In Shop Blog

We may receive a commission when you use our affiliate links. However, this does not impact our recommendations.

Delta Power
Equipment Corp.’s incoming president and chief executive officer said
Delta will continue to make the Unisaw in the United States at the
company’s new facility in Anderson, S.C.

Bryan Whiffen said in a
phone interview that they will move the current Delta and Biesemeyer
production lines from their current home in Jackson, Tenn., to their new
home in South Carolina.

“Having the Unisaw made in the U.S. was a
key point with our retailers,” said Whiffen, noting that he had spent
seven hours talking to dealers to discuss the sale. “And it’s
important to us. As far as I know it is the only cabinet saw made in the
U.S.A. and it is a very nice saw.”

Last week, Delta retailers were informed that Stanley Black & Decker was selling the storied American brand to Chang Type Industrial Co. Ltd. (TOTY), a Taiwanese company that was established in 1989. The sale will be completed in the next four months.

Whiffen
confirmed that Chang Type owns 100 percent of Delta Power Equipment and
has named him as president and CEO and Norman MacDonald as the chief
operating officer.

Until September, Whiffen was the senior vice president for Techtronic Industries North America
(usually called TTI), a position he held since 1994. Techtronic makes
many power tool brands that woodworker will be familiar with, including
Milwaukee and Ryobi. MacDonald also worked at Techtronic as the senior
vice president of operations between 2003 and 2008.

The new
owners, Chang Type, specialize in making universal motors, electronic
controls, aluminum castings for miter saws and lasers. Chang Type and
its 278 employees make products for TTI and Black & Decker.

As
far as what this change means for woodworkers, it’s unclear at this
point. Whiffen declined to talk about the company’s strategy at this
time, citing competitive concerns. However, he would say that some new
products will be introduced.

“There are some holes in the Delta
line that need to be filled,” Whiffen said. “We do plan to keep Delta a
woodworking equipment company.”

The Delta facility in Jackson is
mostly an assembly plant, with the company bringing in components from
mostly U.S. suppliers, such as Marathon for the motor. The Unisaw
currently is made from about 80 percent domestic parts. In addition to
assembly, the Jackson plant also powder coated the saw’s base and
did some heat-treating and milling. Glen D. Huey toured the facility
last year, and you can read his entry here.

— Christopher Schwarz


Product Recommendations

Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.

Recent Posts
Showing 2 comments
  • Frank P.

    Well, there goes another on the foreign pile. How’s that for history. When I purchase I always look for company ownership and manufacturing and try to keep it as close to home (USA) as possible. I know that is next to impossible these days but what this does for me is just put Delta in the foreign pile to be treated no differently than any other off shore manufacturer in the purchase decision process. Keeping business HQ and some manuf. here in the US is not the worst case scenario but where does the profit go?

    Frank P.

  • Mike

    "And it’s important to us. As far as I know it is the only cabinet saw made in the U.S.A. and it is a very nice saw."

    I believe the PM66 from Powermatic is also a domestically made product.
    Mike

Start typing and press Enter to search