I have been writing about the tool industry for over 15 years now. In this time, some tool brands fell, and others have risen.
Many tool brands have remained popular with tool users, and you can find them at retailers and supply houses everywhere.
Others seem to have faded away.
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Following are 6 tool brands that are still around, but the question is whether they are still relevant.
In my eyes the answer is “no.” I talk to a lot of tool users of all kinds and tend to watch different corners of the internet and social media. Still, I don’t talk to everyone and don’t see everything.
While these tool brands no longer seem relevant, let’s talk about it. Let me know what you think, and if you feel differently.
Would you buy tools from any of these brands today?
Senco Nailers
Back in the early 2010’s, Senco launched the first battery-powered cordless nailers that were advertised as delivering air-like power.
There were no fumes, and Senco boasted that the nailers were lag-free.
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I tested the first model, and it delivered on everything Senco claimed.
But that was 14 years ago. What as Senco done since? The company was bought by Kyocera and it seems the innovations stopped.
Nobody has asked us about Senco tools in a while. Readers typically ask about Dewalt and Milwaukee, and I think Metabo HPT belongs in any conversation about battery-powered nailers.
It seems that Senco reskinned their nailers and also launched a framing nailer last year, but it’s perhaps telling that there are 0 user reviews for their Amazon listing.
Bostitch
When is the last time Bostitch launched a new product?
The company is no longer active on social media.
I bought my wife a Bostitch handheld stapler a few years ago. According to Amazon, they sold 1K+ of these in the past month.
While the brand might still be relevant in some regards, are they still an active player in the tool industry?
They’re still around, but are Bostitch tools still in demand?
Porter Cable
Porter Cable has been a Tractor Supply partner for 2-1/2 years now. New tools were said to be coming, but I haven’t heard a peep.
The company discontinued their routers and other woodworking tools and accessories, and at some point launched auto-darkening welding helmets.
Porter Cable certainly doesn’t seem to be expanding, but they also haven’t completely disappeared.
RotoZip
RotoZip, a Bosch tool brand, used to be the name in drywall and panel cutters. It was like a Dremel rotary tool but supersized and designed for cutting construction materials.
It seems that RotoZip stopped posting to social media 6 years ago.
I don’t think they ever went cordless. Some tool users are still buying corded cut-out tools, but are there enough to keep RotoZip going?
The brand is still around. But the question is whether they are still relevant.
CAT
Everyone knows about CAT heavy construction equipment, but what about their tools?
CAT’s cordless power tools are okay, but there was never a big push or much interest for them. They finally appeared on Lowe’s website, and they’re still there, but does anyone care?
There are a bunch of CAT tools that sell well at online suppliers, but it seems that’s just the brand licensing their name out. Is there anything special about a CAT utility knife?
Their neck light, for example, appears to be just another clone – a yellow version of the EZ Red model (via Amazon).
The problem with licensing their name out to different companies for cordless power tools, hand tools, tool boxes, and other such products is that there doesn’t seem to be a concerted effort to gain market share or introduce novel solutions.
Like many other brands, CAT is leveraging their brand name. But are they innovating? Are they still relevant? Were they ever?
Kennedy Tool Boxes
I remember seeing Kennedy tool boxes in every industrial tool and supply catalog.
They were the machinists’ choice.
Their visibility has dwindled over the years, but Kennedy – and their iconic wrinkle brown finish – is still around.
Are they still popular? Relevant?
Jason+S.
It’s too bad. At one point I really liked Porter Cable products. The quality and price point wasn’t bad for home use. I still use one of their compressors, one of their trim nailers, and a really nice dovetail jig. I haven’t seen anything new or anything that has piqued my interest from this brand in a long time. RIP – PC.
Chris
They made some awesome stationary tools. For the price at least. I have a bandsaw, table saw and drill press and they’re pretty decent for what they cost. I don’t do as much hobby stuff any more but I don’t want to sell them for the one or two occasions I need them. And it will be hard to find anything decent for the price I paid for them.
Matthew
They had some of the best wood worker tools out there. Specialty sanders, the 552 pocket cutter, among other specific tools that were affordable. Now their products can go crazy in price on the secondary market.
Stuart
The low-profile sander was great!
If I recall correctly (I can’t find the email), the motor supplier discontinued the specialty motor that was needed for the tool, and that was the end of that sander.
But that doesn’t explain why Porter Cable gave up on routers, dovetail jigs, pocket hole jigs, and other woodworking tools.
james lamuraglia
I have been in the tool business for 40 years and Porter Cable was one of the icon USA made tool brands in the 1980’s and 1990’s. The Porter Cable salesmen were known for their knowledge and they had a high status in the industry because they represented top shelf quality. Unfortunately, like so many other products, the company was purchased and hollowed out. The number crunchers killed another phenomenal USA made brand.
Jared
Those all used to be decent brands too. Kennedy and Senco were top-tier in their respective niches, Bostitch made serious tools, Rotozip was a thing and Porter Cable was competitive, albeit in the “budget pro” category.
CAT cordless might be the exception – that always seemed like a white label product to me, but I’m not basing that impression on any first-hand experience.
Especially for the cordless tools, I wonder if CAT, Senco and Porter Cable were just victims of the increased competition. With their proprietary batteries, limited selection and availability and so many other competitive options… there just wasn’t room in the market.
Considering how Craftsman 20v batteries are just Porter Cable / Black & Decker batteries with the terminals switched around, SBD could have avoided orphaning Porter Cable users if they just kept the batteries compatible. I always thought that was annoying.
MM
I think you’re correct about CAT, their tools always felt “white label” to me as well. The same is actually true for some of their construction equipment as well. CAT makes a lot of that themselves but some of it is rebadged from other companies. Several years ago I bought a mini-excavator for my business and I researched all the big brands. It turns out at the time CAT was just relabeling Wacker-Neuson mini Ex’s.
Matt
This. SBD should have just made Craftsman and Porter Cable compatible. It would have made zero difference so far as brand perception – might have even helped if advertised.
Why did PC discontinue their routers and woodworking tools? I remember those being some of their best stuff.
Jared
They certainly could have sold me more tools. I have Porter Cable cordless tools, most of them I still use – nothing bought recently though.
If I could have tried some Craftsman bare tools when they were released – I would have.
I have cordless tools from a half-dozen different brands. If SBD was hoping to lock me into a battery system by deliberating making Craftsman incompatible, they did the opposite.
JR Ramos
I was in disbelief when I started seeing that PC had let the router biz fall by the wayside. Even with B&D nerfing them and basically killing the brand, the routers were still an anchor. If I were to guess, I would think that maybe the router designs were less relevant these days as they were stagnant designs. Everyone seems to make do with trim routers, even mounted in a table, and then there’s the big jump up to large routers (with tables and lifts). The PC twist design was later incorporated in “new” (at the time” DeWalt models, and without a lift that design is a pain when table mounted. So my hunch is that they decided to continue to let DeWalt tools rule the premium spot and give those updates or new models, let PC ride the waves it created, and when sales lessened, just let it die. Many reasons why PC sank and died, none of which should have happened other than someone’s idea of a tiered multi-brand system and abandoning decades-old recognition of one of the highest quality and innovative tool brands that we had. Much of the time DeWalt paled in comparison (and Milwaukee, too, back then) to PC products…but they did a lot better with marketing. The sad part here is that routers can last damn near forever and we’ve already seen an almost total lack of support in terms of parts availability for old models. Lifetime tools relegated to parts bins or landfills.
The last few years I’ve been scooping up NOC PC-branded accessories because until recent years they always had top quality items and often at really great prices. Their old router bits were excellent and I’ve scored a bunch of those at prices from $4 to $10. Abrasives and saw blades of all types, too. Cripe Distributing has/had a bunch of stuff but I was able to get many locally, too. It’ll all be gone soon and more recent PC accessories have been middle- to low-end quality (although a lot of that can be found on closeout/liquidation pricing too).
Goodie
It’s hard for me to understand SBD killing Porter Cable routers when they did. The Porter Cable routers were loved by woodworkers, who are (generally) an older bunch. Woodcraft and Rockler still sell the PC dovetail jigs, which surprises me that they didn’t rebrand those as DeWalt. The routers were on the shelves until the end. The PC D-handle routers are still very sought after on the secondary market and highly regarded.
It’s true that trim routers have gained a lot of market share, and the DeWalt DWP611 is an excellent one. The plunge and fixed bases are both very good.
fred
I have a PC #150 with the Rockwell name on it. I think that PC D-handle routers were popular and became even more so when Norm Abrams (New Yankee Workshop) showcased them on his TV series. I have 15 other routers to choose from but still pick this one for some tasks. I use a more modern Makita RD1101 D-handle router (that has a bit more power) somewhat more often. But sometimes I’ll set up several routers with different bits and sort of go into “production mode”
JR Ramos
A couple years ago there was quiet talk of them killing off PC completely and a local supply indicated it was happening, along with really reduced repair parts and a renumbering of what would remain. That didn’t come to fruition totally, and then Tractor Supply picked up the line. That was somewhat of a surprise but I don’t think it’s doing real well for them. If I were to guess, unless that chain can carry the brand, they’ll probably nix it sooner or later. They already gutted the PC staff and turned the customer service into that outsourced boilerplate page-flipping unknowledgeable thing that SBD has done with almost every company they have. I would imagine that supporting the company and structure, marketing, service, etc. etc. is already more expensive than it’s worth, and the routers can’t prop it all up especially with more good competitor models these days.
I think as PC had already faded from the limelight, the new social media crop of fledgling “makers” and woodworkers just aren’t aware of the quality that was still there, and all the things that go with $ocial media now, PC routers fell by the wayside. New kids are far more in to DeWalt and Milwaukee, and drooling over Festool (or maybe Trend), with the lower tier brands like Ryobi taking up the slack. Even Bosch routers don’t seem as popular, which is crazy. Makita has some kick-butt routers but I don’t know if they’ve ever been popular (they weren’t when we sold them other than the occasional guy who wanted the big 3HP but didn’t want to invest in a shaper/router).
JR Ramos
I actually half expect Lenox to disappear soon, also. That’s another great shame how they nerfed a fantastic company with excellent products and discontinued some things that were great.
Mat
I thought they should have made Porter Cable into an American high end woodworker brand analogous to Festool / Mafell. Instead, SBD decided to transition all their woodworker users to Dewalt and let PC wither. It seems like a missed opportunity to chase higher margins on lower volume tools in a different market segment that SBD doesn’t really compete in.
Bonnie
I’m not sure how easy it would have been to push PC into the high-end. They were always more of a prosumer budget brand, even their legendary routers were known for affordable reliability, not bleeding edge performance or special features. To compare to another industry, you’d be trying to turn Toyota into Porsch. Not technically impossible, but not easy either. It would have taken both a lot of R&D money and a big marketing push to get them even up to DeWalt levels, much less Festool, and I just don’t think SBD ever felt like chasing premium niche products.
Delta is another similar brand. Good for home woodworkers, but it was a lot easier to transition those users to construction brands for portable tools, and the mid-upper stationary tool companies (Powermatic, Jet, etc) could more easily strip down their product to compete at the budget end than Delta or PC could move up-market, and niche markets like this are easier for new competitors to move in (Oliver, Harvey, etc).
Rich Shew
I completely disagree with this take. 20 years ago, if you walked into any cabinet shop in the country, you would have seen wall of P-C 690 routers. Companies that didn’t have time to change router bits, stuck with Porter-Cable because they were the most reliable routers in the market. Porter-Cable was the absolute standard for handheld tools in shops. On the job sites, less so, but they had a strangle hold on routers, sanders (particularly belt sanders) and trim routers.
Bonnie
I specifically pointed out their routers being legendary, but legendary for reliability at an affordable price point, which was why cabinet shops owned so many of them. They weren’t a Festool style brand at all.
fred
Back in the ’60’s and ’70’s I’m not sure that there was anything that you might call a Festool sort of brand readily available here in the USA. Some of the better pro-grade small power tool manufacturers (B&D, Milwaukee, Porter Cable and Skil) each produced a few outstanding (class leader) tools and many more that were serviceable journeyman sorts of items. The B&D Supersawcat was way different form most of their lineup and may have been the best sidewinder circular saw ever made. The Porter Cable chain-drive belt sanders outclassed everything but production pneumatics. The top Milwaukee Sawzall defined what that tool should be. The Skil 77 worm gear saw was also best in class for many years. In the US we did not see much from foreign entities – so perhaps we were fat dumb and happy – and did not know what “bespoke” meant as it might relate to small power tools. I don’t know what European power toolmakers – like folks at Festo (precursor to Festool), Fein or Mafell were producing – because they had little visibility in US markets. It was a bit akin to thinking that the best sports car in the world was a Corvette – never having seen a Ferrari or other foreign brands.
In my mind – one thing is certain about many tool manufacturers. That is that the DIY market and the allure of mass market profits seems to have become the focus of many. B&D ruined their brand name by producing cheap saws and dills to be sold at the 1970’s discount stores. Milwaukee tools fell on hard times as did Skil and Porter Cable. B&D at least was able to re-image the Dewalt brand (known for RASs) – especially after acquiring Elu – into their flagship offering. The foibles of those years and then globalization of markets – were an opportunity for others like Festool who wanted to promote their brands based on quality products not low price.
Rich
P-C may not have been a Festool style brand in the sense that P-C tools had a lot less plastic on them, but they were every bit as innovative. P-C invented the template guides for router bases that virtually every other brand copied. They made one of the two best dovetail guides on the market, preferred by many over the Leigh. They made the only viable lock-mortise machine that could be taken to a jobsite and clamped to a door (Stanley routers once had a similar machine, but it was discontinued once Bosch bought Stanley’s power tool division in the early 1980s). P-C also made the best jig for cutting door hinge mortises. They were a major player in the router bit market too.
I remember a time when they were the only American company who took dust collection seriously on their larger random orbit sander, offering a kit that included a long hose and a hood around the sanding disc.
Comparing Festool to P-C is a bit unfair and it doesn’t favor the German company. P-C’s tools were more ruggedly constructed and didn’t rely on a cult following that bought anything in a matching plastic box.
Matt
I think you’re missing a lot here, some of which has been mentioned in other comments. The routers were what consumers and hobby woodworkers knew, but when I did trim carpentry in the early 2000’s most of the older guys who were good had their 126 porta-planers, door template guides, belt sanders, lock mortiser, their pocket hole cutters were the original and still coveted today, their trim saw wasn’t uncommon and they had some interesting cordless trim guns out at one time too if I remember correctly.
I would say in their day they filled the same market on the job site festool has a portion of today trim and finish carpenters.
Goodie
The Delta Unisaw was, for many years, the standard in table saws in cabinet shops. The “left tilt blade” is a.standard.set by Delta on the Unisaw.
fred
My 70’s vintage Unisaw is still going strong. In those days – both Delta and PC were owned by Rockwell International (the then aerospace giant conglomerate.) Back then, I considered a Powermatic – but had learned on a Unisaw – so it was my choice.
If I were looking today – it might be a Hammer or Sawstop that would be on my short list.
Goodie
Fred, always value your input. I recently bought a SawStop (used) and love it. I wouldn’t have bought it if it hadn’t met the standards of precision and usability that I experienced using an 80s (Pentair ownership era) Delta Unisaw in an Army woodcraft shop.
Ken
RotoZip did make a cordless model (CR18L) that was powered by a Bosch 18V battery. Bosch now makes a cutout tool powered by Bosch 18V batteries, model GCU18V. Maybe Bosch just decided to move the RotoZip “powered by Bosch” model to Bosch branding? Seems like a waste of the RotoZip brand name, but I don’t try to understand Bosch’s marketing decisions.
Joellikestools
Porter Cable and Bostitch seem to have been abandoned after SBD got Craftsman. Other than the occasional pancake nailer I hardly see them advertised.
fred
All of these brands were once nearly dominant (or at least considered top tier) in their respective fields. Now they all have been reduced to being weak sisters – possible with little relevance or reason for existence,
I started buying small corded electric power tools in the 1960’s – mostly to equip a shop for a budding woodworking hobby. Porter Cable was my choice – and I bought nearly $9000 worth (over 20 power tools plus jigs and accessories) of their tools – which in today’s dollars would have been significantly more costly. Today – I would be hard pressed to find a Porter Cable item that I would consider buying.
My rolling tool cabinets, base units and chests are Kennedy – bought in the 1970’s and 1980’s. They have served me well – but today there are so many other alternative choices (different, better, cheaper, etc.) that I would probably look elsewhere. Now part of Cornwell – they may sell more via their trucks.
With Bostitch (a combination brand name based on Boston and Stitch) – the name was once almost synonymous with staplers. In our business – we had many Bostitch pneumatic and hand tools for flooring, roofing, sheathing etc. When Stanly acquired the company from Texton in 1986 – pneumatic tools were still a big thing. But then as pneumatics waned and battery cordless tool line grew – Stanly started slapping the Bostitch name on wrenches, utility knives, levels, toolboxes etc. – anything to capitalize on the brand recognition. IMO that effort only diluted the brand making it less relevant and calling it into question among its core (industrial and construction trades) businesses.
When the first Roto-Zip came out I did not know what to make of it. But we bought one (it was cheap enough at around $60) to try out and some of our carpenters liked it well enough for us to buy a few more. It was then being sold by a small company owned by its inventor. Fast forward to 2003 – and Bosch decided to buy the company. By that time there were many other copies – corded electric and battery-cordless – some more featured and/or better than the original. Bosch seemed to take the brand into a more hobbyist/homeowner direction with introduction of lightweight saws. As with some other Bosch brands (like Dremel) IMO Roto-Zip seems to have lost its way.
Then there is Senco (now part of Kyocera). Their Dursaspin dry wall screw guns and stand-up deck screw guns were once the favored tools for some of our carpenters. We also used their Senclamp joint fasteners and tool to build staircases. But that was 20 years ago – and the market has moved on and the brand has become a small niche player. BTW the Senclamp tool is still rather unique:
https://www.nailgundepot.com/senco-sc1xp-senclamp-tool-516-to-916
Rog
My local TSC has almost all their PC offerings marked down as clearance items, not sure if that’s the case with other stores or not. So much for that partnership, there’s literally nothing in the store that would lead you to believe there is one
Bonnie
Mine barely even carries tools these days. They’ve got one aisle in the far back where everything is collecting dust, and even that is almost all DeWalt.
Jared
Can’t blame them. Porter Cable is dead. They pop up in the surplus aisle at Princess Auto here in Canada occasionally. The last regular retail channel they had seems to have been Costco a few years ago.
There’s no reason to buy Porter Cable anymore. I say that as a person who owns several Porter Cable cordless tools. SBD let the brand stagnate so long that there’s nothing they do some other brand doesn’t do better.
Rog
It’s a shame that on their current trajectory you could probably add Makita to the list in a few years.
Hon Cho
only in USA/Canada. Makita is still a big dog in Japan, Europe and Oceana. Admittedly, others are making headway against Makita in those markets.
BigTimeTommy
Just in countries where workers don’t care about ergonomics and fit and finish, which Makita excel at.
MM
I remember the “Rotozip”, in fact I still use the word to refer to that style of rotary cut-out tool today, sort of like “Xerox” or “Kleenex”. But I think the brand was largely forgotten when everyone else started making similar tools. I’ve never actually owned a Rotozip branded cut-out tool, mine is a Dewalt. It’s corded as when I bought it there were no cordless options, I don’t use it often enough nowadays to justify buying a new one, especially since I can now use my cordless OMT to do some of the jobs I’d do with that.
If I had to buy another drywall cutout tool today I’d go either for the cordless Dewalt simply because that’s the system I’m on, or maybe look at the Makita XDS01Z using an adapter.
Jason
All of my pneumatic nailers are Bostitch, many bought in the last few years. If I were a professional user I’d probably look at other brands, but Bostitch fit the intended use and budget and have caused me no issues.
Porter Cable and Delta got passed around so many times in acquisitions and mergers it’s no wonder they both faded into irrelevance and obscurit.
David Townson
Tractor Supply carries new released models and they are better products than their previous offerings. The cordless grease gun, rachet, oscillating and recip saw look identical to Dewalt and are much heavier than previous models. The cordless ratchet looks identical but is rated at half the torque as it’s big brother Dewalt. I still buy and use their products at half the cost of Big Red, Big Black/Gold and Big Blue! PC batteries and etc. Are less likely to get stolen by contractors, ha!
MikeK
I still have Porter Cable recip saw, blade left circular saw and a 1/4 sheet sander. These are from the 90’s when Porter Cable was a great brand. The stuff they churned out after to me was simply black and decker junk.
Kennedy tool boxes, I had no idea they were still around. I have one of the large carry tool boxes I bought around ’83 and still looks great.
I have rotozip somewhere too! Haven’t used that in many years.
Porter Cable and roto zip I think can go away for ever.
Kennedy I wouldn’t mind seeing in storesand such if they are still made like they once were.
JJ
I’m trying to understand if a Rotozip (or “rotary cutout tool”) is still even a relevant tool. Major brands like DeWalt, Bosch, Milwaukee all make them, even Flex released one relatively recently. I’ve heard they’re still the best tool for electrical boxes behind drywall, but do they beat a jab saw or OMT for anything else?
Peter
Very relevant in my opinion.
Use all the time to cut boxes out especially in the ceiling when you often have shallow metal boxes.
Roughly mark the center of the boxes on the drywall sheet.
Install the drywall and then cut the boxes out with a rotary tool.
My Bosch also has a dust port which works wonders doing that..
BigTimeTommy
They’re faster for electrical boxes, not better, which is why drywall guys love using them to chew up wiring.
Peter
With a the right bit set to the right depths that normally does not happen.
I do not remember the last time I did that if ever.
What sometimes do though is to damage plastic boxes when I am not paying the needed attention.
BigTimeTommy
You’re right but drywallers have a reputation for doing everything half-assed and in a hurry. In my experience it’s well-deserved.
S
Every drywall guy I’ve ever met has had one.
Though since the lithium battery changes, most crews I’ve met are now running DeWalt cordless rotary tools and drywall drills. I don’t believe other brands offer a set of similar tools.
Goodie
Makita, Metabo HPT, and Milwaukee (at least) have cut out tools. I suspect others do, too. Drywall crews where I’m at seem to run quite a few Dewalt tools. In fairness, though, I see a bunch of them buying Festool Planex sanders and Cleantec dust extractors when I go to Rockler or Woodcraft.
Jason
Cat always perplexed me, with the graphene battery marketing and even calling their handhelds 18v but using 60v max for OPE
Side note I need to know who has actually bought that stuff.
Sad about some of the legacy brands though. Porter cable like others have mentioned would have worked well under an SBD shared battery platform but geared towards woodworkers
Peter
Yeah, I have a few old PC routers, finish sander and a belt sander.
All solid tools made in the USA.
BigTimeTommy
Rotozip used to be the go-to for cutting out drywall for boxes and cans in electrical. Replaced by oscillating multi tools and more powerful drills and big hole saws. I’ve never seen a CAT tool in the wild, they were obviously always white label tools with a recognizable brand name slapped on, never relevant.
Adam
I feel that of this list, Bostitch is the one that doesn’t really belong here – their products literally set the standard by which other brands are judged, and that’s enough to sell their tools. In the professional industry, everyone knows if you want the top of the line in pneumatic fastener tools, it’s a Bostitch. They lost a little business in the DIY/hobbyist market to battery operated tools, but that’s not a market worth entering, because most people stay within a brand, and the people buying those tools likely aren’t firing thousands of fasteners per day.
eddiesky
I thought Bostitch was proprietary with their nailer/staplers at one time. Now you can put Bostitch nails, flooring nails and staples in other brands.
Leo B.
I don’t think Bostitch was the standard to beat for most tools. Their Strapshot probably was, but Hitachi was the one to beat for a long time. Some stuff Bostitch was good at, for sure, but Hitachi was the best framing nailer you could get, and made a very strong roofing nailer, siding nailer, and trim guns. Currently, MetaboHPT possibly, Paslode, and MAX are probably the ones to beat.
Daniel
I agree, Hitachi (now Metabo HPT) is the standard in nailers. They are like the number 1 brand several years in a row. Bostitch is good, but pretty regional and has a limited amount of nailers that use special sizes. Paslode is still king of cordless, but the other battery guys are closing in.
Badger12345
This thread makes me feel my age. I still own a corded PC circular saw made in USA that is 30+ years old and runs straight and true with lots of power. Likewise a PC jig saw made in USA. I’ve owned Senco nailers and corded screw guns, Bostich nailers, pin drivers, and staplers. My USA made version 1.0 Rotozip still works great too. So many brands that were tops in their respective markets and then became irrelevant or niche player. Fortunately, all of these tools that I own are corded or pneumatic, so they didn’t become obsolete when some battery platform was discontinued.
Michael F
I think if you have to ask then the answer is probably “no.” I don’t think any of these brands are still relevant, with the exception of maybe Kennedy. I’m not a machinist and I’m not around any machine shops so for all I know they could be very popular.
Nathan
I was going to say bostich items as far as I know are sold at Lowe’s and other places. Bostich air items. Where PC and DeWalt are sold at home Depot and the DeWalt is the bostich with a different color paint
The PC is the craftsman at Lowe’s.
PC corder tools I assume still exist but don’t see them. Do they?
Kennedy I thought disappeared.
Kentucky fan
There was a time not too long ago where if someone in my family needed a handtool we went to sears and got craftsman. If we needed a power tool we got porter cable. There was no shopping needed and everyone I know was exactly the same it’s amazing how corporate Stupidity can destroy household names.
Mr. X
I had a big Porter Cable (3.25 HP?) router years ago. It was pretty solid. I sold it to a colleague at work who put it in a cabinet type router table. I still have a heavy duty PC disk sander that has not seen much action since I switched to Festool sanding equipment. Over the years on job sites, I have encountered various PC corded tools like reciprocating saws, drills, and grinders. I can’t remember ever seeing any PC cordless stuff. It seems they never built any competitive cordless options and were left behind by other major players in the cordless game.
fred
My PC 7539 (3.25HP) plunge router is still my favorite tool for hogging out lots of material. I’ve also used it for routing circular edges on decks. Otherwise, it sits collecting more than making dust.
Mr. X
I get it. Sometimes we have a hard time parting with the tool that does the job best. Ironically, the guy I sold my router to was named Fred. He was the drafting teacher at the school I taught electrical shop back in the early 2000s.
Nate
Porter Cable made some legendary stuff for the door installer still unmatched to this day. The 126 planer can cut off an 1/8″ in 1 pass. The portable lock mortise machine, the jigs to mortise hinges. They also made a power tapper. Of course routers were mentioned, used to be the gold standard. And then they made blade left circular saws which are my favorite type.
Joe
I’m a door guy and the closest brand that I can find comparable to Porter Cable of old is Virutex. I have their skewed door planer and even prefer it to the 126. Porter Cable used to make a small rabbeting door planer that would have been fantastic for stepped stiles and rabbeted jambs. I heard first hand that it could eat your clothing while in use!
fred
In our remodeling business we had both PC #126 and larger PC #653 power planes -plus a #513 lock mortiser. We also had PC and other hinge mortising jigs and lockset installation sets (like ones from Classic Enginering). Back in the 1970’s we did lots of slab door installs – with a smattering of customers who wanted mortised-in locksets. So, these tools saw frequent use.
When I sold up and retired – we were doing mostly pre-hung doors – and it was only customers with old houses, deep pockets and an eye for historically correct restoration, who wanted mortised-in locksets.
Mr. X
That’s right! I had a left blade PC circular saw as well. Seemed to make more sense to me at the time as a right handed person. I could see the blade much better.
Nathan
Oh rotpzip. Bought by Dremel and now Bosch right. Other that the original and the Bosch version the only other drywall cutter I know of is the DeWalt. Might be another
But in today’s world I imagine a omt takes it’s place and is more useful
Trekker
Here’s a five-part series about how Porter Cable invented the first portable belt sander back in the 1920s and its evolution over time:
https://www.thesyracuseproject.com/blog/long-live-the-locomotive-the-story-of-the-porter-cable-take-about-sander
JR Ramos
That’s a great treatise, thanks for sharing that!
“You didn’t buy the T-4 because you loved sanding, you purchased it because you hated wood.” That got a good chuckle out of me.
I wasn’t aware that they made a pneumatic belt sander…in fact I don’t ever recall hearing about one anywhere, but I guess it shouldn’t be surprising given the time period.
garrett
The first cordless tool I ever bought was a a PC 14.4 v. I had those batteries rebuilt twice over. It had the best trigger of any drill I’ve ever used. I jumped to Milwaukee with the advent of brushless motors and have been very happy with the power and run times, but all my drills and drivers are still no match for the ergos and trigger of that old PC.
fred
Before even that the Porter Cable 12V-NiCad “Magnequench” Drill was the first serious pro quality cordless drill that we bought into for our businesses. Sure, Makita had been on the market when the PC was launched but their 9.6V and 7.2V offerings always seemed wimpy to us – not real tools up to the rigors of our use.
Porter Cable also introduced the first ROS – their model 7336. It was based on a 4.5 inch angle grinder body – had no dust collection and was clunky by today’s standards – but it sure could make fast work.
S
I think the big change since has been the battery technology advancements, but also the way the bigger players have advanced their top tier options and offerings.
Back when everything plugged into a universal wall outlet, or air compressor end, everyone was willing to brand-hop to get the best performance tool for their needs.
Now, battery ecosystem plays a huge role in purchase choices. I would never run a Senco cordless nailer because it means running a separate set of batteries, and chargers. For instance, the DeWalt 1/2″ impact consistently rates and tests better than the Milwaukee 1/2″ impact. But I bought into the Milwaukee ecosystem, so I use the Milwaukee.
I used to see Senco nailers outfit to every roofing crew, but these days, they seem to all be migrating to mainstream brand cordless options. Not needing to lug an air hose around is a huge deal, and having batteries and parts available everywhere is also a big deal.
Porter cable seems to be a case of brand neglect by the corporate world. They didn’t want to cut into their other sales, which stifled innovation, and left it as a husk of itself.
Rotozip is a brand that I think was too much of a niche product. Once the other brands started offering similar tools in cordless form factors, there was nothing their tool did better at. The Advent of oscillating tools also was a huge deal for me. I hated the rotozip, the bit would sometimes easily grab the edge of the cut surface and drunkenly ruin whatever I was working on(try explaining that on a $15k custom cabinet!). And more often, one nail strike in, and the $25 bit would be smoked.
As soon as oscillating tools were available, I moved to those for the more precise and controllable cuts.
Rotozip fell to the side because they based their entire identity on a single type of tool.
fred
As you say: “Porter cable seems to be a case of brand neglect by the corporate world.”
I believe that it was a purposeful decision by B&D – more than just neglect.
When B&D acquired the Porter Cable brand from Pentair in 2004 they already had Dewalt as their flagship brand. B&D had spent years in building Dewalt (acquired in 1960 from AMF) from a niche RAS manufacturer to the brand we know today. By the 1990’s B&D knew that they had so tarnished (in the US tool market) their own brand name with junky low-cost DIY tools that they needed a turnaround. In an amazing success story, B&D grew the Dewalt brand’s image in the professional small power tool marketplace. By 2004 – when PC was acquired, they did not want it to cannibalize Dewalt sales so they pushed the PC brand down market. As many have remarked – they might have been more successful with the brand by pushing it into an upper niche market to compete with the up and coming (for the US market) brands like Festool and Mafell. Now the Porter-Cable brand is associated with lower-end probably irrelevant tools – so going back to an up-market status would be an immense struggle.
Stuart
What would it have taken for Porter Cable to compete with the likes of Festool and Mafell? How much effort, for how long, and what would it cost the company?
It might have taken two generations of tools to build up the design and engineering know-how.
When Porter Cable relaunched their cordless systems, they came out with a mid-tier drill and impact, and then followed with entry-tier everything else.
They never really achieved much popularity outside of DIYers shopping by price.
Where were they sold?
SBD’s acquisition of the Craftsman brand created a lot of redundancy at Lowe’s. Porter Cable was reduced.
PC’s woodworking business was the biggest unique part of the brand. I still don’t understand why the entire segment was shuttered, but I’m guessing it comes down to sales volume.
Are woodworkers still buying dovetail jigs and routers, or going with CNC cutters?
I think they gave the brand a couple of good tries, and ultimately there was a strategic decision not to take further risks or incur further costs.
This is an excellent opportunity for thought exercises. “What would I have done differently?”
There are different paths I might have charted for the brand, and each of them would have involved high costs.
Where were Porter Cable cordless power tools mainly sold? I’d say Lowe’s and Amazon.
Amazon is over-saturated with inexpensive and cheap cordless tools these days.
How’s Skil faring those waters? https://www.amazon.com/Brushless-Circular-including-Battery-Charger-CR6413B-11/dp/B0CYZJ6C21/?tag=toolguyd-20
With no “x-number sold in past month” badge, I’d say their brushless circular saw, a random example, is not selling very well.
The $69 kit sold 200+ in the past month, which is actually decent. https://www.amazon.com/Cordless-Circular-PWRCore-Lithium-Battery/dp/B07G3Z2C2M/?tag=toolguyd-20
But that’s $69 for a tool, battery, and charger. Is there any profit there, or is it a loss leader?
Would Porter Cable tools bring more customers to Lowe’s? Lowe’s has Dewalt, Craftsman, Kobalt, Metabo HPT, Bosch, Skil, and Flex.
Would keeping Porter Cable in that roster measurably add to Lowe’s appeal? Where would it fit between Kobalt and Craftsman?
I agree that SBD didn’t want PC to cannibalize Dewalt sales, but there wasn’t a lot of room for it at Lowe’s.
SBD didn’t see a loss in sales to Lowe’s as their customer, as Craftsman’s V20 cordless was a close replacement.
Meaning, while Porter Cable’s visibility dropped, I don’t think SBD’s bottom line was much affected. Transforming Porter Cable into something else, which might have involved forcing a new brand identity, would have increased costs without guaranteed payoff.
Is Lowe’s going to start picking up premium-priced Porter Cable tools? How’d they sell at Rockler?
There are times when a tool brand reaches the end of the road. What kind of forked road could SBD have realistically created for Porter Cable to grow and thrive? How could they have
avoided irrelevancy? I really don’t know if or how I’d have managed the brand’s cordless segment differently.
fred
You make some excellent observations! Even back when B&D was independent of Stanley – and the Porter-Cable buyout was in progress – big US businesses seemed to or needed to focus on mass-market opportunities. The P-C brand, as a member of the B&D then SBD family was probably destined to fail in that crowded environment.
The high-end niche that might have saved the brand probably would have required a different sort of owner and capitalization.
To focus on the hobbyist woodworking business – you probably need to be a smaller and more nimble company with lower expectations and needs for sales volumes to stay afloat. Some hand tool companies (I’m thinking about Lie-Nielsen) seem to have started up and survived in this space – but many others were not successful. I’m not sure that you can translate success in producing hand tools to the demands of making a profit with power tools. Throwing battery platforms (if you need to sell cordless tools) into the mix – also complicates matters.
You are undoubtedly correct in saying: “There are times when a tool brand reaches the end of the road”. So, we can speculate about and perhaps lament the loss of the brands we came to rely on in our younger days – but that will not help to bring them back.
Stuart
In a similar sense, why isn’t Stanley competing with brands like Lee Valley’s Veritas or Lie-Nielsen, or even Narex?
Stanley Sweetheart is still available (again), but it hasn’t been growing. SBD also has Irwin Marples.
Consider websites. Would I be able to start ToolGuyd in today’s environment? Probably not. Content consumers have more platforms to split their time on – mainly social media and YouTube. ToolGuyd competes not only with other independent content creators, but mass media sites who push out a flood of garbage “reviews” and “buying guides” on a daily basis.
Timing is everything.
Consider Flex. Launching a brand new broad-focused cordless power tool brand isn’t easy. They started off with a “beats the other guys on specs” approach. Lowe’s recently removed a lot of those tools from stores and replaced them with Flex’s newer compact and lighter duty tools. It’s too soon to tell if that’s going to be a winning strategy.
Harbor Freight launched its Hercules line and maintained a “we’re selling everything a la carte with a bundle coupon offer” approach. They finally adopted competing promotional strategies and also recently launched a combo kit.
Makita USA developed a new modular tool box system, at least going by their patent applications, but never launched it, and it’s unclear if they ever will.
A good idea, or good tools for that matter, isn’t enough for tool brands to succeed or gain market share these days.
Could SBD have done things differently with Porter Cable? Absolutely. Should they have? Maybe, but after a certain point they must have realized it was too late to be feasible.
Look at what happened with Malco’s Eagle Grip locking pliers. They were great tools, but a high price. I was hesitant about the pricing from the start, and Malco’s marketing was woefully ineffective. They seem more accustomed to B2B dealings, and the 3rd party firms they hired were terrible (in my opinion from my limited dealings with them).
JR Ramos
I think all it would have taken was an acceptance of keeping the brand committed to doing what it had always done. They literally nerfed and/or discontinued so many of PC’s designs which were most often superior to anything DeWalt had and usually Makita and Milwaukee as well – depends on the tool. Their Tigersaw recip was far and away better than anything anyone else had at the time, including the venerable Sawzall. Their jigsaws and sanders were outstanding, maybe a tossup with Bosch for comfort and performance (with the 330 SpeedBlok sander being an all-time standout unrivaled even today by anyone). Their introduction of the mag shoe on circular saws was innovative and appreciated but they had some small issues with the shoe at first and then some bad switches, and I think most people still leaned toward Makita saws at the time. But rather than allow the brand to continue, they just killed it – early fatal blows before allowing it to die a slow and painful death. This was all before Amazon and before the DIY market “blossomed” as it has. They were sold in most tool stores and supply houses but if memory serves they were not sold at Builder’s Square or Home Depot or Lowe’s (Payless Cashways and their subsidiary brands did sell them). As mentioned, most of their accessories were also outstanding and it’s a shame that many of those have been discontinued without good replacements because they are still relevant today and the old units are sought after. You mentioned dovetail jigs, and that market is still very much alive and saturated with similar and/or copied items, but PC was about a lot more than routers.
The most shocking thing to me was when a) I learned that the 330 sander had been axed, and b) when their cost-conscious successor to the 330, the 340, had also been axed and replaced with a straight up grey version of the very old Black and Decker/DeWalt (and later Craftsman) sander that was inferior in all the important aspects. That was really early on after the sale, and I knew Porter Cable would be dead soon. The later offerings in cordless and such were just sad and said “Black and Decker” all over, and then the belt sanders died and now amazingly the routers…and the brand.
Totally unnecessary other than the marketing mindset that B&D capitalized upon and caused DeWalt to even exist, and so I think there was as much ego involved as there was finances. Heck, they could have taken several of those PC tools and just turned them yellow and likely have seen great success with them (same thing they did when they “created” the new DeWalt, so why not?). Maybe there were agreements or restrictions with the IP or something. Sad, though. Of all the brands that have faltered and been given life support only to have faded into obscurity, Porter Cable is the most glaring example of shame that I can think of. In some ways Bostitch is the same, on a smaller level.
Fyrfytr998
Porter Cable Drills and Drivers are still around, they are just called Craftsman now.
Gwiz
If you were a machinist and didn’t have a Kennedy tool box you were not consider a serious one. I have had my Kennedy tool box for over 30 years and we have a couple guys in the shop who have had them over 45 years. The may be a victim of there own success. They last and last. They hold far more weight then most tool boxes for years. Machinist tools are heavy and after 30 years you collect a lot of tools.
Stuart
Is the same true today?
I’ve looked at the brand over the years, and have read mixed sentiments about their modern build quality. Are new machinists and shops still outfitting their workspaces with Kennedy boxes?
Flotsam
I was going to put in a plug for my old Porter Cable 314 cabinet saw. 4 1/2 in
great balance and build quality. This is a worm drive saw. Too bad they never did a battery version of this.
Sad when this happens to classic names.
fred
Mine is a model 9314 with the Rockwell (as in Rockwell International – the long defunct aerospace giant) name on it. Before I bought my first Festool track saw – this little trim saw was my go-to for breaking down sheet goods. I put a Forrest WW04H407080 blade on it and used it with a two-level shop-made straight edge that set the blade to cut along a marked line.
I also still use the saw from time to time to cut plastic sheets with a PC # 12121 – 128 reverse-tooth blade.
Neighbor Joe
Porter Cable is just one of a dozen tool companies owned by SBD. In nearly every case the original factor, the designers, engineers, tool makers on plant floor are let go as operations consolidate. Like a single brewery pumping out a dozen different brands but they are all more or less the same. If the brand is failing its the fault of corporate pumping money into other brands like Apex tools diverting capital into Gearwrench at the expense of Allen tools. Porter Cable is likely on loosing end to more marketable brands like Dewalt. When these brands become irrelevant it is likely due to pencil pushers at Corporate not so much the customers.
Stuart
With respect to like-categorized segments, SBD’s operations have been consolidated for many years now. Or at least that’s what I gleaned from many interactions over time.
I usually talk to someone in Baltimore about cordless power tools, and someone in Connecticut about hand tools or storage. Their design and engineering efforts seem to be pooled.
For example, an engineer I spoke to about Dewalt hammer development also had a role in Irwin hammer development.
With Porter Cable, you mention “pencil pushers at corporate” and also “not so much the customers.”
You and I aren’t the customers, we’re end users. Lowe’s was perhaps Porter Cable’s largest customers.
Think about suppliers such as Vaughan, Western Forge, and Waterloo. Sears was a major customer for these tool brands. Vaughan ran into trouble recently, Western Forge closed, and Waterloo was acquired by Stanley Black & Decker.
There are some products and brands where companies have to sell the idea to their biggest customers (such as Home Depot and Lowe’s) before they can even think about selling it to end users.
As for Apex Tool Group, their consolidation could be driven by a desire for uniform retail branding, or maybe as a way to increase their appeal to prospective corporate buyers. It was reported that Bain Capital was seeking to sell Apex Tool Group, and it fell apart due to disagreements on valuation.
Does anyone miss the Allen brand?
Apex is now down to 10 brands, with numerous other brands pushed under the Crescent brand, such as HK Porter, Lufkin, Wiss, and Nicholson.
JR Ramos
Another aspect here, specifically in regard to BD/DW/PC is on the “customer” end. I was out of the purchasing game shortly before the PC buyout, but kept in touch with the guys I used to work with. The PC line instituted price increases, strong arm MSRP tactics, higher minimums, and lower access to accessories as they started to require minimum product stocking for lines, etc. This was contrary to what PC had always done and oddly also contrary to what DW was currently doing in most aspects. Freight terms mostly remained the same. They were actually worse than Klein. This, combined with a great many supply houses and tools stores going out of business as big box stores increased exponentially, had a lot to do with things, I think. The behind the scenes aspects combined with how they were nerfing the products and the lineup to kill it off and relegate it to lower tier so that DeWalt would remain their premium brand.
BD/DW has a pretty good history of some nefarious practices and so this was not entirely surprising other than seeing such a great company fall into obscurity so quickly and dramatically. PC was never a DIY company really, not until BD/DW bought them. An ironic reversal considering the very recent (at the time) history and revival of that brand. So they were forced into irrelevance but not because of the end-users and not because of the products or the markets those products served. They lost at marketing and then they lost at finances, and the winner then called the shots and killed them…sad but simple I guess.
ITCD
CAT hand tools are definitely relevant, the ones you get at the dealership at least. Reason being they’re commonly white-labeled Snap-on and Williams products, and is an avenue for getting Snap-on stuff for sane prices.
Stuart
I’m talking about their consumer products on Amazon, Lowe’s, and similar.
ITCD
Or the CAT branded workboots and the automotive work lights that Advance sells or used to sell. Pretty little risk on CAT’s part though since they’re just leasing the name and it’s up to someone else to actually make money off of products. To me at least, I see that as an avenue for CAT stuff to stick around pretty much forever in varying levels of relevancy, as long as someone wants to license the name for their widgets and doodads.
Josh
I haven’t had a chance to use them yet, but last week I picked up Porter Cable’s pneumatic 18ga brad nailer & 16ga finish nailer for $30 & $40 respectively from Home Depots “special buy of the day”. I felt it too good of a deal to pass up. Hopefully they aren’t junk.
Jim Ruddy
Porter- Cable was the industry standard in the early 80s when set up my cabinet shop, nothing else could compare. Best quality tools, best customer service.
Today’s workforce just doesn’t appreciate good tools and/or don’t want to pay for them. It’s a shame that I have to know look at other suppliers and their disposable tool line.
fred
What you say may be part of the story. I think that the other part is that many folks have come to believe that the next best thing is just around the corner. So, those folks may reason that they should buy stuff that is good enough – because anything better or more expensive will soon be obsolete. The change to cordless tools -first NiCad then NiMh and now LiIon with sometimes shifts in voltage and/or interface and moves to brushless motors – may have fed into that perception. My experience (now getting old) with repairing cordless tools was that disposal often seemed like a better option than repair. So, if the market has shifted to accepting tools as part of a throwaway-and-buy-new paradigm what room is there for a “lasts-nearly-forever” Porter Cable router?
ColeTrain
I was also wondering why Delta wasn’t on this list. I have also wondered recently about senco and Bostitch. I use my Delta miter saw that used to be my father’s all the time and I want to replace it because it’s heavy but the damn thing won’t quit and I’ve never changed brushes. I have a nail guns from harbor freight, DeWalt, Hitachi, WEN, Bostitch. My Bostitch 18 gauge stapler is the only air tool I have ever owned it is never failed, jammed, misfired or giving me any issues ever. I could shoot one and a half inch staples through hardwood all day no problem. I am 40 so I’m right at the age where I love all the new cordless technology but also I understand things just don’t work the same. I grew up with a Craftsman radial arm saw and now I own it and while I don’t use it often it’s still the one saw that will virtually make any cut you need and do it accurately. For that reason Craftsman needs to be on this list.