Milwaukee
Power tools · Last assessed 6/9/2026
Score breakdown
Why this grade
Milwaukee publishes complete Service Parts List bulletins with exploded views and operator's manuals as free public PDFs (documents.milwaukeetool.com), and parts are obtainable via After-Sales Service (1.800.SAWDUST), authorized service centers, and third parties. Batteries are cell-rebuildable. Score is held back by ONE-KEY 'Tool Lockout,' an owner-controlled software feature that can remotely render smart tools inoperable (and has caused reported random lockouts), complicating secondhand resale and self-service; it is anti-theft rather than parts-pairing DRM, so the software penalty is moderate.
Methodology & version
Five dimensions — parts availability, schematic access, repairability, OEM pricing, and software freedom — are scored 0–100 and weighted equally; the letter grade is the average (A 90–100, B 80–89, C 70–79, D 60–69, F below 60). This assessment is current as of 6/9/2026 and cites its sources below. It covers the Power tools category and is not a claim about every device the maker ships.