I learned from a friend, if you are going to need a specific tool and don’t expect to use it a lot (for a single job), buy a cheap one that can do the job at your friendly cheap importer ( harbor freight etc). Renting is ok too. You can skip the cordless too..
Going for use the tool a lot (drills, pliers etc) buy something better.
I've often heard this advice, and while I acknowledge the financial sense it makes, it also puts the new user into a hard place.
Here's the problem: the advantages of "good" tools disproportionately impact the new user. A crusty machinist with decades of experience can make high tolerance parts on a clapped out Bridgeport, because she knows all the subtle ways things can go wrong and doesn't need to rely on the tool handling those things for her.
The new user? No idea what he's doing, and if you throw cheap/poor quality tooling into the mix, now it's just that much harder to figure out if what's going wrong is the user or the tool.
None of this is to suggest that everyone should toss out their home gamer woodworking tools and replace it all with Festool, but there are some pretty serious advantages to having trustworthy tools to help you learn.
> I learned from a friend, if you are going to need a specific tool and don’t expect to use it a lot (for a single job), buy a cheap one that can do the job at your friendly cheap importer ( harbor freight etc).
A critical factor to keep in mind: What are the implications if the tool fails?
If a failure means I will be inconvenienced and have to buy a better tool next time, sure as hell I'm starting with the cheap one.
If a failure means something expensive is getting messed up or someone's getting permanently harmed, I'm going to aim for the point on the bang-for-the-buck hockey stick right before it turns north.
Going for use the tool a lot (drills, pliers etc) buy something better.