MacTools and Facom cordless tools are being replaced by DeWALT versions?!!!

It is not the first time I see this. It does not look like SBD is producing any new cordless tool for Facom (in EU and UK) and MacTools (in NA and UK) anymore and they rebrand them as DeWALT, so SBD main goal is to have DeWALT as the main brand that has all the cordless tools under one battery system (12V-20V-60V)

 

They got Bostitch and used their technology to make cordless nailers for DeWALT, of course they had to change the battery to DeWALT battery as Bostitch one was not compatible. They did make a 12V cordless tool for Bostitch using DeWALT batteries. Now Bostitch is almost dead, including the website, I think within a few years they will announce ciao to Bostitch. Same with Porter Cable, some of their corded routers turned to DeWALT with yellow colour and the rest to Craftsman, it does not look like we will see anything new from Porter Cable as well.

 

Facom and Mactools cordless tools are basically the same to me, 12V cordless ratchets and 20V(18V) cordless impact wrenches and also a 20V cordless light for mechanics, both brands had all of them, I think exactly the same tool just with different names. On top of that MacTools had three different 20V polishers which Facom did not have and now they are all DeWALT branded. Including the 3″ one. Also 12V and 20V small torch were only produced for MacTools and they are available with DeWALT name as well. 

 

Facom and MacTools will remain as hand tool maker brands, I think.

 

Having Craftsman for NA and Stanley Fatmax for EU and UK is another thing to think, I think they wanted to have two different brands with the same battery for a reason. I remember DeWALT produced the first compact mitre saw for US as DCS361 and for EU as DCS365 and the reason was DCS361 was not aligned with EU regulations, so they made another model (DCS365) for EU. These things make a lot of confusion and complications. To try to avoid these things I think SBD for their lower grade brands came up with  the idea of having two different brands one for NA and the other one for EU but exactly the same design to reduce the cost, so any tool that Craftsman produces and is not aligned with EU regulations will not be produced as Stanley Fatmax. Most of Craftsman cordless tools are available in EU now as Stanley Fatmax branded, only a few are left and the main one is the Craftsman cordless tile cutter which we don’t have it as Stanley Fatmax.  

 

 

I found this today. MacTools version of this looks to be discontinued and now I see DeWALT version of this was posted in 2024! MCM401 was the model number for MacTools version so it should be DCM401 for DeWALT then.

There is a bit of modifications on the body but the main thing for me is this part which I show with yellow colour 

This part is mostly for ventilation or whatever you want to call it. In MacTools cordless tools there was a metal net inside this part attached to the plastic body preventing big pieces getting inside the tool which it is not the case with DeWALT version of any tool SBD makes. So there is a bit of reduction of quality I would say, it is not just rebranding MacTools cordless tools to DeWALT cordless tools in yellow colour. This is what we see from outside and I cannot say anything for the components inside the tools. So I would advise if quality is more important than the yellow colour that DeWALT has, then look for the MacTools versions of the tools you want to buy instead of DeWALT. 

Here is another example: MacTools MCF601 and DeWALT DCF601 

 

It is not just the colour becoming yellow together with minor modifications to make it a DeWALT version of the same tool and changing the “M” (stands for MacTools) of MCF601 to “D” (stands for DeWALT) to make it DCF601, the quality drops, too! You can see the metal net in the MacTools version and not in the DeWALT one. 

I encircled those parts in yellow colour.  

Great breakdown 👌 you really summed up SBD’s strategy — everything is moving under DeWALT. A bit sad to see Porter Cable and Bostitch fading out…

I sometimes come across tools (new or used) you don’t see much anymore. If you’re ever looking for something specific, I could share a few pics

Wow, that is a lot of tools