Manufacturers & Support

[dhall]

Got a question concerning power tool manufacturers and support down the road. Here's the deal. I got a new Delta 10" band saw 6 or so years ago. I got sick and have only used it about 1/2 hr. I am planning to use it now, and went on the web to find a rip fence for it but found that it has been discontinued and the fence along with any other parts are no longer available.

The rip fence itself is no big deal, but what if I need a working part? I was strongly considering a Delta mini lathe around Christmas time, but that got me thinking. If I am going to fork out hundreds of dollars for a piece of equipment, I want know that I will be able to buy parts and accessories down the road.

What experiences have you folks had with this type thing and what manufacturers support their older products?

Thanks.

[knotscott]

Not necessarily trying to defend Delta, but in today's market place and economic climate, its really hard to predict where any company is heading right now. Parts inventories and support cost money, and consumers as a whole tend to demand lowest prices...not to mention that corporate execs seem to demand high profits and high compensation. There seems to be more and more similarities between the brands than ever too. Many of the companies sell machines that come from the same factories, so sometimes the parts are interchangeable, which takes some of the pressure off the individual brands.

[MrG]

Did you go here to see if they had the parts for your bandsaw?

http://www.dewaltservicenet.com/

I have been getting parts for my table saw that has long been discontinued from Delta.

[minorhero]

I don't know about the newer machines but delta is pretty easy to find parts for their older machines. In restoring a 1970's 14" bandsaw I was able to buy a half dozen parts from a couple of different part suppliers online. Similarly when I was restoring a 1960's Powermatic 8" Jointer I was able to buy all the parts I needed directly from powermatic. I have machines from company's that went under 40 years ago and finding parts for them is a real PITA since there are no parts suppliers (I'm looking at you Walker Turner). As long as the company is around and still making similar machines I have had good luck with parts.

Your actual question though seems to be whether a lathe you buy today from delta will still have parts available for it say 10+ years down the road. Sadly I can't answer that. All I can say is that right now you can buy parts for delta machines a lot older then that.

[dhall]

Yea, the band saw part is really not an issue. It just got me thinking, and that usually don't end well

10 years down the road this day & time is a long shot on anything, so I'll get my lathe and worry about parts when the time comes. This all assuming I actually learn to use it.

Thanks for the feedback.

[Ben@FineWoodworking]

You could always just buy two of everything from now on.

[Karl Bauer]

For those of you who don't already know this Delta, Porter Cable, DeWalt, and Black and Decker are all the same company now. They are all owned by Stanley tool works. So if you have a hard time finding replacement parts for a Delta try the same tool as a DeWalt or Porter Cable.

The corporate website for the new Stanley Black and Decker

http://www.stanleyblackanddecker.com/contact-us

[Bobby Slack]

When I invest in any tools, my approach is a partnership and look at who is going to help me when "stuff happens". For the most part, I use Festool and Lie-Nielsen for that reason. At the same time machines that are a bit more disposable, I use a Bosch little portable table saw and a Rigid drill.

The support I received from both Festool and LN was fantastic. Bosch also stepped it up when I needed them.

Ah ... my Metabo planer, hmmm, I would not buy another Metabo machine.

So ... who is going to be there when your machine breaks and you need it repaired right away? That extra $ 100,00 to $ 500.00 will be well worth it then.

[PaulMarcel]

For those of you who don't already know this Delta, Porter Cable, DeWalt, and Black and Decker are all the same company now. They are all owned by Stanley tool works. So if you have a hard time finding replacement parts for a Delta try the same tool as a DeWalt or Porter Cable.

The corporate website for the new Stanley Black and Decker

http://www.stanleybl....com/contact-us

That fact is actually sad. Kills innovation when they lock down such a large percentage of the market. Why pay to retool a production line to add features or improve a tool when status quo is actually more profitable and there really isn't other competition?

[Bobby Slack]

In this market, is difficult to grow and if you can't grow organically by taking a bigger share of the market and increasing your sales, then you grow by buying other companies. That is how it works for the most part.

Then, you have companies like Festool, Lie-Nielsen, Lee Valley, probably Makita is not part of a group, Hitachi is a gigantic group ...

That fact is actually sad. Kills innovation when they lock down such a large percentage of the market. Why pay to retool a production line to add features or improve a tool when status quo is actually more profitable and there really isn't other competition?