Porter-Cable Reviews

I received everything as promised. I couldn't be happier with the product or the sender.

I got this stapler to staple fencing fabric on a long fence I'm building. Not exactly the intended purpose, but worked great. Shot about 2,000 stainless steel staples with no problems. Light and comfortable to use. The no-mar nose piece works great to line up the staple acurately. Since the fence, I've used it to build some storage boxes and cabinets without any problems or issues.

Just got this from Amazon, and I've nearly stapled the whole house shut. It's a great little addition to the shop. It loads easy, and with a little adjustment of the air, puts in nice, consistent staples with very little, if any, unneeded damage to the target. I put one of the supplied staples through a couple of pieces of bamboo flooring scraps, and it made a rock solid connection. I like PC's stuff. It's a great quality/price balance for tools that will actually get used a lot.

You can tell; I'm happy with it.

This saw has been a battle axe and has enough power to keep my worm drive in its box most of the time. The base is accurately calibrated and doesn't clog or "float"like other saws out there. I am not in love with all Porter Cable products, but this saw is top quality right along with their routers. Mine is the 347 (no "K"-- for Kit) because the "K" model was not out yet. I love the dust port and miss it when I use a saw without one. In my opinion, the only true competitor in the under $150 price range is Bosch and that saw is heavier with a smaller motor and I would not recommend the Makita saws that are in this class at all.

I was loooking for a solid 7 1/4 inch saw to use for framing and other general home repair tasks. I checked out the Skil 77 and while it seemed to be built like a tank and would probably outlast me, it was awkward to handle. The PC 347 has a nice balanced feel, plenty of power (15 A motor) and a rigid, perfectly sized magnesium base plate. I've only used it on wood so far but it definatley seems to have the power to cut through just about anything. The dust chute seems pretty effective in diverting most of the debris away from the operator. Though I do wish they would include a dust collection bag. I'm sure there are better saws out there but this one a great value - solidly built, very comfortable to use and the price is right. Worth every penny and then some!

i started in carpentry 5+ years ago and tried everybody else's saw before buying this one (as i did with all my first-purchase tools). it is the lightest, most comfortable, plenty of power, and after being tossed around, dropped, cutting every material imaginable with all different blades, cutting thru 2 or 3 cords, it still is my favorite tool, and the one i feel most confident with in my hands. i have 5 porter cable tools now, and none have been a disappointment. quality stuff, buy it.

As opposed to the gentleman with 15 years of experience drywalling, I'm pretty much a novice, but when you have a big project ahead of you with 20 or 40 sheets of 4-by-ten, you move up in experience pretty quickly.

Here's what I've learned; Sanding sheet rock is one of the worst jobs in construction. It's WAY beyond messy, it's tiring, it's monotonous, it's tedious.

Now, in our kitchen, we've got about 13 sheets of 4-by-8, and we've got a vaulted ceiling that peaks at about 15 feet. The first application of mud was hand sanded, and we had about a half-inch of fine, chaulky dust EVERYWHERE, regardless of the plastic that we put up between rooms. It was like dust hell.

The second application of mud was sanded with the Porter-Cable 7800, and the difference was astounding. We hooked it up to your basic shop-vac, and we were able to sand the room in about 1/3rd the time (it would have been quicker, but we were getting used to the new sander) and at least 98% of the dust was eliminated from the job. This is with a 150 grit sandpaper disk. In my eyes, there was no need for a respirator; there was that little dust.

We did bring the shop vac outside to empty the tank and shake out the filter. That was no sacrifice at all.

It didn't take too long to get used to this piece of equipment. We figured out what speed was good for us, and we were off. The unit wieghs eight pounds, and it was a little taxing when we had to hold it for the higher spots on the wall. Compared to the continuous elbow grease of hand-sanding, the effort spent was minimal.

We were able to get it pretty darned close to the corners, too. I agree with the experienced sheet-rocker; about 3/8ths of an inch was about how close we could get to the corner. I wasn't expecting the machine to do everything; doing what was left of the corners by hand was a snap. That this machine could do all of the flat surfaces -- and do it really well, without dust -- made it far more valuable to me than the price I paid to own it.

Now, my brothers-in-law can use it on their projects, and because they helped me so much on mine, I'm thrilled that they're happy with it, too!

Bottom line; if you have a pretty big drywall job lined up, this is an excellent investment. If you have more jobs like that in the future, it's a must-have.

Had this tool for sometime now, best sander I have ever used. You have to get use to this sander. I suggest you start off at around speed number 3 then once you have went over your dry walled area, re-sand on speed number one. This will take any swirl marks out and give you a nice finished wall with no effort at all.

Like any tool... you have to get use to it, once you do, very good sander.

Mark.

This thing works as advertized. Sanded a new ceiling in 1/4 the time it takes me to do by hand. The unit sucks up an amazing amount of dust as long as you keep the sanding disk flush against the drywall. Cleanup was quick and easy. I used 100 and 150 grit sandpaper on a ceiling. As other reviewers stated, this thing can get a little heavy when holding it over your head for any amount of time. Even with the frequent breaks I had to take, I still finished sanding in record time. The 100 grit sandpaper did leave some light sanding marks in the plaster, however this wasn't an issue for me since the ceiling will be texturized. I rented this unit at HomeDepot for 25 bucks for 4 hours and it was the best $25 I have spent in quite a while.

I bought this drill as part of the kit with the 6" circular saw in advance of purchasing a house that needed some major renovations. For about the first year, I used this drill frequently on weekends for everything from drywall screw driving to drilling 1" holes in studs, hole saws, metal drilling, you name it. I was pretty satisfied overall, and I gave it a fair amount of abuse from a homeowner standpoint, but not as much as it would see on a jobsite. Right about as the one year warranty expired, I was working on a furniture project, and noticed that with longer drill bits, there was an unacceptable amount of wobble at the end of the bit. Made it difficult to start holes and the drill would shake a lot once the bit was deep enough into the hole. So I sent it to the factory service center for a diagnosis, thinking they might replace the chuck or something. The service center was absolutely unsatisfactory. They agreed something was wrong, but said there was nothing they could do about it. "These things just happen, there are a lot of plastic parts in there, and it's normal wear and tear." They said that I should just deal with the obvious wobble in the bits, and sent it back to me. I am disappointed that I only got 1 year of useful service out of the drill. I will relegate this tool to beater status and buy a Bosch or Makita. By the way, the cordless saw is useless for anything except where it is impractical to bring the corded saw. Update: Since writing the original review, (above) the drill performance has deteriorated. The wobble is worse, and now the motor makes a weird smell when in use. Doubt it will last too much longer - hope it makes it 'till Xmas!! ;-)

About 5 years ago I started looking at cordless drills. I wanted something powerful, yet easy to hold. I am not a contractor, but I do lots of home improvement and build furniture / cabinets on the weekends as a side business. I used to be a DeWalt fan, but after reading the literature I decided on the PorterCable. I can say with confidence that this is one of the best drills around. The batteries hold a long charge and refill quickly. The drill has plenty of power for its size (3/8" lag screws max it out, but lets be reasonable about the weight to power ratio). Durability, unsurpassable. I have dropped the drill onto concrete from 8 or 10 feet more than once and I have seen my girlfriend run it over when it gets left on the floor and it still works just like new. Value, I figure it has cost me less than a penny per screw or hole drilled and I see no reason why it will not last at least another five years.

Bottom line I have become a PorterCable man. I now have the palm sander, 12" compound miter saw, Biscuit cutter, router with table, and tiger saw. Everything else will be replaced with PC when they die or just because I want something better.

I am a carpenter who uses his drill everyday and in my opinion this drill is better than Dewalt, Milwaukee, or Bosch.
The drill is light and well balanced. The torque output is greater than Dewalt's 18v. This drill is not a hammerdrill but they do offer it (Model# 9877).I reccomend the 9878 to homeowners because they don't need the hammerdrill for around the house. Contractors will love the 9877 for light to medium concrete drilling (ie:Tapcons,thunderbolts and hammerdrives.)
The run time on this drill is excellent, more than adequate to complete any project without waiting for the batteries to recharge.
I have found only two problems. First, the head of the drill is too long to fit into small cabinets when mounting them.
Second, The battery charger will not charge the batteries when the battery or the charger are colder than 40 F or warmer than 90 f. The temperature problem was intentionally designed that way to maximize the life of the batteries because most cordless drills' batteries die before the drill and to replace them would cost almost as much as a complete new drill. Here's a tip, keep the batteries in the house when not in use. Extreme temperatures will diminish the life and capacity of the batteries.
I have owned my drill for 3 years w/out any problems and will buy another when this one eventually dies.

I own one of the larger solid surface shops in the Washington DC market. I'm a big fan of all Porter Cable routers(we have over 40) but the design on the wisper series belt sanders(we have 12) is by far the worst so called improvement they could have made. It is quieter, however they put the bearing for the fan that cools the motor outside the housing where it is subject to every particle of dust that passes through the machine and into the dust bag. We have a life of only 2 or 3 weeks of reasonable use before we have to have it serviced for a bearing replacement. If there were other issues I might consider abuse of some sort, but that one bearing is costing me a fortune. Also the fitting for the dust bag could use some type of "O" ring to keep dust from blowing from the poor connection from the tool to the dust bag. I will be talking to my tool repair guy to see if there is a better design from another manufacturer.

I've owned this sander for a couple years, but not being a big fan of belt sanders it has spent much of that time wishing I would notice it. Sporadic use made me feel that it was a worthwhile addition to the toolset, but it wasn't really tested until recently. Retired now, I volunteered to install an unfinished red oak floor in my son's family room, and having the time I decided to use the PC 362VSK for the sanding phase. I consider this a serious use of a belt sander. Here are my thoughts so far:

The tool is heavy (as we all know), so its weight (combined with the proper belt grit) provides the necessary "pushing down" force. Belt change is easy. Belt tracking is also easy to set and even if tracking wanders (not often) the easily-accessible knob makes it a non-issue. The balance seems to be good. After doing the entire floor (3 grits) it was still going strong.

Now for the negative, no stars (not even a glimmer) ratings: the dust collection is pathetic. That useless bag sticking up there getting in the way, coupled to the tool with an ineffective ball thingy that's difficult to use (and has no seal) is..well...pathetic. The dust bag will eventually fill, but this is purely coincidental...not to be confused with a dust collection system that actually works. And as far as I can see the port isn't designed to be connected to a separate vacuum...I duct-taped the hose of my Fein vac to the port and that worked well, but c'mon...duct tape?? (BTW if you take this route also tape the power cord to the vac hose making it essentially one unit...much easier to manage).

The other major issue is the sanding shoe...it warps, as another reviewer reported. Mine became convex, so the sander "rolled around" on the platen digging in and not sanding flat. Some time ago I had purchased some carbon impregnated fabric from Woodworker's Supply that was designed to be used on sander platens, so I took the metal shoe off, fitted a piece of this stuff to the cork shoe, and it worked fine. I wouldn't recommend this machine until PC includes the carbon shoe as standard. If you do buy it get the carbon shoe at the same time and send the metal one to PC with some appropriate suggestion as to what they might do with it.

This tool can do the job, but out of the box I don't consider it ready for a serious sanding project. You have to figure out how to deal with dust collection because Porter Cable hasn't, and you have to get rid of the metal shoe. It's probably one of the best 4x24s out there apart from these issues, but if mine ever goes to the boneyard I'll be tempted to try the Bosch.

If you need one of these, put on your knee pads and get ready for a ride. I often build stages for plays and had a 60'x40' stage on 4 levels which was going to be covered with dancers: no bouncing or tripping allowed. I got a PC 362VS from Amazon and it smoothed 2400 square feet both quickly and effectively. Wear ear plugs and bring along extra belts as this muthuh is a professional tool, but anyone who has a serious project should consider getting one.

I am not sure about the prior reviewers statement of being US made as mine seems to be made in Taiwan, as 95% of tools are today. Additionally, that reviewer trashes Dewalt or the "yellow" company. Well bad news dude, Dewalt/B&D owns Porter Cable and Delta. As stated before the blade is not remotely appropriate for this saw. It is however a very decent rip blade for your table saw. It is a thin kerf, 24 tooth ripping blade. I believe it indicates same on the blade.
The saw set up is incrediably easy and I used engineering squares and bevels to check the various recommended measurements. They were all dead on from the factory. The sliding mechanism is sturdy, easy sliding and build in such a way as to hold the settings. A prior reviewer disputed the accuracy of the saw due to the sliding mechanism, however I found no slop in the unit. The brushes are ultra easy to change in this unit unlike some other machines.
Overall I am very, very happy with the unit. I did pay about half of what they are currently selling the saw for due to Amazon price match. Amazon was great about the price match.

I love this saw. I bought it for a crown molding job and it is a pleasure to use. Plenty of power and capacity. The only problem is that the saw is so heavy that I only take it out for big jobs. For small jobs, I use my old reliable 10" Delta non-compound miter saw because it's so much more convenient to tote around.

I was disappointed during my first day of usage when the included wood clamp snapped, rendering it useless. The clamp should be constructed of better quality material because I did not subject it to very much stress. However, Porter Cable impressed me with their rapid resolution of the problem. I called their support line the following morning and asked for a replacement under warranty. The support person sent me a new clamp without any trouble. Great support.

What would I like to see to make this saw even better? A laser attachment and a longer arbor to accommodate dado blades. But no one seems to make a 10" sliding miter saw with these features.

Let me start by sharing a rule that must have been mistakenly excluded from the owners manual. THROW THE BLADE AWAY. This blade is intended for shipping purposes and as a guide to show you where a real blade should be installed. Do not under any circumstance attempt to use this "blade". Failure to comply with ths lost rule could result in your conviction as a wood butcher. A shame that will haunt you and your children, and draw questions about your manhood forever. Secondly where did you buy an American made version of this saw? Mine was made in Taiwan, and I suspect yours was too. Which brings me to my third point, your saw probably isn't reconditioned it was just made by Asians who probably hate you and me both cause we are not. My saw had the same blade marks on it. but inspection of the shipping "blade" revealed red plastic residue, this just how they cut the opening over there in Taiwan. Despite the lack of a useable blade and it not being made in the U.S.A. this is a great saw. I am very pleased with it's performance out of the box, and I reccommend buying one before they are gone being a discontinued item and all.

I was a little skeptical but I am a believer now - this buffer the best. The cheap < $100 buffers aren't even in the same league, i.e. they are a waste of time an money. The Porter-Cable 7424 produces brilliant results with little effort. I feel stupid for taking so long to finally pick one up. Don't be a dummy like I was - you need one too!

This machine is light weight and easy to use. The orbital action does not leave swirl marks, and will not burn the paint. The best friend a show car owner could have!

The Porter Cable 7424 orbital polisher is all it is advertised to be. The PC 7424 started out over ten years ago as a random orbit sander, but is now used extensively as an automobile polisher. I have taken my PC 7424 on a first use shakedown cruise and it has done a fantastic job with bringing the black paint on my ten year old car back to showroom condition. I had used one of those cheap plastic two-fisted machines I bought in an auto supply store with little success.

The Porter Cable polisher is an affordable device that gives professional detailing results. It won't burn paint and accommodates a variety of cleaning, polishing and waxing pads. The PC 7424 makes detailing a car fun to do. I wish I would have had this little giant years ago when I was cleaning up my cars with a rag.

I am not a professional detailer and I started using the polisher with little knowledge of how it should be operated. The Porter Cable 7424 comes with a foam applicator pad, a wrench and a very minimal instruction manual. I had to rely on my basic understanding of caring for automobile finishes and the directions on a bottle of Meguiar's car polish to get me started. Since the PC 7424's random orbit action just about eliminates damaging a painted surface it is very forgiving of trial and error use. This machine has a speed control in the form of a thumbwheel on the rear end so it is possible to go from 2,500 to 6,000 operations per minute (OPM). It seems to operate best somewhere between those two speeds.

After my first experimental experience with the Porter Cable 7424 I found an excellent article on the Internet that provided me with an extensive explanation of how the polisher works, how to use it and lots of understandable advice. It would have been nice to have this information before I plugged in the 7424 for the first time. The article has polishing hints, pad cleaning instructions and many interesting photographs.

The twenty-five page article by David Bynon (How to use the Porter Cable 7424 6" Orbital Polisher) can be found among others by going to this web site: http://www.bettercarcare.com You can find the Bynon article(s) by clicking on Detailing Enthusiast from the list on the left side of the Web page.

After buying the Porter Cable 7424 based on my own research, I discovered this machine was widely recommended by makers of car polishes and professional detailers. It is always good to know that a machine like this has a positive track record.

I`d been wanting a Tiger Saw for a while, and finally a home improvement project came along to justify buying one. Literally six inches into my FIRST cut, the saw died. I could get it going again by slapping the side of it while pulling the trigger, but it would cut out again within seconds. I returned it and bought the real deal--a Milwaukee Sawzall. A swiveling, rotating blade would be awesome (and I could have used it later in the project), but only if the saw works in the first place! Maybe I just got a turd, but I returned it and bought a Sawzall instead, and have been cutting away happily ever since.

I bought the tool for a reasonably specific task, which it did very well. I does vibrate considerably when in strange positions, but nothing else does what it does. It has plenty of power. These are not a tool used for extended periods, so the vibration is OK. Needless to say I have not yet used it in every position, but I suspect people who have owned them for years haven't either.

I had heard about this saw and wanted one just to have it lying in wait for the next impossible cut I might have to make. So I found out on a THURSDAY that we were awarded a job for SUNDAY, which involved removing and replacing 24, count 'em, 24 small crappy plastic washer boxes with the larger snazzier versions. This was at a dialysis center, not a laundromat--although frighteningly, there are some parallels... The old boxes were recessed a couple of feet off the floor into a knee wall poorly made of sheetrock and steel studs. These 9" square boxes had 2" schedule 80 (thick) PVC drains, all hard-piped inside the wall with no unions, 15" off the floor inside the wall. We had to cut these drains off in exactly the right spot so we could lose the old boxes and reuse the remaining drain manifold. With the counter top off, (no access panels on the front) we had 7" to reach down past the steel studs on the top of the frame, into the bottomless depths of hell: twisted steel studs, hacked-up and swollen drywall, electrical and computer lines, and tubing and piping carrying fluids to the dialysis machines. The front face of the wall was installed by Satan himself, and he TILED it with crappy white bathroom tiles, to save a buck, and tempt those of us who have to work on the Lord's Day. The old square holes had to be enlarged exactly, so we couldn't just plunge into the front with a gnarly blade and nip off the drains. Nope, that was diamond blades and make-shift dust tents, just to enlarge the holes. What I'm yackin' about is that out of the bazillion possible angles you're able to twist the Tiger Saw blade into, there was one available that allowed the saw and the arms of my skinniest guy to be fished down through the titanic's engine room to make the cut through the 2" PVC. Each of the 24 stations required a different combination of angles. My guys fought each other to use the tool. Without this tool, we would have recommended removing the old sheetrock and replacing it with new, which would have meant reinstalling everything inside. The facility is open 5am-midnight, 6 days a week, closed Sunday, our big work day (yee haw...) This is a big-amp saw that MAKES IMPOSSIBLE CUTS AT IMPOSSIBLE ANGLES, so it's gonna shake, ding-dong. If you're going to dock it a star or two for vibration, you just don't get it. Porter-Cable really beat Milwaukee to the punch on this one. Needed mine in a heartbeat and got it at Lowe's for 199.

If your saw never leaves your shop, this is ideal. Built well and easy to assemble, I am very happy with this purchase. THe stand is very portable and folds down easily.

As with most things, you get what you pay for. After quite a bit of investigation, I settled on the 2875XL. I'd been looking for a stand for my new Bosch 5412L saw and had all but given up (thinking to build my own) when I found this. At $329, it's definitely not cheap. But then again, neither is the saw and I didn't want to shortchange myself on any usability in the shop by cheaping out on the stand.

So far, it's been awesome. It is very solid and with the casters locked, it doesn't move at all. Sure, you won't go lugging this setup to a jobsite but rolling it out of the basement and into the garage is easy. It was kind of a pain to put together, as the directions are pretty bad. In spite of this, beginning to end, including time to measure and drill the holes to bolt the saw to the top, was about two hours.

Someone else pointed out that it could be kind of topheavy, which is true, though that's true of a lot of stands. One little added benefit that I hadn't even considered was all of the space underneath. It's a great place to stash all of those bulky tool cases. When I'm working out in the garage, I can just roll this stand out there and everything (including my drills, router, circular saw etc) is right there where I need it.

I'm pretty picky when it comes to my tools. I would have no reservations about recommending this to any one in need of a good, stable miter saw stand.

The Stand arrived with the box slightly torn but all pieces were there. The directions were easy to follow. This stand was built more solid then I had expected. I have a dewalt sliding witer saw and was concerned about stablity. But this stand is extremly stable, rolls easy and the side supports adjust perfectly to the saw table. This is one great stand.

I recently acquired one of these nailers at [the store] and it was equiped with a new trigger design with a selector for either "bump fire" or "restrictive fire." This eliminates the need to change the trigger and is a nice feature usually found on only expensive nailers. The tool was marked "Type 3" and this may be the first with this feature. The new trigger may be available from Porter-Cable for older guns but I'm not sure. (I plan to check for some other nailers I have from them.) So far I've only test fired the gun so can't comment on performance yet. Concerning nails, the gun will shoot any 30 to 34 degree PAPER COLLATED clipped head nail. This includes Paslode, Senco and a number of generic brands. I have no trouble finding a good assortment of any of these and since I also have a Paslode gas-fired nailer, I wanted something interchangable to avoid having to buy more than one type nail. Paslode and Senco are both now making a round head nail for clipped head nailers and these may also fire in this gun but can't be sure. I have had good performance with other P-C guns and see no reason this should not give the same.

I'm a remodeler, not a framer, so I only use this gun a couple of times per week. In a year of use, I've yet to have a single jam, misfire, or double fire---I use the single fire trigger mode and Senco or Fasteners Unlimited nails that Home Depot sells. It's had no problem sinking nails in 2x lumber and cement board siding, but I have not tried engineered lumber--that seems to be the test for framers. The depth gauge is easy to set and effective, and the gun is durable--it's taken several falls from ladders without consequence.

I was skeptical of P-C air tools because they are relatively new to the pneumatic tool market and lower in price than most, but this gun has been a pleasure to own. I've got a Hitachi roofing gun and several Bostitch finish guns, and the quality of the P-C is comparable.

For those who are new to framing guns (like I was):

I was concerned about clipped head nails, but they work great and I wouldn't worry about getting a round head nailer unless your local codes require it. Just get whichever is easiest to get nails for in your area.

This gun is HEAVY. From what I've tried, all the framing guns are heavy, but you need to go to a store and find one that is comfortable for you. It's been less of an issue since I got a Flexeel polyurethane air hose. I can't recommend that hose enough for all applications.

I just used the nailer for the first time today and it performed flawlessly. I read some concerns about the "Grip-Rite" nails not working well in the gun. My findings are the gun shoots the "Grip-Rite" nails (carried at Home Depot) without a problem. I shot several 2 inch galvanized nails. I also shot several plain bright "Senco" 3 1/4 in. nails without any problem.
It took me awhile to decide which nailgun to purchase but after alot of research I decided on the Porter Cable for a few reasons. The tool-less depth of drive, the built in sequential / single fire trigger, the availability of the 30 to 34 degree nails, price, and the Porter Cable name. I also compared the nailer to other guns for weight, driving power, etc. and the PC nailer was right up there with the others. After using the gun more ( I have a few large framing projects coming up ) I will send an update should any problems arise. For now though it seems Porter Cable did their homework in the design of this nailer.