Tool Sets Reviews

I discovered the Barbara K line of tools right before Christmas, so I put them all on my wish list. I received the craft kit and I was really excited...until I opened the box. The tools feel really lightweight and poorly made (lots of grey plastic on everything). Further inspection confirmed my suspicion that these are cheap tools at a not-so-cheap price.

Normally I can dismiss high-priced junk. What bothers me this time is that Barbara K is attempting to empower women through these tool sets. If women can handle doing their own repairs and projects around the house, then they deserve real tools, not glorified kiddie tools. I'm returning my craft kit and using the money to buy myself some nice matching tools instead.

This is not a Gerstner. It is not even a Gerstner International. It has no name plate. It is just a no-name product (of modest size and strength).

Non-descript wood (not really beech, but some similar Chinese wood - all plywood).

All drawers and caseword must be assembled by you via dzus fasteners (you know, that cheap stuff that simulates a barrel-bolt without having the same strength). You have to wedge the drawer bottoms with their pre-pasted felt into the drawer sides during assembly, so have your longest, thinest palette type knife around to tuck the felt into the bottom groves.

Some hardware missing - No-Name maker's customer service very helpful and super prompt.

Good for the craft and hobby crowd. I won't try to load it with 400 lbs of hand tools -- the normal use of such stacked chests.

Amazon should not have let this pass as presented.

(diameter x usable length) 3/16"x 2" 1/4"x 2" 1/4"x 4" 3/8"x 4" 1/2"x 4"

I bought this kit thinking it was a bargain. Truth is it failed me horribly after about a dozen uses. First casualty was the spiral saw. That broke after the 2nd use. The button to lock the chuck, which is required to change bits, stripped itself. So much for that, but I figured that was okay because I still had the drill and saw which, for the price I paid, was a good deal. Next fatality - the saw. Tried both batteries, and both batteries had a full charge, but after using it to cut some MDF for a speaker box then trying to cut some pressure-treated plywood, the motor burned itself out. Another tool down. Now, I don't necessarily blame the tool here. Home Depot won't cut pressure-treated wood for you, so maybe the wood was just too much for this saw. Okay, no problem. The drill was still working.

Well, the final nail happened this week when the charger for the batteries died. Now i can't charge the batteries making this set pretty much useless. I have a nice tool bag for what I wind up replacing hem with. Buffalo Tools supposedly has a warranty...good luck finding someone to call to make a claim.

If you are using these only fo emergencies where a corded tool isn't around, they might be okay. My advice would be to stay away from this set, take the money and buy a good model of the one tool you're going to use the most (probably the drill), and stick with name brands.

I have purchased several of these. They typically have one or more of the following problems.
1: The transfer relay does not switch both circuits connected to in (problem seen in several units). It appears that the return spring is too strong for the relay to close both sides. The problem has been "fixed" by stretching the spring.
2: Generator does not produce electricity. The unit was not getting asdequate excitation from "DPE" winding. A circuit breaker was limiting current to a point below that at which the unit would operate.
The idea behind this generator is GREAT. Its implementation by Generac misses the mark- additional preproduction testing would have caught these bugs.

I purchased this item several months ago. The Generator ran twice and now it will not start. I have called supposed authorized centers for repair, but they tell me they do not know that much about the generator. Also they say it will be an $80.00/hr service call. What happened to the 2 year warranty? So now I sit here with a lawn ornament and a hurricane fast approaching (WILMA) So tell me what to do. Next stop our local T.V. Problem Solvers. Guess what after many calls and a bunch of BS from the company that made the product they replaced the old with a new. Works better, just have to wait for a storm to give it the real test.

I ordered this set thinking that it included the 7/8" wrench that it claims to have. Instead, it's the same set as the other sellers, but with a higher price. Thanks for nothing J&L Industrial Supply. You SUCK.

I bought this blade because of its relatively low price, compared with other dado blades. Well I believe this is one of those, "you get what you pay for," situations. This blade does not give a very accurate dado cut, often leaving a scalloped cut rather than a square clean cut. Because of the adjustable design, this blade spins at an angle and produces an unacceptable vibration action. If I had it to do over again, I would have spent the extra money and bought a stack type dado blade.

even thier bits don't hold up.

I had an "EZ-UP" 10x10' shelter in my back yard, and when one crossbar broke, it broke 2 others. If anyone had been sitting in the chair in my back yard, they'd have become a shishcabob from the cheap thin metal used to make these canopies. Although EZ-UP sells products on their web site to facilitate holding these canopies down in the wind, they do NOT cover ANY "wind or rain damage," and although this, in my view, was NOT a factor of why the frame failed, the company's first response when I called to get a return authorization after it failed only after about 8 months of use, they quickly stated "we don't cover wind or rain damage, cut me off, and had apparently NO reguard for anyone's safety, stating that if it was raining or even in the slightest wind (I think it failed in around 2 mph "winds"), their "warantee" did not cover it! They said I could send it in and THEY would determine (after paying an outrageous sum of money to send it back) IF they might replace it, but that they likely would not. The people at the company were rude, had NO concern that their product had some safety issues, and so I'm looking to buy something less expensive, and that lasts longer! INteresting, they told me that they don't cover ANY wond or rain "damage", yet they also sell hold-downs & it states on their web site (& apparently in directions that I never received with mine) NOT to fold it up if it was wet, but to leave it up!

I had a MUCH less expensive shade that latested MUCH longer and I'd recommend others to do the same, or to buy an industrial model that CLEARLY stated in their warantee that the product can withstand wind up to "x" mph & that it is made to withstand rain as well.

After my experience with this company's product, and their staff in the returns dept., I would avoid ever buying one of these again! I received mine as a gift (that cost my friend over $200!)

There are MUCH better, sturdier, and safer canopies out there.

If I could give this product a zero or negative score, I would!

These canopies are NOT NEARLY as sturdy as I recall them being years ago (or perhaps that was another brand?)

I expect these canopies will be recalled in time due to safety issues.

I would STRONGLY recommend buying something less expensive and sturdier from another manufacturer! I've had others that cost MUCH less that lasted MUCH longer than this and were made better!

If you need metric hex wrenches avoid this item. The sizes listed are SAE fractional sizes and not metric sizes. This should get no stars because it is incorrectly labelled.