Several. A 108" x 6" vertical belt sander. Wish I'd spent that money on a Performax or Woodmaster planer/sander. Next is a Porter Cable detail sander. Jumps around and digs holes in profiles.

On the other side of the argument, I've spent money to buy lesser quality tools to see if I liked what they can do such as the Mastercraft (think it is also Chicago Electric) oscillating tool I wasn't sure I needed. It's starting to give up the ghost after being run fairly hard for several years so I went out yesterday and bought a Fein to replace it.

 

Im my case I love my belt 108" belt sander , as it was great for sanding long pieces of lexan , so no regrets there .

I had a deposite at WP for a Router table that I wanted made by a General ,and it ended up being back ordered.
Then some where I read that the casting wasn't great so I kiboshed getting it , so I decided I better order something else quick to use my deposite on , so I ordered a big arse 240V 15" stationary disc sander thinking that seeing as it has a miter slot that maybe it would be beneficial .

But I wish I had purchaced a bandsaw instead as real estate in my garage is at a premium , and I may have been able to make an attachment for my belt sander to hold pieces of wood at a 45 degree angle to sand mitered ends , if that scenario would have ever even happened .
So it's pretty much a waste of space having them both IMO

#2 , if I could do it all over again , I would have bought a SawStop table saw instead of the General International model that I purchaced .
I went with the large 54" fence , and shortly after I joined here I found out about track saws .
I could have saved myself some space by going with the 32" fence instead , as I'd sooner use a track saw to cut large sheet goods and you can do angles to , so it would have been a win win .

The casting was less than perfect on my General , but after some tweaking it's good now .
I'm liking Saw Stops dust collection system over there blade , so I bought it and now have to modify it to fit mine .
Would have rather just bought a cabinet saw from SawStop to begin with saving me these headaches , plus as an added bonus I wouldn't have to worry about loosing a finger or three.

Live and learn I guess

 

Biscuit joiner. Used once and collecting sawdust since. 12 inch DeWalt chop saw-impossible to get a clean cut because of blade deflection, sold & money spent on Bosch 10 inch compound sliding miter. Coping sled, pretty useless item. Total cost about the same as the Laguna 14-12 I can't afford just now. as Joey Brown used to say," Aaaaaah NUTS!"

 

Geez Tom I beat you in spades . I bought a hot tub that has pretty much ruined my life.
After using it it's taken my lung function to that of a chain smoker that smokes 14 packs a day. Hard to say yet , but I may have to quit wood working entirely from the lung damage .

So I had to sell the hot tub and lost over $10,000 , which would have bought me one hell of a CNC router table ,plus I would be able to breath properly again.
How's that for an arse kicking

 

I can't think of anything I regret buying. I have a few things I don't use very much. I build rather than buy a lot of things so that helps some. If I see a new gadget and I'm getting a millionaire pain I can usually take a wait and see stance. That has saved me from buying some things I might have regretted later.

 

When I bought my Powermatic contractors saw, I really wanted to get a cabinet saw. My wife wasn't happy with that idea, so I bought the contractor saw. I wish I had negotiated better


Gary

 

Gary there is a saying.

It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

I will be married 50 years in October.

 

Not counting the 47 feature all-in-one doohickie that the guy at the woodworking show made look so easy to use?

I think my remorse has been mainly buying things too small. My original drill press worked great, just too small. My current dust collector should have been the next model bigger. My first air compressor should have been bigger.... etc.

sometimes you don't know how you will exceed the limit of a tool until it is in your shop and in use.

The other time I have had a 'tinge' of buyers remorse is when I study a tool, determine it is the best, and finally use the jaws of life to get the wallet open only to have the next generation come on sale....

When I think about it, I don't have any reason to complain.

 

I'm almost the opposite Doug . After having tools returned ruined , I buy everything to big to discourage people from borrowing them . My previous belt disc combo was only 20 pounds ,so after buying new belt and disc sanders that are all over 400 pounds ,it's really slowed down on the borrowing issues.
Hard on the pocket book though

 

...and I was convinced "tools" and "buyer's remorse" could not coexist in the same universe...

 

Only when your tool budget has limits and you find out you wish you had spent it on another one instead of one that didn't live up to expectations.

Fein- German engineering, German made. No more power really but half as loud and half as much vibration. I can't see it being a mistake despite the price. Cheap is a relative term after all.

 

Cheap ain't good and good ain't cheap. As a general rule, this one is pretty good advice.

 

I have a porter cable dovetail jig. Made in Vietnam I'm not happy with and a Roto Zip tool I haven't used in 10 years.

 

I once bought a pencil from the local hardware mart. On the way home, I wished that instead buying the pencil, I had the money and could have bought a hammer sliding tablesaw, one of those wide jointers that david marks uses, and a nice cnc router.

 

Good one :sarcastic:

 

Dejure's signature- "The reason I have the tool you need is because I've never loaned it out".

 

If you say no enough times they will quit asking to borrow. I don't borrow or lend tools or money. Basically the same thing.

 

I lend...
and go w/ them at regular rates....
the borrower gets to watch...

 

And if he wants to use while you watch does the rate go up?

 

yes, radically dramatically and having to listen to commentary is done for an additional absurd charge(s) also....

 

Someone on the Forum has as a tag line, "I hope my wife doesn't sell my tools for what I told her I paid for them." I may be guilty of taking liberties in this particular way.

 

You guys have it all wrong. The trick is to get the missus to buy the tools for you. >

 

You are right. My wife has purchased a number of tools over the years. Of course, I've paid for a lot of quilting gear and artist supplies. Turnabout is fair play.

 

Nothing I really regret buying but I usually only buy if there is already a need for it. Years ago I came up with three rules for tool buying, a new tool should meet at least two of the conditions:



1. I already have a use for it.

2. It will improve efficiency

3. It can resell it without significant loss.



Couple of years ago I added a fourth rule that is more of a game:

4. The hobby should pay for itself.

-- Rick M

 

Rick, I agree with 1 and 2.

I don't buy any tool in the hope that I can recoup my money down the road. Hopefully, my tool collection will go to my boys.

As for number 4, HAHA, GOOD LUCK WITH THAT! :smile:

 

I sometimes buy tools and don't keep them. Last year I bought hundreds of dollars of machinist tools at auction to see which ones would be useful in the shop. Some I kept, some I resold, but because I obeyed my rules they didn't cost me any money at all and in fact I made money and essentially got free tools.

 

The only people I lend tools to are my sons, or very close personal friend's. I in general don't let a lot of people know about my hobbies, because as soon as people start talking ,sooner or later you get robbed.

 

I bought a Ryobi single speed orbital sander.... I couldn't control it at the speed it ran ....
I got a deal on a Bosch variable speed model that's a dream to use.....
The Ryobi went in the garbage....

 

...The Ryobi went in the garbage....

Sometimes it just feels good to toss a piece of crap in the dumpster.

 

If the person already owns a good number of woodworking tools, odds are they have the knowledge and tools to find a workaround for what they need to do. If they don't, then I autoassume they have no working knowledge of the tool or the job ahead of them. If the person figures they know me well enough they no longer ask for a tool but if I can help them with whatever. This way I get to protect my tools and the people who want something done from damage. In many cases I am able to save them time and money.

 

I initially started with a contractor's table saw. A Delta from Hechingers. Used it to make a dog-eared cedar fence. At the time it made sense. I still have that same table saw but I find that I use it very, very rarely and in fact I use it so rarely I'm thinking I might just sell it for $40. It's terrible for cutting sheet goods but so is a $4000 cabinet saw. It's very imprecise but then I'm not making cabinets. But I can do just as good with a cordless jigsaw or circular saw and one of those straight edges that clamp onto the sheet goods as any cabinet saw ever wood so why bother spending that kind of money on a cabinet saw. In fact in my opinion table saws are really a thing of the past. A nice bandsaw, a chopsaw, a jointer, a planner and a good dust collector are all I really need in the somewhat pricey tool category. I'd like a panel saw but I just can't see spending that kind of money for the few times I got cut up sheet goods. It might take me a little longer with my cordless saw but for $200 vs $4000 I can buy a lot more sheets.

 

Todd I have a Delta Unisaw and I have to disagree with you. It does a bang up job of cutting sheet goods and very accurately with practice. However, I'm having trouble these days getting the sheets up on the saw by myself, especially 3/4 mdf so a lot of the sheets get broken down on the first cut with circ saw and home made zero clearance straightedge jig. My Unisaw is the most important tool in my shop by a wide margin and I have those other tools and then some. All those other tools are important too but nothing replaces a good TS for versatility and accuracy in ripping.

 

consider a tip up sheet mover...

.

 

I bought an angle grinder from Harbor Freight once. I wanted to use a cup brush on it to clean paint off an outside brick wall. It was just one job I needed it for. I thought I would save money. I hear people talking about Harbor Freight tools being OK so why not. I used it for about 2 hours and my hands hurt. I threw it in the trash and bought a Makita. What a difference.

 

I learned many years ago not to loan my tools, as I have had the same experience as many of you, but I recently discovered something. I have two special electrician's screwdrivers which are purposely bent in kind of a Z shape, and the shafts freely rotate inside the handles. They were made by Klein, if anyone wants one. Most people think someone broke them when they first see them, but they are great for kind of hand cranking screws in and out of electrical boxes, etc. by just a rotating wiggle of your wrist. No batteries to go dead, like when using electric screwdrivers, and the wrist action to run them is very normal and non tiring.

Now, when someone asks me to borrow one of my tools, I just pull one of these screwdrivers out and show it to them while making the statement "I don't loan tools any more". They have never seen a screwdriver like one of these, so they think it's broken, and it's been very effective. I'm not lying because I won't loan tools to anyone except my sons, and even they are not allowed to borrow some of my tools, but just the sight of one of these screwdrivers, along with my statement, is enough to make people back off. If they are a very close friend, I'll loan a tool if I go with it to operate it, but they need to be a very close friend or this doesn't happen either.

I have acquired a lot of hand and power tools in my lifetime. All are about the best quality that were available at the time that I bought them, and my wife has never interfered with any of my tool purchases. But I have always made certain that food was on the table, my family was kept healthy and well clothed, and we all lived a comfortable life. When I bought tools, it was always done with money that did not affect the quality of their life if I spent it.

Some years after our marriage, my wife admitted to me that one of the reasons why she married me was because "I could fix anything". I've always said that "machines hate her" because she seems to always have trouble running machines, that no one else has any trouble running. She has trouble with the very basic un-smart cell phone that she has been using for over 10 years, when she needs to do anything more than answer it or make a call with it. Returning a missed call is always a problem. She's very smart about many things, but has some kind of "mental block" when she needs to run a machine. I laugh at her frequently when she has these problems, because just a push of a button or two is usually all that's needed.

Charley

 

I might have to do that Stick. Gets harder every year to lift those sheets. I made a panel carry out of the upper piece of a lawn mower handle so I can get them to the saw at least.

 

we're in the same boat..