erbauer power tools

[chewbacca]

Screwfix direct sell erbauer power tools, these are supposed to be proffessional quality! Has anyone ever used them?

Are they really professional quality or just a cheap make claiming to be professional?

[b_carpenter]

I bought the Erbauer 1/2" router once, found it had faulty bearing, swappped it for one with faulty collett, swapped it for yet another which seemed ok until the switch failed after a few weeks - then got fed up and got a refund. The time messing about dealing with the faults made the Erbauer an expensive mistake although it looked like good value on paper.

Then spent nearly three times the amount on a DW625 which has now been used regularly for a year both in a table and on site. It is civilised to use, totally reliable and has paid for itself many times over. You get what you pay for.

Other retailers (e.g. Axminster) sell the same router under their own brands. I spoke to someone who had bought it from Axminster and had almost identical problems.

[honeymonster]

Hi guys
Ive got an erbauer cordless drill(bought second hand)and the charger just gave up so i E-Mailed sfx to find out how much for a new one.When they replied they told me to my horror that there is basicly no chance of spares or repair.I don't just mean the second hand tools - I also have other Erbauer tools that i did buy from sfx so asked if the same applied and they said it did.
So once the guarantee runs out you are on your own.
They may be cheeper than the name brands but not cheep enough under these circumstances.
BE WARNED

[Scrit]

My original Elu MOF177e (same as the deWalt DW625) is now more than 20 years old and still going strong. Over the years it has run one set of bearings, several sets of brushes, various springs, nuts, collets, etc. but it still keeps on. No longer the best but still pretty good. Similarly long-lived have been a Bosch (blue) GBH550 hammer drill (21 years) and an Elu DS140 biscuit jointer (22 years). I've seen off a load of Ryobis, Makitas, DWs, Freus, Skils, etc in that time and found Holz-Her (defunct), Metabo, Atlas-Copco/Kango/Milwaukee, Mafell and Festool to be good, too (although watch out for some of the cheaper bough-in stuff, like Metabos routers and Atlas-Copcos routers, too - the larger ones are by Felisatti and Casals, respectively and aren't too bright). Buy industrial stuff and it not only lasts but it's repairable. Buy cheap no-name stuff and you get what you deserve, IMHO.

Scrit

[honeymonster]

My original Elu MOF177e (same as the deWalt DW625) is now more than 20 years old and still going strong. Over the years it has run one set of bearings, several sets of brushes, various springs, nuts, collets, etc. but it still keeps on. No longer the best but still pretty good. Similarly long-lived have been a Bosch (blue) GBH550 hammer drill (21 years) and an Elu DS140 biscuit jointer (22 years). I've seen off a load of Ryobis, Makitas, DWs, Freus, Skils, etc in that time and found Holz-Her (defunct), Metabo, Atlas-Copco/Kango/Milwaukee, Mafell and Festool to be good, too (although watch out for some of the cheaper bough-in stuff, like Metabos routers and Atlas-Copcos routers, too - the larger ones are by Felisatti and Casals, respectively and aren't too bright). Buy industrial stuff and it not only lasts but it's repairable. Buy cheap no-name stuff and you get what you deserve, IMHO.

Scrit

You are right scrit!

I will never buy cheap powertools again, I have learned my lesson the hard way

[nickgrey]

not sure how old this thread is, but basically Erbauer is not a professional range; its a house brand of B&Q / Screwfix. It means they buy entry level product from China, then put the Ebauer badge on, which they own and sell it as a range. Having said that it looks as though they are adding some value to it as the styling and finish looks better than the normal china-made own brand stuff.
Hope this helps

[trumpetmonkey]

Another very later reply to this old post... I recently looked at an Elu router in a second hand tool shop, still going strong and the manual in the box was dated 1976! Almost bought it, then decided not to risk it and spend more on a new one - going for a Trend T10ELK, Apparently it's basically a Dewalt DW625 in a Trend shell.