It was apropos the Oct. 5 Stanley Black & Decker New Product
Introduction and Luncheon was held in the theatre district of Manhattan.
While there were any of a
number of performing arts venues within walking distance, it was Stanley Black
& Decker that was putting on quite the show for nearly 100 media members
from around North America at the Westin New York at Times Square.
The company, formed after a
merger of Stanley Works and Black & Decker last spring, bombarded media
members with a litany of new tools and accessories sure to be hits whether at a
jobsite or on a weekend DIY project.
In the coming year, Stanley
Black & Decker will launch 350 new stock-keeping units globally — 130 of
which will come from the popular DeWALT brand alone (including 19 world’s first
innovations and 16 patents in 2011). I got a sneak peak at some of those DeWALT
new releases earlier this year at a DeWALT new product event in Towson, Md.
To read my reports,
click here.
In addition to DeWALT, new
offerings from Stanley,
Bostitch and fellow SBD properties Porter-Cable and compressor manufacturer
Emglo were on display.
While the majority of new
tools and accessories did not outwardly scream “plumber,” there is no doubt a
good chunk of these gadgets will find their way into a plumbing or mechanical
contractor’s repertoire.
Especially interesting on the
plumbing front is the DeWALT 5-in-1 hacksaw. For around 25 bucks, a contractor
gets a tool that functions at a 45-degree or 90-degree blade angle (for
standard or flush cuts); as a high-tension hacksaw (securely holds the blade up
to 330 pounds); as a low-profile saw (tight spaces); as a long-reach saw (the
blade attaches to the front frame); and as a jab saw (the front handle becomes
the jab saw).
Stanley Black & Decker’s
Bob Scillia notes a huge
selling point is the ability to store spare blades on the inside of the handle,
which is ultra-important when you are talking efficiency and time-management on
a jobsite.
DeWALT’s framing hammer also
caught my eye. The 15-ounce hammer, which uses metal inert gas (MIG) weld
technology, touts itself as the world’s first 15-ounce all-steel framing
hammer. The big stat here is that MIG weld technology allows the hammer to
strike like a 28-ounce one. I tried it out several times during the hands-on
portion of the presentation and you can tell the difference. Who wouldn’t want
to swing a hammer that weighs 13 ounces less than what it strikes at?
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| This DeWALT rolling storage case breaks into
three separate compartments. |
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Plumbing and mechanical contractors are always
carrying equipment onto and off jobsites, which Stanley plans to make easier with the release
of its 3-in-1 rolling storage workshop. Not only are there three separate
compartments that combine into one, you also can haul things on top of the case
such as a bag of cement. The addition of a one-handed latch operation aids in
ease of use. Rolling storage options for Bostitch and DeWALT also were
unveiled.
In the past, I’ve talked about
DeWALT’s focus on user feedback and extensive testing procedures with its new
tools. That hasn’t changed as evidenced by the revelation one particular
Bostitch tool, in addition to being extensively wet- and dry-fired (to the tune
of 500,000 cycles), got dragged for miles on top of roofing shingles in order
to ensure high performance and durability for end users.
These products were but a mere
sampling of all that was revealed in the Big Apple.
To say the least, plumbing and
mechanical contractors, and any construction contractor or home improvement
enthusiast for that matter, have a lot to look forward to in the coming year in
terms of new tool and accessory offerings from the SBD group.
A quick shout out to my
afternoon cab driver in New York City.
He gets first-star honors (it is hockey season now) for navigating through
heavier-than-usual Manhattan
traffic and getting me back to LaGuardia with plenty of time to spare.
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