Your Biggest Tool Purchase Mistakes?

[paul2004]

I've had some used tool purchases work out well, but I had plenty go bad too.

Lesson 1: Don't buy something expensive from a forum member sight unseen and have them ship it to you if it is somewhat complex. I got burned buying a power feeder that way. It arrived, leaked oil which pretty much made it useless. I did take it apart, was not fixable. II think that was $500-700 with shipping, I Don't remember the exact price.  Petty dumb because a new one was not that much more money.

Lesson 2: Don't buy machinery from a machinery auction site unless you can make it to inspection.  I bought a vacuum pump system, listed as working, did not work at all.  Tank had water in it, would not start up..  Thankfully I was out "only" $200, but that taught me that these dealers are seedy, and when they say it powered on, that is not necessarily the truth. YEs, I know others will have tons of stories about things that worked out well, but that soured me on it.

Lesson 3: Craigslist, don't buy from there unless you can see it demoed and see that it at least powers on, spins or whatever. If the seller uses the excuse that he doesn't want strangers coming to his house for safety reasons, that's a red flag, move on.. Only lost $100 on that one, but still annoying.

[Mike in kc]

Guess I've been pretty lucky overall, but one tool I think was a waste of money was a PC-557 biscuit jointer.  Paid retail for the thing when they first came out.   Well made, but haven't used it once in the last 10 years.   Splines are about as much work, and lots stronger, and, the splines are mostly free from scrap material.

[joe1086]

Not an expensive tool, but the worst I ever bought was a Makita hand held 3" power planer. I bought it to work on some doors...that thing could screw up more material faster than anything I ever owned. The only productive thing I ever did with it was plane down some wall studs for a bathroom tile job.

[MarkSLSmith]

Not an expensive tool, but the worst I ever bought was a Makita hand held 3" power planer. I bought it to work on some doors...that thing could screw up more material faster than anything I ever owned. The only productive thing I ever did with it was plane down some wall studs for a bathroom tile job.

If you ever work with slabs or similar extremely unflat material, the Makita power planer is just about the best thing since sliced bread.  It will quickly become your best friend.  It's a rugged workhorse in these situations and the cutters hold their edge for a long time, even when seriously abused.

Mark

[med-one]

I bought this Ryobi drill press and could'nt be happier.

[Tony Z]

Not an expensive tool, but the worst I ever bought was a Makita hand held 3" power planer. I bought it to work on some doors...that thing could screw up more material faster than anything I ever owned. The only productive thing I ever did with it was plane down some wall studs for a bathroom tile job.

I bought a similar Dewalt, nearly two decades ago. I've only used it a couple of times, but it has been a life saver, when needed, until a few weeks ago. THEN, well see, I'm a hand tool user most of the time, using hand planes. I have a habit of riding my index finger along what I'm planing. If you don't see where this is going, I did the same with the Dewalt powered plane, and my finger where it shouldn't have been. Luckily, it was only meat and no bone.

[tablesawtom]

For me it is an Ornamental Mill.

[Pirate]

Freud FT1700VCEK 2-1/4-Horsepower Variable Speed router.
Had them send me parts 5 times. 3 different parts. Last time, I had them send a part, so I would have available.
A few years after warranty the speed control crapped out.
I bypassed it and using external control.
Only thing I like about it is the above table bit change/adjust.
Still using it.

[Ray Newman]

I think it has been 20 years since I last utilized my DeWalt biscuit joiner!  So old it has a metal carrying case. A few years ago, I purchased a Fe$tool Domino 500 . Frankly I am not impressed. Maybe I need to work with more, but it feels cumbersome. Probably should sell it and take the DeWalt to Good Will

[Terry W]

Third TS (Realized I still needed a TS while I built my basement shop and saved up for a cabinet saw. I still have this - it's that good):

This Ridgid was my first table saw ever.  I built a lot of things with it. Great design for the money. The fence was way more accurate than the price would suggest. I've since upgraded to a SawStop but I still have the old Ridgid just in case I need it for a job site or a 2nd saw.