Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Power Tools). This thread is read-only.
I finally saw a 12 volt battery that has a battery fuel gauge on it at my local Menards. The battery is longer than a normal one, I assume to house the stuff needed to show how much voltage is left.
Is that Hitachi?
Probably Menards house brand “Masterforce”
Joe M wrote:
Probably Menards house brand “Masterforce”
Yep, that’s where I know that packaging from.
It is. Their other brand had the gauge on the bottom as well. I don’t remember the name of that brand but it was light blue and yellow
I have never been to Menards, dont have them down here.
They have a lot of hardware, more so than anywhere locally here. They have good sales here. They currently have 14 percent off everything in the store.
ChaseRogers wrote:
I have never been to Menards, dont have them down here.
I’d say you’re not missing much, but they have an insane amount of stuff in there.
We don’t have them here in California either.
None here either. Where IS there a Menard’s?
Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio…you know, all the states with slack-jawed yocals who love tools and cheap stuff. I like Menard’s, they’ve got a lot crammed into that store, and a lot of inexpensive stuff. Basically the same as Home Depot or Lowe’s, except Menard’s has a small grocery section, pet supplies, etc.. The MasterForce power tools look pretty, but I’ve never used one so I couldn’t tell you if they were any good or not. Probably on-par with most of the other low- to mid-level brands.
I would say the masterforce are below craftsman. They do have a lot but like Kato said most is low end stuff.
I’d like to check out a Menards, but I think the nearest one is about 1200 miles away. I’d have to buy a bunch of cheap tools to make that come out even at 15MPG…
NicholasShetley wrote:
I would say the masterforce are below craftsman. They do have a lot but like Kato said most is low end stuff.
Craftsman shipped out for China about a year and a half ago. There was a lot of speculation as to whether Sears did it on their own accord, or Danaher nudged them to the pier, but we’ve been keeping an eye on Masterforce to see what happens. The Masterforce hard line stuff and USA Craftsman were from the same supplier, Danaher/Apex.
There are still a few USA Craftsman items. Jaw pullers, screwdrivers, pliers, hook & pick sets, basically anything that has a WF (Western Forge) stamp on it is USA made.
It looks like a boot.
Milwaukee needs a fuel gauge on their m12 batteries. It gets annoying having to pop batteries into a tool to see their charge
Ryobi makes a little battery gauge that you pop on the battery to see the charge level, it’s cool and beats guessing…
Porter cable does too but on the old 18 volt ones.