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As of June 1st, 2007 the following tools will no longer be manufactured:
Model 100 – 7/8 hp router
Model 309 Laminate Trimmer
Model 310 – Production Laminate Trimmer
Model 505 – HD Finishing Sander
Model 9118 – Porta-Plane Kit
Reason: “Cannot be brought into UL745 compliance”.
Dave,
That 310 is a work horse I still have one with Rockwell’s name on it and many from the mid 80’s that sill run
Dani
Compliance problems:
505-Metal Switch/Metal Housing
310-Fails probe test/switch
309-Fails probe test/switch
100-Switch/Top cap clearances
9118-Metal switch/Metal housing
In other words, they want all tools to be 100% plastic because afterall, the government wants to protect you from you. Gee, how many of us look glowingly back at the times we sanded with an all metal electric tool in a rain storm or while wading in the pool.
Ridiculous!
When Bosch gave up that wonderful 3×24 Stanley belt sander with the comfortable t-handle because of the new-fangled double insulation, I figured the future was just a bit dimmer.
Well, we won’t need to know terms like “mechanical ground” anymore.
When you dumb down tools so that the most un-tool worthy guys can use them, you get un-tool worthy guy running tools.
The product doesn’t come out any better, but the operator stays alive to make more. Do we really want Darwin completely out of the picture?
Tom
No Tom, we don’t. That darn 309 laminate trimmer with the round base affectionately called the “beer can” router has been a staple of theres for years. I asked the PC rep: “So, fix the switch…whatever”. His answer: “He just works there”. You see, the guys & gals running PC (black & decker) have NEVER held a tool in their hands let alone used them. Bean counters all !!
Ryobi is the only brand you need. Or, you can buy the Black and Decker. Just kidding. I wonder how Festool does it? They sell expensive tools, but people buy them.
Don’t get me started Andy.
As it relates to Ryobi: My 1st experiance with them was around 1984. The company I worked for took on the line. Most of their tool line was a real nice quality. They has this 10 1/4″ planer, Model AP-10. It was portable, had a handle on the top for easy transport and would plane down the hardest, roughest wood you had. I used to carry that in to shops, ask them for the most uneven, warped piece of wood they had and I’d run it through the thing. Most customers would laugh at 1st site of the planer…””what kind of toy is that?” they would ask. After I ran the wood through, they’d buy it ! I think it was being sold for around $350.00. I sold 150+ of those things.
Of coarse, the Ryobi out there now, has been summarily beat to cheap by HD. Think they even own the line. Thank you penny pinching American consumer.
Andy, thank God someone in the tool world (Festool) took the high road of quality and did not go after the quick home center dollars which usually leads to you being forced to take your German quality tool to a slave labor camp in China for mass production so Mary homeowner can be all a twitter at Christmas time when she tells the girls how she got such a great deal buying her husband that 12pc combo tool set for $99.95 that comes with a DVD on how to use it and a carrying case made out of burlap that was farmed from rice bags washed down the Zhinhzao river!
Andy, condider me started…
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