I just had to share this...

[WoodMangler]

There's a discussion about the Portable Planer test over on the WOOD Magazine Forum, and I've posted in an attempt to understand how the testing can be so different from actual owners experiences...

anyhoo... that aint what I wanted to tell ya..

Our own Sonny posted concerning the assembly of the machines, and the need to check and adjust machines because.. well, humans assemble them.

That's how *I* would have said it... but not Sonny!

Sonny said
"These are, afterall, assymbeled by low paid humans.
"Pick up da screw, put it in da hole. Uh, it dint go in right! Oop's here comes da next one.
Pick up da screw put it in da hole.
Pick up da screw put it in da hole."

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I nearly stained my Huggies man!

Holey Guacamole... I'm still wiping the tears from my eyes...

I'm not sure WOOD Magazine is ready for Sonny :)

[Bill Kunert]

That is funny. Sonny's outlook on things is just a little bit different. FWIW American Woodworker also did a portable planer review in their current issue and they rated the Ryobi a best buy.
Bill

[Sonny Edmonds]

Marc,
Welllll.... that was about as gentle as I could be with them over there.
You (and many others) know how I distain tool reviews and believe they are swayed by advertising dollars.
I wouldn't give Ya two hoots in hell for those tool reviews.
And I thought the tool review guy took a cheap shot at you.

Diplomacy:
The ability to tell them to go to hell in such a way as they look forward to the trip.

And leave them laughing.... ;) :7
Glad you got a kick out of it! ;)

:D

Sonny Edmonds
"Precision Firewood Specialist"
[link:home.earthlink.net/~sonnypie/ | Sonny's Shop Pages]
God Bless America !
One Nation Under God! Or you can bite my A$$ and just leave!

[WoodMangler]

"And I thought the tool review guy took a cheap shot at you."

Ah well, I'm sure he thought I was critizing him... I wasn't, but perception is everything eh...

I just can't understand how a review can be so uhh... "off", for lack of a better word.

Advertising dollars... Man... kinda wish I knew for sure, but I've read, and said that same thing a few times. I guess if there's no satisfactory rebuttal, I'll just have to believe what *I* believe eh!

Does Consumer Reports review tools?? That'd be interesting eh....

[WoodMangler]

Yea, I saw your post over there Bill... So, one magazine rates it best, the other rates it worst...

Someone's full of beans eh?

I ran into this same kinda thing in the Yacht/Boating industry... There was a certain manufacturer who I had the uhh pleasure of inspecting for Manufacturers Standards Compliance when I was in the Coast Guard, and to make the story short, they failed 3 times and then finally got passed (not by me). These were the worst built boats I have ever seen! I mean, they used POP RIVETS to attach the top mold to the hull!

Anyhoo, 2 years later a Boating magazine rated that boat as ... you ready for this?... Boat of the Year!

So, I imagine I am a bit uhh... cynical when it comes to magazine reviews...

[Sonny Edmonds]

..I don't think so. Mostly consumer items like household stuff I think.

But I tend to take it all in with a pound of salt. ;)
Most reviews really ought to go pound salt, you get my drift?
Like tamp sand up their butts.

Comsumers Reports is about the only one I would give ANY creedance to.

I do wonder how much it cost to get "Boat of the Year!" ;)

:D

Sonny Edmonds
"Precision Firewood Specialist"
[link:home.earthlink.net/~sonnypie/ | Sonny's Shop Pages]
God Bless America !
One Nation Under God! Or you can bite my A$$ and just leave!

[Bob Hobbs]

I don't know about Tool Reviews, but I used to subscribe to several computer magazines and was kind of amazed at how they would all be reviewing monitors within a month or two of each other, or disk drives, or ... whatever.

Finally met a writer and he said he wrote under three or four names and he would get the monitors for a review and then slant the article based on what the editor wanted, (not necessarily on advertising dollars), for example one editor might think ease of use was the most important thing and another might think brightness and color and another might think cabinet style ... and so on.

So when I see two or more magazines reviewing the same kind of equipment in the same time frame, I start wondering if the same guy is writing 'em all? Or, what?

Anyway, you guys on this forum who *have* the tools and are willing to share your experience are a terrific help to us guys who can't actually access the machines for hands on, or even if we can it's for only a few minutes, usually on a display floor where you can't actually use them.

Thanks!

[Sonny Edmonds]

Well shucks Bob,
We aren't a whole lot different really. We have to do a lot of the same.
But this forum is a great place to ask about something you might be considering getting. Or dreaming about.
I would say that the bottom line is, it's not the tool, it's the Craftsman using the tool.
But we all want to make our best buys when we do get a tool.

The point being to watch out for them "Tool Reviews" they put out.
I got burned on a Delta Drum Sander. But mine wound up at corporate in Tenn. Good ridance, I say.
And it is the only tool I ever kicked to the curb from my shop.
Others might find theirs to be great. Or they are great liers.
Not was my case, nor my consern. But I won't BS about any of the tools or tooling I use. ;)

:D

Sonny Edmonds
"Precision Firewood Specialist"
[link:home.earthlink.net/~sonnypie/ | Sonny's Shop Pages]
God Bless America !
One Nation Under God! Or you can bite my A$$ and just leave!

[rrich]

I always thought that tool, auto, truck, stereo, etc. reviews in magazines were based upon the amount of advertising dollars spent at the magazine and had little to do with the product.

Also in the published reviews, what is NOT said is far more important than what is said.

Rich

[Lou_williams]

I have been on the other end. The one getting reviewed and buying advertising from
mag's.

My products have won Editors choice a few times. From my experience most of the top mag's try very hard to keep the advertising and the editorial seperate. They are very dilligent about ti.

A few books would offer to have an article written or publish one of ours if we advertize. But, they were the books that were on the fringe not the main high end books.

I think that one of the major problems with reviews is the reviewer. I look and see who the author/reviewer is and what experience they have and judge the review based on that. It is also a good idea to check and see if they are comparing apples to oranges. A high end of one brand vs the home entry of another.

Sometimes the reviewer is an idiot or is looking for things that just aren't important to a real user. They may put a large value on the guarantee vs functionality. And they all bring their personality to the review. If they have had a hard time with the Delta people last year, then maybe Delta loses the review because some little thing gets important because hard feelings.

I like reviews from users not editors or test lab managers. About half of Fine Woodworking's reviews are done by real users and the other half are by the editor of the shop.

Some reviews will have multiple reviewers and it is fun to see how they differ. Sometimes it is a major difference.

So for the big mag's I don't think that advertising has much to do with the review, but when you find a review that doesn't match your experience you might just think that the reviewer is an idiot, or just not a real woodworker and not looking at things the same way we would.

Dano and I had a big discussion on a review of saw blade from Fine Woodworking when we met last year. There was nothing wrong with the review of the blades tested. But his point was that one of the blades tested was the wrong one to test in the first place. The DML blade that they put through the passes was not the same class as the other manufactures blades and as a result it tested where it should have. But DML had a blade that was not tested that would have done better than the top performer from the other guys. Now that might be the fault of the reviewer, or DML on the blade they submitted for review. Don't know.

The review was very objective in how the tests were performed even sending sampled cut wood to independent labs for analysis. But if you start with apples and grapes the results will be skewed.