What Tool Has You Gritting Your Teeth
My 6″ Bosch ROS died earlier this year, after many years of service with me, and in a prior life, in a body shop. I loved that tool. So I needed another 6″ ROS, and it came down to the new Bosch, or the new Festool, neither of them cheap. I chose the Bosch because it was somewhat cheaper, and I had had good success with its predecessor.
Every time I use that thing my teeth begin to grind and blood pressure begins to boil. When on aggressive mode, it is almost out of control. It grabs, twists, and gouges the wood. In addition, Bosch made fewer dust holes in the new pad such that my boxes of discs no longer align with the holes. I don’t have a Bosch ROS, I have a Bosch POS.
Time to take another look at the Festool.
What’s the tool you hate to use the most?
“I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” Invictus, by Henley.
Replies
Roofing nailer
Matt
The grinder my dentist has.
After that (and ignoring computers), it would be the Bosch belt sander I finally tossed out.
I hate ANY weedeater...no exceptions.
My 16 year old Sachs Dolomar chain saw isn't cuttin' it (LOL). Think it's time for a new one.
Do my wrists count? They're complaining after the last couple of hundred square of tile I've installed and grouted. And I ain't done yet.~TBone
I've an old sidewinder I use occasionally. Glad I have it for demo and weird cuts as it saves the good saws but hate to use it.
That'll make me clench the teeth and hope it gets over soon.
-Thoreau's Walden
Quick Drive
When it works it's good.
When it doesn't it greatly pulls towards the dumpster. I haven't yet been able to figure out why it has good days and bad.
Lately more bad.
Eric
[email protected]
I agree...mine too..
"What people will notice and remember is the broad brush of how how we act.We can aspire to reach our high ideals, or we can slide down the slippery slope towards the despicable." rjw
http://www.john-lennon.com/imagine-neilyoung.ra
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
I feel your pain. Mine is exactly the same. I talked with a Simpson rep at the JLC show and he promised to send some info on upgrading mine, but he musta forgot.
"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Invictus, by Henley.
checks in the mail : )
"What people will notice and remember is the broad brush of how how we act.We can aspire to reach our high ideals, or we can slide down the slippery slope towards the despicable." rjw
http://www.john-lennon.com/imagine-neilyoung.ra
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
I was doing a kitchen and bath for a client.
He asked me about finshing up a project he started; replacing all the board on his large deck. He handed me this funny looking long screwgun thing and told me to give it a try. I was impressed. Through 2x6 syp decking. I did his whole deck with his quickdrive. Very few glitches.
So, I went out and bought one. That's when the the troubles began. I got a job doing a deck with 5/4 syp fastened with ss screws. Couldn't keep the bit from camming out. Few phone calls later the rep is on a rush over to me. I'm really pissed by now. Gives me a tutorial and a bunch of new bits and swaps out my screws for some "improved" ones.
Ok, back in business, sort of................ended up screwing the rest of the deck on my hands and kness with a drywall gun.
Reps says he'll meet me at my shop and we'll get me set up. New driver, this time Makita instaead of DW. All new mechanism, new driver ends, the part that you swap off for different length screws, new bits, boxes of screws for free, plastic cases, t shirts, hats.....................
It's still a piece of crap only now it's more polished. I see the new one are a bit different here and there...............
So when ever I reach for it now, I take a deep breath and hope for the best. Sure is nice to screw down underlayment for tile jobs though!
Eric[email protected]
ended up screwing the rest of the deck on my hands and kness with a drywall gun.
Man, where was yer impact driver?
be impacted with an impact
Before winter I built a chimney, and shingled the sides of my house, which were already impervious to rain, with imperfect and sappy shingles made of the first slice of the log, whose edges I was obliged to straighten with a plane.-Thoreau's Walden
Edited 6/30/2007 10:26 am ET by rez
Wasn't born yet.[email protected]
Speaking of impact drivers.....
My Makita gets my blood boiling virtually everytime.
When the batteries are charged.....no complaints.
Problem is, THEY'RE NEVER CHARGED!
Everytime I go to use the damned thing, they're at near empty.
On jobs where I'm using it daily, its not a problem. The spare is in the charger until needed. When it's time to swap, the dead one goes in. And I make sure to charge whichever was in the gun at the end of the day, overnight.
But G-for-B I don't use it for a week or so. Two dead batteries and my thumb up my azz.
Grrrrrrrrr.
J. D. ReynoldsHome Improvements
My older Bosch 12 volt impact carries a charge for many days even if not in use but my little 12 volt panasonic drilldriver will fart out after sitting a day or two.
Yep, makes you feel like trashing the thing.The exact cost of my house, paying the usual price for such materials as I used, but not counting the work, all of which was done by myself, was as follows; and I give the details because very few are able to tell exactly what their houses cost, and fewer still, if any, the separate cost of the various materials which compose them: — -Thoreau's Walden
I've got the Makita 10 minute charger as well as a Bosch 15minute charger. They are worth their weight in gold - no longer do you have to have a ton of batteries or immediately park multiple batteries on a bunch of 1 hour (or 1 hour +) chargers.The odd thing is - even though they charge your batteries faster - they are actually better for your batteries - because of the fast charge the batts are subjected to less heat, and in the Bosch's case (maybe the Mak as well) the fast charger has fuzzy logic circuitry which senses the battery in some way and ends up making the batteries last longer.The Mak fast charger sells for $89 or so, but I've seen them frequently and picked mine up on Ebay new for $55. Same situation with the Bosch.JT
I may look into that.
Kinda leary about sinkin' money into a tool that I'm not in love with though.
I'll have to price em out. Thanks.
J. D. ReynoldsHome Improvements
Same tale of woe here with the quickdrive. When it working it is sweet, but too many cam outs, miss drives etc. Local yard is a stocking Senco dealer and from what i hear they are a much better gun than the quickdrive."Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca
I know someone that used the Senco strip srew drywall gun and loved it.[email protected]
I got the QD years ago when they were a coil gun. Whole different setup now. Even back then, the rep told me that they only have marginal success with square drive screws. Maybe the 'improved' screws were 316 SS, they're a little harder than the usual 304.
Still...
I love it for screwing down subfloors, though. Gotta get the side handle/clamp replaced with something that will hold, though.
"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Invictus, by Henley.
I've rented the quick drive, and I too loved it when it worked right, but seems to be a very quirky tool.
Then my local yard brought in a new Milwaukee. WOW....no contest. Only complaint; the plastic side handle busted off from me pushing too hard on it. I finished the job without the handle and still liked it better. View Image View Image
I wrapped my old one, motor and all around a 6" steel pipe column. I beat it against the pipe enough times so that there were no usable parts or pieces left, then swept up the mess and placed it in a drywall bucket, put the lid on it and threw it in the dumpster.
k
I have the Metabo made Ridgid dual mode 6" sander. You can still find them at some Home Depot's for $129.00
HD replaced them with a China-made clone and changed the number slightly. I think the one you want is the 2610 - the China model is the 2611.
For $129 I've been very happy - good dust collection ( the fein vac hose fits right into the sanders cast in vac port with no adapters needed), and the agressive mode is very handy.
Overall, seems easy to control and although it's heavier than most 6" sanders, it's probably about the same as the Bosch or Festool Rotex.
JT
My Crapsman shop vac...I HATE IT! I'm so pizzed at me for not getting the Fein.
Everytime I'm about to turn it on I grit my teeth and hold my ears...grrrrrrrrr
"What people will notice and remember is the broad brush of how how we act.We can aspire to reach our high ideals, or we can slide down the slippery slope towards the despicable." rjw
http://www.john-lennon.com/imagine-neilyoung.ra
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
You got company, bro.Bought it because it was cheap.Got what I paid for.
Leon
I've got a Makita recip saw that makes me grit my teeth. It used to be a really nice saw..... that newish 15 amp model. Really nice. But then we did horrible things to it for the past 18 months or so. Now it's grinding itself up. The casing gets red hot. It smokes and smells like burning wire. It makes terrible grinding sounds and vibrates the crap out of you. But it just keeps cutting and won't die. The depth shoe is long gone so if you get too close to what you're cutting the chuck just smashes everything to bits and takes you along for the ride. And still it keeps cutting......
I just ordered a new 12amp reconditioned Dewalt though. I may have to put that Makita down and do for it, what it can't do for itself. :)
Didn't one of your guys run over a circular saw quite a while back?
arrainge for the makita recip to be his next victim.
then you can blame him for its demise
<G>
Yeah... too bad that dude is long gone....'bout all he would have been good for anywho.View Image
I've got a Porter Cable jigsaw that I bought several years ago that has the most obstinate, PITA, finger-cramping bastardized blade clamping and releasing system ever devised by man. Otherwise, it's a fine saw.
Another local contractor had the same saw and got so frustrated trying to swap blades that he threw it off the roof of a two-story house, climbed down a ladder, climbed aboard his excavator and buried it in the backfill.
Just this week, I bought a new Makita jigsaw, mostly because the blade clamp and release is ingeniously simple and easy. (And the saw is pretty nice, too).
I gave the PC to a friend who really didn't need it, will seldom use it and may never have to replace the new blade I struggled to mount up for him.
But he's happy....and I'm downright thrilled!
Yep, got that PC jig and that's true.
So I end up leaving the same one blade in it and use my Rigid when it's change around time.
I think they did it trying to make you buy there special hook blade deal.
be other than that it's an ok saw but who wants a troubled system
It would signify somewhat, if, in any earnest sense, he slanted them and daubed it; but the spirit having departed out of the tenant, it is of a piece with constructing his own coffin — the architecture of the grave — and "carpenter" is but another name for "coffin-maker." One man says, in his despair or indifference to life, take up a handful of the earth at your feet, and paint your house that color. Is he thinking of his last and narrow house? Toss up a copper for it as well. What an abundance of leisure he must have! Why do you take up a handful of dirt? Better paint your house your own complexion; let it turn pale or blush for you. An enterprise to improve the style of cottage architecture! When you have got my ornaments ready, I will wear them. -Thoreau's Walden
Edited 6/30/2007 1:14 am ET by rez
Tell your friend it is lots easier to change the blade if you use your leatherman to pinch the clamp. Particularly whe you have been using metal blades, and it is hot enough tobunr you when you try to squeeze it.
I won't give advice on that tool; I've used my leatherman, vice-grips and channel locks of various manufacture and it's still usually a b!tch.
And then sometimes, it would work perfectly, but when it did, I was so shocked that I failed to take note of what I'd done.
And then sometimes the old blade would come out easily, but getting the new one fully seated would be a problem (thinking it was locked in, I'd climb up my ladder to saw out a chmney chase or something and, as soon as I pulled the trigger, it would spit the blade out).
I am SO glad to be rid of that damned thing.
And the tool store where I bought the Makita also carries PC and they told me PC is no longer making that jigsaw....no mystery to me as to why.
I've got the same Porter Cable jigsaw. At a guess, it was designed by a lefty, it was easier. The trick is to do the blade change as a left handed person would.Best to you and yours, Chris.
Building as thou art paranoid never harmed anyone.
Nick:
I've got a two-year old Festool Rotex 150 in perfect condition with little wear that I'd sell you for $250.00.
The ONLY reason I'd ever part with that tool short of the grave is to buy the newest version of same which is $450.00 or so.
I'm so sure you'll love this sander as much as I do, I'll give you a money back gaurantee!
Save your teeth,
Kowboy
[email protected]
What's the difference of the new one vs. the old one?I might be interested in the one you want to sell - does it come with the systainer?JT
The new one has a different style sanding disk, I believe and they've reconfigured the vaccum.
I saw the new one at the Solid Surface Expo in Florida this year and liked it.
I would sell the Systainer with it.
Kowboy
Looks like they also made some sort of shield that keep it from digging into verticle surfaces...Thanks for the offer - tempting, but I was just telling myself I've got to stop buying so many tools - plus - not sure how I'd get rid of the Ridgid I have.. But I have heard those sanders are amazing...Need anything in trade?I've got a like brand new Makita 12 volt impact kit with 2 batts and case and charger. also have: NEW Bostich Twin stack oil-lube aircompressor
Bosch CS20 circ saw with hook and bag - mint
Bosch RA1180 router table with stand
Spare Makita 14.4 drill motor - decent shape
Brand new Panasonic 15.6 battery
New Bosch 18volt rotozip with attachments
Bosch 9-12 peice holesaw kit (7/8 - 3"?)
Really nice, clean Senco SFN1 15ga gun
Complete PC 557 biscuit jointer setup
Delta 15-650 Mortiser machine with chisels - hardly usedLet me know if anything above interests you.JT
I just sold the saw I hated more than any other tool I have...a Chicago 10" compound slide miter box saw that I bought for $90 at Harbor Freight. Modeled after a Makita, the Thing made miter cuts that were up to 1 degree inaccurate, and when you looked at the line of the cut, it was wavey (from a cheap blade?) Some guy paid $40 to give to his son, and I felt guilty as he walked away with it.
well grit my teeth hmmmm
i call them my pile of dumb purchases bought the makita 2704 table saw first day the tilt gear striped grrrit . and when it did tilt the line of cut was way off. grrrrrrit
my 2708 and 2703 are still working great .anyone interested i buying a slightly used makita 2704 table saw great for a coffe taaable i guess
bought the makita recip saw keyless blade change hmm great wrong .parts flew all over second day keyless blade change less the blade thats justa couple i could go on
My nemises of choice lately is a left bladed PC circular saw. Picked it up last year used, the cord was cut and taped, about 6" long. Always seems to misbehave, either pulling loose or snagging. More annoying is the sloppy guard which seems to catch everything - especially the waste portion of what I'm cutting. It makes no difference whether I'm cutting 2x4's, 5/4 or 3/4, the stuff still hangs up. I never felt the need to pin up a guard before this.
It's more annoying because I have two other circular saws, perfectly acceptable, that I left 500 miles away in NY to be used up there - and nothing's getting done on that job unless I go back there. Next trip up there I think I'll make a switch. :-)
Don K.
EJG Homes Renovations - New Construction - Rentals
Some guy paid $40 to give to his son, and I felt guilty as he walked away with it.
Ooh, you just brought up a repressed memory. My tooth-gritter was a Bosch hammer drill. Went to a new home (with some guilt on my part) at a community sale, along with whatever crappy bits I still had.
Never knew it was so bad until I happened into a Hilti. What a bunch of wasted time and money ...PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
"What's the tool you hate to use the most?"
That's too easy -- any paint brush! LOL
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
I hate my Ryobi portable table saw. Bought it on sale, should have gone with a Bosch. It may fall victim to a gravity check inside the next dumpster.
-D
i have had to wear a harness for the first time this week. i'm not sure if that is a tool, but i hate it. it feels dangerous to me, ropes getting tangled with hoses, extra weight, i hate it.
Not too fond of them either, but hate falling of a lift/roof/whatever even more.
"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Invictus, by Henley.