possibly Black & Decker; I imagine
there are some others I'm not remembering. I'm sure the vast majority
of them are manufactured in China, regardless of the national domicile
of the brands.

Thanks for your comments. I'm not a good judge of brands these days, as some of the old tool makers have divided their lines into industrial and consumer with very different results, but the ones you listed are pretty close. B&D, although it once made a great industrial line (I have three of their industrial drill motors, all 40 years old or more and going strong), is now one of several companies owned by the same conglomerate, and B&D has been assigned to the consumer market. Still, I have two recent ones, and I have no complaints about them. The same company owns DeWalt, Porter-Cable, Delta, and others. DeWalt is a little higher-end, and Porter-Cable, in the opinion of many,is higher still.

Or they were. Competition is heavy, and they're all jockeying for different market segments. At the premium industrial end you have Fein and Metabo -- and you pay for it. The rest are pretty much head-to-head. (I still favor Milwaukee, but that's based on old experience.)I own a Makita grinder and a Ryobi belt sander, and both are doing fine after years of heavy use.

If I were buying one today, I'd look at reviews by users on the brands you listed. It's a little like cars: nobody can afford to make junk these days, unless they don't expect to stay around.

--
Ed Huntress