Draper badge engineer all sorts of stuff. Some is quite decent (they do a version of the Freud FT2000E router under their label (as does Wickes)), but they also do quite a lot of tat as well - so you can't really take the "brand" at face value.
Draper are the service agents that Wickes use for guarantee repairs. As far as I know, Draper don't manufacture anything.
I bought one last week. I already have the previous model without angle attachment which has (and continues to do) sterling service over several years. Wickes have now dropped the price to £50 so an even better bargain - but it's only avialble in instore and was removed from the website a while ago.
At £50 its worth buying for the angle function alone. It is "definitely" made by Kress in Germany.
I wish you hadn't told me that ;(
How much do the batteries cost? Is it worth buying another just for the batteries?
Sorry ;)
If it's any consolation I bought my previous one when they dropped the price to £80 and a month later I bought one at £50 for a mate.
This was obviously just before they replaced it with the new version that included the angle attachment and bumped the price back up to £129.
Dunno how much the batteries cost. You could ring the Draper number in the instructions to confirm.
Looking at the price of other branded battery packs on Screwfix' website, it seems like a bloody good deal - and they are top quality cells. In fact you'd struggle to recell two battery packs at that price using Maplin cells.
That having been said, I've been using my previous drill for 4 or 5 years and the batteries are still going strong - so is it worth another fifty quid to end up with four batteries? And another drill ;)
It'll be interesting to see whether Wickes drop the Kress angle cordless altogether or if they replace it with the 18V Li-Ion model. I doubt they'll be flogging that at fifty quid for a few years though.
I probably can't justify buying another but it would be useful if you were too lazy to swap drill bits halfway through a job. It's just that £50 seems such a bargain and it's always nice to buy a new tool ;)
They have no idea at all. They never marketed the drill properly. The only drill in the world available with this functionality.
Fred wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
Well, I can't really justify another drill either - I bought a new Makita 18V jobby back in January - but on the basis of this thread I purchased one of these items in the local Wickes today. A snip at £49.99
It is indeed a Kress product - the CE certificate in the instruction booklet states that it was manufactured by Kress-Electrik GmbH, and the the chuck is marked Kress. On the packing it states 'Made in Switzerland' - so no cheapo Chinese imports here.
It seems to be well made and solid, with 2 x 15.6V 2.0Ah NiCd batteries. Old versions of the Wickes website (via the WayBack Machine) say the cells are Japanese. If I have a criticism, it's that the charger is fairly slow at 1h 45min.
The interchangeable chuck mechanism seems very good, and it's even possible to leave a 1/4" hex screwdriver bit mounted on the drive shaft in the body with a drill bit mounted in the chuck for a quick change between drilling and screwing, IYSWIM. The angled chuck mechanism is straightforward, seems robust (but I guess that depends on its internals) and the chuck can be set at several discrete angles, not just at 90 deg. Torque is stated to be a respectable 55Nm
I'll try it out over the next few days - but on its own the angled drive could pay for itself many times over when drilling cable holes through joists etc, or in other awkward places.
While it's still early days for me, it certainly seems like a good buy...
Kind regards
The labeling her may not reflect the reality of the situation for two reasons:
1) Made in Switzerland does not mean the same as the very specific rules around the label "Swiss made" as used on watches although even those do not have 100% local content rules2) In terms of the CE Declaration of Conformity, "manufacture" and origin have certain percentage requirements in relation to the ex-works price. So for example, it would be perfectly possible to bring in major subassemblies and just perform final assembly locally and still get away with claiming origin in Europe.
Andy Hall wrote in news:481b81aa@qaanaaq:
Indeed. Perhaps I was too hasty with the 'no cheapo Chinese imports' comment :(
I was trying to emphasise the Kress origin v. the statement earlier in the thread (from Wickes?) that the device was a Draper product.
Just a few other points:
- the charger has a groove around the base which allows the power lead to be coiled up neatly when in the case. Nice touch.
- it has a 3 year warranty
- it's heavier than I expected compared to my 18V Makita
Now, what other toys can I buy...
One can say that a DoC signed by somebody with a clear title and EU address is a reasonable indication of taking some level of responsibility for the products.
Since you're in drill buying mode, a Festool C12 would please you immensely.
Andy Hall wrote in news:481b9f11@qaanaaq:
Now, that's a 'proper' brand. If only I had £300 to spend on yet another drill - and of course it does have an angle attachment. But by a strange quirk, I already have one of those :)
As far as toys go, I was thinking more along the lines of the Squeezebox Duet...
Kind regards
It is entirely possible that Wickes do buy them through Draper - it would actually make a certain amount of sense, since I have seen a number of wickes own brands that are also available from Draper under their brand, and yet are obviously from a third party OEM.
Not like the one on there or the eccentric chuck that allows you to drill and screw very close to an edge without going at an angle, I bet.
Ah, that kind of toy..
The Kress site did have at one time, may still have, that Wickes were an agent in the UK. That means they sell direct. Wickes would not allow another tier and go to the source to get cheaper.
When I contacted Kress direct about service and after sales support in the UK[1], they made no mention of Wickes - so Wickes were not the main agents - just one of several.
[1] You may recall I posted the response here.
That no longer appears to be there. In fact, Kress do not list any channel for the UK
Who sells direct? Kress doesn't. It isn't a Kress branded product being sold, but something which Kress at least assembles which is sold with a Wickes private label.
Obviously not. Moreover, they may well have come to an agreement on a territory exclusive.
I bought my Kress circular saw (badged Kress) in BMJ just before they went bust. It is identical to the rebadged Wickes one. It was very good, but I think it's on it's last legs now.
Yes, my Wickes sander went up in smoke on Friday, and the assistant phoned Draper to authorise a replacement. But they didn't have any of this model so gave me a £29.99 (what I paid) refund, whereupon I went and bought a virtually identical one for £23.99 (20% off sake) - so I ended up with a new sander and £6 on my card.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.