What triggered you to align with a certain manufacturer for your cordless tools?

[cptbarkey]

More and more TTI/Milwaukee stuff is being made in Vietnam. I guess there is not enough profit margin in Chinese labor for a Chinese company.

TTI made a fairly large investment. I'll be in Ho Chi Minh next week on vacation and checking out various markets for second hand tools is on the to do list.

Multinational home tool firm Techtronic to invest $650 mln in Vietnam

Techtronic Tools (Vietnam) Company Limited under Hong Kong-headquartered multinational firm Techtronic plans to invest $650 million in Ho Chi Minh City, the southern economic hub of Vietnam.

theinvestor.vn

 

[Rust_Belt_Pete]

TTI made a fairly large investment. I'll be in Ho Chi Minh next week on vacation and checking out various markets for second hand tools is on the to do list.

Multinational home tool firm Techtronic to invest $650 mln in Vietnam

Techtronic Tools (Vietnam) Company Limited under Hong Kong-headquartered multinational firm Techtronic plans to invest $650 million in Ho Chi Minh City, the southern economic hub of Vietnam.

theinvestor.vn

The shift to vietnam wasnt about money, it was about the cost of things tangible and intangible.

 

[cptbarkey]

The shift to vietnam wasnt about money, it was about the cost of things tangible and intangible.

That would be money too, isnt it?

 

[Rust_Belt_Pete]

Yes, but that was not the main driver.

 

[GON]

The shift to vietnam wasnt about money, it was about the cost of things tangible and intangible.

Almost all the Vietnam manufacturing has a Vietnamese woman and her Chinese husband as owners. And the Vietnamese woman that owns the factory has never seen the factory. But that is where you will find her husband.

Connect the dots.

 

[D60]

Almost all the Vietnam manufacturing has a Vietnamese woman and her Chinese husband as owners. And the Vietnamese woman that owns the factory has never seen the factory. But that is where you will find her husband.

Connect the dots.

I have one of the Milwaukee ~46" top chests from years ago. Underneath the bottom drawer I found a bandana clearly used as a "paint mask". Red paint was "sucked in" roughly where you'd breathe.

COO Vietnam

I'm rarely a fan of OSHA but thankful we protect our workers better than that.

 

[KenshinHimura]

Dewalt was my go to especially when they had the built in the USA line of battery tools. I mainly stuck with them because they seem to be decent middle of the road for what i use mine for. Makita had left a sour taste in my mouth with the battery tools as they just to seem like they would run out of juice faster compared to dewalt or milwaukee equivalents. Anything with a cord however is all Makita for me unless there is a US or non Chinese built alternate available such as the Sawzall

 

[brages]

First bought Ryobi because they were cheap and were compatible with my 18V Homelite stuff. This was around 2003?

Batteries didn't last long, and several of the tools weren't that great.

Went with Ridgid 18V drill/impact for the lifetime warranty. Batteries have finally gone bad in it, we'll see how they respond.

Bought a Ridgid 12V drill/impact set a few years later. It's my go-to. Less power than the 18V, but so much easier to handle. Its batteries are pretty old now, too. But it's still running great.

 

[ElectroMechanoMan]

I had the (dis)pleasure of using an original Milwaukee “cordless” drill in 1985. It had a stainless steel battery pack that weighed about 5 pounds. It clipped to your belt and the drill had a cord that plugged into it. It ran 300-400 RPM and ran the battery dead in about 5 minutes. I used it to drill a 1/4” hole in an I beam flange and swore I wouldn’t use it again.
I have a collection of Milwaukee M18 and M12 tools and use them almost daily for jobs around home. I have no real complaints and never had a job they couldn’t do. I previously had a Makita drill and driver set that worked well, but my son could buy Milwaukee through his employer so I switched. I would use Makita, Milwaukee, or Dewalt because they are all good tools and have almost universal availability.

 

[paulo57509]

I look to see what tools people use to make money with. For some reason, I've always leaned towards Makita. These days, there are a lot of good brands out there.

There's an old 9.6v Makita drill buried in the garage someplace that I don't use anymore. I just bought a 12v Makita Multi-tool last month.

I was looking at a Makita backpack vacuum to use inside the house but they're kinda pricy. I've seen these used in hospitals and medical offices.

I have a corded 1/2" Makita hammer drill.

I have a 3/8" Craftsman drill (19.6v) I use all the time around the house. A Christmas present from my wife, to replace the above Makita. I'm very happy with this tool.

I really don't care for the 40v Ryobi leaf blower. The battery location makes the tool butt-heavy. I bought a universal shoulder strap for it and this seems to help a bit. The brushless motor really blows (in a good way) but the battery doesn't last long if you're on the afterburner button.

We used Dewalt exclusively at the cabinet shop.

 

[wavinwayne]

I just started my cordless collection today. I wanted high quality, and am not afraid to spend a little more to get that quality. After a bunch of reading on here, I settled on Makita. I've only used my new 18V 1/4" impact driver for a short time today, but I love it and plan to buy a handful of new Makita tools over the next several months. I wish I would have started this collection years ago.

 

[bchannell]

For me, total accident, ... really. First, I work on HVAC so I need lots of tools. I started with Milwaukee and used them for a few years. Then my son the contractor, gave me some Flex tools, and I gave my work pal the Milwaukee stuff. I hated the Flex, too heavy and unwieldy. I sold the Flex, and bought a 12V Makita drill and driver which I love. Then I needed a portable work light, so I bought a Bauer, and ended up buying three batteries for it. Then I needed a cutoff saw and bought a Bauer, then a Bauer brushless drill and driver. I've had Milwaukee, Makita, Ryobi, DeWalt and Hercules and Bauer. To be honest, I like the Hercules best, but somehow things worked out that I have a bunch of Bauer and it works fine. I've used a cordless Bauer sheetmetal shear since it first hit HF shelves and it cuts like a razor and hasn't given us any trouble at all.

I know a lot of folks don't like HF, and there's probably better tools out there, but we get the work done, don't have any issues, and I've yet to have a battery go bad. Our original thinking was that hey, if they don't last, we can just throw them away and move on. Well, we haven't thrown any away, and my work pal used to think Milwaukee was the ONLY tools made.

 

[k1xv]

a long time ago I thought that Makita tools were in some way connected to a NHL hockey player. But Stan Mikita spelled his name differently.

I standardized on Milwaukee because they have a diverse line and in reviews and comparisons, always finish near the top.

I wonder if there is anyone today who thinks they are still made in Milwaukee Wisconsin.

 

[IndyIan]

Started with milwaukie, both batteries kicked the bucket after 5 years, but buying two new batteries cost as much as the drill with 2 batteries...
Went to rigid and their 1/2" hammer drill and it does everything the milwaukie did and when one ni-cad died, they sent me a pair of 3Ah Li batteries and a charger. No cost. The drill is now 15 years old and has survived a bit of abuse by me and 5 years of kid use, so I don't know how much more you need?
For a home owner, if Rigid makes all the cordless tools you need, I would just go with them, as you never buy another battery again.

We've added a 1/2" compact impact, string trimmer and leaf blower combo kit. The 4Ah battery doesn't last too long in the blower at full speed, but now we have two 3Ah and two 4Ah batteries, so that will do my lawn, or a couple km of bike trails.
The blower and trimmer are pretty decent quality it seems, and the trimmer head and gears at the bottom seem to be the same size as a small 25cc gas trimmer, so should go for quite a while.

 

[Creekside]

Years back my dad bought me the Dewalt 20v Drill/Driver package for Christmas. I added a few more batteries and then a few more tools here and there. I'm too invested to go back now.

 

[D60]

I wonder if there is anyone today who thinks they are still made in Milwaukee Wi

Absolutely. That's one of the main complaints when people want to try to bash them (news flash: Pittsburgh was never built there and Chicago Electric -- not to be confused with CP -- was never built in Chicago)

There are still people who think Craftsman is US-made and you can still warranty at Sears. Brand recognition has a long runout

 

[Trav]

Absolutely. That's one of the main complaints when people want to try to bash them (news flash: Pittsburgh was never built there and Chicago Electric -- not to be confused with CP -- was never built in Chicago)

There are still people who think Craftsman is US-made and you can still warranty at Sears. Brand recognition has a long runout

In some ways I think they deserve some of bashing they get. Having to replace the drill chuck on a brand new drill because they couldn't be bothered to put a decent one on and it has been a well known issue for years, that is pretty sad for a so called premium brand IMO.

 

[D60]

In some ways I think they deserve some of bashing they get. Having to replace the drill chuck on a brand new drill because they couldn't be bothered to put a decent one on and it has been a well known issue for years, that is pretty sad for a so called premium brand IMO.

They certainly deserve that one! I've fitted Rohms to all my Milwaukee drills.

I've had good luck with their drills but the chuck thing really is inexcusable. I can totally understand why most people don't want to go source a quality chuck for a brand new drill. If Milwaukee loses sales, I just chuckle because they did it to themselves.

 

[benjy]

had dewalt on BUT dieing costly batteries, a couple of good bosh tools but few options, enter makitas 18V line with a LOT of tools + available cheaper generic batteries is where i am now, all work great for fair prices!!!