I have never found anything by B&D to be any use whatsoever. I have had quite a few of them over the years (invariably xmas or birthday gifts). I've had a few Jigsaws. Each one ends up with something breaking, making it impossible to ever fit another blade.
I've had a couple of circular saws. You can never quite get the footplate to 90 degrees with respect to the blade. The blades always wobble, and they make a hell of a lot of noise before you even put them on the wood.
My brother bought a workmate when they first came out. I had a look at it and derided it's cheep materials and sloppy construction. This caused quite a disagreement between us at the time. About a week later, I had a job where I thought it may come in handy. So I humbly went cap in hand to ask for the loan of it. Rather sheepishly he told me, that both the handles had broken, and there were a few screws missing (they had frequently fallen out and then, the threads stripped as he had tried doing them up tighter). So it wasn't very stable, and I'd have to use a pair of pliers to tighten it up, but I was welcome to borrow it. Nah, I don't think so.
As for Orbital sanders! I get more abrasion wiping my @rse. Perhaps their saving grace is the "powerfile". I've found no end of uses for this gizmo. The belts slip off with annoying frequency. The tip has to be fully adjusted to one side, just to get it to run square. The belts cost well OTT for what they are. They have cunningly designed it to use belts 5mm smaller than standard belt sanders. (this stops you buying wide belts and cutting them down). I have found this to be such a useful tool that I have to forgive the poor build quality.
Oh and I've also got a 750W B&D power drill that was a gift from my mate around 1980ish. It went missing for a couple of years, (till a neighbour remembered it was mine). It now serves as the power source for a home made tile cutter. From the paultry power it delivers, you'd never believe the 750W label, but it has been getting abuse, in one form or another, for over 20 years now and it still has no slack in the bearings.
So I can honestly say, I have never bought a Black and Decker tool, and probably never will. I have a green Bosch drill that I bought just as keyless chucks first came out. I still abuse this on a regular basis, but it just keeps going.
BTW
I've been told that the B&Q Pro range of power tools, are actually made by Makita! Can anyone confirm this? If they are, they seem excedingly good value for money. I'm having a hard job swallowing this one.
does anyone think that black & decker products have gone downhill?
