Porter-Cable Reviews

I ordered this item from Amazon on August 26, 2005 at a much lower price than is currently advertised. After 2-months of delays, I got an email yesterday (11/03/05) telling me Amazon was unable to obtain the item from any of their suppliers. I can't help but imagine that this has something to do with the drastically higher price at which Amazon is now selling the PC 4112. Yo Amazon, if you can't obtain the item from any of your suppliers, then why do you still have it listed? At any rate, I no longer take Amazon at their word concerning availability, price, or shipping and delivery dates. In addition, during the 2-months I waited for this item, I was repeatedly lied to by Amazon customer service - both via email and telephone - about the availability and expected delivery date for this item.

I bought the Porter Cable 4112 last year. I will admit it does work well for what little dovetailing and box joints that I do, and was in it's time a nice entry level dovetail jig. But Porter Cable now has a new 4212 and a 4210 jig. They are alot heavier constructed, have one handed material clamps, and a carbide bit, not the high speed steel junk bit that comes with the 4112.

Exerpt from Hart Design Tools:
Featured in numerous articles and reviews, Hart Design's "Made in the USA" GFK1200 (also made and sold as the Porter-Cable 4112) has become the industry standard for accurate and affordable dovetailing. It's big brother, the GFK1800, gives woodworkers even bigger capacity for all their joint making needs. Whether it's half-blind dovetails, rabbeted half-blind dovetails, through-dovetails, or box joints, the Hart Design GFK series of jigs can do them all.

First of all let me say that my experience is with a P-C Model 872, 14.4 V drill and not with the 9876. That being said I feel that my experience is so similar to those negative ones expressed here that it bears noting.
I bought the 872 new in April 2000. The clutch has stripped out three times, most recently yesterday. P-C tells me that they cannot repair it under warrenty this time. What a piece of junk!
Incidently, I am strictly a home user.

I have owned this drill for at least two years. Have not had one problem with it, but then I do take care of my tools and I use them as they were meant to be used, unlike some of the other people that are writing these idiotic reviews. One guy has stripped out three clutches? Others can't get any time out of the batteries? Maybe they should read the owners manual and learn how to charge and discharge batteries. I have this drill and the 9.6 volt and neither have given me any problems. Having said all this the only thing I would do differently is I would buy the 1/2" drill, just because of that few times that you need to use a larger bit. For the difference in cost it would be worth it.

Like most things in their product line it is excellent....
Works just like you would expect and I see no problem...

I bought the driver and saw kit and the hammer drill kit. In the first year I replaced the drill/drivers three times...while under warranty. The saw worked well and the flashlight was the best part of this kit. Now it is a couple years old and the batteries are dead and at $90 each I am not replacing them. I bought Hitachi this time with a five year warranty. I wasted $600 on the Porter Cable junk.

I purchased the drill a few months ago and all was amazing. A little bit of a screamer but whatever. No big deal really. But now I am on my 3RD CHARGER and have to buy yet another battery!!!!! The power of this drill is great but ..., chargers and batteries are not cheap. At least to me they aren't. Too bad you can't combine DeWalt chargers with the Porter Cable drill. Then heaven would truly be on earth. If you buy one, make sure you have the extra money to buy replacement parts. Lates.

It is the most used portable tool in my house. It's kinda heavy after a while, but the power and usefulness overcome that big time. After many projects, it still works flawlessly like day one. There is nothing I hold back on this tool.

I have had a Porter Cable 3802 CMS for around one year now. I have used it mostly for rough cuts and framing. The stock blade is good for framing but way to course for detail/finish work. This saw is probably the heaviest in its class at something like 70 pounds. That alone makes it a bit difficult to manage on a jobsite, but once in place it is great. A heavy saw is not a bad thing (once in place) as it greatly reduces vibration, making cuts a bit better and more repeatable. The D-Handle is a wonderful upgrade to the older straight handle CMS's - much more comfortable and safer it seems. The saw is 12" so, as you can expect, the blade can walk a small amount as it passes through the wood. That said, if you cut through something really fast (as I know I have) you are left with a no-so-perfect cut. As a compensation, I have found it beneficial when doing detail work to let the saw reach full rpm and cut slowly - you will be happy with the results. Many folks have commented on the setup/trueing. My saw was a bit off when I received it, but it is fairly simple to true up...and if you are much like me, you will periodically check to make sure things haven't gotten "bumped" out of alignment, anyway. The saw has served me well. I didn't give it 5 stars, but I would buy it (or the Delta equivalent) again.

I bought this saw for an incredible deal at my local membership warehouse, but was disappointed to find that the clamp that is recommend several times in the manual did not come with the saw. I emailed Porter Cable and they gave me the telephone number for their direct order line. I could not find the clamp on the internet from any sources, even Amazon!

The real problem with this saw and the reason I only gave it 4 stars is despite being relatively accurate on miter cuts, with the bevel zeroed at 90 degrees (zero on the scale) once you go to 45 degrees the scale shows that you are slightly past 45 indicating that the scale is not reading accurately through the range. I also noticed in trying to adjust the bevel that the turntable is not flat in the middle but actually slanted down towards the blade on either side of the blade. I did notice the model in the store had the support on the right of the turntable about 1/16th of inch lower as some of the other reviews had suggested, but the saw I bought did not have that problem.

The blade that comes with the saw (40 tooth carbide), while a nice blade, is only good for cutting rough cuts or 2x4s. It is a little too rough for finish carpentry without having a lot of tearout and relatively rough cut surfaces.

Despite my complaints I have practiced with the saw several times and most of the cuts come out very close to perfect.

I've had this saw for a couple of years now. It is time to review it. I had no problem setting it up, everything was square and true right off the bat. I've mounted it on a portable work station and put it in the corner when not in use. Everytime I unfold the work station the saw has been square. I use it for cabinet trim and have never had a joint that didn't fit. The 40 tooth blade that came with it was good for rough cuts, but I got an additional 80 tooth blade for the fine cuts. My only compliant is; my neighbors found out that the saw is portable, now I have to come up with reasons for them not to borrow it for too long of a period.

I have used this level professionally for over three years.
I have the original robolaser not the current Porter Cable models. Since one operator uses the tool exclusively for layout, we probably baby it more then the average site tool used by multiple operators and left in the path of random violence and idiocy that populates the average consttuction site.
I have gotten useable results but I have always expected it to fail or go out alignment due to its poor built quality.
We always had a problem with the spring lock washer that holds the unit on to the self leveling base popping off. We were pretty lucky and always found it and were able to reassemble it. Proactively, I tried to get an exploded parts diagram from Robo and then from Porter with no luck.The ideas was to buy a bag of lock washers and keep them with the tool. Our luck ran out 2 weeks ago, we lost the lock washer. We contacted Porter customer service and after a week they finally roboemailed us and offered to repair it for $98 plus freight. We just wanted the stupid lock washer, but they don't sell parts, hence the lack of aan exploded parts list. I now have a $200 landfill canidate for lack of a 2 cent lockwasher. I suspect that they would send me one of the newer refurb models which thru the marvels of modern Chinese manufacturing probably been cheapened to point of instant junk. See the other current reviews.

I basically expected this response and bought a PLS360 since we needed to get back to work. It cost about 2x as much as the Robo but is probably 20 times as good in term of operation(the beam is continuous and sharp), build quality and customer service. I experienced PLS's excellent customer service with the the PLS5x (level,square,plumb) tool we already own. I auditioned the Berger and the Robolaser equivalent(to the PLS5x) and determined that both were throw away junk even though at $200 the price was attractive. The PLS5x was good and when I needed service I paid for it and got real service from real people and not an automated roboemail. If you can't spring for the pricier PLS models, stick to a water level until you've saved up your dough.
Rating: no stars for Robolaser.

I bought this tool and used it for a couple of months. It seemed to work really well and I was very pleased with it. After about three months of light use I noticed that it was off by more than an inch on a 22' wall. There was no warning to tell me that this was happening. I was always gentle with the tool when transporting and using it. I tried to recalibrate it but it would not recalibrate. When I called the Robo Toolz Company, they said that I had probably abused it. Not true. To their credit, they recalibrated it free of charge. I used it again for a few months and then found that it was off again by around 2 inches in forty feet. This tool only warns you if you try to set it up at too much of a slant when it is self leveling. Once you set it up and the warning light is not blinking, you have to trust that it is reading level or you have to check it every time you use it against two established benchmarks. When I again could not recalibrate it, I was told that there would be a charge to recalibrate it because it was out of warranty. Bottom line, I don't trust this tool. If it worked the way it is supposed to, I would highly recommend it.

I used the RoboLaser to level an area to pore a slab, level the stone for the slab, and set the level of the forms. This was done out door in the sun. The unit worked very well and made the job go so much easier than other methods I have used.

I purchased this saw despite the earlier feedback about laser problems; I figured that the reports were old and that the problem had been addressed. No such luck. The lasers worked for a day before the left one went out. Nice saw otherwise, except for the extension table and fence. Back it goes.

UPDATE: After looking into it a little further, the problem became obvious, and will eventually happen to you: the laser wires are positioned very close to the saw blade, and are protected only by a thin flexible plastic tube. If a small piece of wood is caught by the blade and spun inside the right-hand side of the blade housing, it can hit the wires at the point where they enter the housing, and cut them.

The wires need to be better protected or moved.

I found this 3700L (10 inch) in Costco stores last week for $149 to $179. I was really looking for a 12" saw as my first Miter saw, but for $149, I figured I couldn't lose- so I bought the 3700L- So, check price carefully, and also note that there are lots of RECONDITIONED 3700L units on the market. I trust they are properly labeled. I can't wait to set up and try this saw!

If your looking for a very affordable and reliable 10" compound miter saw, you can't go wrong with the Porter-Cable 3700L 10" TWINLASER ! And the price will still leave you enough money to buy a High Quality Freud blade!

It will out perform every other major brand on the market! Don't just buy a compound saw because it looks fancy, is painted yellow or has a combination high tech color scheme of green and black. This saw will out cut any thing DeWalt, Makita, Hitachi and Sears has on the street!

When we are out in the field installing we often see the other saws that contractors are using. Every single sub or contractor will ask if they can try out the 3700l 10" Twin laser. In fact they often just continue to use the 3700L while we are working next to them! The first thing they notice is how accurate the laser's are! The second is just how perfect the cuts are made! Next they are blown away by the price. And of course it's a Porter Cable!

This saw just feels right in your hands. I do agree with other reviews, that a top handle would have made this saw so much more the better to carry. But like most saws it takes two hands to carefully pick up and set down anyway. This is a high tech saw! you don't want to get into the habit of just throwing this bad boy around! Take care of it and it will make you MONEY!!!

The first thing we did after buying ours, was to install a brand new Freud 10" Diablo Ultra Finish Circular Saw Blade - D1080X You will notice a 100% rise in performance in the 3700L.

This will add an extra $50.00 to the total purchase of your system but with the D1080X blade you will amaze everyone with the smooth flawless miter cuts this saw can produce!

You can also mount this unit in your shop on a miter saw extension and stand for a small price.

Lastly, you may want to use a tie strap on the sawdust bag to fully seal it in place. This will keep 100% of the dust from getting around the clamp and openings in the cloth. The bag has a nice zipper on the bottom to dump out your dust.

Added Notes on 5/12/06 as follows:

As far as what reviewer Pete R. is talking about, we can't see this happening! First of all the saw creates "SAW DUST" not wood chips! Unless he just decided to blaze and blast his way thru the wood with a "RIP" blade this can not possibly happen!

As I suggested in my review; "REPLACE" the factory blade with a
Diablo Ultra Finish Circular Saw Blade - D1080X ! The 3700L Miter saw is a "cross cut" saw not a table saw or rip saw!

No problems of this kind with any of our 9 field saws, and we use them for 4 out of 8 hours a day on each saw!

Porter Cable's 19.2 Volt line has major flaws. I bought the driver and saw kit and the hammer drill kit. In the first year I replaced the drill/drivers three times...while under warranty. The saw worked well and the flashlight was the best part of this kit. Now it is a couple years old and the batteries are dead and at $90 each I am not replacing them. I bought Hitachi this time with a five year warranty. I wasted $600 on the Porter Cable junk.

I allways try to by a porter cable tool. The 19.2 volt system is great, it beats all the others that I tried...Dewalt, Milwalkee, Makita and others. Its the only drill that stands with even the heaviest bit in it. Well ballanced and quick to charge when it does charge. Thats the whole point, I have had a total of three battery chargers fail on me wich is very dissapionting. I almost feel like changing brands but I have so many drills and saws that I cant afford to change now. My oldest battery is four years old and still takes a charge. My case on my drill is cracked but still runs great when I can get the charger to work, which is not often. What is also a shame is these drills dont cary the made in USA lable anymore, most likely the reason for the chargers not working.
Hey Porter Cable execs. If your reading this please fix it!

I sold my DeWalt 14.4 volt combo kit on [internet store for] less than the price of this kit new. I have used the DeWalt driver years but I don't miss it at all. I have more power and torque settings now with longer run times. I never used the saw in the DeWalt combo pack that much and I don't expect to use this one very much either, but having said that, I can already tell that this one is much more powerful. Great products at a great price.

I bought this model in September 2003 as a back up generator to run through a generator transfer station. After repeated failures, a replacement generator and exceptionally bad warranty service, I think I finally have a generator that works. My first generator would not power anything from half of the outlets and the large outlet used for a generator transfer station (a station equipped with wattage meters and was tested with a neighbor's less powerful generator- his generator was able handle regular and full surge test needs). Unable to get a real person on the Porter-Cable customer service number, I took my generator to the closest listed warranty service shop...after several months of excuses, including no one at Porter-Cable would call the mechanic to tell them how to fix it, and very poor customer service, I attempted to contact a real person at Porter-Cable...next to impossible. I then contacted Amazon by email to see if they could contact Porter-Cable. Instead, Amazon arranged to ship me a new unit and take the old one back, with no charge to me....incredible! Kudos to Amazon! The second generator operated for three hours (during a power outage) and started to die. Two different warranty service shops, another few months and several pick-ups/drop offs later (during the work day, naturally), I am told it will finally run properly. I hope so, as it is now out of warranty. So, in over two years, my generator has been able to run properly for a total of four hours and I was unable to get the attention of Porter-Cable to help fix either of these two poorly-made products. I even took the time to write a letter to the president of Porter-Cable detailing every issue and problem...no answer in two months. I hesitate to write a bad review for any products (and have not done so up to this point), but in this case, I feel I need to share "after sale" issues for anyone who receives a poorly-made generator that they are going to trust to provide power in an emergency situation...with all the service trips and time spent, it would have been cheaper to pay twice as much (I paid $700) and have a generator I could trust (I don't trust this one anymore, not a great feeling to have about an emergency back-up generator). The only shining star in this tale is Amazon, who went well beyond the call of duty to help me.

After waiting weeks for the generator to arrive, I finally have it. Allow around 2 hours to put it together, especially if you're going to put on the wheel kit. You'll have to flip the generator on its side, and sit the motor on a 1X piece of wood ( so you don't damage it ), while you unscrew one of the dampners to attach one of the wheels - it seems very hackish on Porter Cable's part to do it this way (it's really a rebranded Briggs & Straton). Once I had the wheel kit assembled, it was a matter of adding the oil and the gas, and two pulls of the string was all it took to start the generator for the first time. The weekend after assembly, I took the generator out for some use in the field. I was out building a barn with some help. We were both using tools and charging our batteries at the same time, and it was smooth sailing. You will need to change the oil after the first 2 hours of use, which I just did, and then every 50 hours I think. I will update the review with some long term results once I have them, but so far so good. Too bad amazon wont let me change the # of stars I gave this product.

As an engineer, I'm obsessed with numbers and choosing a generator presents the perfect opportunity to play with them. I won't bother you with a lot of technical details, but this is the generator I chose after 4 months of deep, deep researching.

First criteria: my needs. I wanted to power a 3 bedroom home with a finished basement through the harsh winters in Maine. Here are the devices I setup as an absolute necessity to power up during an emergency:
1) Water well pump, 2) Furnace blower, 3) Basement Sump Pump, and 4) Refrigerator. Here are the "good-to-haves": 5) lights in the kitchen and main living room, 6) pellet stove, 7) oven range. And, finally, just the "nice-to-haves": 8) TV, 9) microwave oven, 10) computer. And here's what gets excluded: all the 2nd floor in the house, garage door opener, bedroom lights, everything else not listed above.

By adding the must-haves and nice-to-haves, a 5500 W generator takes care of business. One of my concerns: since I have a lot of electric motors to start (well & sump pumps, refrigerator, furnace blower) this requires a good surge capacity from the generator. In case you don't know, a motor takes a lot of electricity to start up, between 3 to 5 times (!) over their normal running wattage. Here's the caveat: not all motors should start at the same time, so then determining what your surge wattage is becomes an "art". Consumer Reports simply tells you to ignore the surge wattage, since all the generators they tested started their appliances with no problem. Well, the thing is, they don't mention what appliances they tested and how they started them (manual selective start or just regular use?). So, their point is taken, but surge wattage can't be simply ignored (it shouldn't be the only criteria to buy a bigger generator, though).

Well, this generator, with a 9000 W surge, is the biggest I've seen in all 5500 models -- it beats them all. So, this model is perfect for me, as it meets the criteria I've selected above. It even powers my computer and TV (with surge protector) if the oven range is turned off.

This is very important: if you turn your generator on, you're in "emergency mode". This means, you lose some comfort, some conveniences. You just try to keep the inconveniences at a minimum. Well, if you don't agree with my assessment above, you're looking for the wrong type of generator. If you want to power your entire house and live as if power wasn't lost, you need a stand-by generator, not a portable one. Of course, they cost a lot more money (good and powerful ones start at over 10,000 bucks). That's a lot of money to pay not to be inconvenienced. Now, since you're looking for portable ones (I assume so since you read this review so far), you'll have to give up something. Basically, you can't throw a pot roast party for 20 guests if you lose power; like I've said, you're in emergency mode. Cooking a gourmet meal shouldn't be a priority, order out, get pizzas. You get my point. So, decide what you want to power in an emergency situation.

Second criteria: fuel consumption. I was just about to purchase a 7500 W model with 13000 W surge, for about $1,400 bucks! Have you seen the fuel consumption for these generators? Only 8 hours, tops, at half load. This ones rates at 13.5 hours. Well, with gasoline prices hovering at around 2 bucks a gallon, do the math if you run a larger generator for 2 weeks (a possibility over hurricanes and severe winter storms): it may cost you over $500 dollars in gas! Of course, with this generator the cost drops significantly and you don't have to wake up in the middle of the night to refuel it. This is very important to me, especially during cold winter nights.

Third criteria: quality of parts and components. I wanted a good engine and a good quality brand name generator. This one meets my criteria. It's not a Honda, but they're overpriced anyway and most home-owners and occasional users won't benefit as much from them. Construction workers, electricians and contractors may benefit some from their cleaner electrical output and "quietness", but no generator is really quiet. I ran a Honda once at my house and, sincerely, they're loud too. You just have to work around their noise, it's one of the inconveniences of being in emergency mode. Compare the noise of a generator to 5 kids screaming at the top of their lungs. With a Honda, you have 4 kids screaming at the top of their lungs. My point: 4 or 5, it doesn't matter, they're still loud.

Finally, here's what I mean for "less is better". If all you want is to power your house during an emergency, there's a good chance you'll be wasting your money if you buy a 10,000 W generator or bigger. First, 10,000 Watts is a lot of juice to deliver and you'll need 50 Amp plugs, cables, and a big transfer switch box if you want to use all that juice. They're ALL more expensive when you talk 50 Amps. The regular 30 Amp already costs money, about $100 for cable (depends on the length you want), $300 bucks for the transfer switch with 8 to 10 breakers (a bit less with <6 breakers, but then you can't power as many appliances), and then installation labor. With my generator, I paid less than $1,500 for everything: generator, transfer switch box (required by law or you're liable, the risk is all yours if you chose to back feed to your house), cable, and labor. With a bigger unit (50 amps), good luck, you're talking a lot more money (I stopped adding up when it approached $3,000, including generator).

All in all, this generator is a winner; it powers my house (what I want), it has good fuel consumption, it's also "lighter" (160 lbs, compared to 250+ lbs for 7500W ones), and the price is good. I hit literally dozens of generator sellers on the Internet and locally for many weeks, and this one at Amazon.com beats them all. This may change, of course, but I'd still pick this model.

Some drawbacks: 1) no electric start. Well, they're notorious for not working anyway, especially in cold winters. I borrowed a generator from my brother-in-law and the electric start rarely works, we always end up pulling the cord to get it started anyway (both his and my generator start at most on the second pull, 100% of the time). 2) No Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR). This means the voltage output can vary quite a bit and may damage sensitive equipments. The manufacturers' manual requires that you use UL listed surge protectors for TV's, stereos and computers. I do that and so far, no problem. Only more expensive generators have AVR's and I didn't feel it was justifiable to pay hundreds of dollars more for one (then you have the fuel consumption issue if you buy bigger! Remember, in this case: less is better!).

Like insurance, you hope you don't have to use a generator, but when you need it, you will be glad you have it.
I hope you have good luck choosing and buying your generator. This one works really well for me. If your needs are similar to mine, picking this one is a no-brainer.

Excellent professional nailer. I didn't give 5 stars because I think the tool could be made a little lighter.

After 6 years of using the FN250A nail guns we decided it was time to upgrade to the new FN250B.

First a word about the 250A model. Not one nail jam-up in any of the the 8 guns we have used in over 6 years. We have shot well over 2,0000,000 nails thru these guns. I checked our records for nail purchases and this is close to 100% accurate!

We bought 8 of the 250B guns 3 months ago. Again porter cable produced a very affordable and well made gun! Much better balance, smoother trigger action! and easy reloads! This gun seems a bit lighter as well. For full finish work you must fill the nail head holes. 16ga holes are a bit big, unlike a pin nailer 23ga hole.

If they hold up as well as our 250A guns have I'll let you know in 6 more years! :)

We also gave the 250A guns away to each of our employees that use them for free.

1 word of caution! Never use a nail gun with out the proper eye protection. Heavy gloves are also a good idea!

I bought the FN250B by PC to do some remodeling (inside) and its has done an excellent job. No problems whatsoever. I can also use it for making bookcases, etc. (the hole is large and HAS to be filled with putty). I used it for installing crown molding and baseboards w/ shoemolding and have had no problems. It takes enough different length nails to do anything I need to do. In tight spaces it would be better to have an angled gun, but this gun has done a great job for me. I would not hesitate to buy another Porter Cable nail gun.

I recently purchased a Porter Cable US58 pneunmatic stapler as I was going to have a large job installing insulation and arthritus precluded using a hand operated one.
I read the reviews and decided to go ahead and buy one and, so far, am very pleased with its operation. Done a lot of stapling and no jams. My old manual stapler would have jammed several times.
I saw the comments about the case. I have a P C finishing nailer, a brad nailer and the narrow crown stapler, all came with cases. I glanced at the parts list and a case is offered, part number 891602, which I ordered from P C parts. It would have been nice to have the stapler come with the case, but I am glad I was able to get one as I like to protect the tools.

This is a great product, and you can get it, along with any other products on Amazon up to $500 Free! Participate in a special promotion and get a free $500 Amazon Gift Card at this web site: nocost2u.biz/amazon

Spring powered hand staplers never seem to drive the staple home, forcing me to use a hammer to finish the job. This stapler worked great, like the other two Porter-Cable pneumatic guns I have used for years.