Delta, what Happened

[Larry Menzel]

Used to love 'em, dumped everything I had except my little vs shop grinder. Saw, bandsaws...even their mini lathe, not worth the bother for parts and/or service. No more Delta pour moi.

Larry

[Bill White]

And the monster Delta plant here in Tupelo, MS is STILL vacant..........
They sure turned out some great stuff for many years. Oh well........
Bill

[roger wiegand]

You just need to look to Festool to see that lots of folks are still willing to pay big bucks for even moderately improved quality. Sure there are folks who want the cheapest possible product, but there are also a significant number willing to pay more to get more. I'm encouraged to see that even in the big box stores better quality stuff seems to be gaining shelf space, and the throwaway stuff is declining.

Delta management chose a short term opportunity to sell inexpensively made tools at premium prices, eliminate costly support and parts inventories, pump up profits for a few quarters, and, as a result squander the longer term value of the company and brand name. I don't know the story, but it's exactly what any self-respecting corporate raider would do-- wring as much profit as possible out as fast as possible then abandon the withered husk of the company.

[Phil Thien]

You just need to look to Festool to see that lots of folks are still willing to pay big bucks for even moderately improved quality. Sure there are folks who want the cheapest possible product, but there are also a significant number willing to pay more to get more. I'm encouraged to see that even in the big box stores better quality stuff seems to be gaining shelf space, and the throwaway stuff is declining.

Delta management chose a short term opportunity to sell inexpensively made tools at premium prices, eliminate costly support and parts inventories, pump up profits for a few quarters, and, as a result squander the longer term value of the company and brand name. I don't know the story, but it's exactly what any self-respecting corporate raider would do-- wring as much profit as possible out as fast as possible then abandon the withered husk of the company.

Yep, it is the norm these days, not the exception.

[Pat Barry]

I don't look lovingly back at Delta, thats for sure. The single new item that I purchased from them back in the day was a 10" compound miter saw. It was never a thing of beauty but it did work. It had its quirks, like they couldn't apparently fabricate a straight fence for it. The dust collection was a joke. Trying to tilt it left and or right and even step it around left to right to the different detents was a pain. Because of these quirks I chose to never buy another Delta tool. Later I have purchased a Rigid tablesaw and lunchbox planer and have been totally happy with them both. The moral to me is - sell bad products and you don't get repeat business and don't get tears shed for you when you go out of business.

[Peter Aeschliman]

You just need to look to Festool to see that lots of folks are still willing to pay big bucks for even moderately improved quality. Sure there are folks who want the cheapest possible product, but there are also a significant number willing to pay more to get more. I'm encouraged to see that even in the big box stores better quality stuff seems to be gaining shelf space, and the throwaway stuff is declining.

Delta management chose a short term opportunity to sell inexpensively made tools at premium prices, eliminate costly support and parts inventories, pump up profits for a few quarters, and, as a result squander the longer term value of the company and brand name. I don't know the story, but it's exactly what any self-respecting corporate raider would do-- wring as much profit as possible out as fast as possible then abandon the withered husk of the company.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

...makes me wonder why we don't have any popular made-in-America woodworking machinery. Festool, Felder, MiniMax, etc- People are spending big bucks to buy these machines, and I would guess that labor in Europe isn't more expensive than labor in the US (I haven't done any research though)...

At this point, maybe the high end market is just too crowded for any US companies to risk entering such a capital-intensive business these days. It sure would be cool if we could get Euro quality machines made in the US though.

[Paul McGaha]

It is very disappointing to see they've chosen to not continue to make quality tools and not provide parts and service for the quality tools they've sold over the years. I feel let down by them.

I own a Unisaw, Shaper, Drill Press and Drum Sander from them. Hope the tools hang in there. It would be expensive to replace them. But I know that's a possibility.

I was walking thru my local Lowe's the other day and noticed a Delta table saw for sale. Really cheap looking saw. I guess that's what they're doing these days.

I guess they took Biesemeyer with them too. Really is a shame.

PHM

[Rod Sheridan]

It is very disappointing to see they've chosen to not continue to make quality tools and not provide parts and service for the quality tools they've sold over the years. I feel let down by them.

I own a Unisaw, Shaper, Drill Press and Drum Sander from them. Hope the tools hang in there. It would be expensive to replace them. But I know that's a possibility.

I was walking thru my local Lowe's the other day and noticed a Delta table saw for sale. Really cheap looking saw. I guess that's what they're doing these days.

I guess they took Biesemeyer with them too. Really is a shame.

PHM

Hi Paul, I agree it is a shame.

I believe you can still purchase a Biesemeyer fence from General International............Regards, Rod.

[Steven Seligman]

It is very disappointing to see they've chosen to not continue to make quality tools and not provide parts and service for the quality tools they've sold over the years. I feel let down by them.

I own a Unisaw, Shaper, Drill Press and Drum Sander from them. Hope the tools hang in there. It would be expensive to replace them. But I know that's a possibility.

I was walking thru my local Lowe's the other day and noticed a Delta table saw for sale. Really cheap looking saw. I guess that's what they're doing these days.

I guess they took Biesemeyer with them too. Really is a shame.

PHM

I hear you I have several pieces of "Old" Delta equipment. Feel like I am outstanding in my field if you know what I mean. Searching for old American iron to replace it all. So far got a PM90 and PM95 off of Craigslist for what I feel is a steal. Now looking for a new belt disc sander to replace my delta and drill press again to replace my delta. Makes me sick .

[Myk Rian]

Delta fell to the disease of the cheap consumer.

May I say no?

I'd say corporate greed and mismanagement probably had more to do with it.

This is more like it.
Add some Wall Street into the mix and you have companies being parted out.

[Simon Dupay]

Is the unisaw still made in the US? they made a big deal about it when it first came out and now it just says since 1937- one good thing about Chinese tools everone sells the same tool so you can get replacement parts form elsewere

[Michael Moscicki]

Is the unisaw still made in the US? they made a big deal about it when it first came out and now it just says since 1937- one good thing about Chinese tools everone sells the same tool so you can get replacement parts form elsewere

It is made in Taiwan along with the Biesemeyer fence.

From the FAQ on the Delta website:

Which if any of your table saws are made in the United States? Are they merely assembled in the United States with foreign made parts?

The Unisaw is now manufactured in Taiwan. The new Unisaw will meet or exceed all quality standards of it's domestic predecessor.

[whit richardson]

I'd add to this that the Delta management swings also coincided or partly with the Recession/Depression of '08 to when did it end? During that time all the expensive hobby markets (okay guys let's admit there are a lot more tools sold than get used) went to the basement. I remember you could by almost new bandsaws, drill presses, TS, etc for pennies on the dollar from over extended folks. Cheap RV's, foor wheeels with trailer and boats, boats, boats too. Delta compounded their bad management then had their hobby buyers disappear for years too. Just sayin'

[Peter Aeschliman]

May I say no?

This is more like it.
Add some Wall Street into the mix and you have companies being parted out.

False dichotomy, Myk. It can be (and probably was) a combination of both.

To me, it reveals a potential internal conflict at Delta. I imagine they had some execs who believed that the market was headed in the direction of low cost, Asian-made machinery (this is mostly a consumer-driven phenomenon- if it wasn't, how do you explain grizzly's success?), and others who wanted to maintain the high quality brand. Perhaps their compromise was to attempt both... Keep prices high and start manufacturing in China...

The market has spoken. Consumers aren't stupid (well, some are of course). You can't have your cake and eat it to.

I think it was both. Corporate greed, and consumer demand for lower quality, lower priced machinery.

[Erik Loza]

...consumer demand for lower quality, lower priced machinery.

This ^^^^

Cannot tell you how many guys I talk to who say, "I'd love to have your such-and-such machine but just need something to get me by...", and buy Asian or used.

I never understood pointing the finger at the manufacturers. They build what folks ask for. Back in the early 2000's, when I worked for one of Minimax's competitors in the Sacramento area, nobody wanted to buy that company's "budget" line of blue and purple machines, only their "premier" line of green machines. In fact, we joked about the rep who got saddled with trying to sell that line because we viewed ourselves as selling BMW's while that guys was stuck trying to sell mopeds. Well guess what? The recession hit, shook everything up, and I would be willing to bit that since then, the moped sales guy out-sells the BMW sales guy. Regardless of the recession, quality machinery has always been out there and available. Whether or not folks are willing to pay for it is a different story. It's not like the supply ever dried up, only the demand.

Erik