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The
key to purchasing tools, especially power tools, is to know that ultimately that
you need to be very flexible in your determinations
of precisely which model you want to purchase. I have found that, say I
was shopping for a cordless drill of some sort. Money no
option tells me to go and buy Dewalt, Milwaukee or another of the big dollar
items. An aspect of my power tool shopping is that I
am willing to take a shop demo model for less money as long as the warranty is
still the full warranty that the manufacturer supplied with
the tool. But, and here is the biggy...can we
really justify spending the up to three time the amount compared to a lesser,
but in most
aspects, tool that will do the same job for as many years?
Probably not...and I don't lose that much sleep worrying about it.
Would I buy a tool shop worth of Dewalt if I had the money? You
bet your sweet ass I would...in a heart beat. But I am sure the good
lady wife would have something to say.
Now I am about to give you a technique that really works in buying power tools.
It is based on the fundamental that you want a certain
type of power tool rather than a brand of power tool. I'll use
a real life experience that happened to me.
I was in the market for a cordless drill with a bit more grunt than the ones I
owned at the time (one was a no-name cheapie
Taiwanese, one was a Black & Decker and one I inherited from work which was
about 10 years old). I went to the local tool
warehouse
(Bunning's - similar to home Depot) and asked the staff about various models.
Each time the staff would have to go to the
storeroom
which was a significant distance from the display area. Simply asking
about 3 different models literally took 45 minutes, by
which time
the sales staff were getting a little fed up with me. Each time I would
ask about several feature...does it come with 2
batteries...does it
have a case...do you have one with a case, 2 batteries, keyless chuck....all the
time being understanding of what they
didn't have. I
finally thought I had found a drill that I liked that wasn't too much money...a
Bosh 9.6 volt, 2 batteries, case, charger,
keyless chuck...all
the mod-cons...and a superseded model (a great way to get the sales folks
marking down the prices). Price was
going to be $40.
Now I suspect that the price of $40 was just to get rid of me...but wouldn't you
know it...the sales rep couldn't find it! So as a sigh of
his good faith, he supplied me with a Ryobi 14.4 volt, 2 batteries, 30 torque
settings and a hammer drill to boot. All for $39 Australian!
Now I have found that if you are patient and have the time to put in, that this
is a proven technique for purchasing power tools. I have
bought at least half of my power tools using this "wear them out and into
submission" technique. Bu it only works in a big store where
you get 19 year olds with no real idea on the value of stuff that you are
buying.
Once upon a time I thought that I really needed the premium brands, but a friend
who is a demolition plumber, told me that he only used
to buy Dewalt cordless drills. At $350 he would go through one in 6-9
months. They would be dead and he would literally throw them
away (back to the manufacturer for repair and they would moan and carry on about
commercial and professional use and only fix about
half of them) He tried the Taiwanese cheapie - $100 - it last 6 months.
So he now buys the cheapies by the half dozen and he's a mile
in front at the end of the day. Lesson: don't spend a fortune when
you don't have to. There is a brand in Australia called GMC and
there is not a single piece of power tool equipment that they do not make.
They are good solid bits of gear that last pretty well and
come with a 2 year warranty and tend to be priced on the affordable side of
bargain.
Anyway here's some pictures of my power tools:
Here is some pictures of my hand tools - accumulated over many years collecting:
