Your tool buying philosophy $ vs $$$$?

Such good advice here! Try not to repeat what has been said. But (most times) the most expensive tool is the cheapest one. Because your going to upgrade! You end up with more in the two or three than if you bought one good one.

I had a B&D WalMart special circular saw. I ruined an interior door with it. Our first house, I had to trim the bottom of the door. OK, I put a guide on the door so I didn't mess it up. Well the shoe of the saw was not square with the blade and I didn't know to check it. I ruined the door.

My exception is when I need a tool for a job once or twice a year. I bought a Harbor Freight angle grinder to sharpen lawn mower blades. I will use it 4-5 times a year so I bought cheap. Of course I have used it MUCH MORE than I expected so I will buy a good one if this ones dies. But things like that I just buy a cheap one.

Large stationary tools. I buy used old machines and restore them. I think it is a MUCH better deal. I have less than $500 in my 12" jointer. A new Grizzly goes for what? ........I looked, cheapest starts at $3195. and no way is it as good a machine as mine. If this jointer was made today it would cost at least $5,000. It's the same with most of my sationary tools. Much better quality, cheaper and better performance than what I could buy new for what I have in them. So that is an easy choice for me.

I have found that often a cheaper tool will cost you more in the long run, than a better model will up front.

I think one of the factors should be, what do you plan on using the tool for, both now and down the road. For example, a while ago I bought a 9 in Sears bandsaw. Its ok, but has alot of limitations and some quality issues. Down the road I would like to get into turning, and would need a saw capible of resawing logs, into turning blanks. I know the saw I have now just won't handle that task. When I bought the saw, I didn't think I would ever consider turning.

I think that being informed, is very important in making a tool purchase decision. Unfortunatly I made several sizeable purchases without doing enough reseach, but I have learned from my mistakes. Now I do great deal of research before I even consider a purchase. I also try to know what the limitations of the tool are, and determine if I feel that will be a problem for future useage.

Well the thing about bandsaws is that they are like routers in the sense that having more than one is a good thing.

I have a 14" bandsaw that I plan on keeping forever, when I get a big resaw bandsaw, I will still use the small one for curve cuts. That way, I don't have to change blades or adjustment settings as much.