Review: Ozito Mitre Saw Stand

[Woodcrafter]

Hi folks, we have just posted a review of Aussie company Ozito's new mitre saw stand. For the U.S. and International readers, other company's also sell similar saw stands to this model. You can read the review here:

Also, there are only 24 more hours to submit your entry to win a Bosch 18v cordless drill. For those that haven't entered yet, get your entry in now! Only one entry per person of course.

We welcome you to drop in and browse through over 70 other woodworking product reviews.

Have a great new year's eve, and new year!

-- Regards,

Dean Bielanowski Editor, Online Tool Reviews

70 woodworking product reviews online! WIN! A Bosch 18v Cordless Drill. Submit your entry today!

------------------------------------------------------------ Latest 6 Reviews:

- Jorgensen Cabinet Master Clamps

- Sherwood Lathe Copy Attachment

- Ryobi Right Angle Drill

- Porter Cable COIL250 Coil Nailer

- Ryobi 18v Cordless Jigsaw

- Taunton's Complete Illustrated Guide to Furniture & Cabinet Construction

------------------------------------------------------------

[Groggy]

Dean,

you run the risk of giving Ozito credibility it doesn't deserve. Of all of their products I have seen, this must be an anomaly. I bought a

6"cut-off grinder that (catastrophically) self destructed on the third cut so I swore off them. Friends of mine that have purchased them have similar tales. Their poor quality continues to surprise me, I am amazed that Australian authorities allow these things to be connected to the town power supply at all.

I have no doubt that your review of the mitre stand is objective and accurate, however, to anyone else reading this, do not think that Ozito makes a decent product, *especially* the electrical items - they are absolute crap! IMHO, they are bordering on being a danger to the user.

As for Bunnings (Oz for Borg), they should be ashamed of themselves for pushing this junk on the public.

If you think I am being harsh, a friend of mine in the tool dept at Bunnings agrees, and told me that Ozito has the highest return rate of anything he has seen to date.

BTW, your router review in Oz Wood was a good one. The Axminster review didn't compare to the UK review, where they have their largest market, but I guess that's to be expected. Next time perhaps a comparison table for the features would be nice, but I guess the editor determines what he puts in the final article.

cheers,

Greg

[Woodcrafter]

Hi greg,

Thanks for the comments. Yes I agree with some of Ozito's electrical tools... rather ordinary indeed. But, of course, the miter saw stand doesn't have any electrical components and not a ton of features. Its fairly basic, as are most similar stands. It seems to do the job it was created for. Sure it could be a little finer in its tolerances, but you aren't paying $1000 for it so you have to compromise somewhere I guess :)

-- Regards,

Dean Bielanowski Editor, Online Tool Reviews

70 woodworking product reviews online! WIN! A Bosch 18v Cordless Drill. Submit your entry today!

------------------------------------------------------------ Latest 6 Reviews:

- Jorgensen Cabinet Master Clamps

- Sherwood Lathe Copy Attachment

- Ryobi Right Angle Drill

- Porter Cable COIL250 Coil Nailer

- Ryobi 18v Cordless Jigsaw

- Taunton's Complete Illustrated Guide to Furniture & Cabinet Construction

[Old Nick]

On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 05:02:19 GMT, Groggy vaguely proposed a theory ......and in reply I say!:

remove ns from my header address to reply via email

Hear here on the Ozito crap label. I bought one to do one job, and that's all it did. It simply self-destructed its guts.

I am surprised at the quality of GMC stuff, though. I have a cordless drill from them and it's done me very good service so far.

[Groggy]

I think this may be the same company that makes the self destructing tape machines for the Mission Impossible movies...

I have probably witheld comment on GMC long enough. I agree with you, it seems to be good value for money - though clearly not the top of the range. My comfort zone puts it at around Ryobi, probably better. I have a nail gun (electric) made by GMC (Global Machinery Corporation) that continues to soldier on. It fires a wrong 'un on occasion but it hasn't been a major problem, I can always tap them down with a hammer (remember them?) and set punch.

GMC appears to be a good value for money option, certainly a mile above Ozito. Perhaps Bunnings is selling Ozito as an object lesson to us all, so we learn to buy decent tools .

Greg

[Barry Lennox]

Maybe, Bunnings is our "Borg" here in NZ as well. I was in there a few days back looking for a cheap planer (long story and its a one-off special job) and the sales "associate" even advised me to steer clear of the Ozito as they "were pretty crappy"

OTOH, I have a couple of GMC tools and they seem to be good. One that has had a real pounding for a year now is the corded right angle drill (RAD400, IIRC) It's very powerful and has never given a spot of bother.

Barry Lennox

[Unisaw A100]

I've always held the belief that this is one reason for Sears to stay in the tool business. When the upgrade is finally made there is a new found respect and the poor guy/gurl is rewarded with something better/a prize for holding out so long with their (insert name of crappy tool/machine here).

Nowadays though people (we call them trust fund babies) go out and buy Unisaws as their first saws and they haven't a clue/think it's normal.

On the other hand, people buy a bad/nasty/piece of crap tool when they are starting out can become frustrated and give up before they realize "they all aren't like that", after all, "it's a Craftsman and they are the best" and walk away for good/never to be heard from again.

Though with the Internet this is probably happening with less frequency/they realize that there is something beyond what they have.

Just a couple/few random thoughts. Please, talk amongst yourselves.

UA100

[Mike Marlow]

I don't know. I think it's more true that people really do understand that there are differing levels of quality and even accept, to a degree, that entry level tools are not the highest quality, and accept them for what they are. In some cases, this means they are all that is necessary for the amount of use they will ever receive, or for the type of work they will ever do, and in some cases it may mean that the user recognizes that they will have to determine if they really even want to engage in a greater use of tools before jumping in to bigger and better purchases. I really don't believe a bad tool drives too many people away. Those who are really interested to any degree are fully capable of understanding and recognizing that better things are out there. I just don't buy the notion that bad tools have ever caused people to abandon a pursuit. In fact, I'd argue that quite the opposite is true. I'd argue that bad tools has caused many a workman to develop better skills, greater understanding, and a better sense of solving problems than the super dooper top of the line doomahickey.