Hi All,
I’ve been really frustrated with the pieces that pass as “tool reviews” in the magazines. More and more, I find that the only reliable reviews are the ones that are produced by other woodworkers.
I know there is a “Tools” section here on Knots, but I wonder whether it would be nice to have a special section for tool reviews? Just wondering what other people think about this, and especially what Mr. SYSOP thinks.
Thanks,
Matthew
Replies
Matt,
What do you suppose is purpose of the 'Tool Talk' Forum?
Regards,
Bill Arnold - Custom Woodcrafting
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Food for Thought: The Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
I've sort of been wondering that myself. I'm not sure why Taunton put up the Tool Talk forum separately, to tell you the truth, since there is already a Tools section in Knots. Maybe something to do with corporate sponsorship (i.e., actually making money from this site) sometime down the road. As far as I'm concerned it just detracts from Knots. I never take the time to browse over there.
Mark,
As I understand, Tool Talk is for tools of any kind; i.e., "woodworking", carpentry, remodeling, tiling, logging, whatever. Certainly, there is a lot of crossover of tool usage so I assume that's the purpose of a seperate Forum. Like you, many folks probably don't know about Tool Talk or why it's there. It IS a bit unclear.
I agree with you about the 'Tools' section in Knots. Seems far more efficient to let us "woodworkers" exchange information (Reviews) about the tools specific to what we do. But, then again, the argument could be that if we discuss a circular saw the discussion could be just as relevant to a carpenter, remodeller, etc.,; ergo, the Tool Talk Forum.
Yeah, I know -- I just went around in a big circle, huh???
:)
Bill Arnold - Custom Woodcrafting Click Here if you're interested in a good,inexpensive website host.
Food for Thought: The Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
"I'm not sure why Taunton put up the Tool Talk forum separately, to tell you the truth, since there is already a Tools section in Knots." Many of us wondered aloud about the same thing when Tool Talk first appeared. My recollection is that it was originally mean to provide feedback for the first FWW Tool Guide which was published in 2003. It seems to have evolved into a more comprehensive discussion group, which is a good thing since the Tool Guide, in many minds, was pretty much a bust.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Yeah, I agree regarding "tool reviews" in magazines and online webzines. Feels like they are just parroting the company info releases and not commenting on the pluses and minuses of tools in a working situation.
Also I get the sense a lot of times that the people doing the reviews make their livings writing and teaching which really does cut down on the time spent with tools. Like test driving a car versus living with it. You have a very different relationship to a tool when it is just that. Not just a cool widgit you mess with to blow off steam.
One thing to remember is that some of the tools are donated for review. "sponsors" This isn't to say that it negates the reliability of a review but if someone gave me a car and wanted to know what I thought about it, well...
Anyhow I guess the only way to improve a tool section is if it were just broken down into categories like Epinions.com or harmony central and users could just plug in their thoughts. I've gotten some useful information from user reports there.
But it seems like it could just be accomplished with a post of the tool in question in the header.
Guess I just went around on that one.
I've actually found the "man on the street" reviews at Amazon to be quite helpful But I don't just go by the reviews, I also look at the numbers.Recently I purchased a planer. Before I looked at the reviews I was sure I was going to get the new dewalt 13" 2 speed 100lb machine. But as I read the user feedback I felt less comfortable - complaints about gears breaking, noise etc...Then I looked at the makita 12" pricier than most 12" planers but I've had good success with other makita tools so I read on. What I found surprised me. There were reviews by about 25-30 people. Some of the reviews were by people who had reviewed the machine when they bought it and then again a year or two later. Every review was 4 or 5 stars and hardly a negative comment (some complaind about the price of the dust collector). By comparison, the Dewalt was way behind.So I'm really basing my decision on statistics.... Number of reviews, scoring of the machine. If 25 or 30 like minded woodworkers say it's a good machine (and are willing to take the time at Amazon to post a review) I'm willing to go with it.MarkMark
Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk, cut it with an ax.
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