PC/DeWalt

[KC]

I suppose I knew at some point that Black & Decker bought everybody... but didn't think they'd sell the SAME sander with different labels.  But the low-end PC random orbit sander I bought this afternoon is the same as the low-end DeWalt I've had since forever... except it's black.

[EdL]

Stanley-Bleak & Darker ruined Porter Cable, what were pro grade tools are now homeowner grade.

Ed

[Admiral]

Stanley-Bleak & Darker ruined Porter Cable, what were pro grade tools are now homeowner grade.

Ed

Ain't that the truth.  Sad.

[meackerman]

killed off all their routers too.

they might not have been the fanciest routers out there, but they ran forever.

I have a couple that are 20 years old and still going strong.

[Cabinet Monkey]

Ed


Ain't that the truth.  Sad.

I'm sorry ...........but this simply is not true.




Pentair and arguably Rockwell are the ones that ruined PC, SB&D has simply nailed the coffin shut.   Rockwell started culling the PC lineup as early as the 60's and by the time Pentair acquired them things were pretty far gone.  The water co. tried to revive it but weren't all that well equipped to to handle the task.  Having sold their soul to the BORGs the die was cast looooooong before Stanley came into the pic. 



The other thing I think ol timers forget is that the deals for these old storied companies of yore still cost hundreds of millions of dolllars or more.  That debt doesn't get repaid by making high quality old tech routers and sanders who's core customer is already stocked up with.   New, young, customers don't want gramps' antique router for the same cost as a Festool one even if it were to be made in the USA and last til their grand kids inherited it.



The market has changed and these old tool co.'s were castrated by their own management decades ago.

[kurt18947]

Stanley-Bleak & Darker ruined Porter Cable, what were pro grade tools are now homeowner grade.

Ed

I think that was the plan. DeWalt is intended to be "pro grade", Porter Cable is intended to be "consumer/DIY" grade. Probably neither brand is what they once were, but you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a place that sells DeWalt so they're going to sell stuff just because of the "I need it NOW!" factor.

[meackerman]

isn't the PC stuff now sold exclusively at Tractor Supply?

my local store doesn't have that much of it in stock.

[rwe2156]

Stanley-Bleak & Darker ruined Porter Cable, what were pro grade tools are now homeowner grade.

Ed

AMEN!!

[lincmercguy]

"killed off all their routers too.

they might not have been the fanciest routers out there, but they ran forever.

I have a couple that are 20 years old and still going strong."

I have two that are dedicated to my dovetail jig that I bought used long ago. Who knows how old they are. One came from a garage sale and had a toggle switch instead of a rocker switch. I'm not sure if that's factory or not. It's also a single speed, so it gets the straight bit.

I went that route so I would not have to change and readjust bits switching between pins and tails. The jig is an Akeda, so it has good dust collection built in.

[kurt18947]

"killed off all their routers too.

they might not have been the fanciest routers out there, but they ran forever.

I have a couple that are 20 years old and still going strong."

I have two that are dedicated to my dovetail jig that I bought used long ago. Who knows how old they are. One came from a garage sale and had a toggle switch instead of a rocker switch. I'm not sure if that's factory or not. It's also a single speed, so it gets the straight bit.

I went that route so I would not have to change and readjust bits switching between pins and tails. The jig is an Akeda, so it has good dust collection built in.

The last generation of P-C routers was not all that well received. I have an 85xx and it seems to have a good motor but the machining on the fixed D handle base is fairly crude. T It works okay and the in-handle dust collection works better than I expected but it's still crude. The plunge base works well, better than the 690 plunge base I had but it seems like a DeWalt 618 plunge base machined for a Porter Cable motor. The design is kind of top heavy unlike the P-C 690 series and I imagine it wouldn't work as well on dovetail jigs as routers with a lower center of gravity. P-C routers also had their issues with variable speed units, some of which were attributable to the crappy capacitor curse that haunted computer gear.