Original tools brands and rebadged...

[hemdale]

Hi there,

Just wondered if we could all work on a single topic that would give us the names of the brands / manufacturers and their "rebadged" counterparts.

Correct me if I'm wrong but let's say for example that Wilow are the rebadged tools from Wiha but with a very basic plastic handles.
Wimed would be Wiha but without the fancy metal coating.

Is Metabo the "cheap" Bosch blue for example ?
I suspect this topic has already been started but I can't find it anywhere.

Also it would be good to know which is what and if there are any "rebadged" brand to avoid, or which one would be of a decent quality.

To be honest, my power tools so far are Festool, Bosch blue and Mirka (sander) but it's just for a global knowledge to understand the manufacturing process a bit better and not to be fooled by a "so so" marketing hype.

Skoda has a Volkswagen engine and the Audi R8 is nothing but a rebadged Lamborghini tractor...

 

[gtlaw]

here is a similar idea
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=136120

 

[neophyte]

Hi there,

Just wondered if we could all work on a single topic that would give us the names of the brands / manufacturers and their "rebadged" counterparts.

Correct me if I'm wrong but let's say for example that Wilow are the rebadged tools from Wiha but with a very basic plastic handles.
Wimed would be Wiha but without the fancy metal coating.

Is Metabo the "cheap" Bosch blue for example ?
I suspect this topic has already been started but I can't find it anywhere.

Also it would be good to know which is what and if there are any "rebadged" brand to avoid, or which one would be of a decent quality.

To be honest, my power tools so far are Festool, Bosch blue and Mirka (sander) but it's just for a global knowledge to understand the manufacturing process a bit better and not to be fooled by a "so so" marketing hype.

Skoda has a Volkswagen engine and the Audi R8 is nothing but a rebadged Lamborghini tractor...

A lot of power tool companies, and hand tool companies, want to offer a full line of tools. In some cases they don't manufacture an appropriate motor for a particular tool they want to offer, or they don't have enough of a market to justify the cost of designing their own tool, so they have another manufacturer re-brand a model for them, sometimes with custom modifications.

Metabo isn't a "cheap" rebranding of Bosch. Both companies produce their own tools, from their own designs. Metabo designs are arguably better in some cases than Bosch designs. Its possible both companies have collaborated on the designs of some tools, or produced a model to fill in a hole in each others lineup at some point or other. Bosch does produce a lower cost line of tools aimed at homeowners that are a similar color green to the Metabo tools, but the tools aren't manufactured by Metabo.

Festool and Metabo have produced tools for each other to round out each others lineup, but there were changes made so the tools weren't exactly the same in the re-branded version. Fein and Bosch supposedly collaborated on the designs of their high frequency tools. Festool used to sell a jigsaw that appeared to be a re-branded tool made by Flex.

There is/was an Italian company called Felisatti that manufactured private label tools for other companies, including Fein CMT Metabo and Trend for whom they made routers, Porter Cable for whom they made a powered hand planer, and supposedly other companies as well. In Italy the tools were sold under the Felisatti brand.

There is a Swiss company called Suhner that manufactures electric motors that makes a series of sanders and grinders. Most of the tools are also sold as Pferd, a company mainly known for manufacturing abrasives.

 

[sberry]

A lot of hand tools and bits are rebadges, some from the cheap to the best come from the same line with a different brand stamp and package. In some cases cheaper share the same core parts with different jackets or cords. The cheap B&D grinder is like this, the public wants a rubber cord,,,, in truth the cheap one lasts several times better but sitting in the store the public thinks it knows better and wants something different. They are glad to put rubber on, mark it up and sell/offer a replacement cord that cost more than a new grinder,,, ha

Real quality is a lot in the "mind" anymore. I had years of reluctance to try the cheap grinder, I made sure is spun and tossed it behind my seat, after the umteetn fault with others gave it a whirl and other than the fact I bought it would never give it a second thought if I grabbed it up out of a gang box that it wasn't the real thing.
I know they now make similar I spose but I used the cheaper Bosch and a couple yellow and HF, never cared for them but this one you cant tell it isn't a Dewalt 402 except for one thing,,,, it lasts.
I think the jacket is from one of the cheaper DeWalt models as is the switch but the arm, gears, case is plucked right from the lined with a cheaper cord thrown on.

They make so many grinders and sell only a modest% of them on the cheap market,,, which they do not want to be return center over 50 cents and a whole level of inventory control, just change the wrapper, give3 a big warranty on expensive models and the end user couldn't tell the difference in a blind test.

 

[Monte]

Hi there,

Just wondered if we could all work on a single topic that would give us the names of the brands / manufacturers and their "rebadged" counterparts.

Correct me if I'm wrong but let's say for example that Wilow are the rebadged tools from Wiha but with a very basic plastic handles.
Wimed would be Wiha but without the fancy metal coating.

Is Metabo the "cheap" Bosch blue for example ?
I suspect this topic has already been started but I can't find it anywhere.

Also it would be good to know which is what and if there are any "rebadged" brand to avoid, or which one would be of a decent quality.

To be honest, my power tools so far are Festool, Bosch blue and Mirka (sander) but it's just for a global knowledge to understand the manufacturing process a bit better and not to be fooled by a "so so" marketing hype.

Skoda has a Volkswagen engine and the Audi R8 is nothing but a rebadged Lamborghini tractor...

The best/easiest way would be if you buy "original" brands...
The company "Wurth" for example sell only rebadged products from maybe 100´s of different companies. So your question would be difficult to answer. Maybe if you want to buy a certain product we can give a answer but a general answer is not always possible because there are too many OEM´s.

But if you stay with Festool, Bosch Blue and Mirka you can´t go wrong
(btw. we need pics in the "Tools from...") thread