“Trust, but verify.” is something my mom used to say, and sometimes she’d follow it up with “But never trust a salesman.”
Both adages have served me well in both my personal and professional life. You’ve always got to give people a chance to prove themselves, but a salesman can only be trusted to do his job: try to get you to buy something. No blame and no shame for it, we’ve all got to make a living, but I’ve seen people get suckered in time and again by a friendly smile and an easy going attitude, or well faked excitement over some revolutionary product that will change your life.
People selling power tools and gadgets are no different. To hear all these companies tell it, their products are flawless, top of the line, perfect for every job, and outperform their competitors by every metric. Anybody who’s taken a look and done the comparisons can tell you things aren’t that simple.
I’m Buddy Murphy. I run a carpentry business with my brother Phil. We’ve used or tried just about everything under the sun, and one thing always holds true: there’s no one right tool for every job.
You’re not going to sue the same saw or sander for cabinetry as you would a bench, or making support beams for your barn. If someone tells you a tool is “one size fits all” or is “perfect for any job”, they either don’t know what they’re talking about, or are just trying to draw you in.
I started Toolsy to fight that kind of misinformation. I depend on these tools for my livelihood, and so do millions of other people around the world. Getting suckered into buying something you don’t need or that can’t do the job you’re looking for can be a major setback, and I’ve even seen it end businesses in lean times. Toolsy is here to look at everything on the market, look at what real users or saying, give them a try, and get back to you with real, verifiable testimonies on how these products work.
I’ve worked wood for nearly 30 years, doing any job sent my way, big or small. I can do furniture, cabinetry, molding – you name it. And what I can’t or won’t do (my knees no longer permit laying tile), my brother can pick up the slack on. We know what we’re about here at Toolsy, and all our reviews are backed by years of firsthand experience with tools just like these.
I do my best to take as many factors into account as possible. Budget, versatility, sturdiness, power, energy efficiency. It all goes into figuring out what tool is the best for what kind of job.
As my mom said though: “Trust, but verify.” You don’t need to take my word for it just off the cuff. I provide links to every product I look at so you can see other user reviews and do your own research to make sure all the products I suggest are up to snuff.
If nothing else this site should hopefully serve as a jumping off point for people to educate themselves about tools and product quality, so you have more to go on than just the manufacturer or salesman’s word.
Here’s to many more years of good work, yours and mine.
-Buddy
