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Return of Rockwell tools?

comments (0) March 30th, 2009 in Blogs

Justin Fink, Senior Editor

6 users recommend

The old Rockwell

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When I was a kid, most of the tools owned by my dad and grandfather were made by Rockwell, the powerhouse of tool manufacturing between the late 50’s to early 80’s. Pentair bought the Rockwell name in the early 80’s and rebranded the tools as Delta. Delta was later bought by Black & Decker and eventually combined with Porter Cable to become Delta/Porter-Cable…confused yet? I hope not, because there’s more switcheroo to come…

So anyway, when fellow editor Chris Ermides came back from the International Builder’s Show this year and told me that I might want to know about a tool company called Rockwell, I told him I thought he was a little late to the tea party on that one.

It turns out that I’m the one who’s a little late. A tool maker called Positec Group conducted some market research and, not surprisingly, found that the name Rockwell had a strong positive association among tradesmen and woodworkers. Positec bought the name, and has recently released a new full line of tools that includes drills, sanders, saws, grinders, routers…even a little oscillating saw meant to compete with the Fein Multimaster.

I know what you’re thinking, and apparently the folks at Rockwell do, too. Just go to the “(It's not) About Us” section of their web site and you find the question: “Does the world really need another $300 cordless drill?”

Their answer?

“No. What the world needs is a $300 cordless drill that costs $150.”

In short, they plan to shake up the world of power tools by focusing their efforts on a small group of tools (30, to be exact), eliminating the lasers, gel pads and other bells and whistles, selling through independent chains, and passing along the savings to the buyer.

So, will the new Rockwell live up to the quality that is associated with the old Rockwell name? Stay tuned, I plan to put these tools through their paces and include them in head-to-head reviews in the near future.