I just got back from my local Lowe's and was surprised to see a bunch of Grizzly benchtop tools where Kobalt and Skil stuff used to be. I can't find any mention of these coming to stores online, and weirdly the website doesn't show them in stock at my location either. The employee I talked to knew nothing about them and had never even heard of Grizzly. Pretty interesting to see though, Grizzly's not exactly high end but their stuff is probably better than anything I've seen in this category at big box hardware stores previously.
Maybe the farm/ranch stores too. The one in my city has a pretty marginal workwear section off in the corner, but the one in a nearby smaller town, which is a hub for a lot of farming and ranching, has a major section right in the middle of the store. That town also has a Coastal, a Wilco, and a Tractor Supply so they're gonna be head-to-head on that stuff.
I miss Coastal and Wilco when I lived in Oregon but now I live in Wyoming and I don’t think I could ever give up Menards. Murdoch’s is similar in my town to a coastal, big r, cal-ranch but the fact I can run to Menards and get shit for work or working on the house and do a little grocery shopping that’s the shit.
I won't complain about that, Carhartt flannels are great when you get them for $12 on clearance at Lowe's in April. My store seems to be backing off on it too, the Carhartt stuff was literally front and center until a few months ago, now it's off in the corner next to the garden section with the rest of the workwear.
My local Rona (was Lowe's up until a year ago, and Lowe's owned the Rona banner here up until they pulled out of Canada) has clothing, an isle of Bouclair Home, an auto parts store, and a Tim Hortons literally inside of the store.
Probably the same Taiwan factory that cranks out the cheap ShopFox, Wen, etc.
The sander looks identical to Rikon's 50-310, the Woodskil OSM-2V, the Toolshed TSS04, and the Lumberjack OBS500. All quote the same measurements, and even the same ~450w motors.
Yeah for sure. My father owned a company much like mine many years ago, his shop and trucks were all Hilti. Apparently he got to be buddies with one of the big wigs in the US when he did some fancy trim work in his house. I don't have that luxury. (Being able to do such fancy trim, and I definitely don't have a customer that works for a big high end tool company!)
The SBD family twig works pretty similarly. They used to be entirely different brands with their own models and build qualities, but then the merger. In the cordless market Dewalt will have the flagship/newest models, followed by Porter Cable getting a grey version of whatever middle tier tool Dewalt phased out, and then a lil while later you’ll be able to get it in red plastics as a craftsman. But with different batteries between each make to maintain the illusion that they aren’t inbred. On the pneumatic side, Bostitch tools seem to be the same timeline as the Dewalt stuff more or less, just in a different shade of yellow.
Am on construction sites a lot, commercial. The best run outfits seem to have Hilti and have it all organized with giant charger bays and I assume some check in check out setup? RFID or something. Then it’s Makita. Lots of Milwaukee. The hung over drywall guys seem to like DeWalt.
Emerson owns the Ridgid name and still uses it themselves for the plumbing tools and I think also shopvacs. They license the name to TTI to make the power tools for Home Depot.
Damn, now I want to replace all my Milwaukee tools knowing they're made by a glorified vacuum cleaner company. Ironic that my Milwaukee vacuum is pretty terrible!
I live where Grizzly is, I've done work for them, and have friends who've had entire careers there at this point.
They tour factories, buy products, devise colorways, and slap logos on things. It's an import business with a name and a face, which is not always a bad thing. Any factory putting out a semi-adequate product is an option for their lineup. The owner is a character, you could read his book if you have literally nothing better to do.
It’s probably a strategy that is well studied by their expert on maximizing revenue. Either switching it up reenergizes consumers or they make money discontinuing platforms for another new one.
The way they keep constantly switching up what they carry the last few years makes it feel like they're a fish out of water flopping around gasping. Which is weird because they're still profitable and their margin on 10-Q reports isn't even bad.
I just feel like lately when you've come to trust them to be a place to get brand X ope! Too bad, it's gone now.
Meanwhile HF has gotten better. At least with the Hercules line of power tools. I don't have any experience with the cheaper Bauer battery tools, so who knows.
I think their model just doesn't work well for that. Focused more on stuff they think will move though there are movers they don't have, but the other thing is the insistence on their "good better best" system. They don't run particularly large stores that I've ever seen and that starts eating up shelf space.
You make a good point about space. There are things they are missing which seem like obvious additions to me as a carpenter like a cordless belt sander, finger sander, or nailers. It seems like they are putting more focus on automotive customers instead though
I’m a weekend DIY’er and bought the Hercules Drill/Driver combo. Very impressed with how it’s functioned over the course of a bunch of projects. Since I have the batteries I’ve also expanded to other Hercules battery powered tools and really like them too. I realize they aren’t for everyone, especially professionals, but they work great for me.
Hercules is good enough for trade work , i work for a commercial new construction company and they keep up , i have the bandsaw both sawzaws, the 1/4 impact , multi tool , and I just got the hammer drill , they also warrantied a battery no questions asked , the battery thing was no fault of Hercules either.
It’s “sawz-all”. It’s funny how everyone comes to this same wrong idea of what the word is and perpetuates it. It’s printed clearly on the tool that started the segment.
I got a few Bauer tools. They're honestly not bad at all. Cordless compact router, circular saw, impact wrench, rotary tool, jigsaw. I don't use them frequently so they've lasted a while so far. Some are a little underpowered, but they get the job done and they're good starter tools.
It helps that their tools ARE really good, with a warranty etc... But everyone else has good tools, too! DeWalt seems to make tools that are as good, or BETTER, in like every segment.
(Except some M12 tools, like the stubby impact, that one's special)
You know i kept hearing craftsman sucks, craftsmans is cheap crap, used to be amazing (the old stuff might have been)
I have a small metric set of craftsman ⅜in drive short sockets with a ~8in ratchet that I've used for all my at home vehicle repairs. Everytime I come a cross a hard bolt to get loose do you know what I do. I stick that ratchet on there and beat it with a 3lb mallet until it comes loose. It took 4-5 years of that before I finally stripped something in the head of the ratchet.
Im impressed because it took a ton of those swings from the mallet before it broke and it was never designed to do that. I wouldnt do that to a snap on because I wouldnt want to possibly break something so expensive. The way I look at. That "cheap" tool allowed me to do more work than a snap on would simply because I wouldve had to go get the "right" tool for the job instead of using what I had.
I do HVAC so I like that craftsmen 8” adjustable wrench is light as hell. I probably wouldn’t use it to mount bolts but for diagnostics on an old compressor it’s in my bag because the last thing I want to do is use an iron wrench and break a valve.
I had a Crescent 10” and it’s just too heavy for everyday carry.
I’d say Craftsmen is about as good as Husky. Maybe even some of the Crescents depending on what series you’re buying.
I dunno, maybe it's just because I'm a homeowner/amateur woodworker, but I have a set of craftsman power tools and haven't had any problems in the 4 years I've owned them.
I might have saved a couple bucks buying Ryobi instead, but I don't regret getting Craftsman.
I've got lots of Craftsman hand tools from 15~20 years ago (RIP Sears) and they're... Fine? Not special?
Perhaps their quality was already degrading by then... But even Harbor Freight Quinn seems comparable, and better brands blow them out of the water.
(And I agree, "cheap" tools are incredibly useful, everyone needs some beater tools - I'm definitely picking up one of those cheap extendable handle ratchets just for abusing it)
I fear that you'll live to regret beating that "noveau Craftsman" to death and then throwing it out, even if it wasn't a Snap-On. The old stuff wasn't amazing, it was just good, reliable, U.S. made, and people miss it disproportionately now that it's gone. They might miss the new Craftsman when it's gone, too.
Breaker bars are the right tool for the job, and a good investment. You can get hingeless versions. Or the high-powered modern lithium-ion impact gun, more popular for breaking fasteners than ever.
I thought that was a stupid move. Kobalt was better quality for the money than Craftsman, but they all but abandoned it for a while and gave all the shelf space to Craftsman. At one point my local store just had one small rack for individual Kobalt replacement wrenches and sockets and nothing at all in the racetrack or endcaps. They have brought it back to some extent, but it's clear they no longer consider it their house brand.
I bought a ton of Kobalt sockets and wrenches on clearance, and a couple of small sets, when they got rid of the individual ones and switched to a new gen of sets last year. I really like that Kobalt stuff, it's as nice as anything in the price range, and I've got a bunch of newer Craftsman and some equivalent price HF stuff to compare it to.
Craftsman hand tools are perfectly acceptable for the price point. I feel like people have been saying this for 25 years despite not having used one for 25 years. They just heard they were terrible 25 years ago and been repeating it forever.
You aren't wrong about harbor freight, but very very few brands do offer better value than harbor freight these days so also kinda moot
This is only about hand tools too. I genuinely do not know a single person that uses craftsman power tools.
Craftsman was actually decent 25 years ago, back in the Sears days when the tools were made in America and the lifetime warranty was a thing. It’s everything that’s happened since then that makes them junk. Their hand tools are okay enough, but their power tools are absolute trash.
25 years ago was 2001. Years into the enshittification of craftsman and well after they moved most manufacturing out of the US. Most of that started in the 90s and was probably at it's absolute apex in the early 2000s. 2004 was the big class action lawsuit. That's when they were actually genuinely shitty tools. Personally I don't even see a point in discussing their power tools because their power tools have never been in the same tier as their hand tools, no matter how far you go back.
It is really difficult to find american made tools that are good value these days. They're either good but expensive, or mid tier for mid price. Almost all the modern craftsman stuff that I have is in the mid tier mid price bracket. Couple ratchets, sockets, and wrenches. They aren't my work tools so I can't speak on their quality in that context but they are completely comparable to my GearWrench and Icon stuff at the same price point.
Those tools also still do have a lifetime warranty.
Bc my craftsman tools from 15~20 years ago (from Sears era) are... Not amazing. They're okay. But I feel like HF Quinn brand is better (with a lifetime guarantee too!), plenty of other options at the price, and so many NICER choices.
Honestly, when is the last time you've used one of their power tools? Have you tried any of the RP brushless ones? Some on here say this stuff and havent touched one in years. They do really well on torque channel, especially for the price point. I use them regularly and yes, dont quite keep up with my brother's Milwaukee, but not far off.
Yeah I have a 20V pressure washer and the 20V caulk gun, both I got for very inexpensive closeout and they're pretty nice. I never thought I could use a battery power pressure washer and there are some serious limitations but it's great for where you don't have power or water. You can pull water out of a bucket or a lake
My company has DeWalt and Craftsman tools as well as Milwaukee. I was on the DeWalt battery platform since it came out, and I really like the M12 smaller Milwaukee stuff. But I've filled Packouts for a few of my guys with the new RP Craftsman stuff and it's all the same as DeWalt. Some of its last year's tech, some of it is new tech. The first few years after SBD bought Craftsman it was awful. But they have stepped up their game quite a bit for the V20 stuff. The hand tools are where they are falling short now a days. The classic stuff is fine, absolutely nice quality stuff. But they aren't as innovative as Knipex or Klein. I'm a carpenter that plumbs, not a mechanic. So I'm speaking to those hand tools. The wrenches I have from them are fine, but I can't speak to super quality mechanics tools. I just don't use them enough.
This is spot on. The newer Craftsman RP brushless is just DeWalt's tech from a few years ago, which is still good stuff. And again, the price point is great for the weekend warrior as myself.
I agree on the hand tools. A lot of mechanics will take the severe decrease of their automotive line of tools and just assume its the same for the power tools. Also, their pliers are really average. The Doyle line at HF are already better and cheaper, especially on sale.
I think the problem isn't that they went all in with Craftsman, it's that they DIDN'T go all in with Craftsman.
They bought the name and slapped it on shitty tools. They COULD have relaunched it as the brand everyone remembers Craftsman as. It COULD have been the Lowes version of Milwaukee, or something in between Ryobi and Milwaukee, heavily marketed towards the home DIYer.
I feel like it's actually the complete opposite and if they dropped the craftsman name and they were all marketed as Kobalt they wouldn't get 10% of the hate because instead of comparing craftsman to the other brands at their price point they compare them to themselves in the 70s and 80s
They didn't buy the name though. SBD did that, so it's ultimately SBD's shots being called, Lowe's has the kind of buying power to try muscling a bit but without any idea on the specifics of their contract it's hard to say how much muscle they really have with them.
I’ve bought a few of the new craftsman wrenches and ratchet sets and they’ve been absolutely solid for me. I own a welding shop so not exactly easy on them.
It's not. I seriously think you should get your hands on some of the V20 RP stuff. It's every bit as good as my DeWalt stuff. My tools get used year round every day. I'm not a weekend warrior or DIY guy. I'm a builder that works every day. The stuff is cheap enough that it's replaceable if it's stolen or lost, and the batteries are 50% the cost of the DeWalt. There are some things I have in Milwaukee or DeWalt like my impacts and a lot of M12 stuff. But I've got I'd say almost everything in that line up, and a lot of them are great. The small battery router is great, and the little battery miter saw is fantastic for smaller crown, shoe, chair rail, base, etc...
When they first came out after the buyout they were awful, but after a couple years they stepped it up. They get all of the hand me down DeWalt tech, and now they have built their own R&D team for the RP series stuff. They stepped up their game. I'm sure the HF stuff is fine too, unfortunately I'm not near a HF store. It's over an hour away. So I just take the ride when I need 5/6 hundred bucks of consumables. Gloves, sandpaper, cheap blades, little stuff. I wish I had one close!
Oh nice, sounds kind of like Ryobi vs Milwaukee in a way, although without the massive home depot marketing push...
I'll have to look if the warranty is better than Harbor Freight Bauer/Hercules. It's definitely better than Hyper Tough from Walmart, my current cheap tool favorite.
There's a whole economic theory about this, actually!
Hotelling’s Law (The Ice Cream Sellers on a Boardwalk)
In economics and game theory, this is formally known as Hotelling's Law (or the principle of minimum differentiation). It is most famously explained using the analogy of two competing ice cream salesmen on a boardwalk or beach:
Imagine a straight boardwalk with customers spread out perfectly evenly along it. Two identical ice cream carts want to set up shop to maximize their sales.
Ideally for the customers, the carts should split the boardwalk evenly (one at the 25% mark and one at the 75% mark) so no customer has to walk too far.
However, if Cart A sets up at the 25% mark, Cart B realizes they can steal market share by moving closer to the middle. Cart A responds by doing the same. Ultimately, both rational competitors migrate until they are clustered right next to each other in the exact center (the 50% mark).
This explains why competing fast-food chains (like McDonald's and Burger King), gas stations, or car dealerships always open right next to or across the street from one another.
I fucking hate Lowe's because at my local there seems to be someone's poorly trained off leash dog ever third aisle whereas HD seems to be mostly contractors/tradesmen
I feel like they've struggled in the tool game as far a big box store go especially with cordless. The brands that they sale exclusively aren't that popular. Bosch cordless never caught on big in the states, porter cable cordless was a flop, flex hasn't really caught on, Hitachi/metabo is similar to Bosch in popularity, kobalt isn't popular, and craftsman cordless will most likely go the way of porter cable cordless. DeWalt is the most popular brand they carry but home Depot also carries DeWalt. Home Depot selling tti industry tools really helped them steal the big box store tool game. Milwaukee is probably the most popular cordless brand and Ryobi is very popular with those just getting in to cordless tools. Plus they carry select DeWalt and Makita to boot.
The Bosch arm saw is so good. I was comparing the Bosch with the metabo and it took one pull on the arm to sell the Bosch. The metabo was so gritty and chunky.
The lack of real competition for Ryobi is the real killer IMO, not just for Lowe's but for everybody that doesn't carry Ryobi. There really isn't another "affordable" system with comparable reliability and tool selection at all. I think Lowe's is alright on the "pro" end though, they're generally a better place to buy DeWalt and the other higher end brands they carry (better sale deals, much better shopping experience than HD, and generally more selection actually in stock in the store) but that low/midrange is definitely an issue.
I do like Lowe's for hand tools, I think they made a good call with Klein, who IMO are the best maker of non-mechanic hand tools in a reasonable price range (and the only one that still makes much of anything in the USA) but HF blows everybody out of the water when it comes to mechanic and specialty tools.
Lowe’s needs to follow harbor freight tiers with Flex being Hercules, Kobalt being Bauer. Easiest way to put that on consumers map would be to have battery interchangeability between the 3 levels. But I’m lost on the difference between the brands as is.
Lowes management probably will keep the revolving door going and put VEVOR on the shelves next.
What they need to do is go heavy into the Japanese tools. Make Makita their flagship and then bring in all those wonderful Japaneses hand tools. I would be very poor. However japan may not have the capability of supplying something like Lowes with enough inventory.
They carry Olfa. Or maybe carried, I don't know, haven't been there in a while. But if the waffling continues, would you continue to buy there? Okay you have an Olfa, need some new blades, oh would ya look at that they're gone now.
But I don't think Japanese tools are the way forward for them either wide-scale. They usually have a good quality-to-price ratio but folks are more liable to grab brands they've heard of and already trust. "Ebisu? What the hell is that? I dunno man, Johnson's done me good, I'll go with them." That's exactly why they took on Craftsman, because that name is a very well-known one, and they've actually been sticking with it. "IPS? Isn't that that stomach problem where you fart a lot? No thanks, I'll take classic Channy." Etc etc
Japanese tools are going to have to continue making inroads through specialty and smaller stores and seize better on online sales first to get established here, get much more well-known, before big boxes would even sniff at most of them. And some of them just aren't playing in the kind of market space big boxes are looking to cater to. Lowes already took a chance with premium stuff like Knipex and Fluke, apparently they weren't good enough and they're gone now. So things that have a healthy price tag attached to them just probably aren't going to ever make it there.
I loved my Porter Cable 18v stuff. Hell, they had a 18ga brad nailer before Dewalt did, iirc. But they were afforable and I beat the crap out of mine. Not on purpose. I'm just a klutz.
Right! Milwaukee for the pro/prosumer and Ryobi for the DIY homeowner is a hard combo to beat. The Craftsman, Flex, Rigid, Kobolt etc just doesn't have the same selection of options as Milwaukee or DeWalt, nor do they match the price point of Ryobi. On a side note I use a bunch of Rigid tools professionally, but it's always their specialized plumbing equipment like a pipe threader, See Snake, K60, or their pipe wrenches and never their power hand tools. You know all the tools I need to order off of Amazon, Granger, or directly from Rigid and not ever offered at Lowes.
Yeah they still have the first round of stuff. Lots of the other second round of accessories are sitting(now being sold off) in Chinese warehouses. Shame because it’s well made.
Exactly this, got a kit of skil 12v stuff at Lowe’s 5 years ago when my local store had a small dedicated endcap display is the tool section. Loved it, got more and now it’s disappeared.
There was a major shift in who carries TTI and Chervon products. The Den of Tools had a good video on it. It’s also why HART (TTI) was pulled from Walmart in favor of Greenworks (Globe).
Honestly Lowe’s has such a weird selection I almost never end up going. As much as I dislike their politics, Home Depot is far more likely to have what I need. Hell, the same can be said abaout Menards, to less of a degree. Their app is also the most confusing of the 3 for figuring out of something is physically at a store or not. I’ve only ever been burned by Lowe’s for that
The one near me is selling a weird assortment of outdoorsy clothing and t shirts, random pet supplies, and an aisle of snacks like peanut brittle and lollipops and beef jerky and popcorn and candy. Definitely feels like they’re “just trying stuff”.
These all seem like a new models. They are not even on Grizzly's website. I hope it's not, like, made by Delta, and just Grizzly-branded, like Rigid's benchtop tools.
While the products aren't listed on their website, Grizzly is hosting PDFs of the manuals of all of them, and the PDFs don't list Delta like the Rigid tool manuals do... but all of the manuals say "For models manufactured since 04/26" or "...5/26" (for the bandsaw), so this must be a new affordable line-up, and if I had to guess, made exclusively for Lowe's.
Edit: I found a "machine data sheet" for the sander, and its description specifically includes "LOWES"
Edit 2: It appears identical to Rikon's 50-310, the Woodskil OSM-2V, the Toolshed TSS04, and the Lumberjack OBS500. All quote the same measurements, and even the same ~450w motors, and if they list an origin, they say Taiwan.
Woah, that's extra weird. Now that you mention it, the bandsaw also doesn't come up, and the drum sander does come up on google but seems to be a defunct model. I didn't think to get an angle where you could see the drill press's model number unfortunately, so I can't check that, but the fact that they've got 426, 428, and 429 makes me think maybe it's a Lowe's-exclusive lineup.
I wonder if this is a holiday promo or something that hasn't been announced yet and my local store jumped the gun on putting them out.
edit - wait, you can see the number on the drill press itself, 427, so yeah, it's a straight 426-429 series.
Oh yeah, looking at that now. Pretty interesting. I wonder how they'll compare to other brands Lowe's has carried, at very least they seem noticeably distinct from the plastic-bodied tools that are usually in this price and size bracket.
Yeah, there are a lot of different brand names on the same tools for sure. I have a cheap ryobi drill press that looks identical to this grizzly except for the color and badge and I’ve definitely seen that same spindle sander in different colors too.
TBH, Harbor Freight seems to be marketing better tools while maintaining decent pricing. I have a couple of 30 year old corded Dewalt tools that work great and probably always will. For the rest of my power tools, I've swapped to HF and have had no problems. They get used a lot on my ranch and hay operation. The batteries are affordable and HF has started branching out into smaller communities. I always purchase the replacement plan for any power tool over $25 bucks. If it dies, a quick trip to town with the carcass and I walk out with a brand new one. They honor their policy 100%, no questions asked. More than I can say for Lowe's and Home Depot.
Yes I know HF is all Chinese stuff. I'd love to buy US made tools. At least HF is putting stores in smaller towns and they back their stuff. I also realize that I am not a tradesman or a full-time mechanic, but my tools get used hard, and they've held up. Just my 2 cents.
Honestly there's not much you can do anyway, I don't think anybody really makes tools like this in the US anymore. I'm a DW guy for hand power tools but I've got HF for bench stuff too, I use it so little that nothing else makes economic sense.
I don't think anybody really makes tools like this in the US anymore.
The market is different for lithium-ion versus corded. You can probably still get a USA made Milwaukee Sawzall, as long as it's corded -- but the lithium-ion battery units are definitely all made in mainland China.
Lowes has sold grizzly for a while on their website. I bought a jointer/planer knife grinder through lowes website instead of grizzlies because I got free to store shipping to the Lowe's store the wife drives by every day. Plus got 5% off for having lowes card. Ended up saving me a chunk of money.
Yeah, but I think that was a "marketplace" sort of thing where Lowe's was just acting as a storefront for Grizzly's own distribution etc. Seeing Grizzly stuff in an actual store is a big change, especially because the brand has never really been sold anywhere except their own stores in the past.
That sucks man. The HD in my area don’t yet, but all but one Lowe’s do. And it’s just their parking lot - no other cameras for a long ways. So it’s strange that they have it but no nearby stores have them.
Damn looks like it's all made out of plastic and now 😂😂😂 some scum company must have acquired the original company and promptly turned it upside down
The metal ones are absolute beastly tools, they'll tear off your fingers if you get caught in it, and keep going without bogging down. They weigh hundreds of pounds.
This doesn't even have a semblance to grizzly tools. Not even the fucking color matches. This is some blow mold plastic shit from the same factory that makes soda bottles. Disgusting
The sander is obviously plastic but the rest looked like cast and stamped metal to me. I didn't poke at them to be sure though. The quality looked reasonable in person to me, better than equivalent Ryobi, Skil, or Kobalt tools I've seen IMO.
I know for sure that drill press is identical to the ryobi press I have shoved in the corner of my shop. Grizzly still makes some industrial grade machines, clearly they’re trying to get a slice of the cheap tool market. It’s just a branding thing.
I’ve used plenty of grizzly equipment. THAT is clearly not grizzly equipment. It’s some foreign junk that for some reason grizzly allowed their name on.
It’s some foreign junk that for some reason grizzly allowed their name on.
Isn't that what grizzly has been from the outset? Import cheap tools with their paint color and branding applied, and hope you believe the claims that they picked a good foreign supplier!
I’m not sure where their heavier tools are made but there is a clear quality difference. Grizzly makes some fine entry level industrial equipment at a price point that is attainable by hobbyists. It is not the consumer garbage shown here.
I wish these idiots would make up their damn mind. I really like the Skil 12v tools. Lowe's used to carry it, then relegated it to an end cap not facing the main walking path of the store then surprise! Cleared them all out of inventory and went all in on Craftsman.
Oh, and they have Flock cameras in the parking lots catching you coming and going. Buncha wankers.
I saw the Jet stuff listed at a store a few hours away while researching this post. I won't touch anything Jet with a 10 foot pole anymore though, they made great stuff a decade ago but they've shifted production to mainland China and I was recently involved in a completely unforgiveable situation with 4 brand new Jet lathes, $16k a pop and every single one of them was defective in one way or another, one of them so badly that the cross-slide casting actually split in half during a routine mild parting operation.
As far as I can tell Kobalt battery power tools are made in mainland China and others in Taiwan. Some Grizzly tools are made in America, so maybe tariffs have something to do with it. Some specialized components for Grizzly are sourced from Europe and US.
I remember going to their store or distribution center or whatever in 1988. I think it was in Leesport PA? Somewhere in PA anyway. Picked up their version of contractor saw, brought it back to a house I was working on in upstate NY and was disappointed in the quality. There catalog was great though.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with grizzly. I have a custom cabinet shop filled with them going on 30 years without a single problem. I saved 10s of thousands instead of going with powermatic, timesaver and the other high end machines. Those in the picture are the lower cost bech top tools for hobbyists.
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u/2009impala 1d ago edited 1d ago
They also have a full aisle worth of clothing for some unknown reason.