DONT BUY B&D BLADES

What blades to you prefer?

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

i probably prefer Bosch and get them from home depot. this is because Bosch has packs of just one blade while i could only find the Milwaukee in packs of like ten and if i only needed one blade or only had the money for one blade then that really frustrated me that i could only find them in large packs. the Milwaukee blades are though good quality and if you need a pack of blades then it really doesn’t make a difference whether you go for the Bosch or Milwaukee.

I am going to agree with this review. I got a multi pack of B&D blades for my jigsaw and have been pretty dissappointed with all of them. The wander a good deal, and if I am doing a cut longer than 2” or so, they do start to angle away from the board leaving a screwed up cut. This is the same for all the different blades, no matter what material or tooth pattern I am using. I am not certain if that would be corrected with better blades as I have not tried any other yet, I just stay away from the jigsaw for the most part, but it has me thinking now. I might try a more expensive blade to see how they work. Also, I can’t seem to get them to stay in my jigsaw very well at higher speeds, and it is a B&D jigsaw. Also something that might get corrected with a better blade.

-- Rob McCune

Thanks for writing up the review.

-- Maplewood, MN

A couple years back, my parents got me a handy B&D bit set that had drill bits, a stacked set of hole saws, driver bits, and a bunch of other bits in a handy carrying case. It was very handy and I’m still using parts of it for odd jobs around the house.

My biggest complaint was the quality of the driver bits. I was putting down sub-flooring and ran out of the DeWalt bits I’d been using. Rather than run over to the hardware store for more, I grabbed the B&D driver bits and threw them into my gun and drill. In both cases, these bits were stripped after driving just four screws! Seriously stripped… not just slipping a bit but completely rounded off!! Exactly four screws… each time!

I took the 20 minute drive over to HD and bought a pack of the trusty DeWalt bits (same parent company, it should be noted) and each of the DeWalt bits lasted for hours. I’m still using the second DeWalt bit in my screw gun 8 months later.

It’s not just blades. It’s also their bits. B&D has seriously compromised the quality of their namesake brand in recent years. It’s become their junk brand and should only be purchased as a last resort in my opinion.

I’ve had luck with some of their power tools (cordless driver is still chugging along after four years) but I’d give them an overall buyer-beware rating.

It’s a shame too… my father had a B&D router for decades (probably still has it) and it was a great little machine. They used to be a reliable brand.

I use the Bosch blades and have had great results with them.

-- "You get what you inspect, not what you expect"

I just tried the Festool blades and have been very impressed. You can use them on a standard t shank.

-- -John "Do I have to keep typing a smiley? Just assume it's a joke." www.flickr.com/photos/gizmodyne