Am I Normal???

[ozwinner]

Hi
I would stay clear of Chinese stuff if possible, Tiawanese is good stuff.
Haveing said that, a lot of board members swear by GMC, which is Chinese. ( I think ).
The green Bosche stuff is ok, not as good as their stuff used to be though.
It sound as though you need to go to a woodworking show to look at all the options.
They hold them every year in each state.

Cheers, Al

[ash]

Jees Wongo, now I am worried, I do have a clamp collection, mind you only a little one, but it does seem to be growing.

Thanks for your comments guys, I now feel reassured, but shees I am now struggling with the idea of putting a bed in my workshop.

FRAN, I'm only new to the game but I use old power tools that my father used. A bit of a clean and oil, a blade change here and there and they are priceless, as well as being built like tanks. Being a new guy I am continually dropping, headbutting and running over power tools but they keep on keeping on.

Not sure what you have already but it may be worthwhile looking into getting your old gear serviced and done up for the dance.

I have only bought one new power tool, and that was a GMC sliding compound mitre saw (2000w). I won't go into the trouble I've had with that since I got it. Give me my 25 year old Ryobi circular saw any day.

Good luck mate, and congrats on you retirement.

ASH

[fran]

thanks for the input boys
but I need to know what to buy at reasonable prices. What does every one think of carba-tec, electra beckum. Jet, etc as the basis of a good semi- professional home workshop?

Thanks

[soundman]

Fran. remember you female instincts.

Go shopping girl. Shop like a man!!!

[Bob Willson]

Fran
Buy Jet everything and you won't regret it.

Buy GMC and you will.

[fran]

Dear soundman

Fran is short for Frank not Frances, thanks mate

[fran]

bob wilson, thanks mate: jet seems a bit dearer and a bit further away is it worth it, in your opinion I am open to experianced opinions,

[Bob Willson]

Jet is a bit dearer yes. Jet is a LOT better yes.
Spend the little bit extra .. never regret that you bought quality instead of price. I smile whenever I see my Jet products.

[DarrylF]

I gotta second Bob on that one. Buy cheap and you buy twice. If you can afford the bit more they cost, Jet and Delta are both damn good choices.

They're nowhere near the Rolls Royce's of the woodworking world - more like a nice new Commodore or Camry. GMC however is the Hyundai Excel (on a good day) - better than nothing if that's what's affordable, and for some people/purposes they will do just fine - but if you can afford better, you'll never regret it.

I have both Jet and Delta gear (and the odd GMC etc). Jet is probably nicer than Delta overall IMHO, but it's worth looking at both.

It's also most definitely worth looking wider according to the strengths of each brand in a particular type of machine, and how much you're going to use it. For a lathe for instance, IMO you can't go past a Nova DVR at the top-ish end if you're reasonably serious about it - or the Carbatec version of the MC-900 lathe at the bottom end. My Jet dust collector & air filter both do a terrific job, but so does my cheap-ish Total Tools drill press.

fran - in short I don't think there is a 'best' brand for everything, assuming you don't have an unlimited budget - and probably even if you do. Do the research on each machine - here and elsewhere - and make a call one by one as you need them and as your needs dictate is the best advice I can offer.

BUT - I have never once regretted stretching a little to buy something just a bit better than I think I might be able to get away with.

Good luck

[fran]

darryl

thanks; good information; I think I will have to get down to braeside to look at JET I don't want to have to do this twice

[soundman]

sorry frank, a bit of a bugger that.

any way get in touch with your feminine side then go shopping. retail therapy work just as well for men!!!
cheers

[derekcohen]

Don't undersell "Carba-tec"-badged equipment. As far as I can tell it is off the same assembly line as Delta and Jet, and is usually just a rebadged something-or-other. I am not sure what my tablesaw might be badged elsewhere in the world (just never bothered to explore this) but I know for a fact that my bandsaw is the exact same as the Ridgid, and this one received as equal or better rating than both Delta and Jet in a USA mag last year. I also find it very interesting to come across American reviews of Carba-tec equipment - yes, there are such. It seems that the exchange rate has been in the USA's advantage for so long that many American tool buyers shipped equipment from Oz. I have come across reviews where these owners have preferred the Carba-tec equipment to many of the USA brands, Delta and Jet included.

Now I'm not saying that Carba-tec is the bees knees. I am saying that it provides very respectable performance at a significantly lower (but not cheap) price compared to the "heavy-weight" brands.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[echnidna]

Cheap isnt necessarily nasty.
My old B&D 5" handy man bench grinder just died.
Its over 40 years old.

Was thinking of getting an 8" grinder. But the little ones can be fitted to a baseboard base & held in a ww vice when needed so they dont clutter the workspace.

Yesterday I was in supercheap and got a 5" bench grinder for $39 with a 2 year replacement warranty. Hope it lasts as long as my old B&D.

[outback]

echy, I wish you the best of British luck with your new purchase.
Unfortunately these days, cheap all too often means nasty. Now before I get hung drawn and quartered, some of these cheapos offer good value for money, however, many don't.

My dad bought a B&D set probably 30 years ago, it contained a drill on which you could attach a small circular saw blade, orbital sander, and buffer and sanding disc.

The drill was used abused, and tortured, it could never run the saw, the orbatal sander fell to bits, whilst it was no hammer drill it drilled a series of holes ('bout 20) 6" deep into solid ironstone. the drill died about 4-5 years ago. I reckon thats pretty good value for money.