Milwaukee Tools - Opportunity?

Milwaukee certainly has a tradition of durable “professional grade” tools, although I can’t speak from personal experience.

They are some cross-over items from the construction trades that one uses occassionally in the wood shop – circular saw, drill, etc. – Do they make a router? I’m not sure. I don’t think they have any stationary tools though.

-- Paul, Texas

Dalec,
Milwaukee makes some of the best routers out there. I’m not sure if Lowes carries them or not but you certainly can’t go wrong with one. I have the 1 3/4 hp fixed base bodygrip router and love it. They also have 2 1/4 and 3 1/2 hp fixed and plunge routers. You can see user reviews of all these at amazon.com. I’ll certainly be keeping my eye out for any closeouts. Thanks for the heads up.
Best,
Stacey

-- S. Box --- "But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever." - John Adams

Dalec,
I’ve heard that same rumor here. My understanding is that Ryobi purchased Milwaukee and since Home Depot owns Ryobi, Lowe’s, and many local stores are no longer carrying Milwaukee.
For me, this is already becoming a pretty big problem. By day, I’m a commercial electrical contractor. I have quite a few Milwaukee tools in my crib and I’m already having trouble parts. I really hope that Milwaukee doesn’t start going the way of Porter-Cable; down, down, down.

-- Measure once; Cut Twice, Three Times, Four Times...

Ryobi purchased Milwaukee ? Man if thats true, we are seeing some really sad times. We have a Ingersol-Rand plant here that makes Bobcat skid stear loaders. I think last year the plant got bought out by some Korean company. Now I see GM wants to buyout some of it’s blue collars and rehire cheaper. Maybe they should maybe do that with some of the corporate people makeing the insane amounts of money and leave the quality blue collar workers on the manufacturing floor alone. I really hate what some corporations in this country are doing to the average worker and consumer.

-- If you can't find the time to do it properly, how will you find the time to fix it ?

They do hold up. They are very popular even as used tools in our store.

-- Check out my new website! http://www.theeasellife.com

Thanks everyone for the input. The Milwaukee tools have given me the sense that are produced with the professional trades in mind. With your observation,

Blake, if a tools maker’s tools remain popular as used tools, it may very well speak to the quality and durability of their tools. It’s nice to get your experience in the used tool business.

Dalec

the company name is tti that owns milwaukee now i have be into tools for many years now and i find it to be a great hobby to keep up with how owns how.if you look at the new milwaukee’s they have 1/2 the quality they use to more plastic.the great tool company is no more.

-- danny s "the first to lose are the first to give up"

tti I think has owned Milwaukee for several years allready. I completely forgot about them. I guess I didn’t know Ryobi was in their lineup of tools. I bought a new tilt-lok circular saw a couple years ago and got a free tool belt in the mail. When I recieved the tool belt, I was pretty happy with it, seems well built. I noticed the belt had rings on it for suspenders, so I called Milwaukee to see if they had any available. I was suprised when they said no. I said, are you kidding me ? You got the rings but no suspenders for them ? Well somehow I ended up with a pair of prototype Milwaukee suspenders from one of the reps about a month later. Now I was really pleased. Recently I ran into one of their reps in the local tool supply store and asked him if they carry suspenders for their tool belts now. The answer once again was no. I don’t get it. Looks like I own a rare pair of Milwaukee tool belt suspenders.

-- If you can't find the time to do it properly, how will you find the time to fix it ?

If true… a real bummer.

I bought a cordless drill in 2002. Built like a tank, I use it a lot!. I was notified about a battery recall about a year ago, so now have two new batteries. I’ve since bought a router, circular saw and have been very pleased. I understand why the pros use Milwaukee. Guess its the nature of business.

-- Nicky

Nicky,

Nice to hear that you have had very good experience with Milwaukee tools.

I remember in the “old” days when the Craftsman brand was consider a very solid tool line and you could count on a certain level of quality based on that brand name.

But with all the changes in this industry – buy outs, differing strategies to compete and make a profit (quality vs cutting corners), it gets down to really having to do your homework to get the best product for your money.

Dalec

Ryobi…no!!! tell me it’s not true.

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

I have information in regards to Milwakee tools and Lowe’s. Yes they are parting ways basically because Home Depot has bought Milwalkee and there will also be Makita leaving Lowe’s because they too are suppose to be bought out by Home Depot so they can try and corner the market on those tools. This could be devasting to many customers who may have switched from Home Depot because of slacking service and switch to Lowe’s in hopes of better quality service. Only time will tell just what this does to the tool market and the two major Home Improvement box stores. It seems to be getting really difficult to figure who owns who and what it means for us as customers.

I won’t say that this buying of tools and/or having your own unique brand has anything to do with “We’ll match our competitor price on the same item!”. Pretty soon they won’t have any brands that appear in both stores.

I bought some light bulbs at Lowes in Delaware and paid 9.98, when I was in KC I saw the same bulbs for 7.98 I guess I should ask them if they’ll match their own stores prices.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

i know some stuff about Milwaukee tools. my dad has a right angle drill and he loves it it works great and always holds up whatever you throw at it. also the circular saw i use is Milwaukee (also my dads). its about 14 years old and still works like new. it has gone through anything i’ve thrown at it. last of all my dad has had his sawzall for 22 years and all he has had to replace is the plug. it also works like new even 20 years later.

What I know is that ultimately, with this consolidation, there is less competition in the market place and willl not benefit consumers.

Dalec