Your most disappointing woodworking purchase.

[Packard]

I read a lot about great equipment that I should own.  Some machines should be avoided either because of substandard build quality, substandard engineering, or substandard manufacturers’ support.  I’d like to hear about your experience.

I’ll start off with Ryobi.  One good; one bad. 

Several years ago, I purchased a bench top Ryobi drill press. It did everything I required of it.

So when I wanted a bench top band saw, I went with a Ryobi also. 

It is not really competent.

It stalls out trying to cut 1/4” thick plywood.

The blade consistently slips out of the guides so when trying to change the direction of cut, the only change is the twist of the blade. 

I tried to use it for cutoff of 3/8” diameter oak dowels, but it required too, too slow a feed to do so without stalling, that I gave up.

So for Ryobi:

Drill press:  For ight duty wood working it is OK.  It will spin a 35mm forstner bit just fine.

Band saw:  Save your money.

 

[luvmytoolz]

Probably the biggest waste of money I spent was on one of those small 150mm benchtop planers. I thought it would be really useful for quick edging but I got as far as powering it on, and partially running one piece through before I decided it had to go. It was deafeningly loud and vibrated like mad!

I don't think I recall a tool I hated so much, or so instantly!

I ended up selling it pretty soon after for around $100 less than I paid, I felt bad trying to get full price from anyone for it!

 

[Packard]

I bought a vibratory burnished from Harbor Freight. 

The vibration causes it to walk away.  I was smart enough to put the thing on the ground the first time I used it.  It walked far enough away to pull out the electric cord and stop.

I anchored the thing and the vibration caused the wing nut to vibrate off and container lid fell off.  A mess.

I was not expecting much, so it did not make my top disappointment.  But certainly not something that is very useful.

 

[woodferret]

Bessey Single Screw Edge Clamp.  Fiddly POS.  Probably user error, but I just ended up sticking bicycle tires on spring clamps and called it a day.

 

[luvmytoolz]

Bessey Single Screw Edge Clamp.  Fiddly POS.  Probably user error, but I just ended up sticking bicycle tires on spring clamps and called it a day.

I have the same clamps and I get what you mean, I found the trick was to hold the padded jaws tight against the shelf faces, while tightening the handle until the jaws pull forward very slightly, over tightening would pull the jaws right to the edge.

 

[MikeGE]

The thread title could be "Your most disappointing woodworking purchase so far." if you don't want to rule out future bad decisions.

My most disappointing purchase so far was my Holzmann HOB 260NL Jointer/Planer (Planer/Thicknesser for some).  I documented the fun I had with trying to make it work before abandoning it for the Minimax FS 30G.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Bessey Single Screw Edge Clamp.  Fiddly POS.  Probably user error, but I just ended up sticking bicycle tires on spring clamps and called it a day.

The real problem with those is the price  [eek] I really only found them fiddly on the first one. Trying to control the piece of edging and tighten the clamp was a pain, after that, not so bad. They hold tight, self-center, and leave no marks.

For me, the biggest regret was the first iteration of Makita cordless jigsaw. I started with Makita LXT in 2005, when there were very few tools in the range. I got the 5 piece kit/bag. There was no jigsaw at that time. It took them several years to really start to expand the range. I think it was 2009 before one became available. It was ok, I guess, but I was not impressed. It lacked the blower I was used to with Bosch and was heavy, clunky, and slow. Definitely not worth the money. Hopefully, the newer ones are better.

 

[Mini Me]

Some Woodpeckers one time tools which I never used and when I advertised them I was swamped with would be buyers. I kept a few useful (to me) such as the saddle squares but even those have limited use but are very handy when needed. I also worked out that Aluminium tools don't work well with a marking knife if a lot of care is not taken.

 

[Muttley000]

Hands down for me, the porter cable detail sander

 

[Peter Kelly]

Woodpeckers parallel guide set. Expensive, a complete PIA to set up and doesn't work any better than the Seneca system that costs a fraction of the price.

 

[twistsol1]

My Shaper Origin. Not because there is anything wrong with it ... I assume,  but I've never had the time to learn to use it and it is now many years old and still brand new. At least I bought it really early when there were huge discounts. I paid less than half of what retail is now, but it still a pile of money for something unused.

 

[live4ever]

Any unused tool that isn’t returning value is a disappointment, and I do have several of those (hello BC Jointmaker, lathe).  But I can’t bring myself to part with them because I still believe I’ll one day have the space/time/need/motivation to fully utilize and enjoy them.

There are also countless tools where I did not follow the buy-once-cry-once mantra and regretted it.  But also countless tools where I did and probably overbought.  Those are all disappointments in the sense of not being able to match the purchase and need on the first go-round.  But that’s how you learn.

The Delta benchtop HCM (in early Domino days) was a disappointing purchase, because the savings relative to a Domino were peanuts compared to how much easier/faster the Domino was.

 

[Imemiter]

Mine was probably a Rotozip. This was a long time ago, just after they came out and before there were many, if any, cordless drywall routers. I had a job making a kitchen/dining room pass-through with an arched top, and thinking it'd work like a router with a trim bit, I bought the Rotozip to cut the arch. The saleswoman assured me it'd be just the thing to cut plaster and lath... But just to be sure I'd better buy a dozen carbide bits. It was somewhere around bit ten that I threw the Rotozip in a garbage can.

This was probably a case of using right tool for the wrong application. The only other tool I remember throwing away was a Tajima chalk box, which is definitely the wrong tool for snapping lines on comp roofing.     

 

[peter halle]

Mine was probably a Rotozip. This was a long time ago, just after they came out and before there were many, if any, cordless drywall routers. I had a job making a kitchen/dining room pass-through with an arched top, and thinking it'd work like a router with a trim bit, I bought the Rotozip to cut the arch. The saleswoman assured me it'd be just the thing to cut plaster and lath... But just to be sure I'd better buy a dozen carbide bits. It was somewhere around bit ten that I threw the Rotozip in a garbage can.

This was probably a case of using right tool for the wrong application. The only other tool I remember throwing away was a Tajima chalk box, which is definitely the wrong tool for snapping lines on comp roofing.   

And I thought I was the only one who had those bits last a matter of seconds in plaster.

Peter

 

[peter halle]

For me it would have to be the Craftsman Radial Arm saw I bought in the mid-1980's.  That was right after they introduced the electronically constrolled one.  You could set that to be accurate and then eat lunch only to find it inaccurate again.  I ended up returning that and going with a Craftsman Table Saw.  That saw had a cast iron top that was not flat.  How not flat you ask.  You could stick the ruler of a try square under a straight edge that was placed diagonally.  Luckily I had purchased the extended service plan but after two more tops like that including one that warped after it was installed, they gladly refunded my purchase price along with all the accessories I had purchased.

Peter

 

[woodbutcherbower]

Relating to the above, I'm always disappointed when multitool blades only last a matter of minutes. I have a Fein machine with the proprietary Starlock Plus system, so I also have to use Fein blades which cost a fortune. It's a niche tool that I'll only use when I absolutely have to. The 'by-the-minute' running costs are astronomical.

 

[woodferret]

Bessey Single Screw Edge Clamp.  Fiddly POS.  Probably user error, but I just ended up sticking bicycle tires on spring clamps and called it a day.

The real problem with those is the price  [eek] I really only found them fiddly on the first one. Trying to control the piece of edging and tighten the clamp was a pain, after that, not so bad. They hold tight, self-center, and leave no marks.

Mine was in ref to the KT5-1CP.  You shove a standard F on, while holding the horizontal spindle.  Then you tighten the spindle which wasn't self centering and very likely would want to shift your edgeband up/down.  It doesn't help that you also have to get the pressure on the F clamp well, or it walks towards the edge and unlike the more expensive cam clamp version, doesn't tighten to hold.  Too tight and it mars the surface because the lateral force digs those little round plastic pads into the wood.  Also because the single spindle is offset to the bar, it likes to twist the F clamp.  Much fun.

 

[BarneyD]

20 years ago I was in the midst of building some kitchen cabinets for my son when my venerable old Bosch ROS let out the magic smoke (it was probably 20 years old then). I went to the local hardware store and bought a Milwaukee ROS. After 15 minutes of that I went back and returned it. It was awful. I then went online and ordered the RO125 EQ. My first sip of the green kool-aid. I think I'm now up to about 8 FS sanders (and other important stuff). 

 

[krudawg]

Mine was probably a Rotozip. This was a long time ago, just after they came out and before there were many, if any, cordless drywall routers. I had a job making a kitchen/dining room pass-through with an arched top, and thinking it'd work like a router with a trim bit, I bought the Rotozip to cut the arch. The saleswoman assured me it'd be just the thing to cut plaster and lath... But just to be sure I'd better buy a dozen carbide bits. It was somewhere around bit ten that I threw the Rotozip in a garbage can.

This was probably a case of using right tool for the wrong application. The only other tool I remember throwing away was a Tajima chalk box, which is definitely the wrong tool for snapping lines on comp roofing.   

Yep the Rotozip just collects dust in my shop since buying my Dewalt Ossiclating tool

 

[Packard]

Mine was probably a Rotozip. This was a long time ago, just after they came out and before there were many, if any, cordless drywall routers. I had a job making a kitchen/dining room pass-through with an arched top, and thinking it'd work like a router with a trim bit, I bought the Rotozip to cut the arch. The saleswoman assured me it'd be just the thing to cut plaster and lath... But just to be sure I'd better buy a dozen carbide bits. It was somewhere around bit ten that I threw the Rotozip in a garbage can.

This was probably a case of using right tool for the wrong application. The only other tool I remember throwing away was a Tajima chalk box, which is definitely the wrong tool for snapping lines on comp roofing.   

Yep the Rotozip just collects dust in my shop since buying my Dewalt Ossiclating tool

I think dry wallers still use Rotozip or the current version of it.  It works like a pattern cutting bit in a router.  I’ve seen it used on TV and it is fast and does not kick up much dust (relatively).