Milwaukee tools

I just bought a battery powered Milwaukee drill/driver. I looks like a good piece, has a lot of torque and drills holes just fine. I just got it yesterday and I was checking out the box when to my horror I saw the dreaded "Made in China". Milwaukee tools - made in China? Whiskey tango foxtrot?
Is nothing sacred?

 

I think some parts on the famous Milwaukee vibrator (HD) are made overseas to....... say it aint so Willy say it aint so!!

 

Milwaukee been making stuff in china and mexico for at least the last five years.We do some work with hd and i know they have making some of there stuff in china for aleast a couple of years.It dont really matter as we will be #2 by 2016 anyways.

 

Looked for a cordless drill last year. Started by looking for one made in the USA or Canada, then moved down to one made in Japan. Finally picked between Mexico and China. Was only looking at good name brands.

Canuck

 

I find it is better to just assume everything is made somewhere else then I am not disappointed when I find out otherwise.

 

I almost never have that problem. I can't afford anything new, so I just buy old crap.

 

Every single mother F ing thing inside of the Harley shop is made in China.
All the pretty shiny stuff, clothes,accessories - everything. Except one rack of t shirts, 125.00 USA t shirts, plain Jane t shirts.

Stopped the other day and they had a clearance table of old stock, found 3 tubes of points lube that said "Made In The USA" . I bought them just because it said that, you know for the novelty of it.

 

My wife bought me a complete Milwaukee 18 volt NiCad cordless set in either '04 or '05. The batteries are still OK, but not their former selves. They can be rebuilt, or bought rebuilt w/ warranty.

My drill just had it's first problem a month ago when the trigger witch stopped working. $35 later I get my new trigger switch in the mail (bought thru Ebay,) it looks identical to the old one and is super easy to switch out, assuming you have a screwdriver and a solder gun.

My circular saw has been dropped off of a 2 story house. I took it to a tool repair shop, and they straightened the guide palte and replaced the chipped guard, and it is back to greatness.

The drill has been dropped a few times too, and survived fine. The sawzall is great; no problems. The flashlight has been used more than I ever thought it would, and it is still on it's original bulb.

These tools are made to be rebuildable and built well, IMHO. I love my set.

My batteries are made in Japan. The drill is made in Czech Republic. I can't remember where the rest was built, but it was either North American or European.

I was looking into getiing the new versions with Lithium batteries and new features, but decided to fix my old stuff when I saw they are now made in China. From my own amature research, I think the new stuff is not built as well as the old either.

Now I know they did make 18v Lithium batteries that works on these older 18v tools, but I cannot find them at a realistic price, so I'll stick to the NiCad for now.

 

google "tools made in the usa".... for example,
http://www.stillmadeinusa.com/tools.html

http://www.usstuff.com/tools.htm

I believe Delta and Porter Cable still make stuff in the USA??....

 

All my drills, porta-bandsaw, etc. are Milwaukie, but old enough to be USA made. They're fantastic tools. At least they were when I bought them.
I wanted a battery powered set of drill,sawzall, saw, etc. last year and couldn't find any made here. Finally just bought the set that was what I thought best, at the best price. Got Porter Cable, and they so far have been incredible! Used the heck out of the sawzall and drill motor, and they are holding up nice!

 

ditto. old is better.