I was in Home Depot today and stopped by the tool area. When I was leavingI noticed the full lineup of Ridge brand tools were on display. Tablesaw,bandsaw, planer, jointer, etc. They all had lots of orange on them. Thetablesaw had a cast iron top and orange legs. Not too bad, but the bandsawwas a dull orange. Gosh it was ugly.Overall, the tools are probably not all that bad of a deal, but to me, thecolor is just plain ugly. I'd not have one in my shop. I like the Ridgidsander that I have, but it is gray, not orange like the new ones.Not to just rag on HD, I don't like the color of Makita tools either. Theyare a good tool, but I just don't like the color and I've never consideredbuying anything of that brand. Ryobi is a mediocre tool, but I do have acouple of the cordless ones and I do like the dark blue color.I have both PC and DeWalt ROS, but I tend to grab the DeWalt first. The PCgray is OK, but sort of bland. Performance of both is about equal.The marketing guys at Home Depot should have talked to me before makingfinal decision on the pukey color. Bet they could sell a lot more tools ifthey re-painted them.Ed

Ed, I have Makita tools and I could care less what color they are as long as they work as well as Makita tools do. :) My tool buying decisions have NOTHING to do with the color. It's ergonomics, features, weight, etc., that gets me interested in a particular tool. And I don't stick with one brand, although I have lots of Porter Cable tools. I love my Unisaw and the DP is fine too, but I'm not too excited by all the other gray tools they sell. I don't usually buy Ryobi, but I'm perfectly happy with their OSS. I have some of their hand tools and could say with near certainty that I'd not buy any more of theirs. I've had clunkers like the 4 1/2" orbital sander.So, to summarize, there are factors that drive my buying decisions but COLOR doesn't make the list.When I buy a car, I am particular about the color, but that isn't much of an issue as each make comes in lots of colors, as opposed to woodworking tools.(You could always break out a spray can of your favorite color and repaint...

Does tool color matter?

Apr 04, 2004 23 Replies

Rate this thread:

Jay 22 years ago

All things remaining equal (Performance, ergonomics, etc) I go for the bright colored hand powered tools. For me its a visibility thing. Take for example building a fence. If you are using a Hitachi drill and leave it on the grass while you get more pickets, you might have to search for it a bit. Same thing with PC on concrete. The same drill in Dewalt Yellow screams "Here I am!"

I also go for bright with garden tools. The orange-handled spade shovel I have is less likely to rust out in the yard or be eaten by the lawn mower like my wife's green-handled hand shovels.

Full-sized tools? Who cares! If I trip on them or can't find them I have bigger problems to deal with. Also, they won't even fit under a lawn mower, so that's not a concern. :)

Hey, that makes me wonder.. How come there are no Gas-powered table saws ;) 3HP Unisaw? Bah, I've got a 7HP Tecumseh!

Vote

Mortimer Schnerd, RN 22 years ago

It's a conspiracy to sell generators to contractors. If you'd only wear your tin foil with the shiny side out, you'd know this.

Vote

Edwin Pawlowski 22 years ago

I'm sure a lot of it comes down to personal preference in colors, but I'm not an orange fan either. At least not THAT much orange.

The problem in my area is a lack of other stores. We do have a couple of independents but they don't always have what I need or are not open after

3:00 on Saturday. HD is saturated. To reach a Lowes, I have to pass at least two HD's in any direction and travel a minimum of 35 miles. They also manage to put a lot of decent smaller chains out of business. Ed snipped-for-privacy@snet.net

formatting link

Vote

Fred the Red Shirt 22 years ago

I'm reminded of the electrician on one of the home improvement shows who painted all her tools pink. She said that she didn't have a problem with them disappearing.

Vote

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required