Which is the BEST woodworking tool and machinery brand? Let’s talk about it.
To me, woodworking tools and machinery encompasses floor-standing equipment such as drill presses, table saws, planers, band saws, and similar, and also benchtop equivalents. I suppose miter saws might also be included.
I think the biggest differentiator is that these are the types of tools that you bring your work to – think router table vs handheld router, or table saw vs track saw.
An interesting reader question came in a few weeks ago, and I’ve been giving some thought about how to approach it.
Jasper asked:
I would love to see content on larger tool options and companies. For example I have been wanting to buy a woodworking bandsaw for a while and I am close to pulling the trigger on Harvey Woodworking HW615P. I am put off but the companies random pricing policy. The price varies from $1999 to $2999 day to day, just why!
I don’t understand the desire to gamify the shopping experience. It gives me a bad taste for the company being reputable, as you contrast it with SawStop (almost!) never having sales.
There are many other options, Jet, Laguna, Powermatic, Grizzly etc. Seems like lots are made by same factories and painted different colors with a few tweaks. Some honest journalistic content on this like you have done on hand tool manufacturers would be great.
I think it’s best to split this into two parts. First, we’ll talk about as bunch of different brands, with summarizing thoughts and opinions. I’ll then share a couple more thoughts before delving into my understanding about what’s going on with tool brands and retailers “gamifying” the shopping experience.
Summarizing Thoughts About Major Woodworking Tool Brands
JET
Specialty: None?
Our Take: I tend to see Jet as a lower cost alternative to Powermatic, which is part of the same company.
I purchase a Jet dust extractor, and it’s decent. By decent, I mean it’s extremely flimsy, but I couldn’t find anything better for the price.
I have two Jet air cleaners. The smaller one was long-discontinued and abandoned, but I can still find replacement filters for the larger one – for now.
I don’t see Jet as the “that’s the one I want!” brand, it’s more of a “that’s what I can afford” type of choice.
They sent over a benchtop jointer for review, and a portable dust separator. The separator was… let’s just say that a retailer had a huge Black Friday sale, and I declined to mention it anywhere. The benchtop jointer is well-made, but its high price and smaller capacity has kept me from being able to recommend it.
Every time I consider another Jet purchase, online user reviews have steered me away.
I worry that much of their consumer-accessible equipment is designed and manufactured to a price point.
Grizzly
Specialty: Broad options.
Our Take: I have yet to purchase any Grizzly tools, but I have researched them heavily over the years.
Every time I look at Grizzly, the consensus seems to be that they’re “hit or miss.”
I’ve heard that Grizzly has great customer service, but also that you’ll either need to be in contact with them, or will have to put time and effort into truing up or repairing a new purchase.
Grizzly has a lot of options, and it’ll take some work to sort through which of those options are worth buying and which should be avoided.
I feel that Grizzly could be a good starting point.
Harvey
Specialty: Hype.
Our Take: There are a couple of Harvey products and table saw accessories on my wishlist.
I considered picking up a Harvey table saw, but didn’t hear the best things about their customer service.
At the start of the pandemic, Harvey marketed their Gyro air cleaner as “a natural enemy of Coronavirus.”
Looking at their website, Harvey looks to be great at selling tools. It remains to be seen whether they’re good at making and supporting them.
Harvey Tools always seems to be running flash sales – track the price for a while and never pay full price.
When I say that Harvey specializes in hype, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. They make very convincing arguments about many of their tools and products. Their tools are well-presented in a way that strongly suggests in-house attention to design, development, manufacturing, and marketing.
They know how to sell tools, something I can’t say about all of the other brands also discussed here.
User reviews tend to be mixed, which continues to be a major source of my hesitation towards the brand.
Laguna
Specialty: Band saws?
Our Take: I bought a Laguna band saw a few years back, and the first one arrived destroyed. The second was fine, but the resaw blade I bought made pinging sounds. Laguna’s customer service was extremely helpful, and walked me through troubleshooting before replacing it.
I’ve considered ordering another Laguna tool, and also a SuperMax drum sander, but reviews steered me away.
I asked questions about their new band saw launch late last year, and most of my questions went unanswered.
I feel that Laguna has almost entirely shifted focus towards their CNC business.
Their band saws still seem to have a strong following, with the online community consensus informing and influencing my decision a few years ago. I have not seen much love for the rest of their “classic machinery” products.
Maksiwa
Specialty: Sliding panel saws?
Our Take: I first learned about Maksiwa when looking to buy a table saw.
Maksiwa is still largely unknown in the USA, and my interest waned after I read somewhere that they mostly rebrand imported equipment, similar to well-known brands already widely available here. I’m not sure if that’s accurate, but I also haven’t seen any reasons to shortlist this brand ahead of many of the others discussed here.
Nova
Specialty: Lathes, digital drill press.
Our Take: Nova sent a lathe test sample a few years ago, and it was good, but somewhat unremarkable. I felt that its build quality and performance wasn’t up to the hype I’d been led to believe. It didn’t
I purchased one of their smart drill presses, and it was good, except for an out-of-the-box defective gear rack for the table height adjustment.
Nova’s customer service didn’t seem to understand the problem with the drill press, deeply frustrating me, but ultimately sent a replacement rack that was slightly different in size, shape, and design. It’s been working okay since then, but the hassle left me with a weird aftertaste.
Powermatic
Specialty: None?
Our Take: Powermatic has a reputation as being THE woodworking tool and machinery company, but that reputation has been eroded.
The online consensus is that Powermatic tools are overpriced and overhyped for what they deliver, and aren’t the “gold standard” that they used to be.
I purchased a jointer, and it’s okay. I considered other purchases, but again, user reviews steered me away.
The company has been really pushing their “ArmorGlide” low-friction coating, but I can’t help but feel this is something that was added to their tools’ cast iron wood-movement surfaces just for the sake of differentiation, or maybe to help justify some of the price increases in recent years.
Don’t buy Powermatic tools at full price – there are semi-annual sales and discounts.
Rikon
Specialty: None?
Our Take: Rikon doesn’t have a lot of distinctions. I haven’t heard much about their tools in recent years, but still keep in mind positive things I heard a few years back about their benchtop tools.
SawStop
Specialty: Table saws.
Our Take: I went back and forth between several brands of sliding table saws and traditional cabinet saws, and ultimately went with SawStop.
I was all but set on a sliding table saw.
I didn’t want to buy a SawStop – I feel their table saws are greatly over-priced, simply because they’re the only brand with flesh detection and active injury mitigation technology.
Ultimately, I realized that it’s good to buy a well-supported tool that also has strong community support. If there’s a problem and customer support is closed due to it being a weekend or after-hours, there’s a greater chance I can find some helpful info online.
I had been talking with SawStop about securing a cabinet saw review sample for TWO YEARS. Once I realized SawStop would be the most suitable right-now solution, I pulled out my ToolGuyd credit card.
I had received two portable table saw test samples before that, and was already familiar with SawStop’s exceptionally good setup instructions and user manuals. They also have among the best packaging and freight delivery I’ve ever experienced.
I had a problem with the wooden table saw extension being too warped and out-of-spec, and they replaced it after some quick troubleshooting and photo documentation on my part.
They also gave me some advice on how to buff out the uneven lip in the cast iron table joint that was scraping away at the t-glide fence every time it passed.
SawStop had the most knowledgeable pre-purchase and post-purchase support of any woodworking tool and machinery company I have ever spoken with. SawStop also carries a wide range of replacement parts.
If or when SawStop starts launching other types of woodworking tools, and they put the same energy into it as with their cabinet saws, they’re going to greatly upset the status quo.
Felder Hammer
Specialty: European-style machinery.
Our Take: There were two tools on my wishlist, a Hammer sliding table saw, and a combination jointer-planer.
I ultimately went with a Powermatic jointer, and a SawStop table saw.
Everything I’ve read over time suggests that purchasing Hammer equipment is a very involved process, one where you need to talk to sales people and have to be very specifically about add-ons, accessories, features, and so-forth.
There are benefits to Hammer machines, but you’re going to pay dearly for it.
I also saw a couple of reviews that steered me away, including one that discussed the hassle it took for the company to replace a part that was defective/damaged from the start and not obvious during setup.
I don’t have the patience or risk tolerance to purchase Hammer machinery just yet.
Vevor
Specialty: None
Our Take: Nope.
Additional Commentary
When shopping for woodworking tools or equipment, it seems that – based on user reviews and community opinions – one must look for the least-worst option, rather than the best.
That is, I have often found that there is no “best” brand in any particular woodworking machinery category, just the ones with less potential for problems than some of the others.
There are so many complaints about nearly every brand and every product. When you’ve found one that hasn’t been panned online, that’s because it’s either new, unpopular, or unheard of.
It’s discouraging to read about say a drum sander and find that a user encountered an early defect that took months to remedy. That next user could be you.
Build quality, reliability, and customer service are all important.
I’ve purchased equipment from a couple of brands, and so far none of them are perfect in any regard.
It’s not even that you can pay more for better tools or a better experience. The industry, at least concerning consumer-accessibly equipment, is still very price-conscious, leading to different compromises depending on the brand, type of tool, or specific model.
A few years ago I wrote about how some tools are identical aside from brand and color. See also: The Benchtop Power Tool Clones Conundrum.
There’s some rebranding in the woodworking machinery space, but not as much when talking about higher-priced floor-standing models as with benchtop tools.
What’s up With the Pricing?
A lot of woodworking tools and machines tend to be discretionary purchases.
Individual woodworkers, whether hobbyists or small businesses and creators, also tend to be price-conscious.
Let’s say I have decided to upgrade my table saw. I’ve saved up the cash and can buy a saw any day now. A 10% or 15% sale, or a free accessory upgrade promo might just be what it takes to drive a consumer to complete a purchase.
Other times, a good promotion might be just the thing to convince you to pick up a new piece of equipment.
This Stanley 4-in-1 mini screwdriver is just $2.49 at Home Depot with free shipping. It’s a great tool for casual users, or tossing into the kitchen junk drawer for household device battery changes and similar.
$2.49 with free shipping.
How many readers do you think are going to buy this? 1? 10? 50? Of those, how many were looking to buy a 4-in-1 pocket screwdriver today?
Jet and Powermatic have semi-annual deals. Harvey ALWAYS has a flash sale of some kind. SawStop has annual “free with purchase” promos and recently kicked off an extremely rare money-off discount.
Felder/Hammer occasionally advertise different promos.
The higher the investment, whether we’re talking about price, floorspace, time, or a combination of these things, the longer it takes for consumers to reach a purchasing decision.
Often, a discount can influence that purchasing decision. Sometimes it will start the process, seeding an idea for a future upgrade in a woodworker’s mind, other times it will hasten it. A promo might sway a consumer’s choice of brand or model.
The purchase cycle for $1000+ machinery is going to very different from a $2.49 screwdriver that almost anyone can use in their home or workshop.
The Harvey band saw that the reader asked about? It’s $1949 right now, plus freight. That’s likely the price it was designed to sell at, not $2999.
Brands and retailers might “gamify” the purchase experience with occasional deals, promos, and rollercoaster pricing because it works.
The Overall BEST Woodworking Tool Brand?
I have purchased a drill press, band saw, air filters, a dust collector, jointer, router table, and table saw, and received test samples of a lathe, benchtop jointer, and other benchtop tools.
I have researched all of these tools, plus planers, combination jointer-planers, sliding table saws, drum sanders, spindle sanders, probably every type of air filter and dust extractor on the market, and maybe a few other types of equipment.
Thus far, I’d say that Laguna had exceptionally good customer service, based on the one time I needed them, and SawStop delivered the best customer experience so far.
There are few woodworking tools I’d purchase from any of these brands without hesitations. I think it’s just the nature of these types of tools. I assume things are different once you rise above consumer and cost-conscious small-shop woodworking machinery tiers and enter no-compromise “you’ll pay whatever we charge” industrial equipment territory.