Trade tools of the building industry.

[twoton]

I try to buy only the tools I need, because there's usually more than one way to skin a cat. That being said, when I do buy, I try to find reviews first. Even though I don't spend a lot of money. I'm also a home DIYer, so I don't need the same caliber of tool that a professional does.

I've been seeing more positive reviews about Harbor Freight tools lately. Used to be the advice about HF was to buy one if you only need it for one job. E.g., an HF laminate trimmer would be fine if you only need it to last through your kitchen remodel.

Lately, though, I've been spending a little more on tools because you're better off not even buying a lot of the cheaper ones these days.

I have an 8" DeWalt sliding compound miter saw that works like a charm for me. And I recently bought a cordless Ryobi drill/hammer drill--first cordless tool I bought in years because in my past experiences they were crap. I like this one though. It has the One+ battery.

I burned through a Craftsman router (1/4" collet) and bought a Porter Cable (1/4" and 1/2" collets) a few years ago that works really well for me.

For table saws---I'm on my second low-end Craftsman. It's an older model of this one: http://www.sears.com/craftsman-evol...SellerId=Sears&prdNo=5&blockNo=5&blockType=G5 Mine has a table that extends outward to 30", though.

Why the low-end Craftsman saws? Because they're accurate enough if you take your time and they're lightweight. I can carry it in and out of the house--I do most of my table saw work outside where dust and noise don't matter. Let's face it, a Grizzly hybrid would be a dream, maybe, but I don't have room for one, and wouldn't be able to move it out into my backyard when the weather is nice.

And I have a Craftsman circular saw, low-end, that's probably close to 20 years old. I beat the crap out of it hoping to be able to upgrade, and the damn thing won't give up on me.

I do tend to use more moderately priced blades instead of the blades that come with the saws, which might make a difference in their performance and longevity. I buy Freud Diablo blades.

 

[Shepardson]

I've been seeing more positive reviews about Harbor Freight tools lately. Used to be the advice about HF was to buy one if you only need it for one job. E.g., an HF laminate trimmer would be fine if you only need it to last through your kitchen remodel.

They have a lot of hidden gems, but it's one of those names that people aren't allowed to have any respect for regardless of what they offer. It's often mass produced import tooling built to a price point, but half of the better stuff out there is too. It does feel like they may be sourcing things from a few different places though. My mini lathe came from them, and a mill a couple years later, both of which have sort of a cult following online. The parent company for most of their machine tools sells to fifty different brands, so you're getting the same exact machine with a different paint job for substantially less, and you can drive it across town and return it if anything's wrong. The bright orange hand-held power tools (Chicago Electric), on the other hand, are built scary cheap from what I can tell. I've got a few here just out of curiosity. I've also got that trim router you mention and it's done well for roundovers and stuff. The body's nice looking but the base is cracker jack shit. That said, it was 29 dollars or something, and the big names are closer to 100 (much more for the kits). BTW, if you ever want a good cheap trim router, there's something called a "Performax" which is said to be a rebranded Makita and is parts compatible with it. People in the router forums like it. It goes on sale at some weird big box store that we don't have here for forty bucks or something. I'll probably grab one if I run into it.

Regarding checking the reviews, one cool thing about HF is that they seem to do very little to filter or censor the ones on their own site (aside from profanity maybe), so if you look at one of the duds, you'll have all these comments like "Don't even waste your money, this thing is a piece of plastic crap. It broke the first time I ran it and the replacement they gave me did the same thing." Some of the larger home stores will have almost nothing with less than four stars, and from what I read, many suspect that a lot of the positives are "planted".

Take Care