Ries
Diamond
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2004
- Location
- Edison Washington USA
I probably own 50 hand power tools, more if you count air tools.
I tend to buy Bosch and Metabo when buying new, but I have a pile of Milwaukees, along with lots of Makitas, some Hitachis, Porter Cables, Rockwells, and some oddball orphans.
I use my old Sawzall, my milwaukee worm drive, a milwaukee die grinder, and a few others all the time- but most are old enough to be american made. I have completely worn out 2 Milwaukee roto-hammers- took 15 to 20 years, each, but I used them up to the point where, even if parts were available, a new one was cheaper.
So I have a fair amount of experience with Milwaukees.
I admit, I avoid buying tools from China if at all possible- but last year, I was building a new house, and needed a 1/2" right angle drill to run the wiring- I did all the electrical.
I am on jobsites a fair amount, particularly bigger, commercial buildings, and I know a bunch of electricians and plumbers around here.
And right now, just as for the last 30 years, all the plumbers and electricians I know use Milwaukee drills- usually the cordless 18 volt Fuel models. Every time I am on a jobsite, I see stacks of those big, expensive, and made in China, tools.
Not for just run of the mill little cordless drills, but for the bigger stuff.
I looked, and found that I could only buy 3 brands of what I wanted in 2018- Makita, Dewalt, or Milwaukee. I wanted corded- I know, I am old fashioned- but in 40 years of buying cordless tools, I have seen too many systems go obsolete.
The Milwaukee is beefier, and in my opinion, better built, even in China, than the Makita or the Dewalt. I gotta admit, I am not a Dewalt fan, these days. They are cheap, sure, but I dont trust em.
So I bought the Milwaukee. And its a great drill. I cant see any difference between it and the older models made in Milwaukee. Maybe it wont last as long, but its not a Harbor Freight tool by any means.
And Milwaukee, while mostly made in China, isnt a chinese company- its a Hong Kong company, owned by Techtronics, which was started and is still run by a German engineer.
I even own a few shares of it in my 401k- I tend to do that, buy 5 or 10 shares of companies that make things I use and believe in- I own some Miller, Lincoln, Ford, Cat, Boeing, and Honda shares, not to get rich, but just because I like to.
So- my question is- have you bought new Milwaukee tools since the takeover by Techtronics in 2005? (Milwaukee was not an "american" company, even then- it was owned by Atlas Copco, which is Swedish- they bought it from Merrill Lynch in 1995)
And have any of those tools from the last 15 years been total crap, or are they competitive with the other chinese made US brands like Dewalt or the chinese made Japanese brands like Makita and Hitachi?
I tend to buy Bosch and Metabo when buying new, but I have a pile of Milwaukees, along with lots of Makitas, some Hitachis, Porter Cables, Rockwells, and some oddball orphans.
I use my old Sawzall, my milwaukee worm drive, a milwaukee die grinder, and a few others all the time- but most are old enough to be american made. I have completely worn out 2 Milwaukee roto-hammers- took 15 to 20 years, each, but I used them up to the point where, even if parts were available, a new one was cheaper.
So I have a fair amount of experience with Milwaukees.
I admit, I avoid buying tools from China if at all possible- but last year, I was building a new house, and needed a 1/2" right angle drill to run the wiring- I did all the electrical.
I am on jobsites a fair amount, particularly bigger, commercial buildings, and I know a bunch of electricians and plumbers around here.
And right now, just as for the last 30 years, all the plumbers and electricians I know use Milwaukee drills- usually the cordless 18 volt Fuel models. Every time I am on a jobsite, I see stacks of those big, expensive, and made in China, tools.
Not for just run of the mill little cordless drills, but for the bigger stuff.
I looked, and found that I could only buy 3 brands of what I wanted in 2018- Makita, Dewalt, or Milwaukee. I wanted corded- I know, I am old fashioned- but in 40 years of buying cordless tools, I have seen too many systems go obsolete.
The Milwaukee is beefier, and in my opinion, better built, even in China, than the Makita or the Dewalt. I gotta admit, I am not a Dewalt fan, these days. They are cheap, sure, but I dont trust em.
So I bought the Milwaukee. And its a great drill. I cant see any difference between it and the older models made in Milwaukee. Maybe it wont last as long, but its not a Harbor Freight tool by any means.
And Milwaukee, while mostly made in China, isnt a chinese company- its a Hong Kong company, owned by Techtronics, which was started and is still run by a German engineer.
I even own a few shares of it in my 401k- I tend to do that, buy 5 or 10 shares of companies that make things I use and believe in- I own some Miller, Lincoln, Ford, Cat, Boeing, and Honda shares, not to get rich, but just because I like to.
So- my question is- have you bought new Milwaukee tools since the takeover by Techtronics in 2005? (Milwaukee was not an "american" company, even then- it was owned by Atlas Copco, which is Swedish- they bought it from Merrill Lynch in 1995)
And have any of those tools from the last 15 years been total crap, or are they competitive with the other chinese made US brands like Dewalt or the chinese made Japanese brands like Makita and Hitachi?