Mini Gloat

Stuart Ablett

Member
Messages
15,917
Location
Tokyo Japan
I broke down and bought another cordless tool, a Bosch IXO 3 mini driver....

bosch_ixo_3.jpg

Sure seems like a useful little driver, first Li-Ion tool I've owned. Got it on sale for less than $50, includes a bunch of bits and the charging stand.

I have to take apart some old steel cabinets from the L shop soon, one of them has a bunch of heavy duty full extension drawer slides that I'm wanting, but the spacing between shelves is tight, as they are for holding wrapping paper, I can get my hand back there but just, so no driver dill I own now will work. Those full ext sliders are NOT cheap here, so I bought this to get them out, and I'm sure I'll get a few more uses out if it.

It came in this neat tin box......

bosch_ixo_3_tin.jpg
I'm sure I won't store the tool and charging stand in there, but the tin box will be used for something! Much better than another stupid plastic carrying case, IMHO :D

Thanks Grama for buying me a new tool! (Think I should tell her she bought it for me.....? :D )

Cheers!
 
That will be handy. My FIL has a ridgid that's similar. It's a stout little sucker too. It's also surprising how long it holds a charge. It works well for getting in those tight spaces.

Just an observation, are all bosch tools green in Japan? Just curious because they're blue here.
 
Wow, that looks like the Skil power drivers they sell over here. Skil Cordless Screwdrivers

A little googling and corporate history says Skil was bought by Bosch in 1996. More googling and it turns out Stu's tool marketed as Bosch in Japan isn't sold under that name here. Boy it gets confusing.

For what it's worth:dunno:

Cheers,
 
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Looks good. I'm debating buying another cordless screwdriver or staying with my old B&D. The batteries are about shot and I have replaced with new a couple times.
As we all know, the batteries are the weak link with these tools.
Decisions, decisions........:rolleyes:
 
I used it some tonight, and I think this little tool will get a LOT of use!

The Bosch green is the handyman line here, the Bosch blue are the pro version, and are MUCH more expensive. I saw this one with the Red Ryobi side by side, but the Bosch felt better in the hand, they also sell a B&D unit, but it was slightly bigger, and I've still not gotten to the point of trusting the B&D stuff, a few years ago I saw some here that were complete junk, so I'm still gun shy on that brand. The Ryobi and the Bosch are rated for torque at 3Nm, and the B&D was 4.3Nm :dunno:

I said I like this new tool right :D
 
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Congrats, Stu. I've got a similar Li-Ion driver by Metabo. I'm most impressed with how long a charged battery lasts.
 
I can only speak for Japan, but often what is available tool wise is NOT a decision by the companies, but by the bureaucrats and their cronies in the government.:(

When I first started back at this woodworking stuff here in Japan, I wanted a good portable tablesaw, the Ryobi BT-3000 looked like a winner, but holy cow was it expensive, it was three times, THREE TIMES the retail in the US here in Japan. I could have gotten on a plane, flown to the states, bought the saw, and come back for cheaper than the saw cost here :doh:

Same with the crappy Makita portable saw and the Hitachi too :bang:

At that time the DeWalt portable saw came out, and it looked like a winner. I remember my dad went to see a buddy of his that was retired but working part time at a Rona (like the BORG but in Canada) and he told my dad that while the DeWalt was more expensive than the Makita, Hitachi or the Skil portable TS it almost never got returned, all of the other ones usually did in a week or two. I decided that I wanted one. I looked here and could not find any DeWalt dealers, so I fired off an e-mail to the DeWalt in the US, they suggested I contact DeWalt in Singapore as they are the closest to me. The guys in Singapore suggested that I buy the saw from a large online retailer in the US and have it shipped over, it would be cheaper than getting it from Singapore, so that is what I did, $750 including FedEx, but that was still cheaper than the crappy Makita or Hitachi saws. When I was e-mailing the DeWalt guy in Singapore I asked him why they did not have a presence in Japan...? While not making a direct quote here, the long and the short of it was that they did not play the political bribe game well enough, they had not stuffed the right pockets with enough cash, so their tools were constantly failing the redtape hurdles that were thrown up. After a year of this treatment and a whole big pile of money spent, the parent company decided that it was not worth while and pulled the plug.

I know that Bosch has been in Japan since before the war, and most of the other foreign tool companies are either partners with Japanese companies or are outright owned by Japanese tool companies.

Thus I doubt there is any "Strategy" for brands here in Japan, it is just what can get approved...:rolleyes:
 
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