Tool Quality Declining?

[anto44]

What are peoples opinions on the quality of tools? In particular power tools, angle grinders,drills etc.
I set up a thread looking for suggestions on what grinder to buy and most people seem to agree that the older models seem to be better quality and more reliable than new models from the same manufacturer.
What do people think about this, are the older ones really better or are we just imagining it?

 

[octo0072000]

we now live in a throwaway age

 

[Spark plug]

I don't know why, weather it's build quality or other factors but I find 110v tools last longer than their 240v equivalent.

 

[brightspark]

What are peoples opinions on the quality of tools? In particular power tools, angle grinders,drills etc.
I set up a thread looking for suggestions on what grinder to buy and most people seem to agree that the older models seem to be better quality and more reliable than new models from the same manufacturer.
What do people think about this, are the older ones really better or are we just imagining it?

the older power tools had more robust motors .the copper on the armatures was harder with soft ish carbon brushes. the copper on the newer ones are much softer so will wear a lot quicker ,the quality of switches arent as good as the older ones so wont last as long the only thing i can say about the newer stuff is its lighter ergenomicaly friendly class 2 insulation so safer in use from electrocution. the manafacturing price has come down due to fast large scale production of parts and competition

 

[cumbriasteve]

My Black & Decker grinder bought second hand in about 1980 is still going strong, so that's 34 years of use and it had a years use before I bought it.

It's not used much now but for the first few years of ownership it was used to cut all my steel, grind and clean up the finished items and even cut a few paving slabs over the years and it's got the original brushes in it.

I doubt todays offerings will match that.

 

[Hitch]

Depending on manufacturer, but a fair few of them seem to have a couple of ranges these days, where as the used to be known for better quality gear.

One group of tools made to suit a particular price bracket, the sort of offers you see on the Screwfix catalogue covers, and then the high end ranges which can be easily 2-3 times the price, for what looks like the same tool on the surface of things but aimed at the professional users.

 

[Parm]

Modern tools are quite good but not as good as the old stuff!. Old tools you bought just a fw time and ket for ages. New tools seem to be disposable, use, abuse then throw away as spares never seem to available

 

[langy]

Its what the majority want these days, I prefer to pay a bit more and get quality

 

[anto44]

I have a 9 inch makita angle grinder that i inherited from my father thats nearly 20 years old thats still in perfect condition despite having a very hard life. i have a dewalt chop saw that was used for cutting aluminium that used to belong to my grandfather that still works perfect, we used to have to get all our saws calibrated and that one was more accurate when checked than ones only a year or two old that cost thousands. Its gone through about 50 blades in its life with each blade been professionally sharpened 5 or 6 times before been replaced

 

[brightspark]

a typical example norton abrasives make one the best diamond core cutters and cutting disks but due to all the cheap crap they had to bring cheaper blades out as well as the quality ones and call them premium grade to compete and stay in business . some people wouldnt know quality if it hit them in the face

 

[anto44]

I normally only buy the bigger more reputable brands for stuff like this but the new versions i buy never seem as good as the one its replacing

 

[brightspark]

Modern tools are quite good but not as good as the old stuff!. Old tools you bought just a fw time and ket for ages. New tools seem to be disposable, use, abuse then throw away as spares never seem to available

they are available but unless your repairing the tools yourself its not worth taking them in to get fixed

 

[ukracer]

they are available but unless your repairing the tools yourself its not worth taking them in to get fixed

Labour V Tools is expensive.

 

[rtbcomp]

.......... some people wouldnt know quality if it hit them in the face

That's the thing about quality cutting discs - they don't hit you in the face (like Clarke ones do).

 

[anto44]

I normally repair my own tools, anytime ya leave them back to be repaired ya end up just walking out with a new one cause they tell ya it cant be fixed

 

[blenkie1]

What I don't like about a lot of the new stuff is that the cables are glued/bonded in. Cut a cable and it's not a simple job to replace it. When we got a grinder we put a 5-8m cable on straight away. Not anymore.

 

[Wedg1e]

I don't know why, weather it's build quality or other factors but I find 110v tools last longer than their 240v equivalent.

There's a good reason for that: if you halve the voltage you double the current required to flow through the windings in order to produce a motor as powerful. So a 110V motor is wound with thicker copper than a 240V one and will cope with the thermal cycles as well as the impact of being dropped when hot, far better than a 240V equivalent.

 

[brightspark]

What I don't like about a lot of the new stuff is that the cables are glued/bonded in. Cut a cable and it's not a simple job to replace it. When we got a grinder we put a 5-8m cable on straight away. Not anymore.

thats easy rectified ,take of flex and cut it off either side of the flex protector pull the cores out and clean it out with a drill bit and fit and glue in in new flex with superglue i do it all the time .ive just done one today on an industrial floor polisher

 

[Maker]

I don't know why, weather it's build quality or other factors but I find 110v tools last longer than their 240v equivalent.

In order to have the same power at half the voltage, the current must be doubled so the wire used for winding the motors must be bigger to handle the current so it's quite likely to be more heavily built inside. The switches might be better quality too.

Edit: Beat me to it Wedg1e

 

[TechnicAl]

The crap thats for sale everywhere dilutes the price of quality goods. People see these "tools" and think I could get 3 of them for the price of one good one. They dont seem to care that they dont work as well. The quality manufacturers are forced to cut costs or close down.

Ive had the same issues for the past few years with welding wire. Eventually many of those tempted by chinese / indian prices have come to their senses, realised they were buying crap and that quality products arent that much more expensive. Weve had to hold our nerves. How many times have I been told "we would love to buy British if you could supply at Chinese / Indian prices"...............Would they tell Mercedes that they would love to buy one of their cars if only they were the same price as a Daewoo..........