Thread: DeWalt Power Tools

Mixed reports on these, I have a DeWalt scroll saw which I think is great but a friend of mine who manages a large hardware chain states that they where good until about two years ago and know they have adopted the B&D state of the art and messed the whole thing up. The Americans swear by them and I find the whole matter somewhat confusing. I spoke to a carpenter and he said he had a SC saw and it broke down a lot and was expensive to fix. These are just isolated examples and of course if some one is happy you don't hear from them.

What a great question. Even their DeWalt vehicles look Mickey Mouse. I think you will also find that Elu is also lumbered in there somewhere. I would like to know myself if the quality of the B&D side has gone up or that of the DeWalt and Elu has come down.

There have been lots of mergers in tools and finishes over the past few years. It would be interesting to find out who is owned by who and just what benefits have flowed on to the end users. If any!

Cheers - Neil

Yeah would be great to know these things, but I guess they try and keep it all quite....Mmmm

Anyway. A few years ago I had to update most of my power tools. I had had several B&D and had nothing but problems with them.

I at that stage had no idea DeWalt was infact B&D until told a couple of months after spending several thousand on DeWalt tools. If I had known that before I would have bought Makita. But in saying all that, I have to say I have had absolutely no trouble with DeWalt at all! In fact I have been very impressed. But thats not to say things have changed in the last couple of years

One of the things that impressed me the most when buying DeWalt was that most came in a good solid carry case. Which I notice most other brands are also doing nowadays. But in the end, yes it was cause they look "Mickey Mouse" I reakon if ya tools look good in the workshop it helps sell your work to customers... Maybe not, but it can't hurt....

Cheers

Shane.......

Combine Love & Skill, & You Can Expect A Masterpiece!



[This message has been edited by Shane Watson (edited 03 August 2000).]

OK ... B & D for a long time had handyman ranges and industrial ranges of tools. I always found the industrial stuff to be excellent. I think in those days, the De Walt tools were the American version of the B & D industrial lines. Now De Walt seem to make the mid-range to higher quality tools, just like Makita etc., and they also have some cheaper lines. My guess is that it's just like everything else; you get what you pay for and if you buy cheapo stuff,you won't be happy with it. We're all victims of marketing, me included, but I try to ignore brands and just look at specs.

I have been told B&D is now a French company.
DonN

In as much as I liked the quality applied to the earlier De Walt tools as was apparent in their radial arm saws and to this day I still have mine and it serves me well,I think
upon learning all those years ago that B&D had placed this outfit and that of Elu under their umbrella that I am amazed at how they can have the audacity to promote a garish coloured tool which attracts an up market price and expect thru advertising that we the users would sacrifice quality, then they can go suck eggs because I don't think that the quality is there particularly in the medium to upper price bracket that they are laying on us. I for one if going to lay out decent money on tooling these days would prefer to opt for Festo or some such quality from europe.The Yanks better lift their game if they want us to play!!
I have had me bitch you'll have a nice day now!
Cheers


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Johnno

I've had a Dewalt jig saw for a couple of years now it works well and seems to be solidly constructed. However looking at the current prices of Dewalt I would probably steer clear of them and go for a European brand. Of course that is if you can determine who is owned by whom these days.

Yeah the european brands are great. I have two festo sanders and I just can't kill them. And believe me they get a damn bashing. They have well outlasted any other brand I have had.

BUT There is no local stockist! Any store that has stocked them says they don't sell enough to keep them, so they don't. I know I could source them over the net etc, but its too annoying to buy something without have a damn good look at the thing before laying down that hard earned money...

JMHO

Cheers

Shane............

Combine Love & Skill & You Can Expect A Masterpiece!

Agree with most of the above. Dewalt is pretty good stuff, pretty close to makita, maybe better in some lines. I think they loose out on the prices though with hitachi(my pick) and makita hands down winners. Why pay more than you have to if your not getting more for the money?
Rod

Have to agree with doorstop. The switch on my Metabo cordless drill went south the other day, had the bright idea to pull it apart and fix it myself - basically just a variable resistor - right! dream on!! finally got the @@#$$#$ apart and there are printed circuits, caps,springs and even the odd chinaman in there. Quote for a replacement was $110.....

I've had a AEG jigsaw for about 5 years and its the best thing I ever bought, use it for everthing. I think from memory they come at a premium price though. Also got a AEG 5" angle grinder that you cann't kill, both had a 3 year warranty.

Always wanted to buy one of those drills you see in every junk shop for about $40 to see just how long it would last - they've got a 12 month replacement on them - wonder how many you could go through in the 12 months???

Have to agree with Brettdel although I have not tried AEG. I just bought a FESTO rotex 150, I got enough change out of $600.00 to buy a couple of discs and a big mac.
I am over the initial grief now and I think it is great and it has a three year warranty.
I realise that it is expensive but how much do we waste on non essentials such as smokes, women and alcohol.
I have tried one of those $40.00 drills, they are great if you like precision machinery, tolerances of +- 1/2", the chucks wobble around after not much use, great for chucking at the neighbours cats when they pee on the vege patch.

"but how much do we waste on non essentials such as smokes, women and alcohol."

Non essentials, maybe not all three at once but come on!

Sorry Rod, I don't smoke, I enjoy a good red but I also have a heap of daughters who cost me a bloody fortune. I enjoy the odd indulgence.
PS. Don't want a spare daughter do you?

I have a Hitachi router and bloody big sander both have done thousands of hours work and both are noisy bloody things, but apart from a set of brushes each they have been unstoppable. The sander is often used upside down as a linisher and has been used to sharpen hundreds of carving tools. It has been seen to belch smoke on a number of occasions due to the hot sparks from the sharpening and still it continues on relentlessly.

I agree that Bosch seem to only make handyman rubbish nowadays and know from experience that their sanders are especially easy to kill.

On the other hand I have an old B&D metal body 10" circular saw that I brought 2nd hand at a jumble sale some 30 odd years ago. It has shims either side of the blade made from old beer can lids (before they were aluminium) to stop the wobble in the blade. It has been worked to a stand-still 3 times with smoke belching forth from the motor, thrown with considerable force against a brick wall, drop kicked across the shed (resulting in a broken toe) and still after all this the bloody thing will not lay down and die.

They don't make 'em like that any more.

Cheers - Neil

PS An old friend of mine had a 16" Ryobi metal body circular saw which he used to cut the tops of the posts they put the armco fencing on roads with. You had to be built like a brick ****house just to pick it up letalone use the thing. They definitely don't make 'em like that one any more. Or do they??