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I'm a big fan of DeWalt power tools.

I have a DeWalt DW705 12-inch compound miter saw that does pretty much everything I need to do.

I also have a DW929 18v and a DW730 14.5v drill.

One of the things I really like about DeWalt is that there is a DeWalt service center nearby and I can always get parts for anything that wears out or I break. Batteries are always in stock, too. The only thing I've managed to break was the kerf plate on the saw, and that was my own fault. And the only thing that has worn out was a set of brushes in the 18v drill after about 15 years. Took me about 30 minutes to tear the drill down and replace the brushes. That'll keep the drill going for another 15 years.

My favorite power tool? Would a 10X40 South Bend lathe count? If so, that would be my favorite power tool...

uh...other than that...I don't have any power tools that really stand out to me.

I had a few cheaper drill motors that I broke in some sort of wat quickly. I finally paid about $175 and bought a Milwakee 3/8" 'Holeshooter" varialbe speed drill motor. I don't think I will ever break this tool and it has worked flawlessly from the first screw driven with it five years ago. I don't think I will eveer have to buy another drill motor because this one broke. The price was high but it will pay off in the long run.

Black and Decker now have a new line of drills, both cord and cordless, that are very good, very reliable, and easy to use with collar chucks instead of the chucks that need an old-fashioned chuck key, and with torque and speed adjustments so you can match your drilling/screwing needs to your project. I managed to get one of each on sale as a pair at a local home store a couple of years ago and they have serviced all of my home project & repair needs in yeoman fashion.

Delta makes a line of small power tools for woodworking shop: table saw, drill press, band saw, etc. The table saw is alright for lighter work, although it starts to reach its limit when ripping 2X lumber. The drill press is good, but the band saw is not up to the task. I haven't tried their other offerings.

Anything Craftsman now makes is good, and has a good return policy. Not the famous "unlimited" warranty of some of their basic hand tools, but a good return policy nonetheless.

I don't have any experience with the more "industrial" brands, like Makita, Ryobi, etc., but some of them used to have better ergonomics than other brands; but I don't know about durability.

As a factor of price vs performance Ryobia wins my business almost every time, especially the 18v battery stuff. Fantastic performance for several years now.

Craftsman, Ryobi, Ridgid, and Mikwaukee cordless tools are all manufactured by TTI, a Hong Kong based outfit that is the parent of Dirt Devil and now also the new parent of Hoover.

iiipopes wrote: I don't have any experience with the more "industrial" brands, like Makita, Ryobi, etc., but some of them used to have better ergonomics than other brands; but I don't know about durability.

Please, friends do not let friends buy Ryobi!
Do not confuse them with anything remotely "industrial" or commercial. If you use one 3 times a year around the house, you could make a case for spending a small amount of money [think deep sale] on one, but if you intend to actually use a tool, let it be something else.
I use tools every day as a carpenter, often in hard use; I never buy cheap stuff unless in an emergency just to get through a day or two. Buy the best you can afford if you really intend to use tools on a regular basis. If you only occasionally use tools, buy something medium grade, not the cheapest house brand, nor the truly professional ones, either.So many tools are labeled "professional", but the price will always give the pretenders away. Plastic internals are not what you need if you are going to work a tool enough to pay for itself.
Porter-Cable, Bosch, most Milwaukee, the better Dewalt, and, surprisingly, the higher-end Panasonic stuff---all are brands you can hardly go wrong on. You need to find something that fits both your hand and your purpose.

Probably not the kind of tools you had in mind but ...

Grizzly is running a pretty good sale on MIG welders for the summer. I got the big one. I haven't done a lot of welding with it, but so far it's doing OK. Nice, stable arc. I even got a tolerable weld once when I forgot to turn on the gas. Good quality gun with heavy, 10-foot cable. Probably a rebranded version of one of the well known brands or comes from the same manufacturer.

Weldfabulous.com seems to have the best price on cylinders as long as your local supply isn't too snooty to fill them.

Harborfreight has a steal of a deal going on a "refurbished" (i.e. repackaged) 110 amp, 230 volt wire feed welder. I use it for flux core welding. Lately I've been doing a lot of major straightening, patching, reinforcing, and rebuilding on the 12 year old Craftsman lawn tractor (probably Yard Machines / MTD) which is literally falling apart. I've used the flux core box for that since it's pretty tolerant of welding on dirty stuff, and it's doing a good job. Drawback is the short, 6-foot cable; kinda cheesy gun, but it's working OK so far. Flux core makes lots of spatter, smoke, and general crud to clean up, but it's convenient.

I haven't fired up the old stick welder for quite a while now that I've started messing with wire feed.

I don't know if Black and Decker still makes the 15-amp Wildcat angle grinder. I got mine about 30 years ago. If they still make it like they used to, it's definitely commercial grade. Heavy too. It'll wear you out.

SplatterTone wrote: I don't know if Black and Decker still makes the 15-amp Wildcat angle grinder. I got mine about 30 years ago. If they still make it like they used to, it's definitely commercial grade. Heavy too. It'll wear you out.

I rather doubt that B and D makes anything nowadays tha even remotely could be described as "commercial". Mostly just junk. I have a B and D 1/2" single-speed drill that belonged to my father [he died in 1961!!] and to date has never been serviced and will pull your shoulder out of joint with the torque. I work it pretty much every day.

deWalt drills, and reciprocating saw. Just bought a compound mitre saw; we'll see how that works. Love the upgrade from a 9 volt Makita to a 18 volt DeWalt.

goodgigs wrote:OK Wade, [snip]

So now to the unbelievable part; you don’t have to replace the batteries ever.
The now out of fashion NiCad batteries on your drill will NEVER WARE OUT I swear. It is a lie that they do!
When they won't take a charge anymore they aren't chemically done at all. They are mechanically clogged.
You can recondition them at home for nothing! There at least two ways but they booth have to do with dispersing the Crestline structure that clogs their electrical pathways.
After you recondition them, they will be better then new as they need no break in.
It is estimated they could be used daily under professional conditions for twenty years before they would really be unzappable.

There was once a much better video on this subject but this is all I could find tonight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzIlVLOH9XI" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

Brian, could this be the link you were looking for?:

Revive Nicad Batteries by Zapping with a Welder

In doing barn/farm work I've learned a LOT about tools and how hard my father is on them . We have 3 DeWalt 18 Volt drills, All of which still work. The oldest one is a bit slower than the other two drills, the three are all different models because each are new and improved versions of themselves. All three have been used as hammers and run through a gauntlet. The newest is from fathers day and has a nifty light so you can see your screws or whatever in lower light situations. My only complaint: you cannot turn the little light off, that seems superfluous at times. We also have a few Mikita circular saws that have had their cords cut off and such that still work great! Another good Mikita tool is an old cordless drill that has fallen into a pool a few times and still works decently. Not a big fan of Black&Decker, we tend to break them quickly here.

I have also had a poor experience with a Ryobi cordless drill. I replaced it with a B & D "Firestorm" (made by DeWalt per the tool guy at Lowe's) that seems to be doing well. I also have a 15 year old B & D corded drill that will not die.

[rant] Once one finds a make and model of something one likes these days, it is frequently hard to buy it again or recommend it to others since almost every company is now in the business of constantly reinventing themselves and their product line to satisfy the fickle buying public they helped create. Also many models made even by mainstream manufacturers are made specifically for certain big box stores and cannot be found elsewhere, discourages true comparison shopping.[/rant]

Eric

Bah! Acquired yesterday afternoon:



Label says Ingersoll Rand / Millers Falls, so it would be after '62, when Ingersoll Rand bought up the old and somewhat feeble Millers Falls - after deal to buy Black & Decker fell through at the last minute. These saws were expensive but sold fairly well up through the '70s. Works great!

scottw wrote: Please, friends do not let friends buy Ryobi!
Do not confuse them with anything remotely "industrial" or commercial. If you use one 3 times a year around the house, you could make a case for spending a small amount of money [think deep sale] on one, but if you intend to actually use a tool, let it be something else.

QED

scottw wrote:Porter-Cable, Bosch, most Milwaukee, the better Dewalt, and, surprisingly, the higher-end Panasonic stuff---all are brands you can hardly go wrong on.

bloke wrote:DeWalt bound

So, how do you know the better DeWalt, from the worse DeWalt? It's not like it was a decade or two ago, right? where they were pretty much all heavy duty tools aimed at the pro market.

bloke wrote:DeWalt bound

So, how do you know the better DeWalt, from the worse DeWalt? It's not like it was a decade or two ago, right? where they were pretty much all heavy duty tools aimed at the pro market.[/quote]

There are several models [from Dewalt, as well as other brands] that are produced expressly for the big-box home centers and not available from tool supply/ lumber yards [real ones!]/ supply houses. These are the ones you are advised staying away from if you are going to use these tools everyday for a living. Think plastic parts instead of metal, gimmicks instead of functionality, poorer batteries, etc.There are a few companies which do not make special models for this market, but I have forgotten which are which.I am pretty sure Bosch is one of them--they are nice tools.

Donn wrote:

Looks just like the one I used in Wood Shop in Junior High, circa 1984. I probably learned more there than in almost any other class in school. FWIW, a few years later I got the urge and bought a mitre saw at Sears or Channel (remember them?) that wasn't nearly half as good.

Donn wrote:

Makes me wonder about how much progress we are making as a society when we buy cheap crap (like Ryobi drills) over and over instead of nice things (like this obviously well-constructed saw) once or twice.

The beer bottle is a nice touch...

Eric "disposable society" L.

WakinAZ wrote: Makes me wonder about how much progress we are making as a society when we buy cheap crap (like Ryobi drills) over and over instead of nice things (like this obviously well-constructed saw) once or twice.

The beer bottle is a nice touch...

Eric "disposable society" L.

I don't know that this has as much to do with cheap crap as it does with people not caring for the items they purchase (cheap or otherwise). My Dad always chose the more thrifty option when it came to power equipment and tools but, with proper care, the lifespan of that stuff has been unbelievable. The weedwacker I use to this day is one that he bought at K-Mart over 20 years ago. For the first 8 or 10 years that thing was around it was used to clear a trail approx. 8' wide and 1/4 mile long. To this day it starts on the first or second pull... even after sitting in the shed all winter. Most of his stuff has a similar story. When I was first out on my own, I decided to take the alternate path of spending the money to buy quality stuff. I still remember him chuckling and shaking his head with some of the items I bought and I still appreciate his simple 'yes' when I would have to borrow something from him because mine was broken. From it, I take away the valuable lesson of more $$$ isn't always better. Now, like he always did, I typically find the most cost effective item that fits my needs. It has saved me a lot of money and frustration. Of course it also means that I no longer expect my 3/8" cordless drill to perform like a 1/2" plug-in. Whether you're talking about a tool, a car, or a person, unmet expectations are often times the result of unreasonable expectations to begin with.

And yes, the beer bottle is a very nice touch.

WakinAZ wrote: Makes me wonder about how much progress we are making as a society when we buy cheap crap (like Ryobi drills) over and over instead of nice things (like this obviously well-constructed saw) once or twice.

The beer bottle is a nice touch...

The bottle was for scale, but may also serve as a reminder - power tools and alcohol don't mix! (So who needs power tools!)

Time will tell, maybe this saw will do it for me, maybe it's just the latest piece of junk. The main care and maintenance item for this thing is sharpening that big backsaw, and I'm not going to use this one to learn to sharpen saws, so hopefully will be able to get that done when needed for not much more than the cost of the whole thing. Then I'll feel like I have left the disposable society behind.

Looks like previous owner(s) barely used it.