Porter-Cable Reviews

This drill is great. I have this and the 2620 3/8" drill and they are the pair of the century. This drill stacked up against every other drill I tried. The only other drill that came close was the Milwaukee, but it was much heavier. I highly recommend this one. The 977510 is tough, versatile, lightweight & powerful.

If I could take only one power tool with me! Smooth runningand lots of torque. Hammer action also. Handles like a smaller drill, Easy on the arms when working overhead and size allows you to get into places others don't fit. Uses standard shank drills,a plus. We've used ours to anchor Telco equiptment in concrete floors and walls. If you're not careful she'll go right thru the deck.Thats 3" reinforced concrete with a 3/4" masonry bit. Will do wonders thru Mild Steel.We take it on the jobsite and amaze all those guys with Milwaukee or Bosch drills. It would be well worth if it were only a regular drill. 3 Years of service without repairs.

This is one, beefy gem of a hammer drill. It has plenty of power to handle ANY of your drilling needs and can make a 1/4" hole through a solid red brick (not the morter)in 42 seconds! Whats nice about this drill is that it's compatable with all your standard-shaft drill bits, unlike an SDS hammer drill in which you would need an adapter to use them. Also, SDS bits are more expensive and sometimes harder to find than standard-shaft hammer bits. When the battery in your cordless drill dies and you forgot to recharge the spare, no problem! Plug it in and press on! Most of my application is to set anchors. With it's 2-speed variable control, it provides great control on a variety of surface textures and reduces "walking" away. The maximum size hammer bit I've used to make a hole so far is 5/8" and had no problems making dust out of a reinforced concrete building. I have no doubt it has enough power to make a 3/4" hole... maybe more! The only drawback I have found is that the hi-low speed switch jams sometimes, and you have to rotate the chuck by hand while turning the switch. This is addressed in the owners manual, but it does slow you down. If you have to drill BIG holes in one-shot, fork over a paycheck and get a SDS or Spline-drive hammer. They are great at doing that job. Otherwise, you can make big holes with this beauty by drilling a circle of smaller holes and chisel them out. Porter Cable makes a great, reliable product. This one is no exception.

After sending back 2 faulty Hitachi coil nailers, I purchased this Porter-Cable siding gun and have run thousands of nails through it with near perfect results (only one jam at the very end of a coil). This is the third Porter-Cable nail gun I now own along with a finish and a framing gun. All of the guns perform well.

It came with a great case like my other PC guns (the Hitachi gun only came in a carboard box). Porter Cable also sent me a restrictive trigger replacement for free. Note: I do not use these guns on a daily basis, so I might believe that they are not as robust as some of the guns costing hundreds of dollars more, but they work well for me. I do not baby them.

The only negative of the COIL250 I have experienced is that the final two nails of the coil do not feed properly and must be removed by hand. I believe this is not uncommon among coil nailers and it sure beats refilling a straight nail gun every few minutes. And yes you do have to spend about 30 seconds each morning putting a few drops of oil in the PC guns if you do not have an inline oiler. This has never seemed like a liability to me. But hey, if you spend $500 on an oil-less nail gun, like some carpenters I know, then you gotta brag about something.

The worst part about this nailer is procuring fasteners for it. As siding nailers are not used universally by carpenters like other types of nail guns, you may not be able to find various (or any) coil nails locally. Not really a big deal if you can plan ahead and order from the Tool Crib or Amazon.

I have shot hot dipped galvanized nails through the COIL250 with the ease of normal nails. The depth adjustment works well to set fasteners flush.

Porter-Cable, along with Dewalt, was bought early in 2005 by Black & Decker (whose tools I look on as junk). So time will tell if the quality will remain. As for now I recommend this gun over the Hitachi NV65AH, and suspect it would hold its own over others in its price range.

This is a great all purpose nailer. I have used it for installing wood shingles and strapping and it has worked flawlessly. For strapping it is lighter and has greater nail capacity than a stick framing gun for working overhead. It is lightweight, although not as light as the Hitachi siding gun, but is more versatile. All adjustments are easy, I especially like the depth of drive adjustment wheel (no tools needed) nail size selector and air deflector. My neighbor used it to install strapping in her basement and after a 5 minute demonstration she was all set to go and loved using it. I own many other Porter Cable tools and use them on a daily basis in my contracting business, they all work great. I personally think they make the best sanders around. Part of my decision to own them is that if they ever need service I am less than an hour away from a Porter Cable (Company) store.

The PC Coil250 is a great tool. I purchased it to replace the siding on my house. It did the job without a single jam, and has plenty of power to drive 2.5" nails through Hardi (cement-fiber) siding boards and Hardi trim (5/8"+3/4"). The depth of drive adjustment is a very handy feature.

This compressor replaces our old two stage 5 hp compressor which lasted 15 years. Our shop runs our compressor 6 days a week for 10 hours per day set at 160 psi. This unit has much more air capacity and is a little quieter also. Hope to get at least the same life out of this new machine. Not sure if I should have looked for one with a cast iron pump. All is good so far.

Amazon had the compressor shipped quickly. It arrived on time with free shipping and a lift gate delivery with no extra charge.

The compressor was bought for use in restoration/modification of autos in a private garage. The compressor replaced a 26 gal 5 Hp peak oil less compressor. The new compressor is quite and quick. From empty to full (175 psi) is just over 6 minutes. When the compressor kicks on with a DA sander running it take just around a minute to fill to 175 psi. The air is many times dryer than what I had before. The air filters are lasting many times longer.

I took delivery of my new Porter-Cable compressor only 7 days after ordering it. And free shipping too! Amazon did a great job getting it to me quick.
This compressor suits my needs to a Tee. Although I use it in my garage, it is a commercial rated compressor. I rate it 5-Stars. It looks great also. The massive motor and compressor actually runs much quieter than the 3.5hp oil-less I replaced. I decided on this model because I wanted the air volume to run any tool I have, without the fear of it being under powered. I can run my DA Sander continuously and when the compressor kicks on at 145psi, it fills back up in just a minute, even while I continue with my DA.
This Porter-Cable compressor in my garage was long over due. After owning it now for several months, I can honestly say, it suits all of my compressor needs. It operates great and supplies plenty of air power to run any of my air tools.

Having been a long time woodworker and used routers only as hand held, I made the jump to a Table top router.
As most woodworkers know changing bits can be cumbersome.
with the Rousseau its EZ. Another item is getting the correct depth is like pulling teeth without novocaine. This lift takes that out of the equation. I would recommend this to any novice or hardcore woodwork, it saves time and knuckles.

The router lifter did everything I could ask for and more. Ran 2,200 lineal feet of stock through the unit without any problems. Well worth the cost. A great addition to my collection.

What it is: This is a JessEm Rout-R-Lift FX router lift, bolted to a much thickened phenolic Rousseau mounting plate. It appears to made of machined aluminum and/or alloy, possibly with some steel, most of which has a anodized finish. The tolerances are very tight and it operates very smoothly. This device fits in all Rousseau and the Bosch RA1200 router tables.

What it does: It allows for extreme precise height adjustment. Using a hex bolt atop simply turn to the right to raise or left to lower. It is that simple, no need to loosen something first or tighten after. One full turn equals 1/16" with numbers at 1/64" intervals and marks at every 1/512" in between. It lifts full up in around 30-40 turns for easy above the table bit changes.

Assembly: I was able to unlatch the quick-release cam lock level, drop in the router motor and latch with out adjusting anything right out of the box. A 7/16" bolt is used to tighten or loosen the tension if needed.

Was it worth it: The speed and accuracy of adjusting bit height is incredible. As is, removing and installing the router motor off the lift, which has no effect on previous setting. This allows for true one router motor for all bases. 5 stars.

It is virtually impossible to obtain these nails. I have waited nearly one year for [...] to stock them. I put in an order 9 or 10 months ago. Still no nails. They are excellent as they can be used with the Porter cable 350 nailer which is a round head framing nailer.Because they are ringed they really hold. No other manufacturer makes 2 inch round head nails at least that fit the 350. Why are they so rare?

I recently purchase a nail gun which used round headed nails and could not find 2-inch nails that fit. The nails I wanted were not even at the store where I purchased the nail gun. I was sold nails by helpful sale assistants with promises that these nails would work, but to no avail these nails would JAM JAM and JAM my new nail gun. I looked up the nails recommended for my specific nail gun. I ordered the 2-inchers and received them in less than a week. They worked great and I felt great after weeks of frustration from not having the right nails.

An excellent staple for use with the Porter Cable US58 stapler. If you are interested in this product you may also want to check out the Senco C04BAAP 1/4" staple also.

These staples work well in the US58, feeding with no problems. These very small staples are meant for attaching upholstery to hardwoods or very thin plywood. Even in these applications they may prove to be too short if you are using thick fabric or a backing.

The nail package sent to me was ok, but, it was the wrong size,
the rest of the package was all 18 gauge as the 2" should have been. I did not realize the mistake until I had opened the package and cannot return it now. Had to go out and purchase the correct 18 gauge size in order to complete project.

Great product works great in Bostich nailer. Will purchase again when needed.

This is just as advertised. Great instructions, Sturdy and adaptable to my needs.

although i rated it 5 i had to return for a non drilled benchdog becouse of fit.

I have used my PC siding cutters on cement siding for which it was designed and last night I discovered a new use...cutting plastic laminate. I noticed an ad for a plastic laminate cutter and saw how closely the cutters resembled the PC. I tried it and discovered that if I have the back side up, it does a terrific job.
It does a first class job on siding with no dust filling the air, not the best choice for very straight lines but great for general cutting.

I have owned this fiber cement shear long enough to realize that it's a quality tool. The design is nearly flawless, effortless to use, can cut dead straight "bad joint quality". The tool will cut gentle arcs if need be. It raises no dust at all and the blades are extremely durable. It's variable speed allows the user to slow down for a "cut out". I've owned other brands of shears, some costing a hundred dollars more, and none holds a candle to this tool.

These discs were used with a Porter Cable sander. I used approximately 95 discs from this purchase restoring redwood decking. they did not clog or fill excessively and were extremely uniform in theri finish.

Holds up longer than the home center variety. Works great on my Bosch 6".