Invented by British product designer Chris Elsworthy, the Power8 Workshop’s case converts into a tablesaw, scroll saw, or drill press (in which case the tablesaw’s fence becomes the upright for the drill). The kit comes with four cordless tools: a 5-½” circular saw, a jigsaw, a variable speed 3/8″ drill/driver, and a flashlight. An assortment of drill bits, driver bits, and jigsaw blades plus a soft tool bag are also included.
In the benchtop mode, one of the kit’s two “power handles” (containing an 18V, 1.6Ah battery pack) installs into the left side of the benchtop cabinet (as shown below) to provide central power, controlled by switches on the front, for a drill press, tablesaw, or scroll saw. The left side also contains the battery charger and cord. The power handles can drive each one of the tools directly.
There’s a video of the $369.99 Power8 Workshop in action at the first Highland link below.
This could be just the thing for smaller job sites, or if you have limited or no workshop space. What do you think? Is this a viable “workshop in a box?” Let us know in comments.
Power8 Workshop [Highland Woodworking]
Meet The Power8 Workshop [Highland Woodworking Wood News]
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
25 Responses to Hot Or Not: Power8 Portable Workshop
Leave a Reply
TM on Flickr
![RICH-CON No. 2 [shows Logo on side of plane]](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7236/7230831382_240f44f2f4_s.jpg)
Recent Comments
{ What did you do about the glass surfaces on the limbs? Did you sand and refinish them as well, and if so, what did you... } – May 22, 9:48 PM
{ The DP350 is discontinued and some people are saying it has a lot of breakdowns. What have you experienced since 2010 when you did this... } – May 22, 12:04 PM
{ Fool me twice, shame on me! Do not buy into any battery fix from Ryobi or some tool review monger. Remove the dead batteries from... } – May 22, 10:52 AM
{ He should produce it in small quantities,their is so much demand ,but little in the way of products for the disabled.A little reminder,665 confirmed child... } – May 21, 2:06 PM
{ Note the similarity to the Wilton: http://www.amazon.com/Wilton-11127-Opening-Utility-Workshop/dp/B0008JF9PO/ref=sr_1_2?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1337607288&sr=1-2 @ $100.30 Guess I'll go for the Sears. The Amazon price is beter then a lot on E-bay... } – May 21, 7:40 AM
This is a pretty nice set really, need to wait and see how tough it is for light contracting work.
I just want to know when they are going to cut it out with the stupid torch in mulitpower sets, or at least give people the option of no torch and a cheaper price!
I retract that previous comment about the torch (only in this set mind) just read this bit “We weren’t sure about the flashlight at first, until Chris showed how it can be used to illuminate your work and also for shining into awkward corners, fixed to the drillpress upright.” so great idea if you are using the saw somewhere without other lighting.
On one hand, there are no other cordless table saws, drill presses, or scroll saws on the market, at least to my knowledge. On the other hand, there’s good reason for that.
My main concern about this set is that it might be underpowered, and its seemingly mostly plastic construction doesn’t instill a sense of durability or reliability.
I wrote out a whole long critique of the Power8 workshop (link), and won’t be convinced to consider it HOT anytime soon.
Since writing about the Power8, I’ve been on the lookout for user reviews to see if I was way off track with my conclusions and opinions of it, and I haven’t found any. There are a few reviews on retailer sites here and there, but nothing on enthusiast blogs, forums, or other such sites.
After watching the video, I’m surprised I haven’t seen this in an infomercial yet. Personally I’d have to try it in person to consider buying into this system.
good concept
but I still don’t think it would be hot as said before these things have not been made cordless yet by anyone else for a good reason
and with a 1.6ah battery saws really don’t last that long if your setup as a drill press or a tables saw you plan on being there for a while if you had one hole or one cut you wouldn’t likely be looking for a drill press or table saw
Looks like what will become of Shopsmith, once the Chinese get a hold of it.
Sell the idea to Festool, let them perfect it. I have been waiting for them to come up with some idea to give them an excuse to make a full line of cordless tools, seems right up their alley.
I think this would be great for many small contractor jobs, even having a small drill press and all of your tools in one handy box is nice, People who do trim work, or even some electricians might want this to modify baseboards and drill some small holes in sockets and boxes. Even better, what about the model makers who don’t need a large tool and are cutting relatively soft materials, this may be safer and portable to take on vacation with you….or even to take to your winter/summer cabin to have some tool for repairs if necessary.
ShopMonger
This might be somewhat useful for light, non-precision work. The video showed too much tool mount flex in nearly every application. For instance, the whole reason for being of a drill press is to form repeatable, accurate, and precise holes, which is impossible with this kit. Using the tablesaw would result in a lot of scrappage, since even in the video the cut wasn’t straight.
Absent the workshop case, the design has a serious flaw: the union location for the batterypack and tool head. Unless the mating surfaces are a very close fit and strong, there will be uncontrolled movement of the tool head, leading to sloppy work.
Harbor Fright should sell this for 2/3 the price. Even then, I wouldn’t waste my money.
Interesting concept, but Not Hot.
While I feel the concept is pretty cool, the execution just isn’t “there” yet IMO.
I could see this used in certain situations where (un)packing the usual suspects could be a pain. Say trimming 2 windows out in a occupied house, etc.
Needs more “polish” and I might be interested
i’m just not seeing it. unless the battery is outstanding, i’m gonna burn through both of em on a small project in under an hour from cutting the boards, and be stuck sans driver to assemble.
i like the concept, but the impressively unsafe tool use in the video (come on, a chisel as a pry bar? and the multiple games of lets remove a finger?) makes me want to be no where near this.
if the marketing dept is so eager for a liability lawsuit by showing hazardous use, i’m not expecting the qc or general quality to be enough to hold the saw blades where they’re supposed to be when moving.
concept? hot for a home owner doing a few things.
implementation? dangerously cold.
Multi-tools must have great appeal since you see so many attempts at making them. I grew up hearing the adage to use the right tool for the job – and by doing so you have a better chance of getting the job done right, on time and safely. Folks with issues like severely limited budgets, tight space requirements and difficulties in transporting equipment might buy into the multi-tool concept. I can certainly see the appeal of a combination tool on a camping trip or when biking. But when you’re transporting your tools to the jobsite by truck – you probably have a bit more space than would require resorting to something like this – even if it would survive the jobsite or being tossed in the back of the truck. I try out a lot of new tools – to see if they can improve our performance, productivity, safety etc. I will not likely try this set – but as always I’ll keep an open mind if others try it and it gets high marks.
Can we get a separate category for comments by those who have never used a tool they are commenting on? That way we can ignore them?
Honestly, if you haven’t used the tool, your comments are not that useful.
I could see IKEA selling this to apartment dwellers, but that’s about it. The compact size would lend itself to taking up less room at the landfill.
Canadian Tire (in Canada) started to sell it around Christmas time and it’s already gone from their website. It doesn’t mean the product is no good but if it didn’t stay more than a couple months, it means either it’s not a good seller or they have problems with it.
I saw the unit and tried it (the rep was there doing demos and the tools were fully operational). I would never buy such tool even if I was a contractor or hobbyist. Too much flex in every tool and their weak NiCad battery will eventually turn this piece of junk into a nice boat anchor. Will they be still in business in a couple years when you need a new battery?
Anyone with a little bit of experience also know that making tools capable of a zillion functions often turn them into poor tool for each individual function.
Not HOT.
I haven’t used this or even heard of it before, but it definitely looks …inexpensive to put it politely.
Having been involved in retrofitting security systems, I would have liked something like this to carry in my van for the occasional time I had to fab up a piece of moulding that got broken. I have no idea whether this Power8 set is hot or not (looks cheap-ass) but I hope the concept lives on and gets improved.
Nobody else has said it, so I will: Are they trying to fool wives into buying this for hubby by coloring it the same as the Hitachi tools he has in the shop now? As a fan of DeWalt, I have often commented, when talking tools, “yellow and black” is good. I ended up with various gifts that came my way with the best of intentions simply because of their “yellow and black” coloration. Some were truly awesome but many were ready for a Billy Mayes promo.
This is a nice concept, and I am sure that, like the “slap chop” guy, Chris Elsworthy has faith in his product. But in the words of Friedrich Nietzsche,”A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything”. This offering is best left to the armchair carpenter, to set proudly gathering dust on a garage shelf. The quality of construction and weak battery pales in comparison to offerings from Dewalt and other serious toolmakers who at least attempt to meet the needs of their customers.
looks like a quick way to becoming a bass player instead of lead guitar.
I’ve had a lot of dealings with Chris Elsworthy who invented the Power8 Workshop. In fact I bumped into him at the weekend at the Gadget Show in Birmingham where he was promoting the Power8 as well as all the other new inventions he has.
I think the original Power8 Workshop Plus with the 1.7ah batteries was limited in runtime but now there is the newer Duration model with 2.6ah batteries and lithium ion versions in the pipeline this problem is solved somewhat.
It’s true, this workstation is not aimed at everyday worksite use but it is very sturdy and reliable. It’s also true that you could buy into a cheap cordless system of tools for a similar price but this does give the convenience of a lot of tools in one box.
For the record I would put this in the HOT category having used it and having seen it abused by Chris and his team at CEL Enterprises.
Neil Bruce – Toolstop
@whatsamatter
“Can we get a separate category for comments by those who have never used a tool they are commenting on? That way we can ignore them?”
Hint: You can ignore them anyway.
I’ve got the duration model as I like the concept of a portable table saw, was a bit concerned that the box can’t be clamped down for stability.
Initially used it for my wife’s “make wooden plant containers” project, went fine with that. Then I tried it on solid bamboo flooring (15mm deep pieces), cutting along the edge (90cm) fails after cutting half piece – battery runs out! why? too much friction in the system coming from two main areas – friction from the guide rail, and friction from the secondary shield’s metal bit (had to manually take the whole shield off) – tried to cut without both the guide and the shield still not good. I had to resurrect my corded jigsaw
for the person who doesn’t have any tools, space is limited, use for small & inaccurate jobs = good (all the tools fit into the box!). for the bigger projects, it’s a no no.
Concept is excellent, but it should really have an option to use the tools from a mains power source, as I’m sure every owner will eventually be frustrated when the battery runs out and there is a mains source nearby. also realising after paying £££ this set won’t help complete the job (esp when you can buy a corded tool for less £) – I’ve even thought of cutting the internal power cable to make an adapter switch to mains (I may do that).
For the flooring project I need to take a door off and cut it, I don’t think the power8 will do this time…
re: cutting the bamboo flooring – the 2 problems were
#1 friction causing the battery to run out very quickly, and
#2 the battery running out (mains option would be nice)
@Tak
I am pretty sure you could plug the cord to the power source and charge the unit while still using it. Wont that solve the problem?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEAndYwdivg&p=191DADEEDFFD8C27&index=3
watch it at 2:32 minute where the unit could still be operated while charging.