What's the most fun car you've ever owned?

[Resident Loser]

...shoulda known, how dumb am I?...back in '63 my cousins' then boyfriend bought a brand-spankin-new Impala SS with either a 427 or a 409(don't quite recall---one of those senior moments!) with at least a single 4bbl....maaaan! woof!woof!...Deep burgundy with the black and chrome interior...talk about the cat's @$$...looked good, sounded good and did it move!!! Ah...the days of cheap gas, muscle cars and no environmental concerns!!!

As far as the Hitachi is concerned...I know what I'll be doin' this spring...back to the window replacement and a new front door and storms...so basically a lot of framing, casing and trim...and while I have done reasonably well with the ol' Craftsman circular saw, in some applications some of the set up and home-made jigs are a royal pain in the netherlands...I downloaded the users manual and it can be set up to do thru dados and rabbets. It can also can do some tenon work, or so it would seem...mortising will still be the ol' drill'n'chisel routine.

I did some research before I made the decision...I doubt I'll ever be using much in the lines of 4by, probably 2in max so while the capabilities of the Dewalt might be nice, I'm willing to make the trade-off. They all seem to handle nominal 12in width...1by, 5/4 and 2by is what I've used thusfar. I think it should be OK for my needs and future projects. On 90s I can always flip the work if the need arises. And huge cornices, crown moldings and the like are highly unlikely...

I know the Makita tools get good press(and my bro-in-law swears by their stuff---at least cordless drills) and my local tool rental place uses Bosch...however the Hitachi has a 5yr guarantee(the others a year) and there is a mail-in offer for a free 1/4 sheet orbital sander...plus the price was right...and now for the rest of the story: Lowe's ran a 20% off deal prior to Christmas but were out of stock on the second day of the sale...they tried to give me the old "limited to store stock" routine, so later that day, I saw the teevee ad, we taped it and read the fine print...guess what!...no such disclaimer! Soooo, I called the home office "customer happiness hot line" down in one of the Carolina's and they agreed with my position(or so it would seem). They put me in touch with a specific contact at the store...and voila! As of yesterday, the stock is in and I'll be pickin' it up Sat AM...A new toy...can't wait for Sunday to do some set-up and trial cuts...I'm like a kid at Christmas!

It has a soft-start feature, some constant speed electronics and the laser as I mentioned, which can be set up to show on either side of the kerf or right down the middle...I don't know about the usefulness of the whole light-guide concept, but hey, I'll give it a whack...The only downside that I have read about is a: trying to set odd miters close to the presets can be problematic and b: there may be too much plastic to withstand the rigiors of day-in, day-out commercial applications. However the review goes on to say those reservations are mostly related to subjecting it to the daily grind of loading it in and out of the truck and multiple users who may not really give the proverbial rat's @$$ re: anything that isn't their property...accuracy was not an issue. I treat my stuff well so I think I can discount those caveats.

So it'll be the ol' Sawzall for the demo work and the Hitachi for the install...and the rest of the winter for drawing up the plans and making cardboard mock-ups if required...

jimHJJ(...at least I can enjoy some music while doin' the paperwork...)