Anyone know ?

From wiki.answers.com:

The Ridge Tool Company and the "Ridgid" brand are owned by Emerson Electric Company. In 2003, Emerson Electric licensed One World Technologies (OWT) to manufacture Ridgid bench top and stationary woodworking power tools. Only the orange Ridgid power tools are manufactured by OWT. The Ridge Tool Company still manufactures the red Ridgid tools.

OWT is a subsidiary of a Hong Kong company named TechTronic Industries (or TTI). TTI now also owns the Milwaukee, Ryobi and AEG brands. OWT has also manufactured tools for Metabo, Fein and Senco.

Ridgid power tools are now manufactured by OWT in Asia (mostly China or Taiwan). As recently as 2006, a few Ridgid corded power tools (e.g., grinders, hammer drills, and jigsaw) were manufactured at the Metabo factory in Germany.

I buy factory blems and reconditioned rigid tools at the tools direct (or direct tools) factory outlet stores and save a bundle.

I just did this... lol

Great minds think alike

Jeff, (or anyone)

Thoughts on a cordless brad nailer ?

(I have air ones 3pc kit from Harbor Freight that jams up.)

I second this and do this as well only I get the Ryobi ones. Love my Ryobi 8 1/4 inch, 18 volt miter saw and my Ryobi SDS, 18 volt drill in particular.

As far as air tools I have Bostich (made by Stanley) and MasterForce (made for Menard's) and never had any problems. My compressor is Bostich too. Harbor Freight is great for some things but probably not air compressors and air tools. For instance I have and highly recommend their drill press table.

I'm considering a cordless ryobi brad nailer,,,,

Anyone uses one ?

I have the original Ryobi combination nailer/stapler. While it works great as a stapler it doesn't really have enough power behind it as a nailer. I end up having to go behind it with a hammer and nail set. There are many complaints about it on the internet as well as the Home Depot website. It is my understanding that the new one is somewhat better but I am not sure how much better. If I were going to buy a cordless nailer I think I would go with a more professional brand. The guys who installed my new windows had a Dewalt cordless nailer and it seemed to work pretty well. Realize that a Dewalt or any other professional cordless nailer is going to cost some big money and it might be more economical purchasing a better air nailer then the one you have cost wise.

I love the air compressor. I can actually easily over drive the nails too far - it has plenty of power. Just it jams up from time to time and it gets frustrating. I was thinking ditching the air hose would be awesome. I am just concerned exactly what you said- it might not be enough power or good enough. Wondering if anyone has ever used it (or another brand)

I just learned that in addition to Milwaukee, Ryobi, and Rigid all being MFG by the same company - They also make Craftsman brand (Sears)

The last time I was in Tools Direct factory outlet they had an assortment of tools with a strange name, and the sales woman showed me the indent in the case where the Craftsman label was supposed to go

Is it a refurb ? And they remove the sticker? Or a Blem and they never put it on ?

I've never been to a Direct Factory Outlet. I don't think we have those around here. I got home depot and Harbor Freight for most stuff. Harbor Freight is great for those tools you won't use that often but want to own. It allows you to own a contractor tool or a speciality tool on a consumer budget.

looked new, keep in mind it was a small assortment of light duty battery hand tools

What do you use Jeff? Ryobi ? Craftsman? Rigid? Dewalt ? Do you keep to a certain family to use the same batteries? Or do you mix and match ?

I use Makita 18v lithium drivers and drills but have a large variety of other brand corded tools.

some favs are Dewalt, Fein, Sears, Makita, Rigid

My pneumatic tools are Rigid, Porter Cable, Fasco, Senco

Rigid job site table saw and Dewalt Miter saw on a Rigid Miter Saw Utility Vehicle

Baja fresh, Chilpolte, IHop, Chinese, Taco Bell, Wegman's, Boston Chicken, Quiznos, Charmin

Yum. Some of those tools sound delicious. Mostly the last line.


Do you like Lithium batteries for impact drivers, drills and saws? I have both and for some reason the Lithium batteries just die totally and shut off without notice. With Nicad they just get slower and slower until you charge them back up.
It's odd to me- I need to get used to that. It's like full power or nothing with lithium it seems like.

First off, your Lithium batteries are working exactly the way they are supposed to work. That is the difference in the chemistry. Lithium just dies whereas Nicad wears down. One nice think about Ryobi Lithium batteries is that they have a button on them you can push to check the charge with.

As to Craftsman Tools, Sears bids the contract out on those to the lowest bidder. OWT used to have that contract but has not been the lowest bidder for the last couple of years. I think what BIG probably saw at Direct was OWT's attempt to liquidate the Craftsman Tools they already had in stock before they lost the contract..

It does not seem like lithium lasts longer to me. Lighter for sure, but not more charge. They advertise more charge but really that is BS from my personal experience.

I have a lot of the Ryobi stuff and the cool part is I can use both NiCad or Lithium in the tools.

Ryobi has kind of made their Lithium batteries confusing by offering 4 different ones. I like the original small Lithium battery the best for working over my head. I had a heart attack a few years back and my arms tire quickly now working over my head. I have their large charger which charges 6 batteries of any kind at once. The nice thing is you can leave your batteries on the charger and it will keep them topped off without overcharging them. I am pretty hard on my battery demands with drilling into poured concrete walls with my Ryobi SDS drill and with using my Ryobi 8 1/4 inch miter saw as a chop saw. Funny thing is my Ryobi radio seems to run a battery down the quickest. I guess I have never noticed a battery problem especially with always having others ready to go. You need to check out that Direct place BIG keeps talking about. They tend to be in places that have outlet stores. Even if you don't have one locally they do mail/internet order. If you get on their mailing list they will email you every time they have a sale. The only bad part about their email list is that you have to have a FaceBook account to sign up on it. Personally, I don't do FaceBook but I had one of their store employees sign me up using his account.


*****Just a side note about Ryobi Lithium batteries. When Ryobi first started to offer Lithium batteries they had a couple of bad batches that acted like you seem to be talking about. They seem to have that problem straightened out now. You can read about that problem on Home Depot's website in the Ryobi battery reviews. If I remember correctly they even stated the serial numbers and manufacturing dates to avoid. I still have my 4 original Ryobi Lithium batteries from several years ago when they first came out. They all seem to still hold a decent charge. One thing I have learned is that the Ryobi Lithium batteries are not as tolerant of the cold as the Nicads were.

I have to say I am really impressed with Ryobi quality. I replaced my Dewalt tools and batteries with Ryobi when Dewalt got crazy with their prices. I have dropped my Ryobi drill off the top of a 6 foot ladder several times onto a concrete floor without a problem and my Ryobi impact driver will snap your wrist if you are not careful.

+1 on Ryobi. I have much the same feeling as you. Not contractor grade but near contractor grade for consumer level pricing.

I didn't now about the bad batch of lithium batteries. Thanks for the info.

I just bought that charger you mention. It's good to hear you like it.

your forgetting about the best power tools.... Festool !!!

If you want to PM me your email address I will forward to you the latest email I received from Direct Tools this morning,

Sweet !

Thanks again.





I actually just bought this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=121134444241&ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:US:3160




My brother bought me the oldschool blue kit back when I bought my house as a house warming gift. That was well over a decade ago. Recently someone stole my drill. After 10+ years it just disappeared But I still have many batteries and chargers so an impact driver, and drill combo for $59 shipped seemed like a no brainer for me considering I already had 4 batteries and two chargers.

So far I am please with this new lime green Ryobi's. They work pretty good given the price. My dad has a $200 Milwaukee impact driver and a $150 Dewalt Drill I use often when helping him at his place and these feel just as good to me at half the price.


I checked out the store locator:

https://directtoolsoutlet.com/stores?utm_source=DTFO&utm_campaign=8afa657b98-DTFO_July_20_Off_PT7_8_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e90d8d00d9-8afa657b98-290130337



I guess I am out like a boner in sweat pants