You make a good case for the China grade stuff from Bargain Supply or Harbor
Freight. Ugly, noisy, but effective. Examples that I'm happy with are my
4" grinder -- $8 dollars, dies only when really abused (I leaned a piece of
newly welded, still hot, steel against the cord). Set of 18 volt cordless
devices -- $130, crude and hard to adjust, but compare to $400 for Ryobi.
(I have both in the 18 volt drill manifestation. The Ryobi is elegant and
its clutch works better. Both are quite effective in making holes and
driving screws. I don't keep adequate records, but it seems like the Ryobi
batteries failed faster.)

When I buy the brand name, I'm unhappy nearly as often. Dewalt put a bad
casting in my biscuit jointer and then refused to admit that such could
happen. It took many hours of filing and shimming before the slot was
parallel to the edge of the timber.

My Porter Cable saw has the blade on the left (my ill-informed choice) so I
have to wear a face mask to keep the chips out of my face.

Roger

http://home.earthlink.net/~derbyrm
"Kevin Brooker" wrote in message
...


You might want to consider "industrial" grade tools (yes, B&D makes them
too). True, they cost more than "homeowner" grade but they die only
infrequently...

If you buy good contractor grade tools they will last a lot longer and
they can be fixed. DO NOTbuy brand name tools at the big discount
houses (Home Cheapo, Lows, etc) . Milwalkee, DeWalt, Makita, and other
name brands produce a grade of tool specifically for these places and
you can't get parts. The gears and bearings are not the usual parts in
the industrial grade tools. Most of these sub standard tools have the
model number as XXXHD for the Depot model. I found this out the hard
way when I went to get a few tool repaied after the gears blew out and
the motor started to buzz due to worn bearings.