PBO tool reviews

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Graham_Wright

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February edition reviews more power tools but they are all at silly prices.

In B&Q I can buy cheapo tools (latest £49 for a router and table) and I have a B&D angle grinder I have had for around 15 years and still going strong.

I know;- you get what you pay for but what do you get? None of the cheapo tools has let me down yet and all do the job they were intended for.

Come on PBO, remember those of us who aren't millionaires and patronise the British companies (=Chinese re-flagged?) when possible.
 
All I know is that I used to have a Jigsaw from B&D and was never able to make a straight cut (I thought it was an operator problem). Then I replaced it with a Makita and had no problems with straight cuts anymore. More or less the same experience with my router.

Arno
 
Oh well, you know how it works with presents.
Also the thing had no apparent faults you can demonstrate at the shop. I found the quality of the guidance system, although superficially identical, much better on the Makita machine. It's also a hindsight thing: you never know how bad it is untill you see how good it can be :-)

Cheers,

Arno
 
It all depends on what you're buying and why. I bought a B&Q own-brand 9" angle grinder for about 40% of the cost of a Makita equivalent for chopping up paving slabs. Works fine, still going having worn out at least one diamond wheel. I bought it because the lad in B&Q admitted to not knowing much about them (the "expert" was at lunch) but he usually worked on the returns desk, there was a 3-year warranty, they didn't see many coming back, and they didn't quibble when someone did bring one back. On the other hand, when I bought a router recently I went down to Axminster (the place that provides the PBO "expert") and did end up with a Makita machine. However, in that case quality in the form of accuracy and so on does count, and cheap routers wobble about on their support bars like an AWB in a blow /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif. Like the discussion about cheap generators, there is a strong case for both ends of the price range. I found the articles interesting, personally.
 
I bought a cheap 1/2" router to go in the table. Axminster AW127 to be exact. After a year or so, I have to accept that I hate it, and find myself dreading jobs on the router table.

Problem is I don't really want to spend 200+ quid on a decent one.
 
Good answer - both ends of the price range. I did splash out during my last spell back on the tools on a decent skil saw and power planer but for drills etc I buy el cheapos and the bargain jig saw has been plenty accurate. I've got quality chisels and screwdrivers still going strong and that's the only sort of tool I'd be really fussy about.
 
I think that is right. Some tools eg. drills you can go cheaper - pretty simple mechanisms. I have a big hammer drill - £15.00 from the B&Q bargain bin. Its fine. But when I bought my last jigsaw I couldn't afford the Makita so I went for Axminster's own brand thinking it was a good compromise. Bad idea - never a great tool it fell apart inside 3 years with very little use. I just bought a little Bosch from B&Q to replace it - time will tell.
 
I have found that cheap jigsaws are useless - can't cut in a straight line not keep the blade vertical. On the other hand my cheap(ish) circular saw is fine - and cheap drills do a pretty good job.
 
I used to buy cheap drills, but when the last one gave up, I bought a "blue" Bosch, the professional type. It turns out there is a lot of difference between this one and the cheap ones, more stable, follows a pre-drilled hole mucht better etc.
 
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