Anybody Else Into The USA Porter Cable Stuff?

[RiseAbove]

Recently picked up a 7335 DA and love this thing. Looking at picking up some more of their USA made tools. Anybody else like their older stuff? What other good tools did they put out?

 

[four.cycle]

 

[Wamsutta]

I'm into it it. I have a USA Porter-Cable 330 sander that's awesome.

I'd like to get the 1/2 sheet 505 sander someday.

 

[genog]

USA made Porter Cable power tools is GREAT stuff.
Top Shelf.

I bought my PC tools in the 1980's and they are still running strong.
Why wouldn't they?

Five of their Routers -a big one, three 690's and a small trim router
Belt sander
two 505 pad sanders
Tiger Saw
I would love to find one of their ehd drills

Built my entire kitchen with mostly Porter Cable power tools when we bought our house in 1994
Had a bit of help from Milwaukee and DeWalt
Oh.... and Delta

 

[jives]

Back in the 70s and 80s I worked for my contractor dad. In their cabinet shop the drills were Milwaukee, the circular saws were Skill worm drive (So. Calif), the routers were Porter Cable, table saws were Delta. My current 20 year old 4.5" angle grinder is P-C and it takes a serious beating. Don't know if made in USA.

 

[neophyte]

USA made Porter Cable tools were solid.
I fidn’t always like the ergonomics though.
Unfortunately, getting parts nowadays can be an issue, since Black & Decker bought PC, and discontinued most of the tools, or in some cases like the biscuit joiner, switched the old PC motor for a Dewalt motor in Porter Cable grey.

 

[lardy1]

When I was contracting in the 80's & 90's it was basically Milwaukee or PC. When I found out Milwaukee was importing I switched to PC pretty much exclusively but they followed the same path eventually. At that time DeWalt was marketing heavily but I thought of them as Black & Decker with a paint job.

 

[Davefr]

PC was ahead of it's time for awhile:
- 6" Saw Boss circ. saw (very powerful without the excess bulk/weight)
- Model 334 RO Sander
- Biscuit Cutter
- Their Random orbital DA buffer for automotive detail/polish work was the "gold standard"

Just like Bosch, you hardly hear of them any more.

 

[neophyte]

When I was contracting in the 80's & 90's it was basically Milwaukee or PC. When I found out Milwaukee was importing I switched to PC pretty much exclusively but they followed the same path eventually. At that time DeWalt was marketing heavily but I thought of them as Black & Decker with a paint job.

I know Porter Cable was sort of considered THE industrial brand for woodworking in the 1980s and 1990s.

Early Dewalt tools were actually really solid in most cases.
The USA made tools had been Black & Decker, but usually were the Black & Decker “Industrial” tools, that tended to be very solid, and in most cases capable of lasting decades.
The Import Dewalt tools were usually rebranded Elu tools, from the German Elu brand, which B&D had also purchased.
Elu invented the plunge router and were considered top quality. ( the DW625 plunge router from Dewalt is still basically the same Elu design, as are some other tools)

As for Bosch, some tools during the 80s and 90s were made in Switzerland or Germany, but a lot of others were made in the USA.
Bosch had actually purchased Stanley’s Power Tools division around 1980, and supposedly a bunch of the tools Bosch came out with in the next teo decades might have been based on Stanley R&D, although I can’t be certain.
I know Stanley made High Frequency motors and tools for industrial use, and Bosch still has a high frequency tool division as part of its separate industrial tool division.
Most of the USA made Bosch tools seemed to be just as solid as the Porter Cable tools.

As for Milwaukee, the imported tools that were made in Europe were usually made by AEG, and were very solid. I think the exception might have been some Rotary hammers, since AEG and Milwaukee were both owned by Atlas Copco, who I think also owned Kango from the UK.

 

[Milton Shaw]

I heard that the tools stores in Hawaii were the top sellers of PC tools in the world. Not from natives but from Japanese tourist that would fill suitcases with them to take back to Japan. Nothing but PC tools, they knew that they were the best.

 

[dnschmidt]

I hated the original real deal Porter-Cable tools. That's probably why I have about 20 of them. I hated them so much I've got three of their 333 random orbit sanders, 2 of their 3 x 21 variable speed belt sanders, 1 of their 4 X 24 belt sanders, a Tiger Saw, a Tiger Cub saw, a half sheet orbital sander, a 1/4 sheet orbital sander and about 15 of their routers. Pure junk, that's why I bought so many of them. Garbage, just like Knipex pliers.

 

[Nutria]

Recently picked up a 7335 DA and love this thing. Looking at picking up some more of their USA made tools. Anybody else like their older stuff? What other good tools did they put out?

Head over to owwm and search on "James Huston." You'll be in for a treat re old Porter Cable.

 

[ScottTheSculptor]

Thrift Store find: Model 149 Standard Duty 3/8ths drill.
Search did not find another... so figured to post it.
"Handsome" tool.

 

[neophyte]

Thrift Store find: Model 149 Standard Duty 3/8ths drill.
Search did not find another... so figured to post it.
"Handsome" tool.

Nice.
Make sure the cord is grounded and has the ground cable properly attached though.