Porter Cable dead brand?

[Mountainous Gabe]

Lowes stop selling the Porter cable tool line

Tractor Supply still sells them though

ive seen this brand go for the greatest to the lowest

what is your take guys

 

[DeeKay]

I have a porter cable corded DA sander/buffer that's great.
Other than that all my cordless stuff is red, so I personally cant speak to Porter cable's quality.
My dad bought some of their cordless stuff a few years back and said it was garbage.

 

[Shiftless]

My 20 year old Porter Cable random orbit polisher still runs great. Corded tool of course.
Like DeeKay, my cordless stuff is Milwaukee.

Dewalt, Porter Cable and Craftsman names are now owned by Stanley Black & Decker
It’s probably a corporate decision to streamline their product lines.

 

[Wrench97]

Porter Cable is owned by SB&D(bought by B&D in 2004), Dewalt would be their pro product B&D their low end so what's left for Porter Cable? From what I've read most are manufactured in Mexico and China now so not the same tool from decades ago.
And of course they have the Craftsman line in consumer.............................

 

[Git]

Ya, it's dead Jim

I still have a couple of OLD Porter Cable tools - the random orbiter polisher/sander, the 4 1/2" worm drive trim saw, a router motor, etc. I really wouldn't consider buying anything they have new at this point

 

[rlitman]

My take is that Porter Cable died a LONG time ago.

 

[ike]

Porter Cable is dead. The decent stuff they made some minor adjustments and rebranded to Craftsman.

 

[d.mcfarland]

I believe (personal thought with no proof) that they are trying to push the Craftsman name currently. Anything and everything is going into the front of Lowes stores with huge branding.

Sad because the Porter Cable stuff was all perfectly useable even 5 years ago. Honestly I think most of the stuff (such as power tools) is the same internals with different cases for each brand.

 

[Farmall450]

Porter Cable is dead. The decent stuff they made some minor adjustments and rebranded to Craftsman.

Yup, someone decided that after investing in the Craftsman name that would be their go to for the homeowner. Not sure if they'll keep PC for the oddball stuff (think cordless tile wet saw) or completely obsolete it.

 

[Farmall450]

I believe (personal thought with no proof) that they are trying to push the Craftsman name currently. Anything and everything is going into the front of Lowes stores with huge branding.

Sad because the Porter Cable stuff was all perfectly useable even 5 years ago. Honestly I think most of the stuff (such as power tools) is the same internals with different cases for each brand.

For PC and Craftsman sure. Some run in between Ryobi/Ridgid/a smidge Milwaukee. Not a whole lot else besides bottom barrel private labels that are the same externally too minus color (think Hart and Ryobi, parts store tools).

 

[toolaholic]

I have the 340 palm sander, 360vs 3x24 belt sander, 8 amp d handle still, the 9862 12 volt drill driver all from the 90s. Made in USA. Porter cable is a joke now!

 

[gtae07]

Darn. I have their cordless drill/impact set (and the cheaper version thereof for in the house). Really happy with them. Oh well, I don't really have other cordless tools so I guess it doesn't matter...

 

[onarant]

I have the old Tiger Reciprocating saw from about 1995 and it is still going strong. It was once a great brand, but everyone I know that has purchased there cordless tools in the last few years, are not very fond of it. To me it is dead now.

 

[toolaholic]

I also have a porter cable 2541 4.3 gallon 150psi air compressor. Made by devilbiss (spelling ) for porter cable

 

[finn]

I have a Porter Cable 352VS 3” belt sander that I picked up probably close to 30 years ago. Aluminum housing and weighs a ton. Not a tool I use a lot, but it will probably outlast me.

also have a PC pancake compressor and a pin and finish nailer kit I got at least 12 years ago. Not the greatest, but I gutted and rebuilt a house with it, so it owes me nothing. I think they may still sell an updated version of that kit.

Porter Cable never, in most people’s memory, had the name recognition that Craftsman had, and never will. Probably a good move on SBD’s part to phase the brand out.

 

[Outahere]

I have the old Tiger Reciprocating saw.....

Me too, a Model 737 that is still going strong. Had to order a new cable strain reliever for it, and the OEM part was still available for $2, but a replacement power switch is no longer available.

Porter Cable Tiger Saw | 737 | eReplacementParts.com

 

[RedneckWelder]

Last Porter Cable tool I own is a SB&D era 18V NiCad battery hammer drill (bought it back when Lithium’s were just coming on the scene). The hammer drill is excellent quality, equal to Milwaukee or DeWalt but the batteries are pretty much dead and gone so this perfectly good tool will be trashed soon and replaced unfortunately. It’s pretty clear that SB&D is replacing this brand with Craftsman power tools and heavily promoting them instead.

 

[lardy1]

It's been hard for me to watch. Porter-Cable tools were some of the best tools around in their heyday. I still use a lot of corded tools and many of them are PC that I've been using since the 80's and they're still going strong. Some of us older guys can remember when DeWalt was nothing but Black & Decker with a paint job being marketed as upper tier tools.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

My parents got me a Porter Cable drill and impact for Christmas about 4 years ago and honestly it’s held up pretty well using it professionally. I use the drill just about everyday or whenever I need to. Put a good drill bit in it and it will drill anything. I do think the older tools were much, much better though. I try to be as unbiased as possible as far as tools go and they really had held up well. A lot better than I thought they would that’s for sure.

 

[Kev442]

I bought a PC corded Tigersaw a couple years back as it was offered with a 3 year warranty. I also just wanted to be able to say I owned a Tigersaw.
No complaints at all, I've whacked up a couple cars with it.

 

[never enuf time]

I have a ton of the corded PC tools from the 90's. Most are still going, some need work that I am not sure are worth fixing with as much wear they have. It was the top woodworking brand in 80's-90's. I am not sure why S& B didn't take advantage of this. Just sad really. Reminds me of Pontiac & Oldsmobile. Great brands ended due to financial reasons.

 

[BFHtime]

Their corded tools were very good quality for a long time. I have some corded porter cable tools that still work great! And they are old.

 

[gnpenning]

For those who have battery powered tools, you can buy an adapter to what ever brand you wish and keep using your old tool.

My parents got me a Porter Cable drill and impact for Christmas about 4 years ago and honestly it’s held up pretty well using it professionally. I use the drill just about everyday or whenever I need to. Put a good drill bit in it and it will drill anything. I do think the older tools were much, much better though. I try to be as unbiased as possible as far as tools go and they really had held up well. A lot better than I thought they would that’s for sure.

 

[James-W]

I have a Porter Cable hammer drill and a Porter Cable multi-tool and I like them both of them a lot. They are older tools though and I do not have any new oner ones to compare them. I think it will be sad to see them go away, at least at one time they made really good stuff. When well known companies go away I feel bad about it, I suppose in some ways it is like losing an old friend.

 

[dwasifar]

They may not be objectively dead, but they're dead to me.

 

[Milton Shaw]

P/C made some great tools. There random orbit sanders, the portable spindle sander, routers of all sizes, trim saw, pocket hole cutter and others are still great tools. I don't use them all every week but they still work as good as anything on the market. They had some innovations that were the state of the art and have been copied by others. They had a factory in Jackson Tn that was right along I40. I knew they had been sold but didn't know they were dead.

 

[Aaron_W]

Craftsman is a Lowe's thing, Home Depot still sells Porter Cable, although as mentioned Porter Cable has just been a brand name for quite some time.

I've got a Porter Cable pancake compressor that came with some nail guns. For my personal use they have been fine, but I don't think they would hold up for daily use on a job.

 

[neophyte]

Me too, a Model 737 that is still going strong. Had to order a new cable strain reliever for it, and the OEM part was still available for $2, but a replacement power switch is no longer available.

Porter Cable Tiger Saw | 737 | eReplacementParts.com

The switch looks like it might be a fairly standard type of “Marquardt” style tool switch. You might have to switch over electronics, but if just the switch is dead, then there are likely replacements available.
Also, Ereplacementparts list two separate switches, so the switch part was changed at least once in the past.

 

[Badgerstate]

Lowes stop selling the Porter cable tool line

Tractor Supply still sells them though

ive seen this brand go for the greatest to the lowest

what is your take guys

Porter Cable stuff is fine, they just cant compete with Craftsman in the SBD line. I love PC and I hope that SBD find a way to make it work for them but when SBD bought Craftsman, the handwriting was on the wall for Porter Cable.

 

[Sgtboz]

I have many PC tools from when you had to buy at an industrial distributor. Fine tools back then, the equal to Milwaukee. Their routers were very high quality. Now strictly for homeowners trying to stretch a buck and not interested in a quality tool that lasts for decades. It's a pity that they didn't spend a few minutes coming up with a new name rather than spitting on the Porter-Cable name. I still have a P-C working 6 inch circular saw that my mom bought for my dad in the '50's.

 

[Kscardsfan]

The only PC stuff I have is sanding/finishing tools, but they’re damned fine tools in their roles. I know in the past PC was the brand of choice for most professional carpenters when it came to specialty/trade specific power tools. Shame what happened to them.

 

[jives]

My PC corded angle grinder is 15 years old and taken a beating. Terrific tool. Back in the day, 60s-80s, my dad's construction business used corded hand tools only from Milwaukee (drills & circular saws mostly) and Porter-Cable (routers, mostly).

It is sad to see P-C being just a name.

 

[dnschmidt]

You're late to the funeral. Porter-Cable died the day SB&D bought them.

 

[Bubba Fett]

SBD should renew Porter-Cable with a line of high quality corded stationary shop tools, like belt sanders, grinders, band saws, table saws, drill presses, etc. They already have three other cordless brands, so the low, medium, and high markets are covered. Otherwise there is no point in the brand.

 

[carmantl]

My sister-in-law worked at the Jackson TN plant in the 80's and 90's. I can still remember when it was the Rockwell plant before P/C. My father had a TON of corded Rockwell and P/C tools from that era and they are still going strong! 4 1/2 and 7 inch grinders, 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2" drills, belt sanders, jitterbug and palm sanders, power planes, fixed and plunge routers, circ. saws in 5, 6, and 7 1/4, tiger saws, and the Original Port-a-Band. All in real metal cases with room for the consumables. I use them most every day. SB&D should be ashamed of what they let that once industry leading brand devolve into. I also remember in the 90's when they brought the Mexican engineers and line technicians in and my sister-in-law and the rest of the hourly employees had to train them how to run the assembly lines before they packed it all up and shipped it to Mexico.

 

[Packard V8]

Porter Cable is the first tool brand of which I have a memory. Around 1955, my dad found a Porter Cable circular saw at a pawn shop and bought it immediately. He said, "This is the last saw I'll ever have to buy." And he was right. It served him well until his passing almost fifty years later and I'm still using it today.

jack vines

 

[Sneezer]

I think there is too much in the space now. Lowes for one has too many power tool brands, and SBD now owns a bunch of them. Inside Lowes you have Kobalt, Bosch, Dewalt, Metabo, Flex, Skil and B&D in addition to the Craftsman line. With Flex coming into the stores and Craftsman expanding, they look to be dumping Porter Cable and reducing the Bosch display areas. A lot of the Craftsman stuff was just Porter Cable with a new skin anyway. I think I have maybe one PC tool in the garage - most of my stuff is old Sears Craftsman, with a smattering of Dewalt, Skil, Ryobi and Kobalt. Some inherited, some bought, but it all works.

 

[dstblj52]

Yup, someone decided that after investing in the Craftsman name that would be their go to for the homeowner. Not sure if they'll keep PC for the oddball stuff (think cordless tile wet saw) or completely obsolete it.

its going to be their white box brand for anyone who doesnt have exclusives

 

[Super Mech]

I have the old Tiger Reciprocating saw from about 1995 and it is still going strong. It was once a great brand, but everyone I know that has purchased there cordless tools in the last few years, are not very fond of it. To me it is dead now.

I have the same saw purchased at around the same time. It’s been through hell and back and still looks good and works perfectly.
it has literally dismantled buildings.

 

[rharman]

I would miss my PC 690 router if it went away.....