New (?) Power Tool for Carving Pink Foam

[C855B]

Less messy, and much easier if you're interested in forming smooth curves instead of a carved look, such as shaping hills. Don't forget that the shop vac hose in the "restorer" fits into the handle to take the sawdust away from the work.

But thanks for the reminder, Ed. My Rockwell tool has been in storage at the cottage we're restoring, and the shaping project I've been putting off forever is going to require carving.

[ridinshotgun]

Craftsman still makes it and still calls it a restorer.  Lowes carries it.

[Jbub]

Craftsman still makes it and still calls it a restorer.  Lowes carries it.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/CRAFTSMAN-Restorer-120-Volt-4-Amps-Drum-Sander/1001435330

[C855B]

Ah! Very good! Apparently Porter-Cable sold the rights/tooling to Craftsman. Means that I don't have to sweat replacement sanding drums.

Looked for the version I have at Lowes and Home Depot, and HD had the "discontinued" notation. To confirm, it was nowhere to be found on the Porter-Cable website.

Thanks!

[QMike]

Apparently Porter-Cable sold the rights/tooling to Craftsman.

Porter-Cable and Craftsman are brands owned by Stanley Black & Decker. SP&D apparently decided the tool better fit their target market for Craftsman tools.

Mike

[peteski]

Porter-Cable and Craftsman are brands owned by Stanley Black & Decker. SP&D apparently decided the tool better fit their target market for Craftsman tools.

Wow!  Porter-Cable, Craftsman (Sears), Stanley, and Black&Decker used to be separate independent manufacturers. Looks like as with other companies all the consumer tool companies have become one?  So much for being able to have a brand loyalty. Stuff is all made by a single large tool manufacturer.

[C855B]

Add DeWalt to that list. Mac Tools and Proto, too, which they've owned for several decades.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Wow!  Porter-Cable, Craftsman (Sears), Stanley, and Black&Decker used to be separate independent manufacturers. Looks like as with other companies all the consumer tool companies have become one?  So much for being able to have a brand loyalty. Stuff is all made by a single large tool manufacturer.

Oh man. This is gonna blow your mind: https://www.protoolreviews.com/power-tool-manufacturers-who-owns-them/

Food is even worse: https://www.businessinsider.com/10-companies-control-the-food-industry-2016-9

[C855B]

I keyed on the footnote:

*As a general rule, Emerson manufactures “Red” RIDGID (plumbing) tools. TTI manufactures “Orange” RIDGID tools under license.

What I wanna know is who owns the rights to the cheesecake calendars RIDGID does? I grew up with them hanging in all sorts of different tradesman offices. Or maybe it's that they used to do. Haven't seen one in years, with modern times and all that. Even as a teen I chuckled at the double entendre of "ri(d)gid".

[C855B]

Food is even worse: https://www.businessinsider.com/10-companies-control-the-food-industry-2016-9

Yeah. I worked at Coca-Cola HQ in Atlanta 40 years ago and learned all sorts of things about the biz. They were a relative monster then. Not these days, Nestlé is who you gotta watch out for now.

And that doesn't cover AB/Inbev and Molson Coors. Blame each for the loss of two of the coolest industrial switching lines we had, Manufacturers in St. Louis, and Lone Star's little traction operation in San Antonio.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Yeah. I worked at Coca-Cola HQ in Atlanta 40 years ago and learned all sorts of things about the biz. They were a relative monster then. Not these days, Nestlé is who you gotta watch out for now.

My biggest daily moral struggle is squaring my love of my Nespresso machine and my hatred of Nestle.
Here's just a small taste of their skullduggery: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977_Nestl%C3%A9_boycott

[wazzou]

I enjoy watching "The Food that Built America" on The History Channel.  It gets you pretty well up to speed on all of this.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I enjoy watching "The Food that Built America" on The History Channel.  It gets you pretty well up to speed on all of this.

Would you believe that I actually did an entire course on it back in college? It was part of my American Studies major. That major was a dangerous thing: I feel like I got a peek behind the curtain of our country. Never meet The Wizard.

[peteski]

To me all those giant corporate mergers and acquisition were not good for consumers.    Automobile manufacturers also seem to have coalesced into few huge corporations owning many auto makes.  If I could say something political I would "thank" a certain POTUS, but I can't do that.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

To me all those giant corporate mergers and acquisition were not good for consumers.    Automobile manufacturers also seem to have coalesced into few huge corporations owning many auto makes.  If I could say something political I would "thank" a certain POTUS, but I can't do that.

It's been a slow march towards this today and blame can't be placed at any one administration's feet.

It's a funny thing: many of the things that we take for granted today exist because of the unrelenting drive for efficiency and profit that the modern capitalist system creates. But at the same time, there are plenty of unpleasant things that happen as well.

On one hand, there are so many products available to consumers. Stuff like the Restorer. Would an independent Porter Cable have made one of those at a price that consumers and hobbyists can afford? Probably not. Could Stanley Black & Decker do it? Definitely, because they had the economy of scale to be able to leverage vendor relationships, engineering and product design knowledge, marketing, distribution, all of that.

On the flip side, does it kinda suck that industry consolidation and efficiency means that there are fewer people needed to do stuff? Yes.

Here's an example from a world I know a little about: Stanley, Craftsman, Porter Cable, Black & Decker and DeWalt all used to have their own marketing teams employing a bunch of people. And those teams probably all had their own agencies that they worked with. Now all of that is handled by a centralized team (amusingly, around the corner from me) and they work with a BIG ad agency (I forget who, but I'm hoping it's one of my Omnicom sister agencies). All of that makes it cheaper because fewer people and fewer companies are needed, but that also means fewer people are getting paid and fewer agencies are getting hired.

You take the good. You take the bad. You take them both and there you have. The facts of life.