Brand Loyalty - Brand Preference?

[Jeff Erbele]

Do you tend to stick to one brand in woodworking machinery and power tools?

Or when considering buying a machine or power tool, do you consider all available with little prejudice towards a particular brand?

[joseph dake]

For power tools of the non machine variety i am a strict dewalt fan. I have beat up more dewalt stuff on commerial job sites than any other brand and thy keep going. As for woodworking tools i try to buy the top rated tool. I will say that i just bought the grizzly 513anv and love it so i will look at what they offer when i need something else

[scott spencer]

Many brand names are just used for marketing in today's tool world. Many of the tools are eerily similar, and from the same factory with different "bolt-ons". I have little brand loyalty and make them earn my money every time I shop for a new tool. Sticking with one brand is a good recipe for paying more without ensuring that you're getting more for the money.

[Ryan Myers]

I am an electrician (a heavy commercial user of power tools) by trade and I've been using Milwaukee power tools almost exclusively for the past twenty years. I've tried Dewalt, Rigid, Makita and I still go back to Milwaukee. Their products in my opinion are the most well built and durable. And they stand behind them. Can't speak for Milwaukee products picked up at the Borg. I've always purchased mine through a Milwaukee tool dealer or an electrical wholesale place. That used to be the only way you could buy them. My dad was an electrician too and he has given me some corded power tools he bought back in the early 70s and there still going strong. I to date have never worn out a Milwaukee tool. And when my batteries failed on my cordless tools they replaced them free of charge and they were a couple months past their warranty period. Their service is top notch. So you could say I'm pretty loyal to the Milwaukee brand.

As for my small woodworking tools I have lots of Porter Cable nailers, jigsaw, sanders and really like them. Also have some Dewalt sanders and corded drills. Not a huge fan of HF tools, but I have a few and they've held up.

I have a Dewalt 735 planer and it's alright, but I don't think it's anything special. Would like to upgrade it. Have a mixture of brands on my other stationary equipment. I have HF dust collector I bought new for $135 and it gets the job done. I bought a Grizzly 10" cabinet saw about 7 years ago and I think it is a very well built machine. I truly think it is a better saw than my father in laws Unisaw. I personally consider Grizzly a top contender (others will disagree) in the machinery market while I will agree Jet, Powermatic, General, and Italian made equipment is probably a step above. I would like best top names in equipment but I have a wife and two younger kids so woodworking equipment is a low priority in the family finances. Especially with a wife who gripes that I have way too many tools already and is always suggesting that I should sell some (yeah right, my tools are like my children too). I would like some Festool items, but justifying buying a $750 small tool over buying my kids something they need or would benefit from would be a hard decision. I think everyone has a unique situation in what they consider important in a tool purchase, for me I just described it all above. That is why having a variety of manufacturers with different price points to choose from is a good thing.

[Matt Day]

For machinery I prefer Used, Old, and Inexpensive, power tools I prefer On Sale. I don't care what color any of them are, though rust tends to be the cheapest!

[Jack Burgess]

I had a perhaps unusual situation. I saved my money for several years and when the time for retirement came I have been looking for several months and had planned to start buying what I preceived to be the best units that I could affort for my small hobby - toymaking. In the process of looking I happened to go by SEARS (OH GOODNESS !) and looked at their products. There were some fair price differences BUT as if happened they were having the "Friends and Family Night" the following night. There was already a 15% disc sale in effect - tomorrow night after 10:00 every tool was an ADDITIONAL 25% off - so I decided to go all the way and get all at SEARS - with the discounted warranty also. It has been two years and every tool has been performing excellent except the band saw and they UPGRADED me to the larger more industrial size after problems. I get automatic service every 6 months for three years for a little less than $90 a year ! I consider that to be a bargan for me since I am NOT a mechinical fixer and do not want to risk used equipment. I have so many friends that have various companies for different machines and they are constantly looking for service centers, etc and paying service calls.

The level of products that I purchased (Bande Saw, radial arm saw, router, drill press, and table saw) have been adequate and have been performing OK. They get serviced every 6 months. I do have a HF 6" belt sander that has been great. I understand that the Sears woodworking tools do not have a great reputation with experienced wood workers but they have been more that adequate for my hobby, which has about turned into a business with the shows that I have been attending. I tend to believe that the nature for the items that are you normal wood working will dictate the quality of the tools.

[John TenEyck]

For stationary machines it's used equipment all the way for me. With rare exceptions new stationary machines are no better and usually worse than old American (or Canadian, or Swiss, or German, or Italian) machines. Notice what area of the world I did not include. For power hand tools, I don't have all that much loyalty, however, over the years I've been happy with every Bosch tool I've purchased and, as a result, I own more of them than any other brand.

John

[Jeff Duncan]

I've come to terms with the fact that.......well......I'm a tool snob Not b/c I want to show them off or rub them in peoples faces mind you, but b/c I use them everyday to make a living. So I prefer to buy the best quality I can afford....and sometimes even when I can't afford it! I've found I enjoy my work more when I get to use really good equipment every day. I don't necessarily have brand loyalty, though there are certain names I generally prefer. However I don't believe there's any one company that made a full line of machines better than everyone else. So if I'm looking for a certain machine I do a little homework and see who made the better ones. Then I have a selection to keep an eye out for. As such currently I have roughly 18 different large equipment manufacturers represented in my shop from at least 7 different countries. And FWIW there's no single company that manufactures all the equipment I have, so it couldn't be an option anyway

JeffD

[Chris Fournier]

I wouldn't say that I am brand loyal exactly but I certainly do use my experience with tools/machinery in my shop to begin making decisions about future purchases. I have had 3 SCM machines, all of them have been terrific, I look to SCM first but then broaden my scope to their rival manufacturers.

There is no one manufacturer that knocks out the best of everything so I have several colours in my shop. I try to buy the best that I can and I'm willing to look in new directions.

On a couple of occasions, early on in this pursuit I bought poor quality tools, or simply compromised and bought a second or third choice. I never do that now, it is too expensive in the long run and very unrewarding.

[David Hawkins]

I tend to have more bias against certain brands than for specific brands. Sort of a burn me once, shame on you, burn me twice shame on me.... I don't necessarily auto-reject a brand but I tend to shop with a bag of salt in the car.....

Does it have features I need = (++) Does it have features that I won't use = (-) I need to see how it will make me money/save me time/improve quality etc. before I buy.

[glenn bradley]

Brand Loyalty - Brand Preference?

My brand loyalty is dead and gone. My brand preference depends on what specific tool you are talking about and what period in history you are talking about. I'm not trying to be negative or vague but, the "darlings" of the moment do come and go as consistent quality of a certain badge no longer exists. Even the high dollar Ialian and German folks have their also-ran's.

So if I'm looking for a certain machine I do a little homework and see who made the better ones. Then I have a selection to keep an eye out for.

Spoken like a man who's been there and back ;-)

[John Sanford]

Brand preferences, yes. Brand loyalty, no.

Yes, I do go into any purchasing decision with a list of contenders, and with a firm list of exclusions. The exclusions vary by tool or machine, and they change based on when the tool/machine was produced.

[Mr Mike Mills]

I try to keep similar tools that same. I am in High School educational setting. I have all dewalt cordless drills including right angle drill so that we only need 1 type of charger laying around. and all batteries are interchangeable. For my purposes I try to have a variety of different quality brand for the students to use and experience. Porter cable Belt and 1/2 sheet finish sander, Mikita orbital sanders - Mikita has one of the lighter of the electric orbital sanders at the time i purchased 15 of them, My router both fixed base and plunge are all dewalt so that the wrenches and collets are interchangeable. I like the porter cable brad nailers because the tip come open with a little clip to clean out jams. But I have a Bostitch pin nailer,

My experience is if you are buying a good quality brand does not really matter which brand. often you get what you pay for. but it is important to look in to brand specific features. again back to my sanders. They were the lightest in their category at the time I purchased. the only problem with them I have had was the hook and loop pads. The students would work them to hard or long and melt the hooks.

[Roger Feeley]

I tend to look in Fine Woodworking and Wood Magazine for the most recent tests and I try to buy the best of breed.

I do stay away from anything carrying the Craftsman label. I got burned years ago by Sears when I bought a tilting head bandsaw that stopped tilting just after it was out of warranty. No support from Sears.

[Tom Giacomo]

I have no brand loyalty but I have noticed lately that my shop is slowly becoming that Milwaukee red color.