Porter Cable Drill Press & Bandsaw???

Yes that's right. I'd never heard of them but I was in my local Lowes this afternoon and saw them. The drill press was a 15 in. floor model for $309 with light and laser (a waste). The bandsaw was a 14 in with stand for $409. The tag said it was a two speed but the way it was positioned, I couldn't see the switch to see how that works.

Just found them on the Lowes website.

......http://images.lowes.com/product/converted/000999/000999660001xl.jpghttp://images.lowes.com/product/converted/000999/000999330003xl.jpg

Lowe's seems to be exclusively carrying a few Porter Cable items that don't even show up on PC's website.

I've been looking at a portable table saw (http://www.lowes.com/pd_89913-46069-PCB220TS_4294857520_4294937087?productId=3163783&pl=1&currentURL=/pl_Table%2BSaws%2B_4294857520_4294937087_?newSearc h=true$ddkey=http:ProductDisplay) for $300 that I think would make a nice replacement for an old, heavy, but not particularly accurate Craftsman that I bought probably 20 years ago. The PC saw seems to have a nice stable fence and seems to be easy to move around and set up. There is no mention of this model on the manufacturer's website.

http://images.lowes.com/product/converted/000999/000999220007lg.jpg

Maybe Lowes is the exclusive retailer just as Home Depot is the exclusive retailer of Ridgid woodworking tools.

I believe that PC is owned by Delta, so they are probably Delta machines that are re-branded for exclusive sale through Lowe's - or something like that. As far as the bandsaw, changing speed usually is done by moving the belt to a different pulley. I've never changed the speed on my bandsaw, not sure just how useful that is.

I agree that they are probably rebranded Delta machines (not that there's anything wrong with that)...

They are on the Delta / Porter Cable website.

http://www.deltaportercable.com/Products/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=24037

http://www.deltaportercable.com/Products/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=24029

PC and Delta were just bought a few years ago by Black and Decker. I used to love most of Porter Cable's tools, as they seemed to follow many of the same lines and designs from the Rockwell/Delta days. They still have a few designs being made as they were before B&D took them over, but I think most of their new stuff is probably on par with Rigid, Grizzly, maybe a step above Harbor Freight at best.

Dunno. They might be alright, but I don't think I'd spend $300+ on a drill press like that. Keep your eyes peeled at auctions or Craigslist, and you can pick up an old Walker-Turner, Rockwell/Delta, Dayton, I've even seen some nice Clausings and Powermatics go at auction for less than that. Yes, a lot of these old tools need some reconditioning, but they're generally worth it in the end. In my experience many new tools like this are so mediocre or crappy out of the box that they need just as much work to make them right anyhow.

I bought a pretty darn nice drill press from menards a few months ago for about $180. Bench top version (you could buy the stand version for just a bit more). I forget the name. Maybe it was a Performax...but that doesn't seem right. Its quite heavy duty for its size. (and very heavy to lift) The lazer cross hatch is useless, but the light and digital speed counter work great. I have used it very heavily over the last few months with no issues at all.

J

The lazer cross hatch is useless,

I will agree with that. I bought my Delta 12 in. benchtop drill press before they started putting lights and lasers on them. The laser seemed like a great idea at the time so I just had to have one. I bought an add-on unit. After going through a couple of 9 volt batteries because I left the laser on, I stopped using it completely.

The laser gives you a red cross-hair showing where the drill bit is going to go (provided you set it up properly). But you know, just lowering the drill bit to the work piece does the same thing.

The laser gives you a red cross-hair showing where the drill bit is going to go (provided you set it up properly). But you know, just lowering the drill bit to the work piece does the same thing.

I dunno, I have a Jet 17" and I do use the laser cross-hairs all the time. There is no battery to run down on mine and I do calibrate it once in a (long) while. It's makes it little more convenient to center the hole, specially with larger drill bits that have a wide tip. If you take your time, you can be just as precise without it, of course.

Pavel