Tools you will never see in the states

[Rick Lizek]

http://www.toolsofthetrade.net/tools-and-equipment/50-cool-things-you-could-have-seen-at-the-tool-store-in-aichstetten--germany_o.aspx

Did you know Festool made table saws?

[John Lankers]

Drool.
I noticed the Knipex pliers, I have some that are over 30 years old and still look brand new, you truly get what you pay for. They are available in Canada at Amazon.ca.

[Phil Thien]

That was pretty neat, thanks for sharing!

[Rick Potter]

Those table/slidng miter saws remind me of the Sawsmith 2000 table saw that Shopsmith made for a few years. Didn't sell too well.

Thanks for the look into euro stuff.

[Kent Adams]

Very neat thanks for sharing. I downloaded the Miller catalog at the end of the slideshow for some weekend tool "porn" reading.

[Dennis Aspö]

To turn that around, things I never see outside the US: Worm gear and hypoid drive saws. Color me jelaous, I'd kill for a 230/50hz skilsaw wormdrvie.

[Frederick Skelly]

To turn that around, things I never see outside the US: Worm gear and hypoid drive saws. Color me jelaous, I'd kill for a 230/50hz skilsaw wormdrvie.

Dennis, does Skil make a 230 volt worm drive saw? I did a brief search and all I saw were 120 volt models.

[Jim Matthews]

That's a showroom?

It's lit up like a tradeshow.

I have to wonder how many competitors this place has.

There are three factors that determine a sale at my local tool monger.

"Is it cheap?"

"Is there anything cheaper?"

"Is this the cheapest thing I can find, today?"

The Festool stuff has a 1/4" layer of dust.
Prospective buyers come in, try it out and
buy the same tool online to save 3%.

[Dennis Aspö]

Dennis, does Skil make a 230 volt worm drive saw? I did a brief search and all I saw were 120 volt models.

No they don't, you don't get worm drive saws outside the US / North America, it's why I said I'd kill for one.

[Walter Plummer]

Virutex has started selling the combo miter saw/ table saw in the US. At $750.00- $950.00 not sure if anyone is buying. I would have loved to have one when I was doing carpentry out of my truck everyday. It would have been great a week ago helping my sun put laminate flooring in his house. If it was in the 500's I would probably get one. Thanks for a great post Rick.! I have to go back and hit the links in it and check out the catalog.

[Richard Shaefer]

http://www.toolsofthetrade.net/tools-and-equipment/50-cool-things-you-could-have-seen-at-the-tool-store-in-aichstetten--germany_o.aspx

Did you know Festool made table saws?

forget the Festool table saw, did you see that DeWalt SCMS with the forward sliding rails like the Kapex? Model is DWS778.
Why don't we have that here?

The whole reason why I don't have an SCMS is that I can't afford the footprint for it with the rails sticking out the back, I'm never gonna pay $1400 for a Kapex (and that's coming from a loyal Festool customer) and don't trust the long term durability of over engineered German widget hinges in the Bosch.

[Steve Baumgartner]

It's frustrating, but there are a lot of tools that are NAINA (not available in North America). Typically this is because they would have to be modified or redesigned to meet US and Canadian standards then certified by UL, and the manufacturers don't consider it worth the expense.

[John Lankers]

It's frustrating, but there are a lot of tools that are NAINA (not available in North America). Typically this is because they would have to be modified or redesigned to meet US and Canadian standards then certified by UL, and the manufacturers don't consider it worth the expense.

True, Felder for instance custom builds most of their machinery and therefor has to have every piece individually CSA inspected before it goes out to the customer. Whereas the "Grizzlys, DeWalts and KitchenAid" (I'm not saying this in a negative way) receive a batch approval.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Standards_Association

[Erik Loza]

Typically this is because they would have to be modified or redesigned to meet US and Canadian standards then certified by UL, and the manufacturers don't consider it worth the expense.

SCM Group and Minimax have no UL listing on any of their machinery and there is as much of that as anyone's in US shops. While I think CSA in Canada is a requirement, UL listing in the US, in my opinion, is more of a marketing tool than an actual safety guarantee. I just bought the cheapest, Made-in-China, exterior light fixture I could get at Lowes for a remodel project and it had a UL sticker in it. There's a lot of machinery out there that probably has no UL sticker but will be around a lot longer than most of the stuff that does. Just my opinion of course.

Erik

[Kent Adams]

UL listing is legitimate. I have a cousin that is an engineer working for UL. UL employees many PhD engineers and scientists. Personally, I wouldn't buy anything unless it went through UL first. Minimax made a decision based on what it felt was necessary, but UL is not a marketing company. Far from it.

http://ul.com/aboutul/

[Alan Morris]

Thanks for sharing, Rick! I have never heard about it. That is really very neat. I just curious how it sounds ;). By the way, Festool factories as it seems make progress quickly ans successfully enough.

[David Ragan]

Reminds me of how I wish Stihl made a lawnmower.