"mike" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"dennis@home" wrote:

Why can't they both be Draper?
Lots of companies badge other companies stuff.


Draper are the service agents that Wickes use
for guarantee repairs. As
far as I know, Draper don't manufacture anything.

I bought one last week. I already have the previous model without angle
attachment which has (and continues to do) sterling service over several
years. Wickes have now dropped the price to £50 so an even better
bargain - but it's only avialble in instore and was removed from the
website a while ago.

At £50 its worth buying for the angle function alone. It is "definitely"
made by Kress in Germany.

On Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:55:14 GMT, mike wrote:

Wickes have now dropped the price to £50 so an even better
bargain - but it's only avialble in instore and was removed from the
website a while ago.

I wish you hadn't told me that ;(

How much do the batteries cost? Is it worth buying another just for
the batteries?

In article ,
Fred wrote:

On Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:55:14 GMT, mike wrote:

Wickes have now dropped the price to £50 so an even better
bargain - but it's only avialble in instore and was removed from the
website a while ago.

I wish you hadn't told me that ;(

How much do the batteries cost? Is it worth buying another just for
the batteries?

Sorry

If it's any consolation I bought my previous one when they dropped the
price to £80 and a month later I bought one at £50 for a mate.

This was obviously just before they replaced it with the new version
that included the angle attachment and bumped the price back up to £129.

Dunno how much the batteries cost. You could ring the Draper number in
the instructions to confirm.

Looking at the price of other branded battery packs on Screwfix'
website, it seems like a bloody good deal - and they are top quality
cells. In fact you'd struggle to recell two battery packs at that price
using Maplin cells.

That having been said, I've been using my previous drill for 4 or 5
years and the batteries are still going strong - so is it worth another
fifty quid to end up with four batteries? And another drill

It'll be interesting to see whether Wickes drop the Kress angle cordless
altogether or if they replace it with the 18V Li-Ion model. I doubt
they'll be flogging that at fifty quid for a few years though.

On Wed, 30 Apr 2008 21:51:53 GMT, mike wrote:

Dunno how much the batteries cost. You could ring the Draper number in
the instructions to confirm.

Looking at the price of other branded battery packs on Screwfix'
website, it seems like a bloody good deal - and they are top quality
cells. In fact you'd struggle to recell two battery packs at that price
using Maplin cells.

That having been said, I've been using my previous drill for 4 or 5
years and the batteries are still going strong - so is it worth another
fifty quid to end up with four batteries? And another drill

I probably can't justify buying another but it would be useful if you
were too lazy to swap drill bits halfway through a job. It's just that
£50 seems such a bargain and it's always nice to buy a new tool

"mike" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Fred wrote:

On Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:55:14 GMT, mike wrote:

Wickes have now dropped the price to £50 so an even better
bargain - but it's only avialble in instore and was removed from the
website a while ago.

I wish you hadn't told me that ;(

How much do the batteries cost? Is it worth buying another just for
the batteries?

Sorry

If it's any consolation I bought my previous one when they dropped the
price to £80 and a month later I bought one at £50 for a mate.

This was obviously just before they replaced it with the new version
that included the angle attachment and bumped the price back up to £129.

Dunno how much the batteries cost. You could ring the Draper number in
the instructions to confirm.

Looking at the price of other branded battery packs on Screwfix'
website, it seems like a bloody good deal - and they are top quality
cells. In fact you'd struggle to recell two battery packs at that price
using Maplin cells.

That having been said, I've been using my previous drill for 4 or 5
years and the batteries are still going strong - so is it worth another
fifty quid to end up with four batteries? And another drill

It'll be interesting to see whether Wickes drop the Kress angle cordless
altogether or if they replace it with the 18V Li-Ion model. I doubt
they'll be flogging that at fifty quid for a few years though.

They have no idea at all. They never marketed the drill properly. The only
drill in the world available with this functionality.

Fred wrote in
:
I probably can't justify buying another but it would be useful if
you were too lazy to swap drill bits halfway through a job. It's
just that £50 seems such a bargain and it's always nice to buy a
new tool

Well, I can't really justify another drill either - I bought a new
Makita 18V jobby back in January - but on the basis of this thread I
purchased one of these items in the local Wickes today. A snip at
£49.99

It is indeed a Kress product - the CE certificate in the instruction
booklet states that it was manufactured by Kress-Electrik GmbH, and the
the chuck is marked Kress. On the packing it states 'Made in
Switzerland' - so no cheapo Chinese imports here.

It seems to be well made and solid, with 2 x 15.6V 2.0Ah NiCd
batteries. Old versions of the Wickes website (via the WayBack Machine)
say the cells are Japanese. If I have a criticism, it's that the
charger is fairly slow at 1h 45min.

The interchangeable chuck mechanism seems very good, and it's even
possible to leave a 1/4" hex screwdriver bit mounted on the drive shaft
in the body with a drill bit mounted in the chuck for a quick change
between drilling and screwing, IYSWIM. The angled chuck mechanism is
straightforward, seems robust (but I guess that depends on its
internals) and the chuck can be set at several discrete angles, not
just at 90 deg. Torque is stated to be a respectable 55Nm

I'll try it out over the next few days - but on its own the angled
drive could pay for itself many times over when drilling cable holes
through joists etc, or in other awkward places.

While it's still early days for me, it certainly seems like a good
buy...

Kind regards

--
Richard Perkin
To email me, change the AT in the address below
richard.perkinATmyrealbox.com

It's is not, it isn't ain't, and it's it's, not its, if you mean it
is. If you don't, it's its. Then too, it's hers. It isn't her's.
It isn't our's either. It's ours, and likewise yours and theirs.
-- Oxford University Press, Edpress News

On 2008-05-02 21:05:07 +0100, Richard Perkin said:

Fred wrote in
:
I probably can't justify buying another but it would be useful if
you were too lazy to swap drill bits halfway through a job. It's
just that £50 seems such a bargain and it's always nice to buy a
new tool

Well, I can't really justify another drill either - I bought a new
Makita 18V jobby back in January - but on the basis of this thread I
purchased one of these items in the local Wickes today. A snip at
£49.99

It is indeed a Kress product - the CE certificate in the instruction
booklet states that it was manufactured by Kress-Electrik GmbH, and the
the chuck is marked Kress. On the packing it states 'Made in
Switzerland' - so no cheapo Chinese imports here.


The labeling her may not reflect the reality of the situation for two reasons:

1) Made in Switzerland does not mean the same as the very specific
rules around the label "Swiss made" as used on watches although even
those do not have 100% local content rules

2) In terms of the CE Declaration of Conformity, "manufacture" and
origin have certain percentage requirements in relation to the ex-works
price. So for example, it would be perfectly possible to bring in
major subassemblies and just perform final assembly locally and still
get away with claiming origin in Europe.

Andy Hall wrote in news:481b81aa@qaanaaq:

On 2008-05-02 21:05:07 +0100, Richard Perkin
said:

It is indeed a Kress product - the CE certificate in the
instruction booklet states that it was manufactured by
Kress-Electrik GmbH, and the the chuck is marked Kress. On the
packing it states 'Made in Switzerland' - so no cheapo Chinese
imports here.

The labeling her may not reflect the reality of the situation for
two reasons:

1) Made in Switzerland does not mean the same as the very specific
rules around the label "Swiss made" as used on watches although
even those do not have 100% local content rules

2) In terms of the CE Declaration of Conformity, "manufacture" and
origin have certain percentage requirements in relation to the
ex-works price. So for example, it would be perfectly possible to
bring in major subassemblies and just perform final assembly
locally and still get away with claiming origin in Europe.

Indeed. Perhaps I was too hasty with the 'no cheapo Chinese imports'
comment

I was trying to emphasise the Kress origin v. the statement earlier
in the thread (from Wickes?) that the device was a Draper product.

Just a few other points:
- the charger has a groove around the base which allows the power
lead to be coiled up neatly when in the case. Nice touch.
- it has a 3 year warranty
- it's heavier than I expected compared to my 18V Makita

Now, what other toys can I buy...

--
Richard Perkin
To email me, change the AT in the address below
richard.perkinATmyrealbox.com

It's is not, it isn't ain't, and it's it's, not its, if you mean it
is. If you don't, it's its. Then too, it's hers. It isn't her's.
It isn't our's either. It's ours, and likewise yours and theirs.
-- Oxford University Press, Edpress News

On 2008-05-03 00:03:20 +0100, Richard Perkin said:

I was trying to emphasise the Kress origin v. the statement earlier
in the thread (from Wickes?) that the device was a Draper product.

One can say that a DoC signed by somebody with a clear title and EU
address is a reasonable indication of taking some level of
responsibility for the products.


Just a few other points:
- the charger has a groove around the base which allows the power
lead to be coiled up neatly when in the case. Nice touch.
- it has a 3 year warranty
- it's heavier than I expected compared to my 18V Makita

Now, what other toys can I buy...

Since you're in drill buying mode, a Festool C12 would please you immensely.

Andy Hall wrote in news:481b9f11@qaanaaq:

On 2008-05-03 00:03:20 +0100, Richard Perkin
said:

Now, what other toys can I buy...

Since you're in drill buying mode, a Festool C12 would please you
immensely.
Now, that's a 'proper' brand. If only I had £300 to spend on yet
another drill - and of course it does have an angle attachment. But
by a strange quirk, I already have one of those

As far as toys go, I was thinking more along the lines of the
Squeezebox Duet...

Kind regards

--
Richard Perkin
To email me, change the AT in the address below
richard.perkinATmyrealbox.com

It's is not, it isn't ain't, and it's it's, not its, if you mean it
is. If you don't, it's its. Then too, it's hers. It isn't her's.
It isn't our's either. It's ours, and likewise yours and theirs.
-- Oxford University Press, Edpress News

Richard Perkin wrote:

Indeed. Perhaps I was too hasty with the 'no cheapo Chinese imports'
comment

I was trying to emphasise the Kress origin v. the statement earlier
in the thread (from Wickes?) that the device was a Draper product.

It is entirely possible that Wickes do buy them through Draper - it
would actually make a certain amount of sense, since I have seen a
number of wickes own brands that are also available from Draper under
their brand, and yet are obviously from a third party OEM.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 2008-05-03 00:30:26 +0100, Richard Perkin said:

Andy Hall wrote in news:481b9f11@qaanaaq:

On 2008-05-03 00:03:20 +0100, Richard Perkin
said:

Now, what other toys can I buy...

Since you're in drill buying mode, a Festool C12 would please you
immensely.
Now, that's a 'proper' brand. If only I had £300 to spend on yet
another drill - and of course it does have an angle attachment. But
by a strange quirk, I already have one of those

Not like the one on there or the eccentric chuck that allows you to
drill and screw very close to an edge without going at an angle, I bet.


As far as toys go, I was thinking more along the lines of the
Squeezebox Duet...


Ah, that kind of toy..

"John Rumm" wrote in message
news:bfudnZeh484ZOYbVnZ2dneKdnZydnZ2d@plusnet...
Richard Perkin wrote:

Indeed. Perhaps I was too hasty with the 'no cheapo Chinese imports'
comment

I was trying to emphasise the Kress origin v. the statement earlier in
the thread (from Wickes?) that the device was a Draper product.

It is entirely possible that Wickes do buy them through Draper - it would
actually make a certain amount of sense, since I have seen a number of
wickes own brands that are also available from Draper under their brand,
and yet are obviously from a third party OEM.

The Kress site did have at one time, may still have, that Wickes were an
agent in the UK. That means they sell direct. Wickes would not allow
another tier and go to the source to get cheaper.

Doctor Drivel wrote:

"John Rumm" wrote in message
news:bfudnZeh484ZOYbVnZ2dneKdnZydnZ2d@plusnet...
Richard Perkin wrote:

Indeed. Perhaps I was too hasty with the 'no cheapo Chinese imports'
comment

I was trying to emphasise the Kress origin v. the statement earlier
in the thread (from Wickes?) that the device was a Draper product.

It is entirely possible that Wickes do buy them through Draper - it
would actually make a certain amount of sense, since I have seen a
number of wickes own brands that are also available from Draper under
their brand, and yet are obviously from a third party OEM.

The Kress site did have at one time, may still have, that Wickes were an
agent in the UK. That means they sell direct. Wickes would not allow
another tier and go to the source to get cheaper.

When I contacted Kress direct about service and after sales support in
the UK[1], they made no mention of Wickes - so Wickes were not the main
agents - just one of several.

[1] You may recall I posted the response here.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 2008-05-03 18:10:16 +0100, "Doctor Drivel" said:


"John Rumm" wrote in message
news:bfudnZeh484ZOYbVnZ2dneKdnZydnZ2d@plusnet...
Richard Perkin wrote:

Indeed. Perhaps I was too hasty with the 'no cheapo Chinese imports' comment

I was trying to emphasise the Kress origin v. the statement earlier in
the thread (from Wickes?) that the device was a Draper product.

It is entirely possible that Wickes do buy them through Draper - it
would actually make a certain amount of sense, since I have seen a
number of wickes own brands that are also available from Draper under
their brand, and yet are obviously from a third party OEM.

The Kress site did have at one time, may still have, that Wickes were
an agent in the UK.

That no longer appears to be there. In fact, Kress do not list any
channel for the UK

That means they sell direct.

Who sells direct? Kress doesn't. It isn't a Kress branded product
being sold, but something which Kress at least assembles which is sold
with a Wickes private label.


Wickes would not allow another tier and go to the source to get cheaper.

Obviously not. Moreover, they may well have come to an agreement on
a territory exclusive.

In article gJWdnQEThfcsIoHVnZ2dnUVZ8tvinZ2d@plusnet,
John Rumm writes:

When I contacted Kress direct about service and after sales support in
the UK[1], they made no mention of Wickes - so Wickes were not the main
agents - just one of several.

I bought my Kress circular saw (badged Kress) in BMJ just before
they went bust. It is identical to the rebadged Wickes one.
It was very good, but I think it's on it's last legs now.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On Sat, 03 May 2008 00:32:20 +0100 John Rumm wrote :
It is entirely possible that Wickes do buy them through Draper - it
would actually make a certain amount of sense, since I have seen a
number of wickes own brands that are also available from Draper under
their brand, and yet are obviously from a third party OEM.

Yes, my Wickes sander went up in smoke on Friday, and the assistant
phoned Draper to authorise a replacement. But they didn't have any of
this model so gave me a £29.99 (what I paid) refund, whereupon I went
and bought a virtually identical one for £23.99 (20% off sake) - so I
ended up with a new sander and £6 on my card.

--
Tony Bryer SDA UK 'Software to build on' http://www.sda.co.uk