favorite / least favorite brand of tools
 

Which brands that you've used do you truly like or dislike? I know there are a lot of Ryobi haters out there and Black & Decker haters. I'm interested in seeing how many casual vs hard-core handymen have a strong opinion on brands.

I'm not one to hate Ryobi or B&D, but they're really designed for the do-it-yourselfer, not for the daily abuse a professional would put it through. As for my favorite, it depends on the type of tool. Overall, I'd have to say Bosch, but if the same tool made by Milwaukee or Makita is cheaper I'd probably go for the savings. Some brands you couldn't pay me to take would include Pro-Tech, Campbell Hausfeld (air tools) and Wen.

I agree, it really depends on the use. When I worked in daily in construction it better be the name brand so it lasts. Now that all I do is work around the house (and have 2 kids so not much $$ to spend on tools) using the lower end tools work fine if you are willing to live with the minor issues.

Most hated would be King Canada and skill
Most liked King Industrial, Makita Porter-cable.

For woodworking, I recently bought a mortising drill press and a tennoning jig (for my table saw) made by Steel City - a made in China brand. I'm generally opposed to anything made in China, purely for quality reasons, but I gotta say I'm impressed with these two.

Anything that is made by harbor freight is an abomination

Correction: Anything imported by harbor freight is an abonimation. :D

Addition/change to that... "Anything imported by Harbor Freight may be an abonimation but have a specific useful one-time or limited use."

No one will ever convince me that my set of six brass drifts from Harbor Freight I bought on sale for $6.99 was a bad deal. I couldn't have rebuilt my transmission without them!

The key is- Be VERY careful what you buy from them!

I found an interesting thread on Weldingweb called "tools from Harbor Freight that don't suck".

http://www.weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=3165

I think we'd all agree that their tools are not high quality, but what about when you just need something light duty for a short time? For instance I bought a diamond blade wet saw to do a bath renovation for about $50 - less than I could rent it for. It worked out just great for me. I also bought a 4 1/2 inch grinder for $15. Heck, if it worked for one hour I'd be happy, and so far it seems just fine.

This might be an interesting subject to explore since the welders site concentrated on metal working tools.

With the flooding of tool Manufactures I think home work is vital to good purchases and know matter where you buy they all have good and bad..