Chervon niw owns the SKIL and SKILSAW brands, alongside other brands such as FLEX l, and Ego and a brand called Devon, which I have no knowledge of.
In addition, Chervon is likely the OEM for other power tool brands, including some of the Bosch saws that were based on Skilsaw designs.
As far as “Brand recognition” or “Brand reputation” go, who cares.
People still get confused about past brands, and where in the marketplace those brands existed, let alone nowadays, if the brands still exist.
People who really know, or care, will hunt down the higher quality tools and brands or models.
People who don’t will just complain on the internet.
Porter Cable manufactured both portable, and stationary power tools, as well as stands so the portable power tools could be used as “stationary” power tools.
Despite what I’ve seen claimed, these portable power tools used in stands were not just home owner equipment, they were made for industrial use, by professionals, in both small shops and at industrial factories.
Later, Porter Cable was bought by Rockwell International, and the tools where relabeled as Rockwell models, using the same model numbers.
A couple decades later, the brand was sold off again, this time to Pentair, who did not get the Rockwell name, who then started using the Porter Cable branding again.
A bit over a couple decades later still, Pentair’s power tool division got sold to Black & Decker, who kept some stuff, and discontinued other models, and who sold Porter Cable’s sister manufacturer of stationary equipment, Delta, off to a Chinese company.
While Black & Decker have occasionally dipped their toes into the stationary power tool market, they routinely remove themselves after a decade or so.
Black & Decker later used the Porter Cable branding for tool models sold at Lowes, that seemed to be Black & Decker Firestorm tools, possibly made with better components. (This was claimed in a woodworking magazine by a writer that supposedly contacted B&D).
As far as Black & Decker goes, they started out in a similar market to Porter Cable.
They manufactured “Industrial” quality tools, and continued doing so, even after buying the Dewalt brand.
I’m not sure that the “Porter Cable” branding was ever used on “homeowner grade” tools, but the Rockwell branding was, while Rockwell owned “Porter Cable”, and so the then “Rockwell” tools, which were essentially Porter Cable tools, would have been marked under the sane exact branding as “cheap” homeowner grade tools.
I kniw this because somewhere, I still have a cheap Rockwell drill, that cost $10 new, maybe in the 1970s, that my parents owned.
It still works, but is likely similar in quality to the cheap “Black & Decker” branded tools, from the same era, that screwed up Black & Decker’s reputation with professional tool users, to the point that Black and Decker bought Dewalt for their name.
Black & Decker where still manufacturing top quality tools under the B&D branding into the later 1990s at least, although usually as “Black & Decker Professional, or Industrial”.
Some of those tools got rebranded as Dewalt, and Elu, a high end, well regarded European brand of portable power tools, which Black & Decker also bought, and the Dewalt branded tools in some cases are still being made.
Incidentally, for all those people who hate Black & Decker, for “killing” brands.
Boack & Decker didn’t kill off Dewalt, ie. the radial arm saw manufacturer.
B&D tried selling B&D branded radial arm saws, which didn’t work I guess, so the the product line was sold off, I think to the plant managers, and a large amount of the product line is still manufactured as “The Original Saw Company”.
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Elu, the European power tool manufacturer, also made industrial stationary tools, and B&D didn’t rake over that portion of the manufacturing, that still exists as Elumatec.
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B&D just took over the portable power tool sections of the brands.
I think they fid the same for some other smaller brands, where they took the part of the brand that would add to the portable power tool lineup, and left the manufacturers with a paycheck, and sometimes what was left.
In the case of Elu, B&D spent decades tweaking the routers motors for better performance, to the point where the motors would sometimes beat higher wattage rated motors.
As far as the Skilsaw and Skil branding, Skil was being used gor the cheaper line of Bosch tools at the end when Bosch owned the branding, with the exception of the actual circular saws.
The Skil branded circular saws however were left with the older designs, and Bosch put all the bells and whistles, and “advanced” features, onto Bosch saw models based on the original Skil designs.
I hebe not checked thru older Skil power tool catalogs, but if Skil was like otherUS power tool brands, they also likely made “homeowner grade” tools, and the current “cheap” Skil branded tools are probably better than the vintage cheap Skil tools.
