Porter-Cable Reviews

I purchased this tool largely on the reputation of PC - and my experience with some of their other tools. I've had it for about a year or so and have used it on a number of laminate trimming projects and as a small router with regular wood bits. In use, the product works well. It has the power I would expect from a small motor and the long cord length is nice.

It's getting to the use part that I have a beef with. As mentioned in some of the other reviews, the base adjustment is poorly designed. Trying to do fine adjustments of the bit is hit and miss. There's a knurled wheel to adjust the height and a locking know. The problem is that when the locking knob is loosened enough to move the base there's way too much play in the base. Consequently, you can't really tell where the base will end up until you tighten the locking knob.

I've also had the problem where the collet won't release the bit after use until I tap the bit a few times.

Maybe I underestimate the ease of designing a motor with a switch, but that seems like something any tool company could do. It's the stuff that bolts onto the motor that makes the difference between a great tool and one that's not so great. Unfortunately, this one falls into the latter camp.

After reading a few reviews here I thought I would comment on this tool myself. I am a proffesional comercial woodworker and have owned and bought for my company this router maybe 15 times over the years so I am very familiar with it. One thig that I keep seeing in the negitive column in everyones reviews is that it is not precise enough for some people, all I can say is keep in mind what this tool is inted for....this is a laminate trim router...there is nothing precise about that, infact it has always been kind of a joke in the industry that they put the fine adjustment knob on the router at all! If you are looking for a small precise genral pourpose woodworking router this is not what you want, if you are looking for a laminate trim router as the name implies this is a very good one, we do millons of dollars worth of work each year here and have found for the price this is a fine trim router.

The versatility of this tool is great. I have used this tool for the past 3 years from zipping out holes (accompanied by an adapter) in drywall to trimming laminate, to mortising out hinge butts. Nothing but good recommendations for this tool.

After using my 2401 power washer for ONLY three minutes, oil and water started puking from the pump oil fill; the motor quit running. After contacting Porter Cable, I was given the address of two places that "supposedly" work on this machine. I took it to the first place on their list. After three weeks, I went to get the washer. Then I was informed that they put a new seal kit in the pump, but the motor wouldn't start; they ONLY work on the pump, not the Honda motor. After driving 60 miles to a place that Porter Cable told me works on Honda motors, I'm informed that in fact, they don't; that Honda makes it too hard to be a service center. When I looked up this unit and the warranty, nothing was said about having separate warranties on the pump and the motor. All in all, I would NEVER, EVER buy something like this again........what a pain.

Even though it is really for the homeowner, we have used this washer in a commercial application, for a total of about 250 hours over a six month period. It was reliable and worked well. Plenty of power for anything you would do around the house. Recently the pressure has begun to drop off, so I'm thinking the pump is wearing out. If that is it's useful life, that would be fine for the average homeowner using it occasionally. We used it to wash down about 10,000 square feet of concrete every morning. Now I'm buying a bigger unit.

Most of the reviews I read regarding porter cables model 2401 sugested it was junk. I found exactly the opposite. Mine works like a champ all parts were in the box, instructions were clear and concise, I have no complaints. However I know that there
are lemons out there, and I believe that most of the reviews written about products are from dissatisfied buyers, therefore these reviews dont mean a hoot. Im sure there are alot more happy buyers than not. Sorry to you guys that got a lemon, or just dont have any mechanical ability better luck next time

I,m a long-time finish carpenter and have used the Dewalt and Makita planners as well as this contraption. This one's a dud. What's with pushing a button to pull the trigger? That's fine for Harry Homeowner, but odd angle starts are next to impossible. And that little ridge at the top of the handle is annoying and painful. Perhaps I missed something when rabbeting with the Dewalt, but with the PC you are advised to move the blades; what a pain. The Dewalt has a strange, not altogether likeable foot on the base for setting the thing down while the motor spins to a stop. No such feature on the PC. It is also poorly balanced. The Dewalt was user-friendly right from the box. If it weren't the boss's tool and the only one on the job I'd send the PC back. The only strong point is that the fence slot seems more durable than the cheezy holes in the thin plastic housing found in the Dewalt. Hold out for the door plane, is my advice.

I have owned this planer for a couple of years, and it has been very helpful when I get in a tight situation and just need to take a little wood off. It can also take a deep cut in the wood, removing a large amount of wood with one pass. It is a light weight tool, and very powerful.

I've owned this tool now for about 3-months and have used it a quite a bit. I bought it to plane out bowed wall and ceiling studs prior to installing sheetrock (which is pretty tough duty because the wood is old, dry and hard).

Even pressing down hard at a full 1/8" depth, this unit cuts through wood and knots like a beaver. The motor keeps the blades spinning at full speed without bogging down.

Keep in mind that using a plane (manual or power) requires some practice and skill to perfect the outcome. You just don't slap it down on the wood and start cutting. Most attachments such as fences and guides will help provide some alignment assistance, but you'll still need to develop the skill. Once you get the hang of it, you'll find that it is a real time saver and provides far superior results over other triming, chiseling and planing methods.

Recommendations: * High Power - this is a must-have feature, anything less will be a source of endless frustration. * Heavy Weight - this is one of those times when you don't want light weight. You will need the mass to maintain constant travel and to keep the tool down on the work. * Parts Availability - Power planers are not very popular, so don't buy some goofy off-brand. You may need parts later such as replacement blades. * Safe(ty)... - Eye and ear protection is an absolute must with these tools. Not only do wood chips fly everywhere, they make a loud high pitched screech during operation.

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 all four batteries are dead and at $90 each I am not replacing them. One of the chargers died too. I bought Hitachi this time with a five year warranty. I wasted $600 on the Porter Cable junk. I noticed that most stores are not carrying this line anymore, doubtless due to massive warranty returns.

By the title alone, you should be able to tell that I like the drill most of all in this package. It is indeed VERY powerful and the hammer-drill function really powers through concrete block (common wall material here in Florida).

The flashlight is also nicely designed in that it has a movable head and takes advantage of the flat base of the battery.

I will also say that the "Tiger Saw" recip. saw has proven it can cut through any nail I have thrown it at, but if you have more than a few to cut , put it away and lay out the exten. cable and pull out the 120V recip. saw, as both batteries will go dead trying to cut out more than one door frame or a couple fence posts.

The circular saw is the weakest part of the package, as I expected it would be. It sucks batteries dry even faster than the Tiger Saw and is in my humble opinion underpowered even at 19.2 volts. However, I have spoiled myself by using the best quality corded circular saws over the years, so that should be of little surprise.

Now, I am lead to the real weakness with this package... the batteries and their charger... Only thr flashlight and the drill (when using in wood) hold up long enough to get one or two jobs done. The batteries also wear out and go "bad" far too quickly and at their insanely high replacement price, are hardly worth it. They also have a rather annoying design, which while better than some competitors designs, still leave somthing to be desired. The worst part is the recharger, which only can charge on battery at a time and takes about an hour to fully charge (when the battery is completely discharged).

I have had this tool set for going on three years now, and it has taught me to appreciate corded tools for their true worth as inexpensive, more powerful and longer lasting! I only use tools from this package when I only need to use them for a VERY brief period or when a corded tool is simply more trouble than taking an hour long break to wait for the battery to recharge.

My personal reconnemdation would be to forego this particular kit and go with one that doesn't include the circ. and recip. saws. Or, if a cordles saws are a requirement, carefully consider other brands and/or a 24V system. Also, while I am VERY pleased with the drill overall, if I had it to do over, I would have chosen a brand with less expensive replacement batteries and a 15-30 minute charger that can charge 2 batteries at once.

Great power, improved chuck. Only drawback, no storage room in case for drill bits and saw blades.

Bottom line is it's working, but I have to make the coil shaped hose straight all the time. The rolled hose catches air guns and other stuffs on the floor. And makes the flooring staple gun down on the floor all the time and leaves a mark on the wood floor. It's even worse on cold temperature. Porter-Cable needs to make it more flexible.

Sung to the theme song from Mister Ed:

"A hose is a hose, it sucks it blows"...

Actually this is a well made (and made in America for a change even as P/C makes more and more of their items overseas - hello [local store]?) rubber hose with decent flexability, nice brass fittings and ferrules BUT it's missing the black strain reliefs as shown in the above Amazon picture, I guess somebody at P/C read their accountant's memo. Should hold up as well as the equivalent grade Goodyear hose. Who knows, perhaps even made by them? Shipping speed from order to delivery was reasonable, less than two weeks. It's a good buy at a good price, but it's a "teaser" with the free shipping as you'll have to find something else to tip the [money amount]scale and Amazon has discontinued many of the small inexpensive things - such as Milton Kwik-Change couplers and plugs. Clever. So buy yourself a good book on constuction techniques along with it, or better yet a good book on jokes so the next time somebody uses a nailgun to sink a 16d nail into their foot on the jobsite you'll have something clever to say to lighten up the situation besides "Did you square that shoe before nailing"?

What can you say, it hasn't failed yet.... should last a long time.

VERY disappointed in this drill. After a few months, the forward - reverse switch stuck! I took it apart and was able to fix after removing a busted piece of plastic.

Then a few months later -- out of warranty the CHARGER -- that's right -- the CHARGER died!

I gave this garbage away. pathetic.

I have had a 12 volt porter cable cordless drill for 5 years now. I need another because the batteries have finally died and they want as much for a new set of batteries as they do for the whole drill. I will be purchasing another Porter Cable. I've used this drill for many large projects including a 2000 square ft shop that was screwed together entirely with this drill. I also do a lot of steel working and have used and abused this drill without any problems. It has been dropped from several roofs without any issues also. I have also used 18v cordless drills and in my opinion the extra weight is not worth the extra power. this 12v drill will do anything you will probably be doing with a cordless drill.

I have had this drill for several years. Bought it as a kit with a super flashlight and two batteries. I was looking at this site because my handyman said he was thinking of getting a PC because he liked mine so much. I was surprised to see just a 3 star overall rating and a couple of negative reviews. No doubt those people got lemons. Mine gets used at least several times a month, has taken through many remodeling projects, and has performed flawlessly. I've used it to drill holes in all kinds of wood, drive screws in pressure treated 1 x 10 pressure treated lumber to build a 400 sq foot deck, many hundreds of dry wall screws, etc, etc. It charges quickly (about an hour?)and runs for a long time. Get the flashlight too - it's great. I thought I had made a somewhat frivolous purchase when I got the light but there have been dozens of times when I was very glad I did. Both have performed flawlessly and I'm 100% satisfied.

Poor process or quality control. The unit I received did not have the shipping blocks installed. As a result, the vibration isolators on the generator were broken in shipping. Since the unit cannot be returned to Amazon, you have to call the manufacturer to obtain parts that you must install yourself. Those parts happen to be on backorder. This may be a good generator based on the other reviews, but I suggest you buy it locally instead of relying on getting an operational unit shipped to you. That way, you can verify the operation of the unit before taking it home. By the way, Amazon's performance on shipping items has taken a nosedive. They used to ship items in stock within 24 hours. When I called 6 business days to inquire on the status of my order, I was told that it was to be shipped out that day. Later I found out it didn't go out for another 3 days. It was a total of 16 days for shipping an instock item. Between the shipping delays and the two-to-three weeks I was told I would have to wait for replacement parts, I'm facing a 1 1/2 month delay.

I have bought several of these generators, as part of a generator package that I install for residential customers. The last one that I bought just didn't seem to run as smooth as the others.

I didn't think it could happen to me. My generator was on an open patio, open on two sides. It was four days after Francis passed, we had no power, and we had still air that night.

But the exhaust built up on the back porch and leaked through closed doors into the house. We turned off the generator, and aired the house out - we felt better fairly quickly.

Then I went to the hardware store and bought a CO detector - B00002N86A is the ASIN of the one I bought. We could not wait for Amazon, sorry, we had to have it that day. We decided on that one because of the digital read out and the fact that it would run on a battery if there was no generator power.

Don't run a generator without one - and think about ventilation. A generator can run a couple box fans easily.

We ended up using an old junker box fan to blow on the generator - it kept it cooler and it dispersed the exhaust even if there was no breeze - then we used another box fan, a new one, to blow air into the house through a window. Once we did that, the CO detector never detected any.

I Have read several articles where they say the router bits are hard to obtain. Whiteside makes a dovetail router bit for the 4213 template and should be fine and work wonderful. I have bought the jig but not used it yet but will do so shortly. Now the problem is if you can find the whiteside router bits in your area but then there is the internet.

Excellent quality, great templet. The quality is evident and its easy to use.

The 4212 Dovetail Jig and 4215 Template are inexpensive (~$150 & 75 respectively) and easy to use with great results. After attending a dovetail class and demonstration at a nearby Rockler store where several jigs were demonstrated I opted to purchase the 4212 Jig. The reason I chose the PC4212 is for its capability to cut both hidden and through dovetails as well as its ability to cut box joints, and unlike the other Jigs demonstrated, it came fully assembled with all required bits, bushings, and easy to follow instructions for immediately cutting all of the joints. Initially I purchased only the 4212 and later decided to purchase the 4215 as well, but was a bit concerned after reading another's review that stated able to replace the specialty router bits was a problem. I found that this was a non-issue after I called PC's main number (800)848-5175 and was able to obtain (with overnight delivery) all of the various router bits. Since Rockler was sold out on the 4215 miniature template (does 1/4 " dovetails in 1/2 inch increments) I opted to purchase the 4215 from Amazon, and though it has yet to arrive I expect it will be as capable as it's cousin templates (the 4212 comes with the 4213 and ) were found to be.

I used this product to hang slatwall (that stuff you see in showrooms where the hooks click into the slats). Unfortunately its level is not good enough for this application - with slatwall you see very quickly when you do not have true level due to the length of the wall (where that small amount of variance can really add up at over 20 feet). Thinking that I must have gotten a 'bad' one, I exchanged for another unit. The second unit was also out of true. I am not sure why these things weren't level, however I suspect that because the internal leveling mechanism never locks during transport (it just bangs around in the case) it probably loses calibration during transport. There is not user re-calibration so once it's off it's off. The second unit has been returned and I intend to purchase a cross hair laser in a more professional brand (Such as the Hilti PML 32, for example). It will not doubt be pricier, but looking at crooked slatwall (or kitchen cabinets?) for the next 10 years makes some extra dough worth it.

Not a bad unit. Mounts on my camera tripod or just sit it on a flat surface. Self-leveling is a real time saver. A great way to get a nice straight line on the project...I would have liked to see the line a little bit finer, but you can mark one edge of it. It is pretty hard to see the line in bright light. But then I guess all the brands have that issue. You have to remove the rubber cover to get to the batteries. This is annoying. The "chin strap" of the rubber cover has nothing to keep it in place and the small location "stud" under the top of the same cover has broken off already. Not that it is needed there anyway. Overall, a very handy setup tool. It just needs the dumb cover redesigned.

I bought this self-leveling laser line "projector" yesterday since I am starting to build my own kitchen cabinets. My floors and walls are not perfcctly level or plumb so I needed a fast reference line to measure to. What a dream this tool is. Just place it on the floor or a counter, aim it where you want a line, turn it on and a perfectly horzontal line splashes across the wall, regardless of what it is sitting on. Hit the button again and a vertical line gets projected. Hit the button again and cross-hairs appear with both horizontal and vertical lines. Hit the button again and the cross-hairs lock and you can tilt the tool to a desired tilt. I calibrated it against a plumb-bob on the vertical and it's bang on. The only draw-back I can see for pros may be the range of the laser - pretty weak beyond 25' and outside is weak also beyond 10 feet depending on the brightness of the day. Provides a very wide angle of projection (maybe about 120�)

Recently while using this tool, the hook & loop pad disintegrated with a piece striking my eye with considerable force. The result was bruising of the eyelid, abrasion of the cornea and a "dent" in the cornea, not to mention much pain. A trip to the eye doctor was warranted. Prognosis is that the injury will heal without long term complications. A better designed tool wouldn't have resulted in this freak accident. Of course wearing safety glasses would also have provided protection. But who thinks about wearing safety glasses when using a sander?

I work with this gear constantly. I ordered online and discovered later that I could have purchased at Home Depot and saved about $15/20. However, the response online was just fine and while I have another source of this item, I would purchase again from the online vendor I used if I had no local vendor.

A new pad makes the sander hold sanding disks the same way it did when it was new.