Heres a thread that will shed some light on durability and longeviety. What power tool in your arsenal has lasted the longestI have 2 Craftsman industrial reciprocating saws(of Dewalt Lineage, like the 6.5 amp DW304) that are at least 10-12 years old.
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porter cable tiger saw sawzall. Thing works like when it was new, got it in '95
Old Mule Hole Hawg, it's like 28years old & gets used all the time!
I have a couple of Milwaukee Hole Shooter drills that my dad bought in the 50s. No variable speed, 1/4" chuck, all aluminum housing- but they still work just fine when I occasionally drag them out from the dark corners of my shop.
I also have my P-C 100 router, very nearly the first power tool I ever bought. Its nearly 35 years old, and would still be running if I hadn't recently dropped it and cracked one of the brush sockets.
60 year old Unisaw & 50 year old Case backhoe.
And me. Right elbow's kinda iffy & rt shoulder is going.
Joe H
110697.5 in reply to 110697.1
60 year old Unisaw & 50 year old Case backhoe.
And me. Right elbow's kinda iffy & rt shoulder is going.
Joe H
I imagine it's probably a bit too late to be looking to get warranty coverage eh?" If I were a carpenter"
Got a Rockwell delta 20" bandsaw from the early- mid 50s- came with a 2 phase motor in it.My dad was on the line crew mid 50s when they switched over to 3 phase, and they had to put in a 2p transformer for the shop, cause all their big stuff was 2p.Steve
Milwaukee 2 speed sawzall-35yo
3 Rockwell 315's- 37 yo on the one I bought new.
Rockwell 3x24 belt sander-probably new in 74.
These are all still in primary use.
What will hit the trash heap first-the tool or the user.........
A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
"What will hit the trash heap first-the tool or the user........."Yah, I was helping clean out an old man's shop a month ago for his sons after he died.They gave me three walls full of 'stuff' on the shelves. I helped them figure out what goes with which tool and what worth to sell.
Carole told me when I brought the van full of booty home, "You know, the kids are going to have to do the same thing with out stuff someday"
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Joyce has mentioned the same to me several times re. my tool stash-both useable and antiquity.
Be one cool sale tho- no?A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
Yeah, I might have to come back to haunt the sale.;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I recognized the inevitability a few years ago. I have been working to make things easier for my wife. Based on the opinions of some of my doctors, I may be lucky to live another five years. On the other hand, many indicators say that I will make it to twenty or more. I base my work and my buys on a 40 year horizon, but prepare for a three-year horizon.
The accessories, parts, and documentation for my tools are now in separate plastic containers. All of my tools are in great shape. If not, I donate them. I don't want to be working with junk at this time of my life.
When my time of opportunity is over, it will be easy for my wife and a few friends to unload my stuff.
I am still working on getting the rest of my life in the same kind of order so that my sudden absence will not create unnecessary problems.
Grandpa's 1930's Craftsman jigsaw (18" sq table, 30" throat, 5 sp pulleys, original motor) - gav Jeff a matching motor but it crapped out apparently trying to power a winch.
1950 sidewinder, 1967 sidewinder (craftsman, all Al housing, will cut all day like a worm drive)
Had a '30's D2, but pony engine did not like to sit and get dew in the magneto so sold it.
1940's Sioux 3/4 chuck 300 RPM drill motor, nuthin' stops that baby.
4 kW WWII aarmy surplus generator - put it on a Honda engine after the original 7HP BS engine wore out
What else -- sister has 1930's drill press from Grandpa, 1836 musket from Mec=xican and civil war - that count as a 'tool'; 1966 Datsun truck, 1920's Crosley refrigerator, still running at Mom's storage house next door to her, 1944 model sex toy (oops, DW would not like that, but ...... <G>)
craftsman drill mabey 12-14 years old
I'm just sayin'
It may not be the oldest tool on record my my 1970 Craftsman table saw is certainly in the running for living through the most abuse. It built a couple houses, lived in the rain for a summer, been used for cutting everything from wood, PVC pipe and metal to about 100 brick pavers with a diamond blade.
If I am willing to tune it up, I can still make fairly reasonable cabinet cuts.
Seems like my Milwaukee stuff last the longest. Sawsall and 3/8s magnum drill both 14yrs old and used damn near every other working day.
1953 Craftsman table saw that belonged to my grandfather. Still going strong, but I upgraded to the Bosch 4100 due to safety features and more power. The Craftsman table saw is now with my dad.
Also have a Craftsman belt sander that I inherited from my grandfather. All aluminum casing and strong as ever. Believe is is 1950 or 1960 vintage.
Impossible is an opinion.
My old wormdrive of course.
Don't know if this counts, but I have a Dremel tool that I got for maybe my 12th birthday. (That's over 40 yrs ago, but who's counting?) Still works fine on those rare occasions I pull it out to do some mini-grinding. Oh, and same deal for a Weller soldering gun, but that might actually be a few years older.
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
25-year old Craftsman 1/2 HP-1/2" HD drill.
26 -year old Echo chainsaw & weed eater.
22-year old 2-1/4 HP 1/2" Ryboi router.
22-year old Delta 16" floor DP.
18-year old delta contractors saw with 30" Bessie.
15-year old Delta 12" planer.
Come to think of it...most of my shid is old. Got a new Makita 18V Lithium-Ion driver, and it rocks...
1940-something Milwaukee heavy duty 1/2" drill. One way, one speed, so heavy it could be used as a boat anchor for the Titanic. It was Grandpa's.
My Makita 8" table saw. that I bought in 86. I have used the hell out of it, rebuilt it and even bought another as a back up & put it in storage. Looks like that one will remain in storage for quite some time.
Ditto on the 8" Makita table saw.. still going strong, and I found the owners manual the other day. :0)I also have a red Makita circular saw (steel base) that is over 25 yrs old and just wont die. Its not too smooth anymore, so I use it for cutting stucco or demo. Emglo twin tank compressor (electric) loud and heavy, but never had a problem with it in over 22 years.
Rez has a Bammer that works as well as it did on day One...
and will continue to do so for years and years and years...
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"After the laws of Physics, everything else is opinion"
-Neil deGrasse Tyson
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If Pasta and Antipasta meet is it the end of the Universe???
LMAO!
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Yep, and what a dream machine it be.
nightmare's happen
Don't know the make or year but have an old corded metal bodied drill monster with the handle on the end worn to a shine and a 4 1/2inch hole saw locked in the chuck. Bought it that way.
Soaked that sucker with WD40 and still can't get it loose. Might have to take some heat to it.
In the meantime if I ever need a hole drilled for a stool she's ready to go if I can find it.
MOst of my power tools are all at least ten years old! 10-12 means nothing for this.
Also be important to report how much useage.
For instance, I have a 6" Craftsman circ saw from the early fifties in my shop for a cutoff saw - say when I need to make a 16' stick fit inside my 12' van. So it is rare occasional stuff. I bought it from a DIY HO . So I think my Milwaukee 7-1/4" circ sees more action in a month than this thing has seen in over fifty years.
One I am probably most proud of is the PC recip saw. It has done a lot of repair/remo work, including 8x12 beams and cast iron pipe for about ten years now with whole crew using the snot out of it. I used to go thru a sawsall every 3-4 years. This one was getting so old that I bought another to replace it when on sale a couple years ago, but haven't broke it out of the box yet. Same story on a Bosch jigasaw that is about 18 years old. His new friend is still a virgin to wood.
One of my oldest power tools is a Makita 7"polisher/grinder that I bought in the late seventies. It has seen a lot of dirty environments and has mangled more than one cord.
I also have a couple Milwaukee Tec screw guns for steel roofing from that era or older ( bought one used) that have screwed in tens of thousands of screws. Only service needed was new triggers.
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
I've got a fair number of monkey wrenches from the 1920's and 30's (grandpa's)
A Sun distributor machine from 1954, a Milwaukee hole hawg from the 70's and sawzall from the same era..
Most of my wood working tools are a decade or more old.
I have a Black and Decker metal body 3/4 chuck D-handle drill that was my grandfather's from the 50's. It will not hesitate to break your wrist if you don't respect it. Granted I don't use it a lot but when I do it is really put to work... mixing mud, 6" holesaws, 1 inch holes in steel. I am sure it will outlast me.
Oh and I have a 2hp Craftsman "Commercial" router that still works. It has a permanent place in a table and runs around 1500 feet of hardwood a year.
A Sears benchtop drill press that my grandfather used during the big war to make aircraft parts in his garage. That dates it to about 1943-44. He was a machinist for Seabord Railroad in Tampa after the war. I still use it all the time."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
I have a Makita hypoid saw that I bought in '86. Pretty beat up, but it still works fine as a spare. I have a Makita sheetrock screw gun that I bought from a pawn shop about the same time frame and it still works fine. I also have two Makita 9.6 cordless drills of similar vintage that work fine, although they sure don't have the power of my newer cordless stuff.
I have my dads skill worm drive he bought in 1947, it still works great and built thousands of houses as he was a builder through the 50s, 60s.
I used it in the late 60s helping my dad then a few years ago he gave it to me.
I bought a very heavy duty sidewinder skill in the 70s i still use plus my all metal 6 and one half inch worm drives which i like the best
Nice. Gotta be the Bosch recip, also about 95. Shortest was a DW drill back when 12V was new and hot. 20 minutes, done. (Yes, they replaced it.)
Real trucks dont have sparkplugs
My oldest portable electric tool is a 3" by 24" Makita belt sander from the early 80's. It has been rode hard and put away wet, and it keeps coming back for more. A man in a Denver rental yard told me that Makita built their early reputation by selling belt sanders (to tool rental places!) that were affordable and bulletproof. Now I believe him.Bill
Edited 10/2/2008 3:37 am by BillBrennen
I have an original ShopSmith that my dad bought for me for Christmas circa 1950. However, it stayed in his shop for about 40 years until he passed on and my mom wanted the space, so it got hauled over to my place. It is totally devoid of any type of safety equipment. It is a decent drill press, a fairly good disk sander, a passable wood lathe, and a fairly poor table saw.
(My dad also had bought me a Lionel train for Christmas several years earlier but I was too young to use it, so guess who played with it for several years until I got big enough...)
1965 Milwaukee Sawzall. New cord, brushes, switch....still in the truck and used every day.
My old, all-metal Milwaukee Sawzall was old when I bought it used in '76. It's still in the truck every day. In '96, I finally snapped the shaft on the matching Milwaukee 1/2" RA drill that I bought with it.My Milwaukee sidewinder that I bought in '80 gets even more use than the Sawzall, and it's still running like a top.AitchKay
12" delta disc sander.
Someone scratched their initials on it in 1941.
bubbajames
I have a Rockwell drywall screw gun of unknown age.
I don't use it much myself, but when it was new, only a pro would have had it. They were expensive, something over $400 in the 70's, I heard.
Anyway, I think it's the best drywall gun ever made.
Ron
I owned one of those Rockwell screwguns in the 70's. All metal body. Installing steel stud in hi-rises would embed my left hand with metal filings. I would curse that gun everytime I pulled the trigger.
Most of the other guys on the crew had the newer Makitas, they were very fast but also very noisy. I sold my Rockwell to a new guy and bought a plastic body B&D Industrial. I don't do much drywall these days but it works when I need it.
one tool i bought new was a doufast framing nailer,1978,weighs about 11lbs. it will shoot a nail into anything and not recoil.i'm getting to old to reach out from a ladder and hold and fire it though.
i got into buying old circular saw for a while.had one that was about mid 40's.
just bought a 1943 wards cast iron table saw last week,it runs so smooth and quiet i'm scared i'll stick my hand in it while it's running.
national detroit da,bought it in 72,looks rough but works just like it did back when i had hair.larry
if a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
I've got a rusty iron nail from a temple that was destroyed by an earthquake in about 340 BC near Petra, in Jordan.
(mom's an archaeologist)
Forrest
I've got a rusty iron nail from a temple
We're talking about tools here. Do you have the hammer they used?"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
"I've got a rusty iron nail from a temple that was destroyed about 340 BC"Good thing the temple builders didn't have to use ACQ...
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
>>>>I've got a rusty iron nail from a temple that was destroyed by an earthquake in about 340 BC near Petra, in Jordan.<<<<. Was it bent, i think Piffin wuz framing there;]
Nope, I didn't do those commercial jobs. Working in the caves nearby to carve out residential spaces was cooler anyways in summer.And you needed to be deaf to work around the temple sites. Those priests could get into such arguments that it would have been banned in the BT tavern
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I have a makita chop saw and a makita reciprocating saw that have both been used steady for 25 years.
CaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com
My Craftsman table saw from the '70s stills works just fine.
So does their all metal (that dates it) belt sander - and there is a jig saw up at the boat from the same period.
Of course, these do not go out every week. Far from it.
The ToolBear
"You can't save the Earth unless you are willing to make other people sacrifice." Dogbert
8 1/4" skillsaw,wormdrive from 1961
mike