On 4/15/2010 12:32 PM, Leon wrote:
"Lee wrote in message
...

wrote in message
...

"Lee wrote in message
...

"Larry Jaques" wrote

I drape my cords over my shoulder, sometimes wrapping them around my
arm, so they never get munched. It's embarassing to saw through your
cord and blow a client's circuits, not to mention a real hassle in the
interim, until you get the cord repaired and then replaced.


Remember the old Black and Decker cords? They plugged into all their
tools and came in different lengths, If you damaged one of them, you
just unplugged it and plugged in another cord. Then repair the old one.
And the could be used as extension cords too.

That was back in the day when black and decker actually made good tools.


I was getting B&D back in the 60's, when the detachable cords came out I
saw "that" as beginning of the decline... ;~(
Oh yeah, they definitely went through a decline.

But back in the day, when I was young and poor, they did good work for me.
I used to go to the factory service center and buy the reconditioned
tools. Big bang for the buck. I still have one or two of those tools in my
garage, almost 40 years later.

I used to build a lot of rustic furniture. I needed to drill lots of holes
and sand those planks down. I was buying drills and sanders for $10 - $25.
And they would last for a couple years or so.

My first B&D drill and jigsaw, saber saw then, were Christmas presents when
I was 11. I got rid of the jig saw but still have the drill for a dedicated
set up. 8 years later I bought a B&D router, age 19, which I still have.
About 4~5 years later I bought my last 2 B&D finish sanders and a belt
sander. I don't know when I got rid of the finish sanders 20 or so years
ago, but still have the belt sander which gets used about once every 10
years.

I have a B&D router that I got some time in the '70s. Somewhere along
the way I put it in a Porter-Cable plunge base. Would still be working
if the armature hadn't grabbed my former ponytail (I now have a #3 buzz
cut) through the air vents. I suspect that if I tear it down and pull
the hair out it will still work fine, but I needed a working router to
finish a job that day so went out and got a new Dewalt and haven't felt
the urge to tear the old one down.