I, as many previous posters, have not been a big HF fan. This is especially
true of their heavier machinery. However, I have had a couple of things
come up that have swayed me (a little).

1) A couple of years ago I purchased one of their mortisers just because I
needed one for a job, and it was on sale at what seemed a rediculous price.
I had just returned a Delta drill press kit because it didn't fit my older
drill press. The HF machine came with a set of 4 mortise cutters that
looked almost identical to the returned Delta cutters, the machine was
quiet, had good power, some of the metal seems a bit soft and the hold down
mechanism sucked. After getting over the hold down shortcoming I gave it
some test runs and lo-and-behold it cut square holes! It fact it does so
quite well. I have used the machine on quite a few projects and have more
than gotten my $99 worth. I am planning a future project that will improve
the hold down capability with home-made hardware but for now we are gettting
along fairly well.

2) An acquaintance, laid off from aircraft manufacturing 2-3 years ago, was
getting himself into finish carpentry. Short of cash, he purchased a couple
of HF's nailers: a finish nailer and a brad nailer. Both were bought at
VERY low prices. He told me he always intended to upgrade after he got on
his feet and the "cheap" HF nailers wore out. He told me a couple of months
ago that he is doing well with his business but those ^&#)@ nailers won't
wear out. He also said if they do, he'll probably replace them with the
same tools, if available. He also said he is surprised at the number of
old-timer's using the same tools. They keep their Delta and PC nailer cases
in the back of their trailers for folks to see and beat the HF machines up
on the job.

Further proof that brand snobbery is probably a bad thing - You need to
research your purchases and touch each tool before you buy.

RonB