Router Bits

[a1gutterman]

For those of you who are interested, as I mentioned in another thread, http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showthread.htm?t=543, I have had excellent results with Viper bits. About 10 years ago I purchased about a dozen of them from The Woodworkers Choice Inc.(Conover, NC) when they were at a woodworkers show in Seattle. One of the things that convinced me to buy Viper was the fact that they were US made. I recently tried to contact The Woodworkers Choice with no results. Their phone number does not work any more. Remembering that I had seen Viper bits in The Home Depot, I tried there and much to my dismay learned that they had quit carrying them some years ago!

Knowing that they were manufactured by Oldham, I did a Google search today and found them. http://www.oldham-usa.com/

I am always fascinated by the history of companies and as I previously worked for about 7 years in the wholesale tool business before the major take-overs and mergers happened, I am familiar with many companies that are no longer around, even if their names are still being used. For instance, Viper originated from Oldham, a company that started in 1857. Recently, Oldham was acquired by Black and Decker. Black and Decker has also acquired DeWalt, Delta, Porter Cable, DeVilbiss, and Biesemeyer. When I was in the tool business, over 27 years ago, Black and Decker owned none of those companies. 27 years ago, a lot of those old tools, perhaps as many as 100%, including B&D, were made in the USA. Now, hardly any of them are. I am hoping that Viper bits are still being made here.

[a1gutterman]

I have located my Viper bits. They are still available at my B&D/Milwaukee/Porter Cable repair/outlet store. That is, they are available until their current stock is gone. It seems that as Black and Decker has purchased multiple product lines with some of them having duplicate products, they have decided to discontinue some of them. As Oldham's very good quality Viper Router Bits have been cut out of production, B&D has decided to go with the more commonly known name of Porter Cable. Like Viper, the Porter Cable bits are made in America and are probably as good as the Oldham ones; it is progress I guess:mad: .