Toolbox extraordinaire!

[Yorkie]

I certainly wouldn't be in the market for one, but I'm impressed by the R&D that must have gone into it, and all the tooling needed for the many hundreds of parts needed to get it into production. I thought the video was rather slick too, not needing any dialogue, so overcoming any language barriers.  At first sight, £395 looks expensive, but the VAT bumps it up of course. Ex VAT its £330. One possible objection is the time taken to faff about fitting and removing the various tools, but in fact the whole demo only takes six minutes, albeit with a slick operator who knows it inside out. For anyone who has limited workshop space it does have the benefit of compactness. Obviously not intended for heavy duty work, but it looked well up to the task for smaller jobs - the circular saw and drill didn't baulk at all.

For power tools that I use only occasionally, and only used for light duty tasks, although I could afford to buy the top brands, they fail to meet the cost/benefit test, so I buy at the bottom end - Aldi Workzone tools, which have a 3-yr warranty, are fine for my requirements. Such things as a biscuit jointer, power file, electric carver, Dremel type drill and so on.  Also I have a couple of cheapo DIY store routers for light duty jobs.  I have a Bosch pendulum jigsaw, a few other Bosch tools and a De Walt 625K Router, but of course, De Walt is just another name for Black and Decker, who've owned the brand since 1960. Given that B&D had a downmarket DIY image, it wanted to penetrate the professional tool market. B&D also swallowed up the ELU brand.

As with most  products these days, De Walt tools are made in China.

In 2002, De Walt ceased all tool manufacturing in the USA and moved manufacturing to China and Mexico. In 2011, De Walt launched a line of contractor's hand tools (including utility knives, pliers, adjustable wrenches, tape measures, saws, and hammers). In 2013, the line was expanded to include mechanic's tools (wrenches, ratchets, and sockets). Same thing - all made in China. On Veterans Day of 2013, DeWalt issued a press release stating it would be bringing some assembly of a small selection of their products to US using globally manufactured parts from Brazil, China, the Czech Republic, Italy, Mexico, the UK, and the US. The products assembled in the US would be branded under the label, "Built in the USA with global materials."

Launched on 'Veterans day?' Just another example of cynical branding 'kidology' playing to gullible punters who like to think that they're 'patriotic'.  

I have a small bandsaw sold by Charnwood, a UK firm. They slap Union jack transfers all over their products and a large 'Great Britain' logo, inferring that they're made in Britain but they're not - they're so clearly from the far east, bought in and branded by Charnwood, just as Record and Irwin tools are imported from the PRC and marketed here. It doesn't mean that the equipment is sub-standard, it's just that when firms make statements like a 'Great British Company' the inference is that the products are manufactured here - not just have labels slapped on them.

http://www.charnwood.net/shop/product/ch...dsaw?cid=1

I think we may have been down this 'branding' track before, so I'll shut up!