Milwaukee made in China?

[Raisedonadeere]

Long time Dewalt, Porter Cable user starting with a house build in the 70's, with an accumulation of cordless tools that need to be replaced/ upgraded. I kind of took a fancy to just taking the plunge and blowing my grandsons mind some day and just up and load up on all the new and greatest stuff in one fell swoop. Tired of battery odds and ends, swapping only to find this battery is just about gone etc. Got to reading the Milwaukee Addiction thread and various reviews and the Impulse impact driver and the brushless circular saw model 2760 6 1/2" swung me away from Dewalt as my new platform. Runtime is everything on the kinds of project I get involved in these days.

After getting all high on the major purchase of a boat load Milwaukee tools I started trying to figure out the best approach to winding up with the number and sizes of batteries I wanted, I started looking on Acme web site and discover that the Milwaukee model 2760 circular saw is made in china. It is brushless and not fuel. After discovering that not all brushless is Fuel (all Fuel is brushless I think) I got to wondering if the non Fuel brushless is a cloak for Chinese made Milwaukee.

One of the things that attracted me to Milwaukee was the much touted Made in America. To me that minimized the hit or miss aspect of quality that I have experienced with "made in China" a lot of misses actually.

I am confident that Milwaukee has not headed on a path of maximizing profits while riding a wave of cheap Chinese pretend tools but still wondering what's up with this?

Also any advise on how to make my initial purchases to acquire at least two 5ah and three 2ah. All the combo offerings leave me needing more batteries which then runs up the cost about as much as just buying individual

 

[ptgarcia]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

I think all Milwaukee M12 and M18 power tools are made in China, Non-Fuel and Fuel alike.

 

[tube_guy]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

TTI, a Chinese company, bought the Milwaukee brand name in 2004 and the real Milwaukee Electric Tool company is gone. Now, Milwaukee is just a brand name that is owned by a company that is completely unafilliated, and quite different, than the original Milwaukee Electric Tool company. I've done work with both companies, and the difference in their philosophies, and the way they went about solving problems, is like night and day. Particularly with their engineers.

On the plus side, some Chinese power tools have actually been pretty decent and the Milwaukee stuff is usually pretty well regarded relative to the current competition.

 

[nh_yota]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

Most cordless stuff is made in China these days. Even the "Assembled in USA" stuff is made from Chinese parts.

 

[tarbellb]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

You will want to sit down for this....

ALL electric drills, and for that matter battery operated tools from DeWalt, Milwaukee, Porter Cable,
Ryobi, Black & Decker, Makita, and pretty much everybody else except ahandful of European made tools are
MADE IN CHINA.

DeWalt will market like hell "Made in" and "Assembled in USA" but really its a small fraction of the overall product that is.

Bite the bullet and buy what you think is best.

 

[pbon]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

Are Ryobi and Milwaukee made by the same company?

 

[ChrisLS8]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

Sure are along with Ridgid

 

[zendriver]

Milwaukee make in China?

The "everything made in China is junk!" Chant never gets old.

Well maybe a little.

Maybe they should change the C0O. Laws and just let them put whatever they want on of the product.

If everybody thinks it's made in the USA it'll be an awesome high-quality product.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dacan23]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

Why did you believe Milwaukee products were made in America, some are, cordless tools are not, they used to be.

You must have your models mixed up, there is no 2760 saw. There is also no brushless non Fuel saw.
2630 is not brushless or fuel.
2730, 2731 are Fuel brushless.
2530 is a M12 Fuel brushless saw.

 

[dogdog]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

The "everything made in China is junk!" Chant never gets old.

Well maybe a little.

Maybe they should change the C0O. Laws and just let them put whatever they want on of the product.

If everybody thinks it's made in the USA it'll be an awesome high-quality product.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I like to stick my head into the sand most of the time....

 

[Dave455]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

You will want to sit down for this....

ALL electric drills, and for that matter battery operated tools from DeWalt, Milwaukee, Porter Cable,
Ryobi, Black & Decker, Makita, and pretty much everybody else except ahandful of European made tools are
MADE IN CHINA.

DeWalt will market like hell "Made in" and "Assembled in USA" but really its a small fraction of the overall product that is.

Bite the bullet and buy what you think is best.

Not every Makita cordless tool is made in China, though the cheaper ones are.

If the o.p. doesn't want Chinese made (and I can understand why not) there are plenty of options. Bear in mind though, that you get what you pay for.

Going back to Makita again, I can get a perfectly servicable drill with battery and charger for less than £100, but it WILL be Chinese made. Alternatively, I can get a much better grade of tool, still Makita but British made, rated for all day professional use, but it's going to cost me £250.

A lot of mid range Bosch seem to be made in Malaysia, and they seem to be fine, or you can spend some cash and get something like a German made Festool!

 

[bczygan]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

WOW!

I somehow thought all the brands with American sounding names were still 100% USA, heavy duty, over-engineered, quality derived from WWII, made in the heart of industrial America tools! This isn't sarcasm. I really thought so.

I guess the myth that USA tools are better, is dead as a door-nail, especially if there aren't any.

Bill

 

[gigamel]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

Milwaukee tools are not made in Wisconsin - they are build by the 11,000 chinese TTI employees in Dongguan, China.

 

[zendriver]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

I like to stick my head into the sand most of the time....

That's OK, I'm sure we all do one way or another

Indiana has thousands of factories, that produce great products just not, obviously cordless power tools.

Milwaukee, just like most every other tool company has to compete against other tool companies, not only here but on a global scale.


I don't believe they would sell a crappy product regardless of where ever it was made


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[8200rpm]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

Yeah and everything in the Pittsburg line at HF are engineered by American-born UPenn grads and hand crafted by union metal workers in Pennsylvania.

 

[Raisedonadeere]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

Why did you believe Milwaukee products were made in America, some are, cordless tools are not, they used to be.

You must have your models mixed up, there is no 2760 saw. There is also no brushless non Fuel saw.
2630 is not brushless or fuel.
2730, 2731 are Fuel brushless.
2530 is a M12 Fuel brushless saw.

Thanks to all, I am feeling sheepish about now, I took the small talk too seriously and now realize I did not read carefully enough to consider the sources for the claims of made in USA. Took the bait. But if make in USA was true I wanted to look further to see what I would be getting besides a more expensive tool.

Also I messed up the model, I meant the 2730 but I read somewhere that it is not Fuel. I read a detailed explanation about some tools that are brushless and not Fuel and then I noticed that along with not being fuel it was made in China. That is what triggered my post. Just got to trying to figure out what design feature distinguished a Fuel (which are all brushless I think) from a brushless non Fuel. I still am trying to figure that out.

Now I cannot find that source and see several listings of the model 2730 as Fuel.

Like I said I am feeling sheepish. If I find that article I will post again. For now I am focused on shopping price so I get the most for my $1000 budget.

PS I swear I saw a write up on brushless none FUEL Milwaukee tools. If I didn't I need to sell all my tools and get ready for a rest home.

 

[bcradio]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

Any way you slice it, you will like your Milwaukee tools. Use them hard and enjoy them.

 

[Farmall450]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

I think all Milwaukee M12 and M18 power tools are made in China, Non-Fuel and Fuel alike.

Yeah, I think all cordless tools are China except for the new DeWalt that are assembled here.

 

[finn]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

According to tribal knowledge generated on this forum, Chinese made tools are ok, unless they are marketed by Sears under the Craftsman brand.

 

[American Locomotive]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

Yeah, I think all cordless tools are China except for the new DeWalt that are assembled here.

Many of Makita's higher end LXT tools are still made in Japan. A lot of their Home Depot tools are made in China.

 

[928'er]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

TTI, a Chinese company, bought the Milwaukee brand name in 2004 and the real Milwaukee Electric Tool company is gone. Now, Milwaukee is just a brand name that is owned by a company that is completely unafilliated, and quite different, than the original Milwaukee

TTI is a Hong Kong based company founded by a German, Horst Julius Pudwill who, originally, went to Hong Kong as a rep for Volkswagen. While based in Hong Kong, the TTI factories are in mainland China.

TTI owns and manufactures the following brands:

Milwaukee
Ryobi
AEG
Homelite
Empire
Stiletto
Hart
Hoover
Oreck
VAX
Dirt Devil

They also manufacture Ridgid tools under license for Emerson.
They also make the Craftsman C3 line (which are, mainly, rebranded Ryobi tools) for Sears

 

[Musicinabottle]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

Just to let you all know how committed I am for buying only American made products....... I own not a single cordless, preferring to run a cord or grab my generator and a cord, and my older American made drill (I have several) and I'm dead serious! I'm that committed! Last cordless I had was a Bosch 9.6 that I bought new back in the 1980s.

 

[krole]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

FWIW Milwaukee still has a HQ\office in Brookfield, WI. Judging from the job openings they still do some design\engineering there.

 

[Fly YX]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

Look at the tool line for each tool company and see which tools you really need and which tools would be pretty cool to have. They are all pretty good. I bought into the Ridgid brand when they first came out I worked at HD at the time when I was going to school. Ridgid is not to bad and has a lifetime warranty if you jump through the hoops to get them registered on their website. If you go that route make sure you print out copies of your registered tools with the part and serial numbers on them. You could pass them down to your kids and grandkids with the warranty. My old corded stuff is Milwaukee made in the USA. And I have one Milwaukee drill but have not used it in a long time because of the batteries are bad along with a lot of my other cordless tools that was the only reason pretty much I went with Ridgid. Right now if you go to the Home Depot they have a few sets on clearance. But like I said you can't go wrong with any of the big name brands.

 

[dogdog]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

TTI is a Hong Kong based company founded by a German, Horst Julius Pudwill who, originally, went to Hong Kong as a rep for Volkswagen. While based in Hong Kong, the TTI factories are in mainland China.

TTI owns and manufactures the following brands:

Milwaukee
Ryobi
AEG
Homelite
Empire
Stiletto
Hart
Hoover
Oreck
VAX
Dirt Devil

They also manufacture Ridgid tools under license for Emerson.
They also make the Craftsman C3 line (which are, mainly, rebranded Ryobi tools) for Sears

At least someone does their research.... TTI is a German family-owned (majority shares), HK China based company. I think a lot of misconception just because it is a China based company..... These COO topics never get old like some youngguy mentioned before.

 

[dogdog]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

Just to let you all know how committed I am for buying only American made products....... I own not a single cordless, preferring to run a cord or grab my generator and a cord, and my older American made drill (I have several) and I'm dead serious! I'm that committed! Last cordless I had was a Bosch 9.6 that I bought new back in the 1980s.

Sometimes I wonder.

 

[dogdog]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

WOW!

I somehow thought all the brands with American sounding names were still 100% USA, heavy duty, over-engineered, quality derived from WWII, made in the heart of industrial America tools! This isn't sarcasm. I really thought so.

I guess the myth that USA tools are better, is dead as a door-nail, especially if there aren't any.

Bill

Not me.... I owned a Milwaukee corded power drill back in 1997 or was that 1995... either case, that **** burned up like expensive POS about $100-ish cash... Throw that to trash and never owned another Milwaukee again.....

 

[PFSard]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

If I were in the market for "Whatever Brand" tools, I would find a decent WebSite(s) or other places that have these particular tools reviewed by actual users.

 

[bob15]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

Yeah, I think all cordless tools are China except for the new DeWalt that are assembled here.

Metabo drills are still German made

 

[Fretters]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

Whichever brand you go with, country of manufacture bears little relevance. Any good name will be made to their specification rather than just being made to the cheapest price possible. China is still, as it has been for many, many centuries, very capable of producing quality items.

 

[PhysicsDude]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

Metabo drills are still German made

Looks like most of their newer stuff is made in China or Taiwan.

Some Makita tools are made in USA or Japan, but most are made in China.

Festool and Hilti I believe are all still made in Germany.

 

[tym]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

I remember being able to buy a made-in-USA Milwaukee corded power drill off the shelf at Home Depot about 10 years ago. Those were the days.

 

[Musicinabottle]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

Metabo drills are still German made

I have a Metabo drywall screw gun I bought in the 1980s.

 

[ptgarcia]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

Whichever brand you go with, country of manufacture bears little relevance. Any good name will be made to their specification rather than just being made to the cheapest price possible. China is still, as it has been for many, many centuries, very capable of producing quality items.

True, but the Chinese are not averse to changing a product to make production cheaper. Not likely an issue with a big player such as Milwaukee, but it happens to smaller companies.

 

[Musicinabottle]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

Whichever brand you go with, country of manufacture bears little relevance. Any good name will be made to their specification rather than just being made to the cheapest price possible. China is still, as it has been for many, many centuries, very capable of producing quality items.

For me, it's more about the fact that for years, companies like Milwaukee, and others, built things here in America, and paid Americans. Then all of the sudden, they decided they wanted more profit, so they moved production over seas. Problem is, that if we're (Americans) aren't good enough to build it, or we're too high priced all of the sudden, and they make the **** over there, then why the heck would I want to buy their products. It's more than a saying when you state that the best customer of American industry, is a well paid worker. Remove the well paying jobs to China, replace the jobs with service sector **** jobs, and eventually you won't have customers for your ****.

 

[Musicinabottle]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

I remember being able to buy a made-in-USA Milwaukee corded power drill off the shelf at Home Depot about 10 years ago. Those were the days.

Price hasn't dropped since they started making them in China either, have they? It's just more profit for the corporation, now they pay less taxes, and more workers out of work, and so many Americans are okay with that. Talk about ******* in your drinking water!

 

[PelicanPines]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

At least for now... everything is manufactured on Earth with Earthlike materials.

 

[kkroger]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

Pretty much all power tools are made in China or assembled in USA from other country parts. DeWalt is Assembled in USA from Foreign parts (china) Some are German (Fein, Walter, Flex, Metabo) but probably also Asian Guts....

 

[Fretters]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

For me, it's more about the fact that for years, companies like Milwaukee, and others, built things here in America, and paid Americans. Then all of the sudden, they decided they wanted more profit, so they moved production over seas. Problem is, that if we're (Americans) aren't good enough to build it, or we're too high priced all of the sudden, and they make the **** over there, then why the heck would I want to buy their products. It's more than a saying when you state that the best customer of American industry, is a well paid worker. Remove the well paying jobs to China, replace the jobs with service sector **** jobs, and eventually you won't have customers for your ****.

Your country is the same as ours. Unions have been responsible for a lot of damage to industry, (take the coal mining industry over here as a prime example. The person running/fronting the union profited handsomely, whilst an entire way of life was decimated due partly/mainly to the union), coupled with workers expectations as to worth becoming unrealistic. Also, younger generations seem largely unwilling to get their hands dirty. All self inflicted injuries, IMHO.

If people didn't constantly want to earn more and pay less, industry might still be alive & well & offshore production might be less. I have pride in our industrial heritage & the stuff we once produced, but I'm not blinkered to simple fact. Past is past. Plus, there was plenty of homegrown shite produced too, as well as the better stuff. Offshore production is no different.

 

[Crazyjake8493]

Re: Milwaukee make in China?

You really can't go wrong with Milwaukee, wherever they're made. I've never had a single tool let me down. I don't care where the tools come from, as long as they get the job done.