What is your favorite machine color

[Van Huskey]

With the Polar Bear series coming out there has been some discussion of machine color. I am just curious what current (too many old colors to even try to do a poll on) people prefer.

I left out a couple obviously as I only had 10 poll options!

[Jeff Monson]

I really like the mustard yellow....but the euro green is really starting to grow on me!!

[Rick Markham]

Battleship Grey! :D

[Derek Gilmer]

Growing up around John Deere and having Grizzly be my first major tool I'm a dark green purist for tools.

[John Pratt]

Don't really have a favorite, but I can tell you the color that I hate....rust brown.

[Anthony Whitesell]

I'll second that. When I see battleship gray, it is usually on an old reliable, accurate, trustworty tool.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Paid For ......in the black.

[Jeff Duncan]

None listed, I don't like any current colors, much prefer the old stuff and most of it is a blah shade of green. If I had to pick a current color though I guess I'd have to pick aquamarine,(or is it turquoise?)......the color of new Martin machinery:D

[Bill ThompsonNM]

Sort of interesting to see what colors are uncommon in machinery
e.g. Primary red or blue are rare
if grizzly starts a trend maybe we'll start seeing kitchen colors-- stainless steel would be okay but god forbid we should start getting avocado or harvest gold...

[Van Huskey]

god forbid we should start getting avocado or harvest gold...


There have been some greens in the past close to avacado and PM gold was near harvest.

[Sean Nagle]

My shop is a sea of battleship gray. However, I've always liked the Jet cream color.

[Will Overton]

I'm not really particular about color, but I do like the Grizzly badge. :cool:

[Paul Greathouse]

I've got Grizzly Green, Shop Fox White, Onieda White and Delta Grey in my shop, so I'm not much on color schemes. I just buy whatever color will get the job done properly for the least amount of money and if its a new tool, customer service is a big factor.

[Kirk Poore]

My shop is a sea of battleship gray. However, I've always liked the Jet cream color.

I can't abide gray. I've only got only one left (well, two, if you count that lathe that's for sale). I do have two red, four green, two black, two white, three blue, and one power bronze machines besides the gray one, counting only my operational machines. I think at least 6 of them were gray at one point or other in their lives.

Kirk

[Richard Dragin]

I don't discriminate based on color.

[Van Huskey]

I don't discriminate based on color.


I assume when you buy a automobile you let the salesperson pick the color... :D

[Kent A Bathurst]

Fuschia. I repaint all my machines, power tools, and LN planes Fuschia. Except the DC piping - that seems to work better after I painted it turquiose. I think that the color of the equipment is critical to good performance.


http://markc1.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451bb2969e20120a545ddc8970c-800wi

[John Mark Lane]

I like white. Almost all my cars have been white.

Paint is important, too. When I was a teenager working in my father's high performance auto shop, I used to tell the dumb rednecks, er... people who came in there that if they painted their grill with a High Performance Spray Paint (available in cans, right over here), they would gain half a second in the quarter mile. Sold a lot of cans of that stuff. Got quite a few happy reports back, too -- that indeed, it worked!

[Noah Bledstein]

Jet Blue - before Jet went polar

[Aaron Wingert]

Gotta say I really love something about the Powermatic gold color. It is tacky as hell, but I like it. But the Grizzly green and Jet white are predominant in my shop!

[Art Mulder]

Paid For ......in the black.

Hard to argue with that.

But IMHO there are not enough bold colours on the market. It's mostly all neutrals.

[Roger Newby]

Is sawdust a color? :rolleyes:

[Jeff Willard]

Conover black.

I remember a few years ago, Woodcraft was heavily promoting the X5(?) line. WC ran a big ad in FWW that had a gorgeous shop full of Delta machinery. A WC employee told me it was the CEO's personal shop, overlooking the Ohio river. All Delta, and all brand spankin' new. EXCEPT-way back in the corner, in the dark, was a lathe, and if you looked close, and knew the machine, it was easily recognized as a Conover Lathe. I found it very amusing as an owner of a Conover, and one that looks dimly on Delta of late, particularly where lathes are concerned.

[Callan Campbell]

I didn't use to like the older Powermatic Gold, now I have the floor mortiser machine and it's grown on me. Not sure I could take a whole sea of gold machines in my shop, or grey ones for that matter. So, I like my mixture of Delta, Jet, Powermatic, Grizzly, Festool, Ryobi, Rikon color scheme:D:D:D Having said all that, the Jet Creme highlights any tools or accessories bolted next to it, so they're easier to spot. But, shows the dust and dirt like any other lighter color as well.

[David Keller NC]

I like Powermatic mustard yellow, and that's saying something, since I mainly use hand tools and I don't even have a Powermatic machine (used to, though - a 6" jointer that was a very nice, just too small).

But here's the main reason to like that color - one of the members of this board (and I don't remember who) wrote a post and referred to his PM table saw as "the mustard monster". I found that hilarious.:D

[Chris Tsutsui]

Would be cool to see a Euro slider with Festool's color schemes...

Too bad my garage looks like a crammed pawnshop.

[Van Huskey]

wrote a post and referred to his PM table saw as "the mustard monster". I found that hilarious.:D

I have a friend that calls his 3520B lathe the mustard monster as well.

[Eric DeSilva]

I have to believe the people voting mustard yellow are actually voting on the question of "what is your favorite manufacturer," 'cos that is one *ugly* shade of yellow. Let's just say that if a new PM TS ever was in my sights, I'd definitely have sprung for one of those woodwerks custom color paint jobs... :rolleyes:

If I'm answering the question solely based on the aesthetics, I'd be a Laguna gray fan. I sort of feel like machinery ought to... well... look like machinery.

[David Helm]

Voted other because my shop has many colors, and I like all the tools I have in each color.

[Eric Somerville]

My shop is mostly Ridgid orange except for the green General jointer which I have thought about painting.

[Rod Sheridan]

My shop is mostly Ridgid orange except for the green General jointer which I have thought about painting.


That Sir is a transgression!

Kidding aside, I had a shop full of General equipment, I'm now down to a 17" GI band saw, I kind of miss the green.

That said the grey/red paint of my new machinery is nice, I think it's more due to the contrast than the colour though. Perhaps any nice two tone paint scheme is an improvement over a solid colour.

Regards, Rod.

[Van Huskey]

I have to believe the people voting mustard yellow are actually voting on the question of "what is your favorite manufacturer," 'cos that is one *ugly* shade of yellow. Let's just say that if a new PM TS ever was in my sights, I'd definitely have sprung for one of those woodwerks custom color paint jobs... :rolleyes:

If I'm answering the question solely based on the aesthetics, I'd be a Laguna gray fan. I sort of feel like machinery ought to... well... look like machinery.

I want people to vote just on aesthetics. But I actually LOVE the mustard and black scheme, I would order every non-PM machine in the mustard and black scheme even if it was an upcharge if available, I am serious. That said I wanted a custom PM "2066" but they no longer make them. I wanted a flame job similar to TWW's saw but using yellows instead of his red base.

Funny enough I feel just the way you do about Grizzly green, people can't love the COLOR that much, and considering General green has NO votes thus far, it seems some may be voting in a lil biased way.

[Van Huskey]

Would be cool to see a Euro slider with Festool's color schemes...

Too bad my garage looks like a crammed pawnshop.

The Felder 700 series is not exact but close.


http://www.felderusa.com/products_details.php?parent=9e5e5cc98dc03df70393&xat_code=b8042d772562d0288281&region=us-us&felder-group=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.feldergroupusa.com%2Fproduc ts_list.php%3Fsite_id%3D2%26region%3Dus-us%26category%3D9e5e5cc98dc03df70393

[Van Huskey]

That Sir is a transgression!

Kidding aside, I had a shop full of General equipment, I'm now down to a 17" GI band saw, I kind of miss the green.

.

Apparently you don't miss it enough to vote for it... :D

I am guessing you like the scarlet/grey stuff... ;)

[Bill Wyko]

My new Grizzly BS seems to be the most tool for my money. I'm going green.:D

[Ron Jones near Indy]

Just on aesthetics, I liked the old Powermatic green with white. I also like Shop Fox white and Delta Grand Edition white. Old Delta gray, while not attractive, spoke volumes on quality.

[Vijay Kumar]

Polar Bear White. As soon as I make a decision whether to buy a 12" J/P or an 8 or 12" jointer, I will get the white from grizzly if available.

A big thing in my decision is the availability of a mobile base and being able to get it close to a wall. I think the 12" jointer (Grizzly) lacks both of these as far as I can determine--although I would like to be educated. Maybe I'll post a seperate thread on this.

Vijay

[scott spencer]

I suspect this will turn into as much a brand name preference than a true color preference. Brand name aside, I'm kind of partial to the creamy white of Jet and Shop Fox....I'll have to see how the Polar Bear white looks.

[Joe Jensen]

My favorite is this cool blue metalic that was the original paint on a 1970s Quincy Compressor I fixed up. I matched it and love the color.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w99/AZEngineer/compressorfrontrulermedium.jpg

[Matt Walton]

My favorite is this cool blue metalic that was the original paint on a 1970s Quincy Compressor I fixed up. I matched it and love the color.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w99/AZEngineer/compressorfrontrulermedium.jpg
Where can I get one? Especially for free :D

[Tom Adger]

Too bad you left out Ridgid orange.

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

I painted the walls in my shop to match my Jet jointer. But all my other tools are Delta gray.

[Peter Quinn]

I have no real favorite, I have a variety of colors in use. I don't honestly care, though I find grizzly green rather unpleasant. The polar bear should be a nice change on that account. I'd agree with the earlier comment that in the black is a very handsome color. Most of my tools at this point are second hand at least, so whatever I can afford and presently own works great for me.

I do take issue with the assessment of powermatic as "mustard". Since when has powermatic become the hotdog standard?

[Van Huskey]

I do take issue with the assessment of powermatic as "mustard". Since when has powermatic become the hotdog standard?

I am pretty sure PM refers the current non-gold color as mustard.

[Dave MacArthur]

I actually like the mustard color of PM myself. My saw is the Gold color, and I like that even better-- you guys don't like Gold? I can't believe it! My shop is the only place I can feel good about having some Bling!

I for sure dislike the WoodTek green/yellow scheme. Too green. And I don't really like the SawStop black look either.

But I'd have to say I like the Grizzly green myself--not all green machines, but I really like the band saw paint jobs, all green from the back, mostly white from the front, big honking belt buckle up front.

If for some arcane reason I had a whole shop full of the same color of tools, I'd say the cream color of Jet and ShopFox makes it most look like a surgical ward or a nursery, which I like.

[Doug Carpenter]

You left out black (sawstop)

I have a Delta Unisaw and a PM sander I am going to piaint that cream color. Although I may paint the gold PM the mustard color just for fun.

[Doug Carpenter]

oops. You did put black up there. Sorry:o

[Van Huskey]

I for sure dislike the WoodTek green/yellow scheme. Too green.

.


Truer words brother. Have you ever been in a Woodworker's Supply? See tons of WoodTeks in one place is absolutely PAINFUL. I always get the vision of a blade trying to run away instead of being bolted to the saw.


I am more or less neutral on the Sawstop black but they are the only machine company I have ever seen that can make a 600 pound machine look like it is made out of plastic. Not even sure what it is but I have actually touched the cabinet to convince myself it wasn't plastic.:confused:

[Jim O'Dell]

I voted Polar Bear White, but I retract that if it's a different "white" than my 691. :D:D
Actually many of the colors are nice. Like many, I've got multiple colors in the shop. 3 flavors of grey (Delta, Mini Max, and Ridgid) 2 colors of green (Grizzly trim and Hitachi), heck, I've even got no color at all (Clear Vue:p). I think it would be boring with one color scheme. But I have tried to bring most of my scheme together with green and black laminate and grey paint. :rolleyes: Jim.

[Dave Lehnert]

I just restored a Shopsmith/ Magna Jigsaw made in the 1950's. I could not find a close match to the original green. So I settled on a popular color combo for the time. Sea-foam Green and black. I kinda like it.

[johnny means]

Format 4 blue and anodized aluminum. They could be designing Italian sports cars in that scheme. Think I saw a Buggati in those colors.
http://www.format-4usa.com/us-us/behind-the-scenes.html

[Van Huskey]

Format 4 blue and anodized aluminum. They could be designing Italian sports cars in that scheme. Think I saw a Buggati in those colors.
http://www.format-4usa.com/us-us/behind-the-scenes.html

I actually like the Format 4 colors also. The Italian cars they would look good on would be a Lamborghini (you know a tractor) a "real" Italian sports car wouldn't be caught dead in such garish (for a car) colors, rosso corsa would make an incredible looking slider especially with red, white and green stripes! :D If you saw a Bugatti in a color similar it was probably because the racing color of France is near that color.

I do like the fact that the Felder group like COLOR. Color is "free" and although it doesn't make the machine perform any better we have color choice in most other things in our life, I find it almost a shame we don't have it here. Maybe Shiraz is a visionary...

[Mike Heidrick]

Deere Green and Yellow

... and Format4 and Martin Blue!

[Steve Rowe]

There is no doubt and it has absolutely nothing to do with color.:):):)

[Joe Jensen]

There is no doubt and it has absolutely nothing to do with color.:):):)

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w99/AZEngineer/1.jpg

[Chip Lindley]

Since Powermatic metallic gold was not an option, I could not vote for that. The new PM mustard pales in comparison! That former PM color, AND the old original Delta battleship gray are a tie for me.

Ever since I went through Army boot camp in the VietNam era, any green really turns me OFF! (unless it's Prell shampoo green! I had a '72 Chevy Monte Carlo that color!

[James Boster]

I had to vote other as most of my machines are old arn and all different colors. But if I had to pick one the original paint on my Ekstron Carlson 112 edge sander or 156 overarm router would be my favorite. It is a light gray/green color with a speckeld finish.

[Jon Lanier]

Scarlet & Gray :)

Yea, I know it doesn't really exist. But you asked for a favorite.

[Jim Becker]

MiniMax white...:D

But in all honesty, I've been a fan of white/ivory since I started with a shop back in the late 1990s. All the Delta and Jet equipment I've owned has been of that hue.

[Van Huskey]

Since Powermatic metallic gold was not an option, I could not vote for that. The new PM mustard pales in comparison! That former PM color, AND the old original Delta battleship gray are a tie for me.

Ever since I went through Army boot camp in the VietNam era, any green really turns me OFF! (unless it's Prell shampoo green! I had a '72 Chevy Monte Carlo that color!


I just barely covered the new colors with the 9 plus other options I had. I could write a list 3 pages long if I was remotely inclusive! :eek:

For me I actually like the mustard better than the PM golds.

It seems gray may win out, to me its just so dull. I have a funny feelin' it is hard to seperate color from what it represents to people.

[george wilson]

I cannot believe that the tacky mustard color is so popular. Thank heaven that the Delta gray barely edged it out. And GOLD is right out.

[Mark Elmer]

Hi all,

Another vote for Jet white here. Like most of us my shop has an interesting mix of greens, orange, greys and etc. Whatever was the best deal for what I budgeted to buy the tool.

[Tom Welch]

I like the Jet Cream best. Although the PM "mustard" is starting to grow on me. Of course I have delta gray, Original saw black, PM mustard, Grizzly green, Ridgid orange (like the least), and Jet cream in my shop. Not that partial to Jet, just like the color scheme.

[Neil Brooks]

So far my favorite color is ... any color of any machine ... as long as the machine's all paid off -- nothing owed on it ;)

[Hugh Jardon]

RIDGID Orange. Backed up with US Treasury green in the bank. All the machines here (plus another R4511 TS, 3x sanders and a router that are out of shot) cost about $2000 total.

[Dave MacArthur]

REALLY supposed to be a thread on visual look vs. quality-indicator or wise-budget-indicators. Hard to separate in the mind I know, which is why companies spend so much $$$$$ on advertising and brand consciousness and picking a color that will sub-consciously tie-in those advertising dollars in the purchaser's mind...
... but I KNOW we have the "jedi mind-power" to overcome those maketing efforts and make a purely aesthetic judgement if we try! Come on now, if the CEO of Felder-USA called you and offered to fill your shop with machines painted up in any custom color you chose, it would be their "new look" they were gonna market and YOU were the designer, what color would it be? Is there any marketing potential for companies to supply custom colors like computer and phone makers are doing now?

[Van Huskey]

Is there any marketing potential for companies to supply custom colors like computer and phone makers are doing now?

The only real attempt I know of was the Wood Werks custom PM 2000 saws (PM2066 as they were known) alas they quit before I bought my new saw, but they went well beyond just color. You can get a look at them here:


http://www.woodwerks.com/pmc/

[Don Bullock]

I don't care what the color as long as the tool is reasonably priced and does a great job. My shop has most of the colors you listed plus some more.:D

[Dave Lehnert]

The only real attempt I know of was the Wood Werks custom PM 2000 saws (PM2066 as they were known) alas they quit before I bought my new saw, but they went well beyond just color. You can get a look at them here:


http://www.woodwerks.com/pmc/

WOW! you can print your own custom paper tablesaw

http://www.woodwerks.com/pmc/paperbuilder.php

[Van Huskey]

When I first posed the question I was curious what color people would pick for their tools if given a wide pallet, this was based on a comment by Shiraz in the Grizzly Polar thread. I thought at the time it would be a simple "what color do you like" thread then was bemused by the somewhat obvious bias that was coming in. People seemed to be choosing colors based on either what they owned or perceived quality. Just now I had what may be an epiphany in that I think my bias came in stronger than I thought. I realized this as I considered what a Euro slider would look like in mustard, hmmm not so good. A PM2000, 1800, 27, 3520 etc look great as would a Uni, 1023 etc but not a slider, it just didn't fit. In machines we too closely associate color with quality or familiarity to cast a vote based solely on color when color has meant so much in terms of quality to this industry. Kinda like asking a North Carolina resident if they like dark or light blue.

In the end I don't think many or any here would buy a tool based largely on color, though myself as well as others probably would buy tools based on the brand the color represents like many purchase cars based on the badge (or especially pickemup trucks). There may be some marleting wisdom here (though marketing is far from a strong suit of mine) but it seems that building the brand behind the color is so important that color choice might actually dillute instead of strengthen. That said I do still like the Polar color scheme better than the "Grizzly" color scheme and unless it is significantly less white than I imagine, as some have suggested when they saw it in person, I would choose Polar over green.

To those that say they don't have a color preference I understand that color is no way to pick a tool but if you were buying a saw that came in all 9 colors (actually 11 if you look hard) that I listed would you actually say "no preference send me any color you want?"

[Dave MacArthur]

I realized this as I considered what a Euro slider would look like in mustard, hmmm not so good. A PM2000, 1800, 27, 3520 etc look great as would a Uni, 1023 etc but not a slider, it just didn't fit.

Are you kidding me?? LOOK at this and tell me you don't instantly want it!! THIS thing is quality!


http://azhardwood.com/images/1-606.jpg
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/tls/1758569969.html
more pics. So sweet. I look in on this baby every night and put it to bed.

[Van Huskey]

Are you kidding me?? LOOK at this and tell me you don't instantly want it!! THIS thing is quality!


http://azhardwood.com/images/1-606.jpg
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/tls/1758569969.html
more pics. So sweet. I look in on this baby every night and put it to bed.

I would LOVE to have an HPS126 but I still say it doesn't look quite right in mustard.

[Harry Hagan]

I’m partial to purple. Especially when presented in a paisley pattern.

[Lewis Cobb]

PM Mustard has nudged ahead of Delta Grey ! :D

[Steve knight]

I like the green my tools make me. forget what color the tools are themselves.

[Nathan Allen]

RIDGID Orange. Backed up with US Treasury green in the bank. All the machines here (plus another R4511 TS, 3x sanders and a router that are out of shot) cost about $2000 total.

Jealous, I don't have the planer. Mine is a Ryobi 1200 I bought for $80 still in the box.

$900 for a new Tablesaw, Jointer, Drill Press, and a Band Saw was just too cheap to pass up.

[Van Huskey]

Bringing this one back from the dead, watching Mr. Cruz "pimp his thread" I thought this oldie could use a few extra votes. :)

[Rod Sheridan]

Apparently you don't miss it enough to vote for it... :D

I am guessing you like the scarlet/grey stuff... ;)

I'm just a hypocrite I guess!:D

Regards, Rod.

[Mike Cruz]

You kill me man. Hey, the poll is closed. Why? Did you put a time limit on it? Or do all polls close after a certain period?

[Paul McGaha]

I guess I would pick Powermatic mustard. I admit it dosent seem to be much of a color for anything but I think its a good tool color for the shop. My shop has unfinished drywall walls and ceiling, and bare concrete floor, So I dont know maybe a little color is helpful.

My tools are (4) Powermatic, (5) Delta, (1) Jet. I'd say I like the color of the Powermatics first and the Jet (White) second.

PHM

[Charlie Jones]

Delta Gray

[Jim O'Dell]

When a poll is set up, the OP has to put in an end date. Not sure if there is an open ended option or not. Jim.

[Dino Drosas]

I do! Felder Green

[Mike Cruz]

Hey, Van, maybe our polls could be stickies, huh? Of course, you'd need to get yours reopened so people could continue to vote...

[David Hostetler]

Not specific to brand, but I rather like my woodworking tools to be green. Not sure why. I think it has to do with all the OLD Powermatic stuff we had in High School wood shop oh so many years ago...