The power tool thread.

[Bill Douglas]

John, with the 1970 911T, go me thinking...

What a fantastic tool my little Ryobi table saw is. I bought it to make replacement floor boards fit during a renovation. And have used it endless times since.

[Scott Douglas]

This post got me to thinking about some of my tools, Bill.
My brother just recently (like two days ago) returned my Saws-all to me. I'd taken it up to his place a long time ago to help build stuff up there. I bought it way back when I wanted to take down an old shed in the back yard. Now the replacement shed is ready to be torn down but I can't do it 'cause it's full of stuff now.
I've used the saw on everything from cutting pipe to cutting plant roots on bushes we've taken out. Nothing beats burying a blade deep in the dirt and having at that last root that still has the bush stuck to the earth.
I really came to appreciate the new 'chop' saw my brother had the foresight to buy when he moved. He must have known he'd be cutting a lot of lumber. I had fun doing that when we built his mezzanine in the big shop.

[john70t]

(copied and edited from another thread)
New table saw (from Lowes) I haven't used yet.

I like my neighbors but don't want to look into their houses. I need to rip 2x4s (mortise/tenon with a center holding groove) and make a wood picture frame to attach to the back deck arbor. The 32"W x 48"H decorative panels will go inside.
There didn't seem to be any non-wood trim options available.
(I spaced out on the panel dimensions when ordering those in person. Maybe I'd been looking at too many of those smaller 24"W x 32"H panels online.)

The end result will be a tighter fit and a very different look than what I originally wanted. Oh well...

This thing rolls around outside and folds flat to store in my New Yankee Workshop garage. NOT!
It cost $325 versus the $600 similar styles and is meant for occasional use. That yellow paint brand says "steal me" anyways. Almost all of the store floor models were broken in some way, and even the pricey ones were somewhat rickety and wouldn't lock the fence down or adjust easily. You have to try it out like you are really using it.

Neither store had Porter Cable/Rigid/Ryobi/other brands.
Despite so much custom building and various materials required nowadays both the stores selection was quite poor.

I'd hate to be a Pro...and stuck with no options available.

[Zeke]

Now you're talkin' to the master. Tools have been my life. I don't have a Snap-O box full of snappy tools — I'm not about branding. Whatever gets the job done well makes it easy for me to choose tools from all makes. I wouldn't buy a HF sander under any circumstances, mainly FessTool (expensive!), but if I needed a toe kick saw for one job, HF here I come. They do work. For how long, IDK.

That's half the point. Buy a good tool to last, but buy a tool that is appropriate for the up coming jobs in the near future. My highest quality tools are the ones I use almost daily. I'm not much of a plumber so I don't care who made my pipe wrench (a crude tool anyway, to say the least).

While we are on the subject, there is no reason whatsoever to own an air compressor so loud that you can't carry on a conversation in normal tones in the same room where it's running. i should put that in the pet peeve thread.

That goes for a lot of other tools. When my Unisaw is running it's almost hard to hear it with no load from across the room. I could walk away leaving it running and it wouldn't bother me to talk on the phone. If the dust collector is running I have to look at the saw to see if it's on.

Haven't found a quiet router yet. Nor chop saw. Nevertheless, mine are excellent for what they do (with perfect blades).

[herr_oberst]

The Porter Cable 690 Router. Good machine, smooth and powerful, from the best Porter Cable years. Norm Abrams had a "draw' full of 'em, and that was good enough for me.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

The Porter Cable 690 Router. Good machine, smooth and powerful, from the best Porter Cable years. Norm Abrams had a "draw' full of 'em, and that was good enough for me.

True. There are better soft start models out now though. That would be my next if any of my 3 PC's dies like the one model 1001 (7/8ths HP round top) did went it exploded in a blue flame in my hands. Now I have the 690 and the 3 1/4 HP one plus a trim router. All PC.

BTW, Norm had a bunch of 1001's too, IIRC.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by Zeke

True. There are better soft start models out now though. That would be my next if any of my 3 PC's dies like the one model 1001 (7/8ths HP round top) did went it exploded in a blue flame in my hands. Now I have the 690 and the 3 1/4 HP one plus a trim router. All PC.

BTW, Norm had a bunch of 1001's too, IIRC.

A router motor for every cutter profile!

[herr_oberst]

I'd get this if I needed a new router: 5616 2 1/4 hp.

[gtc]

Those are pretty neat. Adam Savage featured them on his Favorite tools youtube show a while back.

[rusnak]

+1 on Uncle Milty being the tool master. He can be a grumpy old coot, but he absolutely is the carpentry master, no two ways about it.

[Bill Douglas]

Recently I bought the BIG sized Makita angle grinder for one particular job. As it turns out I've used it for lots of things. It's heavy, but makes up for that by being powerful. What I like about it is the cut off disks are thicker and don't fly to bits at high speed like the little ones do. I was doing a job with pavers and it was ripping though them with a diamond encrusted toothed disk from Bosch. No water needed too which made me feel safer.

[LWJ]

Cordless drill. Have deWalt now. Most used tool I own.

[john70t]

Always have an extra 1/4" and 1/2" roundover bit for the router.

[ted]

Stubby impact for lug nuts.

[1990C4S]

Cordless impact driver. I could not get by without it. 1/4" hex, and 1/2" 300 ft-lb. I need both.