Looking for some opinions

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76nemo

76nemo

Senior Member
Location
Ogdensburg, NY
I was looking at this Porter Cable 18V Li-Ion set on sale. I have never used any of their cordless line. Have any of you guys, ....and can you share an opinion? It's on sales at Lowes for $129 with two batt's, a charger, and a soft case.

I really like Porter Cable's line of products, but being this inexpensive,....does something give???


Thanks guys for your time.
 
N

norcal

Senior Member
Porter-Cable was bought by B&D (DeWalts parent company) & since DeWalt was their "industrial" line (yeah right) they destroyed P-C & made it their homeowner line, be real careful w/ current production P-C tools.

BTW Stanley is swallowing B&D.
 
GUNNING

GUNNING

Senior Member
Location
Gainesville, Florida
I have an Opinion ... GO FOR IT!

I have an Opinion ... GO FOR IT!

I like the PC 18 volt drill. Its light and cheap. I even got the dust buster saw saw sabre saw circular saw light extra batteries etc...

It seems to be lasting longer than the Dewalt stuff and lighter, smaller and easier to carry.

The batteries are stable so far. The circular saw is tough enough to cut a 2x4 for a fan brace or two. The drill has a steel 1/2" chuck. No plastic junk to get ripped up and can drill a top plate with little LED lights to see with in an attic. The NiCd batteries are swappable with the Lithium.

Did I mention they are cheap? I was going to get the Bosche Hammer drill until I got the $300 price tag. $39 was just right for me! I could buy 9 of em for that price and have a nice new battery too! The Bits are almost as much as the drill!

Go for it!
 
MarkyMarkNC

MarkyMarkNC

Senior Member
Location
Raleigh NC
Any particular brand asked about on here always gets about the same amount of good reviews and guys saying "that brand used to be good but now it sucks!"

Virtually all brands of cordless tools are 99% the same. They all have the same Johnson motors. They all get their battery cells from the same manufacturer. The same factory in China probably stamps out the plastic and assembles them all.

Look at the specs on the tool. Check out the AH rating on the batteries. Does it have all metal gears? Those are more important than brand.
 
J

jmellc

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
Occupation
Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
I bought a P/C set for $100 at Lowe's last December. Has done well for me. My DeWalt had done well, but was coughing and sputtering. I have no regrets on the P/C.

Don't laugh, but I had a B/D Firestorm, 12V that I bought for $40 4 years ago. The one with the radio/charger combo. It held up great until last year. Not a heavy duty driller but an excellent driver, very lightweight and not tiring to use. I bought their current Firestorm to replace it and it has the torque but no duration. Batteries give out way too soon. I still have and use it but it's not as good as the 1st.
 
M

macmikeman

Senior Member
Location
Planet macmikeman
While we are on the subject of cordless tools, I had a friend (electrician) come help me out from deadline on commercial rough in a few weeks ago. He had a Makita 18 volt cordless bandsaw with him, that he let me use to cut 2" emt. What a sweet tool that baby is. Uses standard 18v lithium ion Makita battery to power, and seemed to cut fine all day long on the one battery. It's on my Christmas presents to myself list for the year....
 
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