A power tool is a tool that is operated by an additional power source and mechanism other than the manual work used with hand tools only. The most common types of power tools use electric motors. Internal combustion engines and compressed air are also commonly used. Other sources of energy are steam engines, the direct burning of fuels and propellants, such as tools powered by gunpowder, or even natural energy sources, such as wind or moving water.
Tools driven directly by animal force are generally not considered power tools. C & E Fein, a German company, was the first company to invent a power tool. And what was the first power tool? A drill. Your browser or browser settings are not compatible.
For the best possible experience, download a compatible browser. If you know that your browser is up to date, you should check that JavaScript is enabled. Human superiority over all species is attributable to human intelligence. This intelligence has most clearly manifested itself in the form of the human capacity to create tools that make their lives easier.
The evolution of simple hand tools into power tools is a sign of our evolving and increasingly better understanding of science and its application to inventing tools to build the future. To appreciate the progress that humanity has made in the development of sophisticated power tools, we have mapped the birth of important international brands of power tools, as well as their most important innovations throughout history. Wilhelm Emil Fein, a German inventor, created an electrical and mechanical workshop in Stuttgart, Germany. It marks the origin of the Fein power tool brand.
Rober Bosch laid the foundation for the company Bosch by opening a “Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering Workshop” in Stuttgart (Germany). . Fein invented the world's first portable electric hand drill. Cable opened a workshop in New York to manufacture electric winches for carpentry and to serve as a tool shop.
It laid the foundation for the Porter-Cable brand. Within 4 years, the company was manufacturing sharpeners, automatic tire pumps and gas lamps. Recognizing the breakthrough of the portable electric drill, Fein developed a manual sanding motor for carpenters. Duncan Black and Alonzo Decker laid the foundations for a small workshop in Baltimore, Maryland.
Who knew that the humble beginning would lead to a multinational power tool company in the 20th and 21st centuries. Mosaburo Makita founded Makita Electric Works in Japan. The company started with the sale and repair of electric motors. Black and Decker makes a breakthrough by developing a portable electric drill with pistol grip and trigger switch.
The design developed by Black and Decker is much more like modern portable electric drills than what Fein invented, which is why Black and Decker is often credited as the first developer of portable electric drills. The origins of the Milwaukee tool company date back to a request made by none other than Henry Ford himself to one of its suppliers, A.H. Peterson, to develop a lightweight portable drill. Ah, H.
Peterson developed a weight of 5 pounds. Considered the industry's first one-handed manual drill, Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation was later founded under the same name “Hole-Shooter”, but the story has a touch of tragedy that is explained later in this chronology. Fein developed the world's first rotary hammer powered by an electric motor that converted rotary motion into translational motion to create a striking mechanism. Although not comparable to the modern rotary hammer, it laid the foundation for the power tool for rotary hammers.
Flex tools is founded by Ackerman and Schmitt in Stuttgart, Germany. Albrecht Schnizler develops a hand drill in Nurtingen, Germany. Metabo was created around the production and sale of the same drill. The company Ridge Tool is founded in Ohio, USA.
UU. It manufactured hand tools for plumbing and pipe assembly work. It marks the origin of the Ridgid brand. Raymond Dewalt, who invented the radial arm saw in 1922, lays the foundation for the company Dewalt in Pennsylvania, USA.
The company began by selling the “Wonder Worker” machine, developed by Raymond Dewalt, which had an adjustable or configurable radial arm saw on a workstation. Continuing our 1918 hole shooter story, Company A, H Peterson was formed in 1923 to sell the hole shooter, however, its facilities burned down and broke down. Siebert auctioned the company in 1924 and named it Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation with the intention of selling drills. Albert Fezer and Gottlieb Stoll formed a company to repair and modify woodworking machinery in Germany.
It was later called Fezer & Stoll and marked the origins of the power tool brand Festool. Porter-Cable presents the first portable sander in the form of a portable belt sander. Festool presents the first transportable chainsaw to mechanize the manual cutting of trees. However, it was not similar to today's portable chainsaws, as it weighed quite a lot.
Sears, the American department store chain, launches its own brand of tools called “Craftsman”. The man behind the idea was Arthur Burrows, who was hired that same year to head the hardware department at Sears. Burrows convinced Sears to create its own brand of tools instead of selling others. Four years after the invention of the circular saw by Edmond Michel (Skil), Porter-Cable improves the design by including a high-speed helical gear to make the tool more compact.
Craftsman presents its first electric drills to compete with Fein, Black & Decker and Milwaukee. Festool presents its first portable circular saw, model SB 126, to compete with Porter-Cable and Skill. That same year, Milwaukee began manufacturing sanders, polishers, electric hammers and portable hand grinders according to the specifications of the United States Navy to improve the quality standard. Dremel, an Austrian immigrant with a career in engineering design, founded Dremel Manufacturing Co.
In Racine, a county in Wisconsin, USA. Later, the company would launch a tool that would lead its success not only in the US market but also in the international market. Remember the Austrian immigrant Alber J. Dremel from 1932? Dremel presents the world's first rotary multitool.
To this day, rotary multi-tools are often referred to as Dremel tools because of the constant innovation that Dremel continued to introduce in its invention, defeating all the competition. Second only to Porter-Cable, Festool develops portable disc sanders that became the best-selling during the 1930s and 1940s. After succeeding with SKILSAW and an electric drill, Skil began producing impact wrenches, screwdrivers and accessories for power tools. Milwaukee presents the world's legendary reciprocating saw, the legendary Sawzall, followed by a line of reciprocating saw blades.
Festool presents the world's first orbital sander, which improves the conditions of portable sanders. It was called the RTE orbital sander and offered an innovative solution to carpenters and car paint shops. Bosch presents the “Bosch Combi”, an older brother of the Dremel tool. It was a comparatively larger rotary tool, with the option of attaching a drill bit, screwdriver bit, sanding attachment or hedge trimmer attachment to perform various DIY tasks with the same tool.
Porter-Cable presents the first portable bandsaw. Makita launches its first power tool: a portable electric planer. Later that same year, a portable groove cutter was released. A very important year in the history of power tools.
Black & Decker started a revolution in the power tool industry by introducing the world's first cordless electric drill powered by a Ni-Cd battery. Meanwhile, Festool is advancing circular saw innovation by introducing a circular saw guide rail to pave the way for the development of the specialized chain saw. That same year, Black & Decker introduced the cordless hedge trimmer just a year after introducing the revolutionary cordless drill. The company realizes the potential of wireless tools before other brands.
Porter-Cable joins Festool in the competition by presenting its first orbital finishing sander. Black & Decker is leading wireless innovation by manufacturing a cordless hammer drill for a NASA contractor who will use it in the Apollo lunar program. The drill was designed to work in extreme conditions. Metabo presents its first angle grinder with automatic safety clutch.
Bostitch presents the portable nailer model N 16 for nails from 6 to 16 cents. Makita enters the field of wireless technology with its first cordless drill powered by a 7.2 volt battery system. DustBuster: Black & Decker presents the world's first portable electric vacuum. That same year, Metabo introduced its first cordless drill after Black & Decker and Makita.
With its first coil nailer for roofs introduced to the market, Bostitch is developing its reputation as a specialist in nailing and stapling tools. Bosch enters the field of wireless technology with a heavy competitor: the Bosch cordless hammer drill. Fein presents the world's first oscillating tool as a solution for the automotive industry to easily eliminate silicone used to bond glass. That same year, Porter-Cable introduced the 3 HP model 518 routing tool controlled by a microprocessor.
Flex tools presents a motorized manual polishing tool for the automotive and carpentry (furniture) industries. That same year, Fein introduced a safety angle grinder, a model with an electric brake to stop the tool 3 seconds after turning it off, as well as a disc change mechanism without the need for tools. Dewalt enters the wireless arena with force. It presents 30 new cordless tools, including a drill, a circular saw, screwdrivers, impact wrenches and the first hammer drill with three modes, namely,.
Porter-Cable presents the first reciprocating saw with a blade change mechanism without the need for tools. A bit late compared to the competition, but Festool presents its first cordless drill, the CDD 12 model. Black & Decker presents a portable electric sander shaped like a computer mouse and called it “Mouse Sander”. It included a cordless saw, a rotary hammer, a right-angle drill, a hammer drill, a screwdriver, a circular saw and an impact wrench.
The battery and charger system is common in all tools to make your power tools a family compatible with other people's batteries. Ridgid presents the CT-400, a portable pipe joining tool for the HVAC and plumbing industry. Flex, the inventor of the world's first commercial angle grinder, is once again making its mark by introducing angle grinders with microprocessor-based electronic components to improve performance and safety. That same year, Bostitch introduced another nailing tool: a portable metal connection nailer.
Bostitch has established itself as a specialist in staplers and nailing tools. While Black & Decker started the wireless revolution in power tools in 1961, Makita developed brushless motor power tools for the aerospace and defense industry in 2004 to start the brushless revolution. That same year, Positec Tool Corporation of China launched the WORX brand to enter the power tool market with cost-effective options. Makita and Metabo HPT introduce lithium-ion batteries in their cordless power tools.
Festool presents the KAPEX KS 120, its first composite miter saw. Meanwhile, the Chinese company Positec Tool Corporation is launching, which owns the WORX brand, another brand, “ROCKWELL”, which focuses on power tool products that are comparatively of the highest quality than WORX. Ridgid unveils its first cast-iron ground tube cutter. Five years after the Makita and Metabo HPT, Dewalt and Fein are also introducing lithium-ion batteries for their cordless power tools.
In China, a new brand of power tools, “EGO”, is launched, focusing on outdoor electrical equipment. Dewalt launches its XR series of cordless power tools with brushless motors. Ridgid presents RE6, an all-in-one tool for cutting, crimping and punching. Metabo HPT presents its cordless electric nailer with exclusive pneumatic spring technology.
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Today, the DeWalt Power Tools line consists of more than 200 power tools and more than 800 accessories. Since then, major advances in tool and battery electronics, along with advances in lithium-ion batteries, have changed the possibilities of drills and other cordless tools. In simple terms, a higher rated voltage on the tool often means that the power tool can supply more energy, all else being the same. Manufacturers claim that tools with brushless motors have as much or more power than tools with conventional “brushed motors”.
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