This could be either good news or bad. Hopefully good.
http://blog.woodworking-magazine.com...+International
This could be either good news or bad. Hopefully good.
http://blog.woodworking-magazine.com...+International
I suppose we will find out...
It concerns me in that we can't afford to lose many more woodworking equipment companies. With fewer and fewer around to press the competition innovation will stagnate and prices will rise.
I'm waiting for he VanHuskey line....
Oh brave new world...
Mick
I am 100% sure I could make a small fortune in the machine business, but I have the get the large fortune to start with.
Plus my line would be all bandsaws, 12"+ jointers and drill presses with TIR measured in nanometers, thus my powerball winnings would be scratch-off winnings probably before the prototypes were even finished.
I think one can make half a living making things they are passionate about or a lot of money making a product they are ambivalent about, it is the RARE person/company that can do very well making something they are passionate about.
Delta's business model has baffled me over the last few years, they have some really great gems in their line and then seem to just lose interest. They owned the hobby shop 8" jointer market with the DJ-20 and when the patent expired they just let PM make the really cool PJ-882 and everyone else sell a PERFECT copy and they had nothing to top their previous effort. They don't even bother to put a helical head on it and it still have "only" 1.5hp. They build a great table saw kinda in the US but it ends up fighting with the SS PCS which has its appeal and the PM2000 which is also a "large" TS and WMH is willing to discount on a regular basis. The fight they may actually win is the 800-1000 drill press "war" but last time I checked 800-900 dollar woodworking DPs don't make much of a dent in a balance sheet. There was a long time where Delta, PM and Walker Turner were the kings of light duty woodworking machines WT is gone, Delta seems to be on life support and PM is plodding along trying to stay ahead in the new world.
I hope they do business something like General does. Offer both the imports and the American made stuff. Something for everybody.
And pattern their customer service after Grizzly.
I hope it works.
PHM
Here’s the company website
http://www.toty.com.tw/english/index.php
It would be interesting what they do next.
I'm sure the sale to a Taiwanese company can only mean good things to American manufacturing.
This should be a very high profile beginning to a long term trend where Asian manufacturers move from being foreign suppliers of machinery and other goods for US domestic brands to being owners of the domestic distribution chain. PM may be a venerable US brand, but in case nobody had noticed, WMH is not. They are as foreign as Toty, just not Asian. So is PM really a US company?
My thoughts? At least Delta is no longer being run by either a hair dryer company or a toaster oven manufacturer, so that should help focus their product line. In that regard, I do wonder what level of support will be offered for their present and former line up, and what direction the new bosses will take the brand. B&D sure didn't do anything positive for this brand in terms of long term planning, and Stanley, a world leader at making a profit making tools handed them off like a hot potato. I do hope they get things transitioned quickly and have the capitol to survive this move. Who in their right mind would buy anything from Delta in light of that announcement? I have been eyeballing their bench top lathe but I'd hate to have to make my own parts down the road should they drop the product and quit supporting it as part of this reorganization
I'll be waiting for a nice, clean VanHuskeyLine machine to appear on CL! Even IF I could afford to buy new, not sure I would in many instances.
[/SIGPIC]Necessisity is the Mother of Invention, But If it Ain't Broke don't Fix It !!
So if I get this correct, Ryobi now owns Delta?
I can tell you this, my (never gonna happen) line of bandsaws would look very Art Deco much like many of the high end Delta bandsaws from the past but even more so. They would have external belts covered with AD guards, completely tool free guides and beautiful colors with many options for color combinations. The idea being (apart from the guides) is that if nobody buys them to cut wood maybe I could sell them to the NYC loft crowd as kinetic sculture, that and I would enjoy them. Also, be aware my SMC friend would get them at cost, thats why I would be a horrible owner of a good company.
Milwaukee is also a Taiwanese-owned brand
http://www.ttigroup.com/en/our_brands
Last edited by Jack Pinkham; 01-08-2011 at 12:25 AM.
The purchase makes a bunch of sense.. The machinery is made in Taiwan or China already, for a Taiwanese manufacturer to be independant, they need a brand name to stick on there machinery..
People are not likely to pay $2000 for a Chang Type or Tru-Pro Jointer.. but paint it grey and put a Delta badge on it..
Delta is a dogs breakfast.. As Van said.. where is the Helical cutterhead ? Even Felder and SCM will supply machinery with a Byrd head ... The woodworking community has become owners of more expensive sanding machinery in the past 5 years.. other than one small machine, what has Delta done to keep up ? Delta has been falling behind for a long time.. If the new owners market the company right, there is lots of room for improvement and growth..