Tool reviews - any recommendations?

[Tom Walz]

Looking for people and / or sites that review tools as many do on here.


Would appreciate any recommendations.

Thanks,
tom

[David Weaver]

Question, are you looking for critical comparative reviews, or are you looking for what look more like stealth marketing sites that never say anything negative?

[Jim Rimmer]

PWW and FWW usually have an annual tool review edition. Don't know how good they are. Unlike Consumer Reports, I'm guessing that the tools are donated by advertisers so there may be some bias in the review.

[Prashun Patel]

If you find one, let me know. Every review I read seems to smack of some bias.

[David Weaver]

If you find one, let me know. Every review I read seems to smack of some bias.

Yeah, and there is a serious lack of disclosure on a lot of the tool review blogs. I have written reviewers before notifying them that they should clarify whether or not they're getting paid or they're getting free tools, as it's required by the FTC for any type of social media, but all I've ever gotten in return is a bunch of huffing and puffing. One popular blogger sent me a response that was something like "you and everyone else just want to tear my site down or come up with conspiracy theories, but it's just me in my shop doing reviews". It was a little more of a terse response than that, but anyway, I notice in every response, the bloggers who I suggest that to still never answer whether or not they are:
1) monetarily compensated
2) not monetarily compensated but allowed to keep the items they "review"

It is a really big personal irk of mine. Somehow "i was allowed to keep this tool without paying it, but honestly, I really do like it" seems a lot less deceptive and disgusting than feigned outrage in response (and avoidance of the question, for obvious reasons).

[John Hays]

I know of one, but according to the rules "Links to other public or private forums are not allowed", so there's no point of posting it here.

[David Weaver]

You can provide the name, I doubt anyone would construe it as your desire to drive traffic elsewhere.

[Val Kosmider]

As suggested, FWW does a reguilar review of a variety of tools. I don't think they include any junk in their field, so it starts with stuff that is generally usable. From there is seems to honestly present their findings from a series of 'like' tests, and an overall perspective about 'usability'. In the end, they give you a "best" and "best for the money". It has always been a good starting point for me. Seems unbiased. Doesn't get caught up in a single poster review where he had a bad tool (manufacturing defect--although FWW will say if they could never get the tool adjusted properly, etc.) or just has a grudge with the manufacturer.

[glenn bradley]

I know of one, but according to the rules "Links to other public or private forums are not allowed", so there's no point of posting it here.


You can provide the name, I doubt anyone would construe it as your desire to drive traffic elsewhere.

I'm pretty sure he was talking about us :D

[Tom Walz]

Honest reviews by guys who use the tools.


Some here have been really good. I admire FWW but they are hardly a typical user.


Tom

[Ole Anderson]

I am tending to go to buyer reviews on websites of Amazon, HD, Lowe's or other sellers of the tool (or appliance) in question. Some have hundreds of 1 to 5 star reviews. They are not as in depth as you would see in a dedicated review but they represent several viewpoints. The top rated CU dishwasher (a Bosch model only available at Lowe's) that I was ready to purchase got panned by a number of buyers at Lowe's, so now I am on the fence about getting it. Go figure. But one review of a higher end GE Cafe dual fuel range I am looking at had a multi page review that was great with pros and cons and ultimately made a strong recommendation for.

[David Kumm]

I think Popular WW does a decent job with their handtool reviews. As to large machines, I don't find many of value. Most woodworkers are not machine guys and don't know what makes a machine last compared to another. Which brand works the best right out of the box may have some value but whether it can hold it's settings after being moved around or after a few years is more important to me. On used machines you can talk to some repair and rebuild guys for opinions but most new stuff doesn't last long enough for that option. Regular honest guys on forums are more reliable but there the problem is most can't compare several models and some lose objectivity and believe their baby is the prettiest. Still, I put more weight on those reviews than magazine ones. Dave

[Frederick Skelly]

This is probably obvious, but I simply google the item Im interested in, specifying "reviews". Then I read whatever comes up - both magazine reviews and opinions posted on woodworking sites, big box store reviews, Amazon, etc until I feel Ive read an adequate number from which I can draw a conclusion. That lets me form an image of the item as good, so-so, or not good. I find that the biases often (not always) cancel each other out with this approach. And whenever Ive bought "good" products that Ive researched this way, Ive been consistently happy. It works for many consumer goods, not only tools.

And sometimes, I find neat new woodworking sites to visit. Thats how I found SMC!

Fred

[Cary Falk]

Wood magazine online has a tool review page. The reviews are done by Wood members. I did a few. Be aware that they were running a contest for the most reviews per month so I think more than a few were made up. I did about 70 and it was all the tools I could think of talking about. The top 2 reviewers have between 250-350 reviews apiece. Some reviews are helpful, others not so much.

[John Hays]

You can provide the name, I doubt anyone would construe it as your desire to drive traffic elsewhere.

Well in that case, the Lumberjocks forum has a "Reviews" section. A good 90% of the reviews are pretty straight forward and provide good insight the the tool being presented.

[Rick Potter]

I like the New Woodworker.com. Tom Hintz is very informative, and not overtly biased.

Rick Potter

[Jay Park]

I think forums like this and others are the best places to look.

Just because someone has a youtube channel doesn't make them an unbiased and fair reviewer.

[Chris Rosenberger]

I think forums like this and others are the best places to look.

Just because someone has a youtube channel doesn't make them an unbiased and fair reviewer.

I agree that forums like Sawmill Creek are the best places to look for honest reviews on tools. But you also have to be careful here also. Tool companies have their plants on these forums also.


Magazines, web channels & forums run by the tool companies, are the last places to look for honest reviews.

Magazines get the tools they review for free & they get to keep those tools after the review is completed. If they want more tools from that company & keep selling advertising space to that company, they are sure not going to give a bad review.

The same goes for the people that run web channels & do tool reviews. The tools they review are free & they keep them. I have purchased a few of the reviewed tools from these some of those that run the web channels.

Companies that run forums also give out free tools to select members. Those members also keep the tools. A bad review means no more tools.

A few years ago I got to see the behind the scenes view of tool reviews from a woodworking magazine & a tool company. I have not trusted tool reviews from those places since.

[Jack Gaskins]

Lumberjocks

[Jeremy Hamaker]

I really like reading the reviews on this site. When it comes to magazines or websites, there is a concern about bias or in this case, flat out saying something that is different than what you really feel or experienced.
User reviews of things can sometimes be pretty harsh and sometimes extra glowing, but if they (we) at least write a bit about what happened that we did or didn't like, it helps me form an overall picture or tone about a product. And then you're at least able to fit their experiences in with your philosophies and preferences and decide whether something will or won't work for you.
I'm almost exclusively a woodturner, but I like reading y'alls opinions on all types of tools, products and techniques in the general woodworking forum too because they're so interesting to me. It's nice to see a bunch of different folks chewing on something for a while so there's a lot of information to partake of.

[Larry Prem]

You should also look at youtube. There are a few good channels with guys doing video reviews. Tools in action, New Woodworker, Wood Whispere, ...

There are also a few woodowking tool databases like hingmy.com, and toolselect.com.

[Erik Loza]

...Magazines get the tools they review for free & they get to keep those tools after the review is completed...

That's not necessarily true. At least not in my experience. On the three occasions that we sent machines to two different magazines (Fine Woodworking and WOOD...), it was with the understanding that those machines were still our property and they were shipped with the understanding that they would be returned to us after the authors of the respective articles conducted their reviews of them. We did receive the machines back after the reviews were completed. Now, it might be different for little hand tools or contractor-grade jobsite machines (which we do not manufacture...) but in our case, there was never any suggestion of wanting to own the machines afterward.


..If they want more tools from that company & keep selling advertising space to that company, they are sure not going to give a bad review..

We don't spend a penny of advertising money with any magazine (at least not since 2008) and FWW still rated our machines more highly than one of our competitors, who advertises in pretty much every issue.


...Companies that run forums also give out free tools to select members...

We owwn/run and I moderate the Minimax Owner's Group over on Yahoo.com and we have never given a free tool to anyone on that forum. I'm not saying that others might or might not but it is not the case with all company-run forums.


I have not trusted tool reviews from those places since.

You know, certainlyeveryone is entitled to their own prerogative and that's totally fine by me but in all my years in this industry, I would tell a prospective customer that I think they are (and I do believe) intelligent enough to do their own research and come to their own conclusions about this or that review. It's like saying there are no honest car sales guys: Not really accurate.

For example, I can tell you that in the case of all three magazine reviews we have sent machines to, we were never allowed any special insight into "how ours did", compared to the others. Just like the rest of the world, we had to wait for the magazine to hit the press to learn how we did. That is a 100% honest answer. Now, there may indeed be forums and magazines out there that do nothing but shill but I can say that both magazines we dealt with maintained a high level of impartiality in their reviews of our machines.

Just my 2-cents,

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Andy Pratt]

Reviews on woodworking forums, Amazon and youtube are about the only thing I feel like i can really trust. You get plenty of "dumb" reviews on amazon and YT since no one is filtering them, but you are at least getting real reviews by real people. I would rather have to buy something based off 5 amazon reviews and a youtube video than off two "in-depth" puff-piece kind of reviews done by a WW magazine that advertises for the toolmaker.

It amazes me how many times some tool comes in neck-and-neck with a far superior tool in a comparison done by a woodworking magazine, when we all know it is not even close in quality. Then you flip the page and see an ad for the low-grade tool, what a surprise.