wood working advice needed !!!

You have to be very careful even with the very well known brands. I've been considering switching to the Makita 18V LXT 'system' for power tools, but after spending hours at this stage looking at them in shops, the quality just isn't consistent. That's very disappointing. Some feel (grips, moulding, components etc) very well put together, others in the same line feel like too much chinesium was added to the mix.

DeWalt, same. Some crap, some great. The poxy bean counters just mess with everything and make it so difficult to trust you get what you pay for these days. It doesn't work like that any more, so pick each tool on its own merits and ignore the colour and brand, I reckon. And keep in mind what your realistic expectations should be from the tool.

In my case it's as a pure hobby woodworker, but I'm short on time and not prepared to be dealing with crap tools ruining my enjoyment of a pastime craft, so I want the tools to be great quality even if the value argument wouldn't make any sense at all. I've slowly been getting drawn into a few Festool purchases (new and used) and have yet to be disappointed, even buying 10-15 year old tools, they're usually in perfect working condition and will see me out my days if I wanted them to as a hobby user.

You'll sometimes find a good quality power tool that's been left with whatever dirt and grime it picked up along the way, sometimes looking like a pile of junk. If it's mechanically fine but would result in nagging if it was left on a countertop or the utility room for long, a box of J cloths and some of the now ever present alcohol hand sanitiser, some cotton buds, toothpicks and an air duster will have that tool nicely cleaned up and deserving of a place inside the house or in with your own carefully minded tools. To some it won't matter, but I like to know I'm not going to leave marks and grime around my home, workspace or worse, on the workpiece. A few minutes makes a difference and it's easy enough to do when you're on a conference call or while something's playing on youtube or netflix.

Finally, remember to look around for good deals on eBay too and don't limit yourself to the default .ie or co.uk sites, or even .com with Ireland set as the delivery location. I regularly buy new and used from ebay.de from sellers who only list for delivery to Germany, but a polite message has not once resulted in them saying no when I ask them to ship to me overseas. Never an issue and some real bargains to be had. I simply don't see abused crap being sold there. It's telling, to some extent. Don't be the muppet who passes up on a smashing deal just because delivery is €15. Just look at the total price inclusive and if it's a good price, it's a good price.