Psychology of a woodworker

[Lazarus Long]

Thought you guys would like that! I was kinda impressed myself.

[Owen Lawrence]

If we had kept the B&D jigsaw that fried after a year and a half, it would be just over 30 years old now. I guess there's a high variance in their quality. My Makita's doing fine under the same kind of load. We'll see what happens...

- Owen -

[Australopithecus scobis]

I think the key to you two gentlemen's disagreement lies in the age of the tools mentioned above. The question on the floor is the quality of present-day tools by these manufacturers.

[Cherokee-LTD]

The downside of the hip surgery was the 4 Bessey clamps holding the incision together while the Tightbond cured.

-Brian

[Andy Dingley]

What colour was it ? Greeny-blue plastic ? That's when the rot set in. The early jigsaws in particular were terrible.

I've still got an orange and white metal-bodied drill that works so long as you feed it the odd gearbox pinion and new switch. There are a couple of gold and silver drills around that never die. For polishing I use a 50 year old Bridges 5/16" drill (pale blue, not the black and yellow "hornet") that's half the weight and still feels like new.

OTOH, the plastic one-piece jigsaws were a huge improvement over the old "attachment" sort for the metal bodied drills. I don't think I've ever used a tool that was so badly balanced or vibrated so much.

[Norman D. Crow]

I've seen, and unfortunately worked with, some of B&D's poorer "Homeowner Hal" equipment that made my Crapsman stuff look really high end! However, I do have to say my first router, a B&D 1/4" about 9-10yr. old, has been a very good tool. From there I've gone on to a 2HP Crapsman(we better not talk about THAT one) and the PC7539. The B&D still remains my everyday work mutt.

[bugbear]

You have to admire the commercaial acumen that can sell so little lycra for so much money,

Or you might admire something else at that site :-)

BugBear

[BUB 209]

Nope. You're thinking of that spoofy movie by Mel Brooks, Charlie.

[bugbear]

Wow! A 3 year interval without posting. That's pretty good. But you shoulda' made it at least a whole decade.

For all our sakes.

BugBear

[Lazarus Long]

Yeah, noticed both points. Big bux for not so much material.

[todd the wood junkie]

I presume you've been hurt badly (perhaps by a woodworker), and are trying to work through that by passing on the hurt. Most of us can handle wrathfulness, I'm sorry that you got hurt. It sounds like you've discovered some of our weaknesses, but everyone has those. You made a point of demonstrating what yours is.

I also suspect that, at the core, you don't feel better after your negative remarks. You may find that a more constructive cast will yield better results.

[Charlie Self]

Lazarus Long responds:

You mean they had prices on that site?

Charlie Self "When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary." Thomas Paine

[Lawrence Wasserman]

This is not even close to your previous efforts. I can only go about

5.5 here.

[Slowhand]

Damn, you got me by a year SH

[GregP]

Buying expensive has nothing to do with woodworking per se. It's a separate issue altogether, one that cuts across almost all hobbies/sports in the US (and probably other countries as well). .

[Phisherman]

...of running out of clamps.

[Lobby Dosser]

Hey, it worked and I got to keep the clamps! Now as long as the Tightbond holds ...

LD

[Lobby Dosser]

Prices? What were they selling?

[Owen Lawrence]

No, it was small and black all over. My uncle (a VERY handy handyman) picked it up for my father one day, so I can't tell you the model or anything. I was a teenager then. It was loud, shook, made sparks, some sawdust, and then eventually smoke. Really, it's not worth talking about.

I'm pretty surprised at the range of opinions expressed here, about Black and Decker tools. While I'm still using an old B&D router (another inherited item), in place of my newer B&D router (my own purchase), I plan to buy a new, very significant router next, and will try to get the biggest toughest featuredest machine I can for between $300 and $400. It's becoming clear that I can't afford the cheapies. Maybe it's just my own bad luck, but I haven't been happy with any of my B&D tools, and for better or worse, my loyalty has been skewed.

(Hopefully my DeWalt grinder won't let me down any time soon. :))

- Owen -

[Andy Dingley]

The black stuff is terrible, but I thought that was 20 years old maximum ? Maybe the US / UK colours were different..