Milwaukee Tool launched new USA-made hand tools last year, and the same question has been on everyone’s minds since then – what’s next?
Here’s a teaser: “Every single year, you’re going to see new made in USA hand tools coming from Milwaukee.”
The first wave of made-in-USA Milwaukee hand tools included pliers, screwdrivers, and cutters, with a focus on the common needs of electricians, utility linemen, and similar professionals.
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Pliers and screwdrivers are just the start.
When we toured Milwaukee Tool’s new state of the art production facility in West Bend, Wisconsin in 2022, it was emphasized that the building was designed to be expandable.
Here’s an overhead view of the building.
Here’s a wider satellite view of the area.
Not only did Milwaukee design the factory with a wall that can be taken down for quicker expansion, they have the right of first refusal for a lot of the surrounding land.
With plenty of room for expansion. This brings us back to the question of what’s next.
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We asked Milwaukee Tool’s Tim Albrecht, Group President of Hand Tools, Storage, and PPE, and he spilled some secrets. The following interview took place last August at Milwaukee Tool’s Pipeline 2023 media event.
First, we started with when will we see more USA-made tools.
The demolitions screwdrivers and diagonal cutters came out at the tail end of 2023, and Tim discussed what Milwaukee is looking at next.
Insulated tools are a strong possibility, given that the biggest difference is in the handle grips. That does seem like a logical direction for the brand to head in.
He also mentioned the possibility for more core tools, such as wire strippers, and that Milwaukee could leverage production capabilities at some of Milwaukee’s other USA facilities, beyond just the new factory at West Bend, Wisconsin.
Every single year, you’re going to see new made in USA hand tools coming from Milwaukee.
Oh, there’s more.
What about hand tools beyond electrical?
As long as they tie in with the manufacturing capabilities that we have, the sky is the limit.
One thing to keep in mind is that Milwaukee has also worked to expand their manufacturing capabilities, such as with their West Bend facility and the processes developed for pliers, screwdrivers, and cutter production.
In the second part of the interview we also talk about Milwaukee’s commitment to producing their USA hand tools 100% in the United States, from the raw materials to the packaging. There’s still no fine print on these products, and from the sounds of it, there’s never going to be.
While there looks to be unlimited potential, Milwaukee gave us some clues as to the directions they’re headed.
What types of hand tools do you want Milwaukee to make here next?
Joellikestools
I saw some in store for the first time today. The screwdrivers were a big upgrade in quality with the knurled shafts and laser etched tips. The diagonal cutters for me at least seamed less comfortable. I would not pick the pliers over Klein or channellock, especially since they are more expensive. The screwdrivers looked like a good value. Could even see mexhanics liking them.
Joellikestools
I think a made in US Fastback would be neat. Especially a version of the screwdriver Fastback.
Jronman
I am kinda annoyed with tool companies trying to get into every product category. Sure some of their hand tools have nice features like the anti roll sockets, but when a bazillion other companies are making the same hand tools do we really need a bazillion and one companies?
Stuart
Can you name 5 companies that make screwdrivers in the USA? Pliers? Wire strippers? Hammers? Pipe wrenches? Ratchets and sockets?
Milwaukee already has a huge catalog of hand tools. They’re now expanding into USA-made hand tools, and are developing new know-how to do it.
At a time when other many brands have been failing, such as Western Forge, Eagle Grip, Vaughan, and others have off-shored production, such as Crescent, investment in domestic production, innovation, and jobs is a great thing.
Ryan
Wiha is producing tools here (multi screwdrivers), not many, but I hope to see their offering expand as well.
ITCD
As a challenge to myself I’ll see what I can name off. Folks always wanna know what’s made here and whatnot. My rules for myself is that I can’t cheat and use rebadges like how several companies are rebadging Mayhew screwdrivers.
Screwdrivers: Snap-on, Mayhew, Grace, Tekton, Klein, Forster.
Pliers: Klein, Snap-on, Channellock, Wilde, Pro America, Xuron, Swanstrom.
Wire strippers: Klein, Channellock, Imperial, Snap-on, Xuron.
Hammers: this one is easy mode, for some reason we have a bunch. Vaughan, Estwing, Nupla, Brooks Brass, Stiletto, Martinez, Hardcore, Boss, Garland, American Hammer, Warwood, Council, Tennessee Hickory, Snap-on, Trusty-Cook, ABC, Ampco, Grace.
Pipe wrenches: I think we’re just down to Ridge Tool on this one.
Ratchets/sockets: Snap-on, Cornwell, Proto, Wright, Martin, AJ Mfg (making for Matco), SK Tools though people are abandoning the brand since the buyout, can we include specialty sockets and toss in Hudson Bearing?
Welp that was a fun exercise and I agree. Why gripe that everything is going across the ocean and then pick a bone about an opportunity for it to come back?
Adam
I agree, tool companies should stick to what they are good at, it’s like Makita makes a cordless microwave and a coffee maker , why it’s ridiculous what’s next a cordless blender.
Stuart
What would the tool box industry look like if Packout never came out?
Regarding Makita’s microwave and coffee maker, they have a history of outdoorsy and lifestyle tools in Japan. Those products are uncharacteristic for the brand here, but not in a general sense.
After I posted about the microwave, it was picked up by mass media sites and received huge broad interest and appeal. The interest could have influenced Makita USA to launch it here where they otherwise might not have.
Milwaukee tested the mechanics tool market with just a single ratchet and socket set. After gauging demand, they slowly announced new products before diving deeper into the category.
They’ve become good at hand tools. How many people consider their Fastback utility knife to be their favorite?
potato
this stuff doesnt bother me, but stuff like tool company branded socks or earbuds or mugs imo cheapens the brand.
the makita stuff makes sense with how contractors in japan not eating outside/ in their cars unlike the us
Munklepunk
Cordless blender would be awesome. Margherita whenever? Yes please. I think your priorities need adjusting.
ITCD
Who defines what a company is good at? And is it not possible for a company to get good at other things?
Snap-on just started with sockets, should they have just stuck with sockets and the initial drive tools and not developed their own ratchets and the LN47ACF pliers and their line wrenches and the TechAngle?
That’s the beauty of accumulating knowledge and having the heaps of cash TTI has to hire people who already have the know-how or can learn it or can develop it. Companies branch out, it doesn’t mean their new branch will be bad or that their old branches will suffer.
Jared
Much like “potato” below, I’m not always fond of a company entering a new category just to enter a new category.
This isn’t that.
Milwaukee isn’t selling some white label product they outsourced overseas. They built a factory, designed new tools and have further expansion plans. I genuinely don’t know what’s NOT to like about that.
Don’t we want more high-quality tools?
Jared
I miscounted the indentation levels and thought my comment would appear above potato, but it’s the potato comment above mine I was endorsing.
JJ
The screwdrivers are great. I’d love to see pump pliers and pliers wrenches. I have trouble seeing the need for an even more expensive line of Made in USA Milwaukee sockets, given the already premium price of their quality socket sets. I’d rather see them try to produce a really great ratcheting bit driver.
JC G
HVAC technician and installer here… I’m already impressed and happy with many of my Milwaukee hand tools like the combo stripper/needle nose pliers and drivers. Hard to imagine how much more improved these new USA tools could be. Enough to justify the higher than already high cost? Guess we will see soon enough.
OldDominionDIYer
Love it! So glad to get back to “Made in the US of A”. Bring it on Milwaukee! I’ll be buying.
The Nozman
Milwaukee doesn’t seem to want jump in 100% in some construction fields , and yet they dabble just enough to try and attract these other tradesmen. They seemed all in on Plumbers & Electricians trades hand tools but not in Carpentry or related fields. They have framing squares and chalk lines, hammers but no hand saws , wood chisels, plane’s, nail sets, taping knives etc. The Made in the USA tools they have produced so far do seem to be of high quality. I agree with one of the comments made by another person , that if you already have quality screwdrivers and pliers like Channel Lock or Klein , why buy Milwaukee’s version at probably a higher cost.
JR Ramos
I like the sound of this – for many many reasons – but what I do not want to see is them squelching companies like Channellock or Ridge…or Estwing and Vaughan although both of them are already hurting so badly.
Steel. You asked it in the video and it was my very first thought. We have lost SO much capacity and ability with steel over the last 20 years. Some companies either cannot source what they need here (or Canada) or they cannot source it in enough quantity or dependable availability. Thus, several have more or less been forced to buy their raw stock from China or Japan for reasons other than cost. I don’t know if Milwaukee really has the market to try to change that situation in another much larger industry…? Maybe? As dirty and polluting as it is, we do desperately need to rejuvenate our steel manufacturing ability here again.
Tried to think of hand tools they could introduce and it took me awhile…I’ve been aware of how many they offer now but it didn’t quite hit me just how broad the offerings have become.
Can they bring back US made metal files and rasps? A million people would be all over that even though it’s still a more minor market these days.
It would be nice to have affordable US made automotive pullers and bearing tools again. Not sure if they’d want to dive in there with Lang and Lisle and OTC so well established and all the imports.
There’s a host of specialty plumbing tools that would be worth consideration, too.
Router bits. This seems totally feasible if they can do it as well as Whiteside and don’t mind the investment in the base casting dies. They wouldn’t need to offer the same wide selection but a dozen of the most common bits would be good if they can to that and stay price competitive. (as an example, if they were the same price or close at usual market pricing on Whiteside, I’d totally consider them. If they went nuts and inflated the pricing like we’ve seen from Bosch and Freud (and good gosh, Diablo) then there’d be no good reason to switch from Whiteside.)
What irks me about Milwaukee and these categories, however, is accessibility. Stores just don’t carry the majority of it and the online outlets that do usually now have pricey shipping and regular MSRP pricing, so buying sight unseen becomes a net loss if you want to return an item that you may not have bought if seen in person before the sale. I have sought out several items of theirs but each time it was something of a hassle and I ended up paying more money than it was really worth – would have been great to be able to buy it in a store (for me that could be Home Depot, Grainger, or a handful of local tool and supply outfits…but none of them stock this stuff from Milwaukee). Like…hey great you brought out decent tap & die items but hey, nobody at all seems to sell them, and the same with so many power tool accessories let alone hand tools. So…I guess they must be doing ok with volume and profit to keep introducing more, but to me it sounds risky to have so few outlets for distribution while also trying to keep the squelch on Amazon sales which is often the best way for many many people to access a company’s products.
But three big cheers to expanding USA facilities and as many jobs as they can! Like and respect that a lot.
Stuart
A lot of American tool brands are already in trouble. Further declines won’t be because of Milwaukee.
A few years ago, Waterloo’s complaints led to countervailing tariffs against many brands and styles of imported tool boxes. Waterloo said lower prices for import tool boxes were hurting them. Competing brands said Waterloo’s woes were their own fault for not innovating.
A lot of toolmakers grew stagnant over the past 2 decades. When Sears and the Craftsman brand as it used to exist declined, many companies lost their cash cow. They could and should have tried to adapt, but didn’t.
Even today, how many tool brands are reliant on B2B arrangements, with no B2C efforts?
As for availability, certain tools simply don’t sell well at Home Depot or Ace Hardware. Tap and die sets, for example, are usually sourced from industrial and specialty suppliers.
Home Depot is Milwaukee’s customer. They have years of historic sales data. Home Depot cannot carry all Milwaukee products, and they definitely don’t want to.
It’s better for more specialized tools to be available from supply houses and online suppliers than to not exist at all.
JR Ramos
Do you realize what brings companies out of trouble? Dollars. Duh, right. What I was saying is that it would be a shame for company the size of Chinese-owned Milwaukee to dabble enough in other areas to hurt these longtime American-owned companies. Some of these tools don’t need innovation so much, but they do need distributors (and with some things, the markets have just changed…taps and dies being one, generally). But with the agreements and persuasion that these giants hold with each other (HD and Milwaukee here) it absolutely hurts a LOT of other companies. People buy what’s on the shelves usually and when a retailer makes the choices, as they do the customers get what they have. In my purchasing days I probably saw more good smaller companies come and go than many people may remember, and I watched the ways other companies grew and competed. A lot of it is dirty, some of it is mean, but a lot of it is just business. But what you do with your money does affect the market. Personally, if I need something that an American tool company makes and it’s substantially the same in function, I’m going to lean toward supporting longtime and domestic companies. Milwaukee doesn’t need that piece of the pie, so unless they have something really compelling I’m going to try to keep others afloat. I buy less and less at HD and Lowe’s anymore because of their purchasing/merchandise choices over the last several years. They really do hurt businesses and the market, for all of us.
I know all of what you said, possibly as well or better than you do, and I’m still of the opinion that our longtime domestic companies are worth supporting. I support Milwaukee with plenty of dollars in other categories, but I will always look to Ridge for pipe wrenches, love to keep Eklind and Bondhus and Channellock around. These companies made it possible for others to copy them, including Milwaukee.
As you are surely aware, many supply houses do not sell to the general public, so it leaves items that may be limited to those networks out of reach (and maybe more importantly, out of sight) to an average customer that might otherwise buy them. I know what it’s like to face a rep that is insistent or even requiring to buy into product lines and square footage and all the other junk they try to force distributors to do in order to carry the line and/or get favorable pricing and terms, but it’s just always been a weird racket with DIY home centers, which is what we mostly have these days unfortunately. My point was really that this is a very large initiative and investment for Milwaukee to make when they don’t have the exposure and availability for most of the market, and if they can’t get their primary partner to buy in, then it sounds like a somewhat risky endeavor. I’m sure it’s cushioned by mega profits in the tools and other accessory lines. As a consumer myself, if Milwaukee-somethings continue to be difficult to see or purchase in person without the added expenses of online shopping, then I’m probably buying something else, and at this point I try my best to buy their products from sources besides HD. (and by the way, nobody was suggesting that HD carry all of Milwaukee’s products…that’s not feasible for any retail store really, not without a successful drop shipping program, which most customers avoid or are irritated with when it comes to small items like hand tools and such)
Sorry for the rant, nothing personal. I think it irritates me at what the “tool world” has become and it is a direct result of these retailers that unfortunately have way more sway than they should, and they completely disrupted the market with aggressive tactics (a la Walmart in many ways). At this point a lot of people may not even realize that it wasn’t always that way, and what we have lost, or why. It irritates me that a lot of people accept and even embrace it rather than trying to support something that was generally a lot better for most in the past.
I’d be most impressed if they brought back files/rasps and did those right. Claw that industry back from the outsourced dead and restore what we had. That wouldn’t hurt anyone so much….Simonds is fine without files and more or less abandoned them to horrible India products, Crescent the same and is large enough to take a hit there (or perhaps be inspired to improve).
I’d like to point out one other thing….back in the day at an early employer, we sold the snot out of Milwaukee and we weren’t even a major distributor. When Lowe’s and then Home Depot eventually came to town, we didn’t worry, and we didn’t need to for years – still drew the majority of the city’s tool business to our doors. Home Depot expanded quickly and then they worked something with Milwaukee to where they clearly had much, much better pricing than we were able to obtain. Our rep faltered, and soon our sales did as well because we could sell for what HD was. Nobody would ever give us a straight answer – reluctantly let the line fizzle out and cancelled our service agreement as well…did well with other brands. But it is that exact kind of crap that has really damaged this country and our markets. Why support that? If it’s doomed-destiny then at least find a way to make the crap available more fully and easily.
Andy
So that was a long post, and maybe I missed something, but are you under the impression that Milwaukee is Chinese owned? Their parent company’s top 5 owners(at least) are all US based.
Dave
Might want to get your google checked.
Jared
@Dave
I think you and JR Ramos are over-simplifying things when you label Milwaukee as Chinese-owned. This is, after all, a post about made-in-USA Milwaukee hand tools and Milwaukee’s plan to continue expanding that production.
Stuart has covered and commented on Milwaukee’s USA presence. E.g.:
https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/milwaukee-tool-clinton-ms-usa-manufacturing-expansion-2021/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/milwaukee-usa-manufacturing-expansion-2022/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
If being a “Chinese” company is a criticism, isn’t this the sort of thing you would want Milwaukee to be doing?
JR Ramos
Jun 25, 2024
I don’t think I’m misinformed or misunderstanding any of it (ownership, entities, etc). That wasn’t my point but given the length and disorganization of my rant, totally understandable. My apologies for that…
It irks me that people don’t care more about our longstanding and totally domestic companies, I guess. “Well they’re already hurting…” so let’s just embrace the foreign owned giant company coming in and gleaning the product categories, put them out of business for good, perhaps. I know most people are never really personally affected by these things and so it doesn’t matter, and for retail-oriented users it matters even less, usually. I think this has accelerated in recent years and we’re at the point now where a great many tool users/buyers don’t even realize what we’ve lost or why it was/should still be important. I’m not anti-import or China, etc., but supporting at home companies, manufacturing, meaningful jobs is important, maybe more now than it ever was before. On the retail end of things it’s just fluff, it’s upstream that matters the most.
Stuart
Let’s say there’s a mom & pop taco shop. They used to be popular, but their food is so-so at best. They haven’t changed their recipe or ingredients in 25 years.
A Chipotle, Qdoba, or other chain opens down the street and the food is much more closely suited to your tastes. You try it once and like it a lot better.
Would you keep going to the mom & pop and eat the food you don’t like, just because they used to be popular?
If the mom & pop declines, is it the chain restaurant’s fault for making better food? Or is it the mom & pop’s that rested on their past popularity and never sought to improve their food?
What you’re doing is blaming people for opting for the tastier food. “People don’t care.”
JR Ramos
You may have noticed that these days there are many many many more “mom and pop” somethings that barely make a living and can’t adequately support employees if they have any. There’s a corollary here.
If I were to “blame” anyone it might be Milwaukee for being so aggressive. Yes, their efforts are appreciated, mostly yes their tools are very good. Using Channellock as an example, is there really so much “innovation” going on with Milwaukee that the similar versions from our tried-n-true US company are less useful or irrelevant? Or the screwdrivers? I mean we can all have our little preferences and appreciations for small features and whatnot, but for tools like this, barring some special feature/use, if I can support our country and its businesses/employees where I know it’s all “here” then I will. Milwuakee wants all the pie pieces but personally I’d rather they fill their existing holes before broadening their categories and skus so much, especially in the areas where it’s not really “needed,” so to speak.
I’m really not one of those anti-import stalwarts, clearly, but I feel strongly that we do need to embrace (or re-embrace) our remaining domestic manufacturers that are owned and based right here at home. They keep disappearing and it’s not always because they didn’t improve their flavor.
ITCD
People say they want USA until they see the price tag. Back in the early 80s you could walk into Wal-mart and buy all kinds of US-made items. What made them the absolute juggernaut they are today wasn’t just the aggressive tactics, it was a switch and following the globalized times to lower cost imports.
People say they want USA but they tend to follow their wallets more than the COO, unless they’re especially convicted or have the moolah.
Robert
On router bit, I’d prefer Milwaukee teamed up with Whiteside. Instead of competing with them. Though I recognize there isn’t much incentive for Milwaukee to team up, unless they want to leverage off the Whiteside name.
fred
About 15 years ago many Milwaukee branded router bits were made in Italy. Their 48-23-6001 pilot panel bit looked remarkably like a Freud 26-100. Their48-23-7195 flush trim bit was a look-alike for the Freud 06-100. If I had to guess – they had teamed up with the same Italian factory making those under the Freud and Bosch names – if it wasn’t Freud itself. Today – in Europe – you can see Milwaukee router bits sets that still look quite like ones from Freud:
https://www.fabory.com/cs/milw-12pc-router-bit-set-4932451668/p/7Q419474
So, a partnership might not be out of the realm of possibility – but it might just not be with Whiteside.
Robert
From that link, it looks like they shifted to Czech Republic from Italy. At least for that product.
JR Ramos
I thought the old Milwaukee bits were Freud, too…never could find out. CMT also does theirs in Italy. Most of the Makita bits (excellent) are from Israel and I think both Amana and Whiteside also source some items from Israel. I’ve used all of the above and no complaints with any of them. Harder to find good bearings these days unless you want a reputable brand in small quantities (way less expensive than the $5 to $12 each that all the router bit brands want for theirs and most of them appear to be the same Chinese bearings anyway).
Don’t see many Trend bits but I wonder who makes theirs.
Dave
The fine print is that it’s a Chinese owned company and that’s still where a majority of the profits end up. It’s nice they are bringing some manufacturing jobs back, but I’d still prefer to buy from a 100% American company.
Stuart
TTI is a publicly-traded company with its corporate HQ in China. Buy a share and you’ll get some of those profits too in the form of dividends.
Milwaukee is headquartered here.
They keep expanding and investing tons of money here, and create new jobs. Their workers have homes and pay taxes here.
Milwaukee buys USA steel, USA resin, USA packaging materials, etc for these tools.
Colin
FYI you aren’t actually buying shares of TTI. Instead you’re buying shares of a shell company that has it stock “tied” to the company. More risk for no return.
https://ghpia.com/what-do-you-own-when-you-invest-in-chinese-stocks/
scott taylor
Your link is be correct for companies registered in China, it, however, is not. They are registered in Hong Kong which is very different.
Gary
…the same as any other holding company.
fred
When I was growing up WWII was raging – then the US was the world as far as manufacturing was concerned. That sort of economics continued for some years – but could never have lasted forever. Globalization has made things quite complicated. Now with so many pieces all along the supply chain and companies manufacturing in a variety of locales – can the consumer really know what percentage of their purchase price ends up where. When we buy that $6.99 Craftsman hammer you recently posted about – do we know how and where the money collected by Lowes (if broken down penny by penny) goes? On an annual basis, do we know that SBD (a US company) leaves a significantly higher percentage of their revenue in the US than does Milwaukee – owned by TTI (based in China). Complicating things further, because stock in TTI and SBD are both publicly traded – do we know year to year where any accrued stock value increases or losses (both stocks have suffered losses since peaks in the 2021 timeframe) might be accumulating?
Goodie
Fred, these are great points. Looking back at the late 40-70s, the rest of the industrialized world was very much recovering from the destruction of WWII. US manufacturing capacity was already impressive before the war, and it scaled up massively due to the demands of wartime production. It was massive, and it had little competition.
While I want to see more USA manufacturing and steel, most Americans look at that era through rose colored glasses. US made steel used incredibly inefficient processes which required massive amounts of labor and coal (in open hearth furnaces) to produce steel. It was decent steel, but there weren’t nearly the number specialty steel alloys that are produced today. US Steel production peaked in the early 70s at around 130M tons. Today, it’s about 85M tons (same place where it was in the 80s). What’s made today employs a small fraction of the labor needed by the old methods, it’s much higher quality, and it’s MUCH cleaner (and healthier for all of us) to produce.
Even though we like to think of US tools as high quality, this was all pre “total quality” and there was a lot of poorly made goods. US manufacturing companies were powerhouses because they didn’t have much competition. US quality improved in the 80s and 90s, but competition was heating up and it was just as easy to implement total quality practices overseas as here. The “quality” US tools we remember were the exceptional ones. There’s a lot of low end garbage that was made then, just like today.
I lament the loss of manufacturing jobs and the challenges posed to working class Americans in those industries. I miss that there aren’t more high-quality US tools, but the old style industrialism of the mid 20th century was dirty, expensive, and led to relatively low quality products (with some high quality gems making their way through). There’s a better way for the future, and it’s emphasizing US quality, using state of the art manufacturing processes, and encouraging ingenuity.
If Milwaukee is part of this, I’m happy to see it. I want to see more manufacturing in the USA.
fred
Well balanced and sage remarks! So many look back on a bygone time and see only the good – when the reality was much more a mish mash of good and bad.
The competition (perhaps with Dewalt) that is fueling Milwaukee today seems like one of those good things. In any event, Milwaukee seems to have a fire in its belly that is driving them to try to rise to the top. The fact that they seem to listen to the US market (both the Home Depots and their end-users) is a good thing. They also seem to recognize the “buy American” sentiment that is on the rise – and are making efforts to do something about it beyond lip service. If this all relates back to Hong Kong, Horst Pudwill and the corporate culture at TTI – then I applaud them. Let’s hope that their customers will also applaud them through purchase of quality American-made goods sold at a fair (not necessarily the lowest) price.
JR Ramos
Well said, both of you. And very truthful about quality levels (then as now). I think today people demand better quality for the most part, and you almost have to offer it else lose to import competition and price pressures there.
One of my biggest concerns with non-domestic companies setting up shop and manufacturing is what happens if they fold, change their minds, or whatever. The machines often get taken back overseas rather than stay here and it’s the machines that are most vital…and we aren’t even making so many of those anymore to begin with. Yes, we could sure stand some upgrades to machines and processes and such, but it’s so expensive that it never happens (Western Forge) or it doesn’t happen until some critical mass is reached. But a domestic-owned company will at least be keeping the machines here even if they shut down (generally, right?). Look at what Great Star ended up doing with Pony/Jorgensen and how some of our cutting tool manufacturers ended up after mergers/buyouts.
I’m curious about their steel sourcing for tooling/machines, too, not just the end products’ steel. And aluminum for that matter – we lost a lot there as well and it seems Alcoa and Easton are pretty small these days.
S
That’s the globalization question I’ve never seen answered all that great.
It seems everyone wants everything one specific way.
In this context, everyone wants American production with American steel, American workers, and an American ownership.
The reality is that nothing can be that way anymore. Even GM or Ford can’t make a vehicle that’s higher than 80% domestic parts, and they have to include Canada and Mexico in the “domestic” term to even meet that requirement. And those are American companies we all already complain their products cost too much.
JR Ramos
Good c-clamps would be nice to see in the USA again, too, now that Great Star has taken the Pony/Adjustable quality down a bit and moved it all overseas. Bessey still makes some here and their imported ones are still good, but it’d be nice to bring that back. Specialty welding clamps is probably a bigger market for that where they could make inroads with good products.
fred
Buy Williams. I believe they still make many in the USA
https://www.zoro.com/williams-williams-c-clamp-standard-screw-2-cc-402s/i/G7145577/?q=G7145577
ITCD
Wright and Proto also have US-made C-clamps. I believe those two appeared to be identical and maybe the Williams is as well, with just one company knocking them out for everyone. I can’t say with certainty that’s what’s happening though.
ITCD
For what it’s worth, Pony was DOA with all operations shut down when they were bought up. It’s possible the capabilities had already been parted out to make up for their debts etc. Or maybe not, but either way it wasn’t just some dude from GS walking into the factory and yelling “everyone stop you’re all fired bye.”
JR Ramos
Yes but for whatever reason they faltered over the years it was important what happened to them with the new purchaser. My post about good clamps was more on the end of the hobby/medium duty/affordable range. The great ones we still have are pretty damn expensive (and always have been). Seems like something that could be picked up by one of the people still making them…simple castings and acme threaded shafts are neither difficult nor expensive to do. GS has made some decisions with the Pony line that don’t make a lot of sense and maybe that’s because they don’t understand the US market and why some of those products existed and were designed as they were.
ITCD
If we’re talking C clamps in particular the good ones are usually drop forged which is part of what makes them so good. It also seems to make them pretty expensive, but the process of drop forging in and of itself isn’t particularly expensive from a per-unit standpoint on many things, which leads me to believe it’s more about the work in having to shape their blank, and how big a die needs to be especially once we push up to the 12″ class or so. Most other drop forged goods are generally straight, like pliers halves, wrenches, and ratchets, so all 3 (it’s typically 3 at least) sections of the die set can be relatively narrow and keep the tooling cost down. Some companies like Channellock take it further by making both plier halves in the same die. A larger C clamp is going to need a large die set plus will monopolize some amount of time on a large enough drop hammer to fit the tooling and be able to form that much metal. Which a forged heavy duty 8″ C clamp (this includes the Acme thread rod) is pushing 12 pounds of steel or so. Even Chinese-made stuff that don’t have powerhouse names like Bessey and Wilton on the side want an awful lot of money for a forged clamp, the 12″ is like $100 in a lot of places.
Cast clamps have to toss even more steel into the mix to hope to compare, and are inhibited by their inherent brittleness. While casting does play much more strongly to the affordable part, it’s a tougher time to also make them actually good and not “it works” or “serviceable.”
JoshtheFurnaceGuy
I’d like to see made in the US crescent wrenches and ratchets on par with the Craftsman wrenches of yesteryear.
I wish I could kick my teenage self for spending money on stuff other than every tool Sears had on the rack.
Neighbor Joe
The pliers are great. However, all the Milwaukee tools at my local Home Depot are confined to the electric parts tool aisle in place of where Klein tools were once displayed. I know shelf space is tight, I suspect typical shopper would be unaware these tools are available.
IronWood
This is great news! I ordered a 1/4″ slotted, #2 phillips, needle nose, and the smaller dikes when they first came out. I like the screwdrivers a lot and will likely pick up a couple other ones. The needle nose are also very nice. Have to say I’m not crazy about the diagonal cutters and wouldn’t get them again, as something just seems like a weird shape to me; I much prefer Klein or even Channellock. Overall, I’d say the quality is very good and worth the price, the screwdrivers I’d rank as excellent, easily on par with my Kleins and Snap-ons. Can’t wait to see what they come out with. I vote for USA made vise-grip style locking pliers/clamps at a better price point than the Eagle Grips were.
Joellikestools
I have found the Milwaukee pliers uncomfortable. I think locking pliers would be neat.
Spearhead91
Angled head diagonal cutters
Richard
> As long as they tie in with the manufacturing capabilities that we have, the sky is the limit.
My PM has a good quote “we could do anything, but we can’t do everything”
Distinguishing between what a company **could ** do and what they will do is miles of difference apart. The distinguishing factor between companies isn’t what they might do, it’s what they **will** do.
dale clark
The USA screwdriver set is World Class. I amd going to check their pliers next…my local stores only carry the screwdrivers.
Leo B.
I’d love to see a good wrecking bar selection- something less expensive than the bars from the Swedes, but nicer than what’s at HD now. Probably a range from 16”-48”. Exciting to see how much they’ve set themselves up for expansion! Hopefully they won’t see what Malco saw; people don’t often put their money where their mouth is on buying USA manufacturing.
ITCD
Warwood used to have a whole range of sizes but it’s been pared back to 24-36″ range. Rock solid bars though, made in West Virginia.
Daniel
One thing I don’t like about Milwaukee tools being made in is that it’s a bit misleading. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t it still supporting a Chinese owned company and contributing to China GDP? Is prefer that they’re made in the USA than not, but I wish they were an American owned Company.
Stuart
See comment above – https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/milwaukee-usa-hand-tools-whats-next/#comment-1549292%3C/a%3E .
Milwaukee Tool is an American company that’s owned by a publicly-traded company based in Hong Kong.
You’re supporting American workers and a company headquartered in the USA that’s investing in USA expansion and jobs.
Corporate ownership gets very convoluted, especially for publicly-traded companies. It’s fine to be critical, just be sure you’re well-informed.
Consider Greenfield Industries. Greenfield’s corporate owner was based in USA, then China, and now Canada. Does that now make them Canadian companies? https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/greenfield-industries-acquisition-2024/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Look at what a company is doing, where they’re investing their money and efforts, where jobs are being created, and whether domestic industry and know-how is being boosted.
If you’re looking for a family-owned USA-based tool brand that exclusively produces 100% made in USA tools, let me know when you find one. I can’t think of any major tool brand whose entire operation keeps 100% of operations in the USA. There are some specialty toolmakers, and their number keeps dropping.
scott taylor
I would agree if they are registered in China it gets dicey. As lots of the car and consumer companies have found out when you are a 49% joint owner, you can easily get screwed. Most of the home grown car companies in china started as joint ventures with one of the big 6 car companies, the partners learned the technology well, some say, stole. They then launched new companies which compete against the joint venture, eg, geely automotive. Hong Kong registration is different.
Matt
I grabbed up all of their 1000v VDE gear when it hit he shelves. A 6pc insulated driver kit and 5pc pliers/driver kit with linesmans, side cutters, strippers and a philly and flate blade driver. The grip on the pliers is pretty legit, comfortable and grippy. The screwdrivers are fine but nothing special imo. It was also nice to see someone besides the Germans and Klein offer insulated wire strippers in a brick and mortar setting here in Upstate NY. Overall I’m pretty pleased with Milwaukee’s hand tool offerings so far. I’m not brand loyal to any set company and will try anything.
I would like to see HD(only because I’m there more than anywhere else purchasing tools) offer a deeper line of hand tools… Kind of what like Lowes is doing with Klein. And besides supply house offerings, the box stores can get a little stagnant and oversaturated with just basic pliers and a million screwdriver kits. And if Milwaukee can plunge a little further into the specialty electric/plumbing tool market and maintain quality, I will certainly keep an eye on them
Drew
Packout dolly with drawers please!
Nathan
I’d like to see more of anything made here but let’s not kid ourselves about the jobs they might bring. It won’t be that many jobs. But it’s better than nothing
The profit thing. A hk registered company doesn’t pay the same taxes as a cn company. Likewise their market and ownership itiles are a bit more European than in mainland china so that part is true. You American Joe can own stock in tti. But don’t get it twisted into thinking 50% or more of that profit stays in america. It does not. Neither does that other false economy of Nissan Honda and Toyota products made here share profit here. Some sure but it’s less than 50%.
Is that better than nothing or worse watching a cn registered company buy up someone like sk? All day it’s better
I won’t buy another sk item. Sorry can’t do it not while owned by mainland china. And I have some ak tools. Old sk tools.
So if possible I would like Milwaukee to make all their hand tools here. I’d consider one of their ratchet sets or at least a socket set. And some ratcheting wrenches made here would be nice. For say 1/2 snap on and mac prices.
More plumbing stuff like flare nut wrenches. And all their cordless tools
And I don’t mind the made with global materials thing. People have to get over that especially anything that has electrical bits
Part of what pisses me off most about sbd. They have and make Mac tools. They should already be putting out DeWalt USA made Mac tool clones without the Mac warranty and 1/2 the price. Or thereabouts
And I’ll say it again I like the new tekton stuff so far. I’ve not had a bad piece yet and some of it is made in the US again
CA
I feel like they should put all of their money into their power equipment which is where they made their bones. Better batteries etc. We can rough in a house using Milwaukee and another person using Dewalt. The Milwaukee batteries are constantly on the chargers. I have all red except for a yellow sawzall and a makita impact drill from my first battery purchases. If they want to specialize in some American made hand tools….specialty tools that are well made….I’m fine with that. I’m not buying the high priced sockets etc. when I can get a much better deal and fine enough quality at Harbor Freight. Screwdrivers? We’ll see how long it lasts but I think they’re spreading it thin. If they are serious they would stick to the specialty trade tools. The die threader and dies are good. Power cutters for electricians are good. They just need to stay away from the most common tools or they will lose. I’m glad they are making pipe wrenches too because I understand Ridgid is backorder stuff from the supply houses.
ITCD
They haven’t forgotten their power tool segment by a long shot. Forge batteries, bigger batteries, the 6-pack charger, contending for top spot on the impact wrench leader boards on TTC, there’s rumors of a new M12 impact wrench that’s supposed to be crazy strong.
Neighbor Joe
Thanks for the update. Good for Milwaukee. Apparently they did not invest in automated tool making equipment from Belarus like SBD did in Fort Worth. Plier set is great. Can’t wait to see what comes next.