Tool-Shop Brand Tools: Any Good?
Hello All, I was looking at getting my father-in-law a compound miter saw. He currently has an off-brand 8 1/2 miter but, as you surely know, it does not cut all the way through baseboard. He is not a woodworker or in construction. The use of the saw would be occasional home-ownership needs such as cutting baseboard, trim molding, 2x4's, etc. Last year I bought my father a 10 Delta for just this purpose and I thought of getting the same for my father-in-law. However, I noticed at Minards that they have a Tool-Shop brand, 10 radial arm compound miter saw for $99.00. Good price for a more versital saw, but is Tool-Shop any good, or should I stay away. Better name brand saws or, a 12 saw are out of my price range. I am basically limited at $100 or so. My other thought was a laser level. Those come in prices from $20 - $200 though and I have no idea which are any good. Ask if there is a place to get repair parts for the saw. Grab the handle on the saw, is there ANY wobble there. I understand the occasional use theory however I don't believe he wants to make off cuts, even occasionally. Just my opinion. Laser levels are getting better. Read the package and see how far off they are in set number of feet. Most I have seen tell you. Price will give you an indication. Most are quite close though. I checked out the saw and, well compared to the $450 makita 10 radial arm miter saw next to it, it was not as sturdy and heavy, the arm did not slide as smoothly. However, the Tool-Shop did not wobble between the handle and the rest of the unit. I'll have to look more into it. I was in two of my favorite tool stores today, and noticed that almost every major maufacturers tools have near copies with different colours and lesser known names - Tool-shop, Superior, Canwood, King, etc. If you look closely you can identify frame parts, slides, motor mounts in both well known and lesser known. My personal guess is that manufacturers in Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia (at least) make many 'generic' parts that are used in many tools, possibly with better machining and bearings instead of bushings on the more expensive brands. I have purchased several ToolShop brand hand tools and find them to be worth what I paid. I knew they would not be a top quality tool, but they were good enough for my needs. I have a buddy who is a manager at Menards and he claims ToolShop is junk and will not buy it. I think you're on the right track so far - if the tools seems to be as accurate (ie, no wobble) as more expensive models and you are aware and ok with it not being able to stand up to heavy use day in and day out like a professional quality tool, go ahead and get the ToolShop saw. If it looks for any reason like this saw will not be as accurate or precise, pass - these are the main attributes of this kind of saw and without them the saw is not worth having. Try to find out who actually makes the Tool Shop brand. Lots of brand name tools get on the market under another name if they don't pass the quality tests during production. You should also look into warranties (store and manufacturer), parts availability, and locations of repair facilities. If any (or all) of these are nonexistent, I would pass on this brand. You should also look into a Ryobi saw. Ryobi tools are pretty good out of the box and should last a DIY'er several years. Prices of laser levels vary with their accuracy. Every one that I've looked at has accuracy information on the package and it's a question of how much accuracy you need and how much you're willing to spend to get it. I have bought a few Tool-Shop hand held power tools. It seems to depend on which tool your buying. I bought a couple of them, because I'm basically a cheapskate, but you definitley get what you pay for. I bought the belt sander, because I don't have too much use for one, needed it for a one time project, and it worked OK. Random orbital sander, I will not use at all, that thing isn't even going to be in the same room with any veneered plywoods . The jigsaw seems to work OK. Heck, if it stops working, there cheap enough to just toss it, and go get a new one. Each of the tools I mentioned were $9.95. I'm not familiar with the compound MS, but if he's not going to do any cutting that requires it to be extremely accurate, it may be fine. Dave- this may be of interest to you. I saw a tv program last year about three factories in Taiwan and two in China that all make generic power tools. They're very 'average' cheap tools, and are made so that the final shapes of casings, colours, labels, etc, will suit the US and European buyers ordering them. Apparently the demand is such that buyers can literally say exactly what they want , and get them for 5-10 per tool. (At that price, I can't imagine spare parts even being available. ) Yeah their stuff is cheap, and guaranteed, but it's a guaranteed piece of inexpensive tool. If you want a reasonably priced, quality mitre saw go with Pro-Tech or Ridgid. I bought the 12 Pro-Tech Mitre saw and have put it through a great deal of hard work, and it's holding up well after slicing through 3 summer's worth of 4x6 landscape timbers...and then some. Inexpensive tools (as my father and I refer to it) is worse than flushing your money down the toilet, because you end up wasting time repacking tools to return to the tool store. Moderator edit: Welcome to diy.com NervousRex! Your comments are welcome but I must tell you that this is a family oriented site and the use of profanity is not allowed. - we all know that Ridgid, DeWalt, Bosch, etc, work just great and are the best. Sure there's a place for them in everybody's shop. - - point is that's not necessarily the tool you want banging around in a work van, - or being used by help who've never seen a decent tool in their lives, -or lying around on a building site unless you're Hawkeye ! As many users have noted, cheap 'throwaway' tools have their place. Guys like me, Slickshift and MangoMan are not building pianos out there -we just want something that'll do the job ! Do it Right - Do it once. The problem with these cheap tools is that folks that used to buy the better ones can no longer justify spending the extra money because the cheap ones are almost as good. Now manufacturers of better tools are forced to compete with slave Chinese labor to meet Big Box Store wholesale price points. Any one notice that Sears Craftsman now has the cheap junk Companion tool line? Menards has their Tool Shop, Lowes has a cheap tool line and Home Depot has Work Force and Husky. Remember when Husky hand tools first came out and they would trade you even for a Craftsman tool? The Husky stuff used to be made by the same folks that made Craftsman. Now the Husky stuff is made in China, has no warranty, and all those folks that bought the advertising and traded their Craftsman stuff are SOL. DeWalt used to be a quality US made tool, now it is not. If I remember right, it was originally a spinoff from Black and Decker to create a professional line of tools. Ridgid power tools sold by Home Depot used to be made here (by the same folks that used to make the Craftsman power tools), now they are made by the same folks that make Ryobi. Contract Chinese manufacturing is taking over, retailers are laughing all the way to the bank, more jobs leave the good old USA for good. If more people knew the markup on that Chinese garbage, then they wouldn't buy it because they are being robbed. I hope more folks spend the money on good tools because product sales are the only thing that will keep those tools from being made elsewhere for cheaper. There may come a day when the Skil Mag 77 worm drive saw is no longer made here in America because the Ryobi is cheaper and almost as good. The easiest way to get the help to respect the tools is to make them sign for them, with a disclaimer on the paper that states the tools will be replaced at their expense if damaged through negilgence. Unfortunately, because of fraud, it is not economical to insure tools on a jobsite. At least business owners and tradesmen can write off tool purchases. I couldn't agree with you more danski0224. I am tired of seeing quality go down while over seas profits go up and in the meantime we are the ones getting screwed. just go to your local pawn shop and you can find any of these tools very cheap and have the big name brand.the thing about cheap things are the copper in the motor is not the same and the brushes are not the same.i use to work for a man that got all the old stuff from stores and we would take them apart for the copper.when you get inside one you can see a big difference. Danski, - I can't fault anything you said. I agree completely. Nevertheless, I'd still rather carry around 5-700 $ worth of 'cheaper' tools in my workvan, than 3000 $ of good tools. I still buy the good tools, they just stay safe in my shop and are used only by me. .... Unfortunately simple economics gets the best of us sometimes. Do it Right - Do it once. FYI...I'm a high school art teacher in a setting where we use a lot of wood to construct sculptures. I recently bought a Tool Shop miter saw, model JS 2105. Wow! What a piece of junk. Of course, use by students can test any equipment, but, after just a few days, I heard a loud noise and went to find the fence broken in two. Today, another loud noise, and smoke coming out of the motor housing. I got it from Menard's and I'm seriously considering just dropping it into the nearest dumpster. Why did I buy it in the first place? Because getting any school to cut loose with more than 5ў is like trying to find gold in your back yard. Live and learn. [QUOTE=art7895guy]I got it from Menard's and I'm seriously considering just dropping it into the nearest dumpster. QUOTE] Take it back - Menard's will take anything back, I've tested them on that more than once. Don't want to beat this Tool Shop issue into the ground but I have been looking at purchsing a combo 6 belt and 9 disc sander. Although I have told myself never to buy Menards crap tools again their machine is $100 cheaper than the alternative. Anybody use this sander??? Countrymac Nobody ever washes a rental car. I replied to this thread when it was newer, saying that I had purchased several toolshop hand tools and found them to be worth what I paid for them. I took stock recently and realized that I had replaced about half of these with more expensive brands. Buy toolshop if you want, but keep the receipt. Menard's will take it back if you have the receipt. Has anyone had luck finding where to get replacment for broken tool Shop brand tools? I have tried eveywhere I could find that linked from the internet, no avail. They must change names and stores monthly or seasonally.. Would pass on this brand if you want a ligitimate warranty.. FYI In my experience, junk, still waiting on a call back. Bought a sander model #241-9801. It does not work, the timing belt was never installed from factory. This is an 8 year old post. Sorry you had a problem. Never heard of a timing belt on a sander.
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