Ptt-Guitars Posted October 7, 2005 Report Share Posted October 7, 2005 Hey people, with the massive influx of cheap, crappy, un-accurate and un-preditable power tools, what are us n00b's to do? Shall we save and buy quality (in anticipation that the instrument building bug has bitten and theres no medicine) or shall we buy cheap because in the long run theres not really anything wrong with them? Great to hear what other builders think, especially from a broad range of proffesionals to begginers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_A_T_T Posted October 7, 2005 Report Share Posted October 7, 2005 That's a very limited list. What about Delta, Rigid, Hitachi, Porter Cable, Craftsman..... Even some of the good names have weak areas, some make a good router, but another makes a better drill, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarGuy Posted October 7, 2005 Report Share Posted October 7, 2005 Hey people, with the massive influx of cheap, crappy, un-accurate and un-preditable power tools, what are us n00b's to do? Shall we save and buy quality (in anticipation that the instrument building bug has bitten and theres no medicine) or shall we buy cheap because in the long run theres not really anything wrong with them? Great to hear what other builders think, especially from a broad range of proffesionals to begginers! ← I'd rather have a cheaper tool than no tool. If it breaks replace it with a better one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptt-Guitars Posted October 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2005 That's a very limited list. What about Delta, Rigid, Hitachi, Porter Cable, Craftsman..... Even some of the good names have weak areas, some make a good router, but another makes a better drill, etc. ← Thats why I posted this poll, to collaborate peoples ideas and knowledge. Before you attempt to shred what I'm saying, add in what you think, tell us what you know about which brand etc: The idea is for everyone to say their two-bob so all of us can learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted October 7, 2005 Report Share Posted October 7, 2005 Festool's probably one of the best tools out there, but they also cost almost twice as much as most tools out there. If you can afford them, great. For 'normal humans', I'd feel safe buying most anything DeWalt, Bosch professional series tools (the blue ones, not the green ones), and for routers at least Porter Cable has me pretty much convinced, with their 690 and 310 production lam trim (but you can't get these in Europe). For most of these guys, I'm largely talking routers and orbital sanders, hand drills if you must. Stationary tools are a completely different story, I feel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptt-Guitars Posted October 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2005 I was having a look over the tools I have in the shed and the main ones which are still kicking after 20 odd years are "Black and Decker". It now has me thinking about the quality of their tools these days, it seems they sold out to quantity over quality like most other companies (I may be wrong). I also realised another thing, many of the tools the US gets are branded the same but manufactured at different locations to us here in Australia. That means it could have been made in China and a badge made in your country stuck on it and the campanie then claims its made in US or Australia. One good example is last year a group of us went to Cambodia to build a dormitory for students at a free university, anyway the hammers which we bought over there were claimed to be made in the US but as soon as we hit a nail the heads broke off (crappy casting) Another good story, we got to the stage of laying the floorboards and we asked one of the Cambodians where the wood for them was, he replied "wood still on tree" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_A_T_T Posted October 8, 2005 Report Share Posted October 8, 2005 (edited) I've had good experiences with my Craftsman 3.5HP router, though most people seem to knock 'em. It's a big, heavy, powerful beast which I found to be abit awkward to use free hand, so it now lives in my router table. I now use a Dewalt 2 1/4HP plunge/fixed base router. It's great, enough power, small, light weight, low center of gravity. I have a Craftsman benchtop belt/disc sander that's a workhorse. It was my first 'major' tool purchase years ago. Never had problems with it. All my Delta tools so far are great EXCEPT for thier crappy little bench-top jointer. I tried using it on my current project a while ago and the results were poor enough to make me buy a hand plane and use that. I've always found the fence to be way to weak and rikidy, actaully moves as I send wood through. I don't personally care for Mastercraft power tools, a Canadian brand. I have a Mastercraft lathe that I burnt out the motor on TURNING PENS! I was given a replacement for free and this one is starting to go. However, their C-clamps are awesome. Extremely tough and heavy duty. Veritas tools from Lee Valley - expensive but worth every penny. I have two of their handplanes and they are amazing. Will be getting more soon. I may think of more. Edited October 8, 2005 by M_A_T_T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted October 8, 2005 Report Share Posted October 8, 2005 Craftsman tools are great for most people. Most of the hand power tools are made by either Black and Decker or Ryobi and the bench and stationary tools are mostly Delta now. Buy the protection agreement with the tools and never worry about using a router as a hammer again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted October 8, 2005 Report Share Posted October 8, 2005 I'm an advocate of cheap tools for beginners. And here's why: there's a learning curve with handling tools. But in the early period, the tool is likely to suffer a lot of abuse. Now, do you want to abuse a $200 router or a $20 router? Now, once you've progressed to a level a proficiency where you no longer make all of the mistakes that will damage and destroy the tool, AND you plan on using the tool very often, THEN buy yourself quality. I'm speaking from experience here --since I started my guitar building project (with absolutely no woodworking experience) I've broken two (oldish) drills and a jigsaw! And my router's due for a replacement too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_A_T_T Posted October 8, 2005 Report Share Posted October 8, 2005 I'm speaking from experience here --since I started my guitar building project (with absolutely no woodworking experience) I've broken two (oldish) drills and a jigsaw! And my router's due for a replacement too... How exactly? I've only ever broken tools because they were cheap.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted October 8, 2005 Report Share Posted October 8, 2005 How exactly? I've only ever broken tools because they were cheap.... ← We're talking Bosch and AEG here... But it's because I was forcing them, trying to make them do things they're not supposed to, etc. etc. Of course, not everyone jumps right in and starts abusing the hell out of things, but I'm sure there are other beginners like me...too damned eager and impatient... As for breaking cheap tools...well I bought two drills for 9 euros a piece. I'm using them one at a time. So far so good, the drill works, it does what it's supposed to do. Now that I know how to be a bit more gentle, there's no reason why it won't work for a while more. But if it breaks...big deal....the days when you expected a product to last forever have been over for 30 years now.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptt-Guitars Posted October 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2005 How exactly? I've only ever broken tools because they were cheap.... ← ...So far so good, the drill works, it does what it's supposed to do. Now that I know how to be a bit more gentle, there's no reason why it won't work for a while more. But if it breaks...big deal....the days when you expected a product to last forever have been over for 30 years now.... ← Alright so were not just talking the lifespan of the tool but the quality and the efficiency that it does the job. Sure most tools have a limited lifespan and thats to be expected these days, but id rather pay the money and know that the tools not gonna chew my work to pieces or make an innaccurate cut. Though with a bit of care whos to say a topoftheline tool can't last as long??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_A_T_T Posted October 8, 2005 Report Share Posted October 8, 2005 Another thing, if you must use cheap tools, use good cutters (router & drill bits, bandsaw & tablesaw blades, etc): Cheap tool + cheap cutter = poor, inaccurate cuts Cheap tool + good cutter = cleaner, more accurate cuts Cheap cutters aren't sharpened properly, enough or equally on both sides. Cheap bandsaw blades will wander and dull quickly. Cheap tablesaw blades will give you rough, inaccurate cuts. Cheap abrasives will dull quickly and belts will even break prematurely. Cheap router bits will give you rough cuts, and can actually shatter when in use, be aware.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted October 8, 2005 Report Share Posted October 8, 2005 Another thing, if you must use cheap tools, use good cutters (router & drill bits, bandsaw & tablesaw blades, etc): ← I wholeheartedly agree on this one --all my bits are high quality carbide stuff. I quickly discovered the real problem with cheap bits --they break really fast...luckily I discovered this while I was using the vacuum cleaner attachment, so the bit did not go flying into my chest.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkey96692000 Posted October 13, 2005 Report Share Posted October 13, 2005 Dewalt is the best i think. but if you want good quality for not the most expensive price, and Ryobi is a very good company. Ryobi is sold at Home Depot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnewman Posted October 14, 2005 Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 It's possible that Dewalt gives you the best quality for the money, but in terms of best quality period I'd have to go with Bosch, I think (or maybe Porter Cable, depending on type of tool). For "hand" tools anyway - floor tools are a different matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptt-Guitars Posted October 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 Dewalt is the best i think. but if you want good quality for not the most expensive price, and Ryobi is a very good company. Ryobi is sold at Home Depot ← Yea you say that Ryobi has good quality for price, but thats a different story here in Aus . Ryobi sucks**** I have a Ryobi cordless drill, its totally gutless and the battery lasts for about five minutes, its only about 6 months old. When you guys mention porta-cable etc, I have no idea what your talking about, those brands dont exist over here, I guess its all relative to where you live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted October 14, 2005 Report Share Posted October 14, 2005 When you guys mention porta-cable etc, I have no idea what your talking about, those brands dont exist over here, I guess its all relative to where you live. ← I've only ever seen/heard of Porter Cable in the US. There's a german company I forget the name of that is owned by them, apparently make good tools, but again, never seen any in the actual shops. Blue Bosch and DeWalt still get my votes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CudBucket Posted October 17, 2005 Report Share Posted October 17, 2005 What about Grizzly? That's another quality tool you've left off your list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptt-Guitars Posted October 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2005 What about Grizzly? That's another quality tool you've left off your list. ← I've never seen Grizzly here in Australia, its probably not the best poll to put up on an international site! Might just have to get a grasp of certain tools for each country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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