Shown here is the new DOER cordless power tool system, described as the most compact tool shed you’ve ever seen.
Does it look familiar? The POWER8 compact cordless power tool kit first came out a full 10 years ago in 2009. Back in 2011 there were talks of a Li-ion upgrade, and I guess that’s now where DOER comes in.
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DOER is launching with a Kickstarter campaign, where it has already earned more than $500,000 in backers’ pledges.
The DOER table/base unit doesn’t look much different compared to the POWER8. Their Kickstarter FAQ describes some of the engineering differences between the two systems, such as increased battery capacity, an AC/DC hybrid power source, and slight feature and spec updates to many of the individual tools.
What You Get for $499:
- Hammer drill/driver
- Drill press
- Jig saw
- Scroll saw
- Circular saw
- Table saw
- Hot wire cutter
- Table hot wire cutter
- Table sander
- Mini lathe
- Worklight
- Lantern
- Miter gauge
- Table unit has a telescoping handle and built-in wheels
- 2.0Ah battery
- Tool bag
A 4.0Ah battery, additional UniGrip power handles, and AC/DC power adapter are available at higher pledge amounts. There are basic, basic plus, standard, standard plus, and ultimate pledge/reward levels.
DOER Cordless Power Tool System Benefits
- Portable
- Space-saving
- Works on AC or DC power
- Durable
- Safe
- High-end
- All-in-one
- Cost effective
- Easy to use
This is straight from the kickstarter campaign. They don’t elaborate what makes the DOER “safe” or “high-end.”
Thank you to everyone who wrote in about this!
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They say it’s more compact than your dad’s tool shed! But are there even any cordless power tools in the “your dad’s tool shed” photo? All I see are a bunch of supplies and poorly organized wrenches.
Discussion
We’ve seen modular cordless power tools before, such as from Ridgid (JobMax), Black & Decker (Matrix), and Craftsman (Bolt-On, made by Black & Decker).
If you ask me, there are much better ways for DIYers or homeowners to spend $500 to $700.
Some of the “12-in-1” functions seem interesting.
Although the relationship between Power8 and DOER and its new company (Stellen) is addressed in the Kickstarter FAQ, I still don’t quite follow what happened.
We create the brand DOER. Unlike Power8, the brand goes without numerical functions for future expansion. DOER Basic kit includes 12 functions, and we will expand the DOER product lines to more handheld powertools in future. With such an ambitious plan, we need your support!
Some of the tools and functions seem convenient, such as the ability to turn the cordless drill into a mini drill press, the circular saw into a mini table saw, and the jig saw into a mini scroll saw. Use a sanding pad adapter, and the drill can be used as a benchtop sander.
But, realistically, how good do these tools work? For instance, what can you cut on a table saw so small?
Chris Elsworthy, inventor of the Power8 workshop product, doesn’t seem to be affiliated with Stellen or the DOER cordless power tool system at all. Why? Also, looking at Elsworthy’s twitter feed, a Li-ion version of the Power8, called the Power8 Pro, was still on the market early this year. Here’s the Amazon UK listing.
If the Power8 wasn’t compelling enough for continued development, what’s the guarantee that new tools or accessories will come to the DOER?
On the Kickstarter page, they say that the basic kit has an early bird price of $499, a (presumably) regular pledge price of $539, and an eventual retail price of $799. They say that the Standard Plus kit, with an extra UniGrip handle, 4.0Ah battery, and AC/DC adapter will retail for $939.
I mentioned that I feel DIYers and homeowners can do better for $500 to $700. If you’re talking about $800 to $900+, you could do a lot better.
I just don’t see how this would be better than a traditional cordless power tool combo kit. The DOER seems interesting in theory, but in practice there might be headache-causing limitations.
mattd
If you watch for clearance deals you can do EXCEPTIONALLY better for the same price. Heck you can even get a table saw + a good combo kit for under 500 without clearance. Looking at history, next months sales will make that easy to do and you are not locked into a weird system. They would have been smarter to try to partner with an existing battery platform. Unfortunately a lot of people have no idea about battery platforms, and as such are douped into buying these types of things.
MT_Noob
I don’t remember authorizing them to use a photo of my shed…
: )
Eric
I think the average homeowner would be much better off with one of the Ryobi kits in that price range. A lot of the included tools look pretty gimmicky and would probably never be used. The “lathe” and “sander” especially look like they would be useless.
Curtis
Wow! There was some great comedy there, like when the guy holds up his mitered corners and you can easily see that they don’t mesh or when they show the “disc sander” and and you can see it wobbling. Or when the spokesman says no corners were cut and then they immediately show a plastic drill press that uses a cordless drill.
Eric
That cordless drill is obviously a beast. Didn’t you see it drill through the concrete block like it had already been drilled out? Oh wait it probably was.
Frank D
It looked to me like some kind of prop foam block …
Vlad
??♂️
William Adams
Reminds me of the old PortaShop, just with an integrated workbench/storage case.
http://shiawasseehistory.com/portashop.html
It’s clever, and I love multi-function things, but the reality is they never work as well as the purpose-made tool once one gets away from the basics.
Johnny4
Kickstarter is such a scam. Are they really saying 10000 people want so badly they spent $500 to wait for it to be made. If they deliver on it, it will never be used for anything other than building one wobbly bookshelf.
RogueJello
Sadly, the whole experience will be so discouraging that the wobbly bookshelf will be a titanic feat. The owner will quickly give up after that, declaring “Woodworking is hard”, without realizing it’s the tools that made it such a pain.
Andrew
According to the kickstarter stats up top, only 956 people have backed it, and most have paid for the $600 and $700 packages.
Johnny4
$700? Insane. Their version must come with a beer holder and 911 on speed dial button.
Aaron
Exactly. The number 1 way to save money on tools is to buy the tools you need and not but told you don’t need. Once Kickstarter is in the picture you removed this almost by definition with the wait time. Are people just buying these as gifts?
William Adams
While I agree with buying only the tools one needs, for Kickstarter, it’s also a matter of investing in tools which one will want/need.
I’ve backed a fair number of Kickstarter projects (admittedly mostly books), and have always gotten what was described save for a knife which came not sharp (long story, look up the Musvalk — need to find time to sharpen it), and a small multi-tool which just wasn’t as useful as the designer claimed.
Some Kickstarter projects have done _very_ well by me — the Shapeoko opensource CNC for example, or the Silca T-ratchet (which is one of my favourite tools).
Mark S.
This almost looks like a toy set made by Black & Decker and sold at Wal-Mart. These are real tools? Harbor Freight tools (the “one and done” types, not the newer ones) have more appeal.
Robear
You can get a Rockwell Bladerunner for $100 which is basically the same thing as this. It replaces a table saw, scroll saw, and band saw. Then take another $400 and buy into the Ryobi tool system and your batteries will work on hundreds of other tools, not too mention a magnatude better quality.
Is this aimed at a millennial woodworker who lives in a studio apartment? I just don’t understand the appeal.
Kilroy
The proverbial “millennial woodworker who lives in a studio apartment” would be MUCH better off spending the $500-800 for a year’s membership to a maker space, which is about what the ones near me cost.
I own some basic tools but I still pay for (and use) my maker space membership, because $50 a month is much easier to justify than spending the money that a decent bandsaw and SawStop cost, let alone the other woodworking tools, the community, the free wood (someone donates lots of sapele shorts to my maker space on a regular basis), the 3D printers, CNC routers, auto lift, etc etc.
Frank D
I think multi-function has some merit and clearly a lot of thought went into making it modular, keeping compact, etc. To me it all looks rather light weight and basic duty … where as some of the functions this aspires to are rather heavy duty and safety becomes an issue ( table saw, drill press, lathe )
And the trouble is, as soon as some essential part fails, be it the trigger on the handle, the power supply, … the whole kit is dead.
Quality unknown.
Durability unknown.
Serviceability unknown.
The only people I could see this maybe work for is somebody living in a small space with maybe a closet or small bedroom as a “maker” studio to do some crafting, maybe somebody venturing into a little DIY as they want to make some things for another hobby like miniature structures and what not for dioramas, …
Nobody doing semi-serious DIY and up is going to buy a totally unknown brand, keep all the parts organized, deal with converting this into that and another constantly.
Josh
I thought I was watching a Saturday Night Live skit for a minute there. Interesting concept but definitely needs some more developing.
MichaelHammer
I’m with you. I thought surely this is on of Stuart’s hoaxes.
This really would make an awesome SNL skit
Wayne R.
I’ll betcha this will only be purchased as a gift, either for someone else, or for one’s self. The gift to the energetic go-getter from someone somewhat clueless, via QVC.
That may be the key: The marketing channel will be QVC, etc.
I’d like to see something like this that’s over-engineered & expedition-grade – rather than the inevitable under-engineered, cost-engineered-out cluster of disappointment that things like this always seem to be.
William Nolan Jr
That is absolute plastic junk ! Completely useless …go with some ryobi DIY tools
Julian
So many shitty little plastic irreplaceable pieces to break off… But until that happens, enjoy a bunch of crappy cuts, bad holes and general inaccuracies.
This thing makes Ryobi tools feel like a premium setup
Curtis
Ryobi tools may be cheap, but they generally work as intended and keep working for years. I’ve got loads of them and use them regularly. Sadly, my more expensive red tools have not been as reliable as my cheap green ones.
MichaelHammer
If it is truly their plan to continually add tools, where will they go? The WHOLE point of the thing is that it all fits in a box. Additional tools have to fit in the box. Otherwise, what they hell are ya doin?
Can you imagine what you would have to go through every time you need a flashlight?
And why was that woman cutting foam in the dark with a flashlight? Was there some sort of foam cutting emergency?
I love the idea of a single, multi=tool platform, but it is notoriously difficult to pull off. Even the good old Shop Smiths had their draw backs. It is very hard to escape the fact that it is always better to do one thing really well. The most successful carpenters I know are the ones that specialize in one type of carpentry. They are in high demand and always busy.
Mike
819 Backers already, guess PT Barnum was right…
Leonard
It’s a miniature Shopsmith. Only more useless.
Any tool that requires you take it apart to use another tool will waste your time. What happens when the switch fails in the handle? Now you have a bunch of tools that don’t work.
Andy
If they package it pretty and pay for some TV spots they’ll move some units in Costco for a couple of months.
C.Carpentry
Well. That’s a new concept. Can’t criticize the ingenuity of the product…. but yeah. I’ll pass.
There is a Deli near my house. It’s a short walk over but their menu has everything from steak, Italian, bbq, Mexican etc etc. aka if you can’t do one thing well, do a whole bunch poorly.
Video was pretty humorous but honestly. Using a lathe in a kitchen? That dad should be put up for adoption…
RC WARD
Looks like a Saturday night Live skit prop
Andy
From the same company who brought you the Bass-O-Matic
Scott K
This is definitely an interesting and creative concept. It’s nice that it comes with a power cord I’d be most concerned with its actual ability and also about the batteries. Battery longevity, power, and availability are huge factors in a cordless system- where do these stand?
Curtis
Not a bad concept at all, but the execution…ugh! Were it built by a reputable company like DeWalt or Makita I could see where some people would want it. It would make a good setup for a sailboat or an RV or something similar where space is at a premium.
JoeM
I just don’t see the appeal. So many loosely attached components, constantly rubbing and deforming over time… The accuracy must degrade every time you activate any of the motors, as they shake the connections loose micron by micron.
By the end of a year or two, the drill press no longer holds the drill, it just falls right off. Not because you drill press like a maniac, but just because the drill has been switched back and forth between the grip and the other tools so often, it no longer grips onto ANY of the system. So no more drill, drill press, OR sander, since that part is integral to three tools alone.
Next… the Grip is the way everything works CORDLESS… so.. what are you going to do when the Grip no longer locks into the tools? Try to plug everything into that AC block that, apparently, takes the exact same space in the “Table” as the Grip does? Can you even use ANY of the tools once the sole means of battery power becomes too loose to lock into anything?
What are they thinking? ARE they thinking? ‘Cause I seem to get a vague feeling that Jeff Foxworthy uses videos like that as erotic stimulation, if you know what I mean. “If you bought a ‘DOER’ as a gag gift… you might be a Redneck… If you did it for YOURSELF… You might be a Redneck…”
I just can’t see this thing being of any use.
Hans
Please, no. Pricepointy gimmicky garbage! Disposable tools should be banned until there finally compostable. And if you only use a tool once a month make sure it has a cord.
Corey Moore
They were probably excited about the coverage on Toolguyd, until they reached the comments. I can see our pro elitism right here lol The pitch seemed to be for home DIYers, y’all, hence the lady being able to cut foam in her studio apartment while her power was out. And none of us professionals try to figure out what tool shed we’re going to get to and from our jobs. I just don’t think this was for us. That said, I share these sentiments in a professional light. But I reiterate, I don’t believe we were the target market, or who they were hoping to get constructive criticism from lol
Perry
Corey Moore, while i agree with you, I have had my hands on one of the older versions and it was a hot mess. The table saw set up was grossly underpowered and the tabletop was concave, the drill press wobbled and the ergonomics overall seemed like they made the tools more of a challenge. For the price, it just seemed like a scam.
JoeM
As a DIYer and Inventor myself, I AM the target group according to that video. And I STILL say it is a functional nightmare. If the power is out, and there’s only one grip, or even TWO… Why are you cutting foam in the dark? If there’s a bunch of things clicking in and out, off and on, as you simply open the device to use it… What happens when the most often used components are up to ten microns shaved off by the constant changing? The whole thing stops being used.
That’s not elitism, that’s personal experience with trying to get things to be constantly interchangeable. Those kinds of tools wear down fast. If you depend on your tools to make money, you can’t have tools that self-destruct. You need tools that can be put down for up to a DECADE and still work, just like you were using them every day for SEVERAL Decades. Otherwise, you can’t make money outside tool replacement. Since the “DOER” and its predecessor are one-kit tools, with ZERO customization of what tools are in YOUR “DOER” kit… There’s only replacing the whole kit, IF IT REACHES FUNDING.
I could get by with Ryobi, Rigid, Mastercraft, Makita, Bosch, or ANY of the Non-Industrial level brands, but because I have to TRUST my tools will still be there if I get something wrong, and can’t afford the next round of construction, I have to go with DeWALT for its build quality. I’m sure there are others out there EXACTLY like me who would go with Milwaukee in the IDENTICAL situation, and I completely understand that. As Red and Yellow set a very high bar for INVESTMENT in your tools, that you plan on caring for, maintaining, and holding together between dry spells.
The DOER fails at all these things, and on top of it all, they’re using downright insulting marketing out of the Jeff Foxworthy Blue Collar Comedy Tour playbook to make tool users look stupid. It doesn’t fill me with a desire to buy it, nor would I wish such a device on my worst enemy. This isn’t “Elitism” talking, this is the cold light of reality, shining on someone’s pitiful pipe dream. It’s not our fault that it fails to pass muster, or that it is priced hundreds of dollars outside what it is worth.
This thing is a little bit like that utility axe that Anthony first wrote about here on ToolGuyd as a contributor to the EDC/Survivalist tools point of view. That axe/shovel/blade/combo device was plenty creative, and was certainly innovative in design, but it had enormous flaws for the market they were going for, and it was priced well over a thousand dollars, when anyone who might be interested in owning one as a civilian would never pay more than $50 for something like that. The best market for such a device was, and continues to be, the Military Industrial Complex. Worldwide, getting the contract to make them for special forces around the world would pay for manufacturing, design, and mobility, reducing the price per unit down so Soldiers can get them from their supply stores in the field. It was not a tool for hikers, joggers, and survivalists, as it was claimed. It was designed by former soldiers, and should have STAYED with the soldiers. This DOER device is much the same. The concept of a mobile functional workstation for all your tools is a wonderful idea. But it’s not for the tool market, or the DIYer market. Frankly, it’s for the garbage bin. The theory is sound, the execution and choices are not, by a long shot.
Randy
You completely lost all subject matter credibility when you categorized Makita and Bosch as ‘Non-Industrial level brands’. Never read past that sentence.
Big Richard
Well said Randy. You made it farther than I did.
JoeM
I didn’t mean those as non-industrial, I just didn’t want to include the full list of OTHER brands that are. Those two are mostly an error in listing on my part. The names came to mind, and I don’t know why.
Jkjk
I wish one of the major tool brands would come out with something like this. I’d buy it in a heartbeat if Makita or Dewalt made a pro quality kit like this
Kent
If I was starting out, and didn’t have much budget, I’d watch the sales and buy a different brand. I think that even Ryobi would be a huge step up from this, and a kit would come with more than 1 battery and handle.
It’s nice that it’s all in a box, but the disadvantages look like they would outweigh the positives.
I wish I could post a photo – yesterday I saw a kit almost exactly like this in an antique store. It was made by Matel in the 70, but Y least it was labeled as a toy.
Frank D
A toy work shop is what this reminded me of as something that would work and sell; if it were made all plastic, no actual blades or sharp edges, some small motors, … you could actually come up with a work shop for young kids … and they wouldn’t mind converting one thing for another … it would be a learning experience … add a small bench, some hand tools ( plastic hammer, wrench, pliers, … ), tool belt, helmet, safety glasses, … series of plastic wood look planks with pre-drilled holes, plastic nuts and bolts, braces, … enough stuff to assemble a few things.
Roger
I’ve seen this before… But in bright green. This might be an updated cordless featured one?
Bob
Ok they made me laugh with that ad but Im still not giving these clowns $500.
As others have said for the money you could do way better with other “real” tools.
Patrick
This whole Kickstarter seems fishy AF. When ToolGuyd first posted this there was a countdown on each of the pledge levels at 6 hours. Later it went to 4 hours. Now, a few days later, still says 4 hours and the prices never changed. When someone has to resort to fishy marketing tactics like that, doesn’t instill confidence in the actual product.
Some of the comments seems really suspicious too, almost like they’re plants or shills.
Also of note, they don’t seem to ever show anything that was made with a Doer, only stuff that a Doer managed to do to a piece of wood.
There does seem like there’s demand out there for a good quality product like this or even a decent quality product. This… seems like you’re going to use it once, realize it’s garbage, then hide it in the back of the closet only to be handed down to some very disappointed children decades later.
MrS85
I bought the Matrix/Bolt-On as a first set of cordless tools shortly after buying a home. The oscillating and jigsaw attachments were decent, the drill and impact were underpowered, and the mini circular was completely useless. I ditched it after being frustrated for a year.
This is probably equally useful/useless. The drill, jigsaw, and circular could be well-made, but their alternate uses – scrollsaw, table saw etc. are probably unreliable and potentially dangerous. For $500 during a good sale, you can get a better combo kit from one of the very good name brands. Plus what “average homeowner” uses a table saw or scroll saw? Woodworkers, contractors, exceptionally handy individuals would certainly use them, but they would get a dedicated tool if they use it that often.