Hi All, I'm a product designer and 2 years ago I decided to go it alone, I invented and had manufactured the POWER8workshop. It a 4pc cordless power tool set which can use each of the power tools to transform the case they come in, into a work station. The Combo drill becomes a drill press, the skill saw becomes a table saw etc.. it now come to the time here I've got to sell it and I'm looking to see what other people think. http://www.power8workshop.com it weighs 16Kg all packed up, all the gearboxes are metal and I've used good quality batteries in the POWERhandle.. so?? what do you think??
Cheers

I think it looks like a toy, but that is only my opinion.

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DIY | Donnas dream house

from a pro trade point of view, i can appreciate the thought you must have put in to design this but i would never buy one.
having watched the video i have seen two parts of it that require being rigid to work correctly and accurately, flex tremendously. it's the sort of thing i would expect to sell well on the likes of the TV channels but not in the major trade tool stockists.
years in the trade gives you knowledge of the job and also teaches you that you get what you pay for with tools. cheap is not accurate and does not last.
had this been made of metal i might have considered it more.

Thanks for your comments, I did consider metal but, I would have lost the mobility feature of the product. As for the price, most of the tradesmen I speak to are extremely brand aware, they repetitively buy a brand that has been marketed to them as the quality they require to complete the job. As a new company I can't compete against this strength of brand, I'm only left with price to encourage a purchase to try the product.
I made the video using an early engineering sample and the tolerance issues you spotted have all be corrected, but of course it will never have the extreme precision of individual benchtop items, like a mains Drill Press, but this is not the intension. The extra functionality and mobility it offers from what was just the basics, I feel far out weight any other issues. for example I used one to fit real wood flooring throughout my kitchen and dining room and being able to drag a table saw and scroll saw around with me was a real time saver.
Cheers,

i agree that we tend to use branded industrial tools that we know will do the job.

i would spend £300 on a Dewalt battery drill than have 10 drills from B&Q for £30.

what i mentioned about TV channels though, i was being serious and i really do think that you ought to try to get in touch with them. the likes of the Bid-up/Price-drop channels (owned by virgin i think) are the best options for sales for you. your tool is an all-in one and something like that would sell really well on there.

As mentioned before if it was made out of say cast ally for the tables and load bearing items it might be less flelxible.


I find with a multipurpose tool either the batteries go flat quick or you spend lots of time changing functions.



John

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Growing old is compulsory, growing up is not!

good idea.. I will contact the TV shopping channels..
I will stock 2 different battery capacities, 1.7Ah and 2.8Ah, and the charger can top them off in an hour.
I worked hard to reduce the time taken to transform the product between the surfaces, It is atualy faster to transform than some power tools are to unpack.
An cast Ally version is a good idea.. I look into the costs.
Cheers

Looking at the video, you have obviously gone a lot further down the road then the point where you canvess opinion, surely

What you have made has been partially done already by at least one manufacturer - your patent must have been very specific to avoid a clash with the B&D Quattro system - that was a system which uses a single battery and motor assy - let's call that a "powerhandle" - which you would then plug in a Drill Assy, a Jigsaw Assy, or a Sander Assy. None of which were as good as a dedicated tool, and as John said aboiut multipurpose tools, you spend lots of times changing the function and the battery goes flat.

As a concept, I personally think it looks good, but for a setup like that to work nowadays, you need the batteries to be Lithium, you need at least 2 'powerhandles' so you don't have to constantly be farring around changing heads, and 3 batteries so there can always be a battery getting charged and ready.

Target has got to be the reasonably well-off hobbiest/DIYer for this. I don't think this will appeal to the Pro Trade at all as in that area the prospective customers have very specific needs and a multi-purpose tool is usually poor enough in some way to be used. Thing of the drill assy you plug in to the powerhandle and then ask how many drills a tradesman has? I have 4 different cordless drills which I pick up depending of what I am doing and I am a DIYer!

For the DIY target, I see no problem in plastic and if this kit was made by DeWalt or similar I reckon it would be made out of ABS Plastic anyway.
I do like the carry-round bench bit though.

Selling, I would say Rich is 100% spot on - TV Shopping is the way to go for this, followed by placements in B&Q or Homebase and the like with a "As Seen on TV" banner.

This would look good next to the Dulux Paintpod system - that is a system that I think has been popular with the DIY market but is shunned by the trade.

Horses for Courses ....

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I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "Where's the self-help section?"
She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.

my comments

as said above a trade person may buy it for there son/daughter to practice on but not much else

it is a brilliant idea well thought out well designed every aspect has been given full attention every thing has 2 or 3 uses in my eyes fantastic for---















diy use


now take on board all the comments and bring out updated version
with 3 x 2.8 batts minimum

now i would never expect you to break into trade in any big way but even 1% is a healthy proffit

other comments

the colours look good but also look rather close to festool colours [i think ] have you checked your not infringing copyright on the colour sceme!!!


with the trigger on the handle i assume you have all the functions on the handle as in reverse/ variable speed/lock on position!!!!!

if this is the case when you introduce further models to the range with larger capacity motors how will the electronics cope with the higher loads!!!

can the reverse function cause problems if operable on perhaps the circular saw !!!!

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we are all ------------------still learning

Thanks again for your comments.
The design of the battery that includes the handle allows the product to pack in a much smaller space and clever engineering in the interface changes the function of the three position switch on the handle from direction to safety interlock. It also changes from variable power for the jigsaw and drill to on/off for the circular saw. I've tested the electronics at over 100A loading with no failures. 3 battery are no problem.. it's just a cost issue. most customer would be turned away by an even higher price.
I'm ask for comments because this is only the first gen of this product.. and with the next I want to quash any issues people find with the first, within reason.

the third battery was purley for the second genration wher you could aim more at trade with a more robust ah rating

you definatly need 2ah for trade as a minimum why not cost out 2.2 2.4 2.6 ah versions as belive above 2.2 the cost is extremly disproportionate per extra 0.1ah

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we are all ------------------still learning

I think its an excellent idea.

You need to target the audience and market it accordingly. But I don't buy into this "a pro would not use it" thinking.

A pro will use whatever helps him get the job done. And only a fool would dismiss a tool that is made of plastic or not made by Dewalt etc.

A pro does not alway work out of a big Transit Highback, but may work out of a mondeo, so if this is good to carry then it works for that individual

So, should you be listening to pro opinions, or just those from keen DIYers?

If that toolstation does what it says on the tin, then it will sell. Your pricing will determine if it succeeds or not.

But for this concept, the DIY market will be more lucrative, and then the pro market will hopefully follow. I expect to see you at all the trade shows!

You need to get this to market quickly before the Chinese start knocking these out for £3.99 on ebay.

The best of luck to you.

I think you should try and go on Dragons Den with this. Whatever the 'dragons' say I think you'd get a lot of interest anyway. (Ok, maybe that's easier said than done).

I agree with what people have been sayin - this is less appealing to 'pros' but I can see thousands of keen DIYers getting VERY excited about it. A few years ago as a keen DIYer myself I would DEFINITELY have wanted one of these. I think you are right about the pricing and the necessary design compromises, I think it is judged about right for the DIY market.

But now that I have trained as a joiner, worked on building sites and used tools day in day out, I wouldn't buy one. This is because I would not expect it to cope with much abuse., it can't possibly be built well enough for trade use at that price. I would rather fork out more on tools I know I can trust. Also it's not that difficult to carry around a drill, small circular saw and maybe another couple of power tools in a tool bag (I don't find I need a jigsaw that often, and when I need a torch a nice pocket size one is actually the most convenient.) And you want to have your tools right there to hand without having to change over battery packs, however quick that may be. And I would want to use a proper piull-down chop saw usually rather than the table saw.

Still, don't take all that as criticism, what I am saying is - in my opinion at least - it's a great product for the DIY market and there's no shame in that - just not ideal for the pro market.

good thought has gone into it but the concept is not entirely new; just done differently.

as said sort your video out; the bench drill (?) wobbles when pushed down.... the kit does not look robust enough although i do like the design; not sure if festool can copyright colour but worth checking nonetheless.... it'll save you a headache later.

and even as a diyer i like to have more than one battery; but as someone pointed out when you need a tool you want to pick it up and use it; esp if you only have the one hand free; not change & transform it then go back. for eg... i have 2 drills; one for pilot holes and one for screw driving; purely because changing the bits (even with a quick release holder) is a pain in the thingymajiggy!

also consider that the serious diy'r is most likely going to have quite a few powertools anyway....

this is not to p!ss on your parade but knowing your products weakness' can help you turn them into strengths or atleast be able to work around them.

good luck & well done

I think its a good idea.
Agree that its not for everyone, but for a flat dweller like yours truly it wouldn't be a bad thing especially to save on space.
But then I'm lucky and have access to my old mans cast offs when he upgrades to newer stuff.