Milwaukee? Eh.

[Fender1325]

Haha I'm already laughing at how much this will ruffle people's feathers on GJ, almost as bad as a snap on/craftsman/HF post.

Trust me I'm not trolling. I'm on the fence with dewalt. I have their 20v stuff and have no complaints at all. My only thing is they dont offer a ratchet (electric).

I own 3 Milwaukee tools. An angle grinder, needle nose vice grips, and wire crimpers. I'm not impressed with any of them. They're just okay. Granted, 2 of the tools are hand tools, and we can't expect a power tool company to really excel at that, but I do own DeWalt needle nose pliers and they're great.

The 5 year warranty is nice and the selection of tools is great as well. I don't know if I should switch over.

Anyone else just "eh" with Milwaukee? Or is that just me

 

[Dingleburry]

Its all the same to me. Different colors. End result still the same. If it spins a drill or puts a screw in i dont care what color it is.
Ive had milwaukee brushed drills smoking and sizzling, then work for another 3 years. Till the trigger area started smoking.
Had a milwaukee compact drill last 2 days before it let the smoke out. And burnt the rotor to ****.
Had a milwaukee recip saw twist the motor output shaft right half in two, after a year.

 

[jd_1138]

It's almost a religious debate with how some people love their red tools, some love their yellow, some love the teal blue of Makita. Heck even Porter-Cable, Ryobi and Ridgid are decent -- especially for a non-pro tradesmen.

Nothing wrong with DeWalt at all, plus it is owned by a USA based co. with at least some of their manufacturing done here. Milwaukee is a brand belonging to a Hong Kong co., and their tools are made in China.

That made me buy DeWalt, as I like to put my money where my mouth is. I loved my 20V DeWalt tools and they never let me down. I sold them to a contractor friend of mine, as I felt guilty about not using them in a pro environment. He added a new tool-less guy to his crew and needed some more tools. I am just a DIYer who occasionally does odd jobs for a few older relatives. I use a Makita impact driver now. I got it on sale for $59 at HD.

 

[kctyphoon]

Yea the pliers and some hand tools aren't anything spectacular. Don't think you'll find any arguments there. As far as the grinder, if it's cordless I think a lot of the impression has to do with what size battery you run with it. Corded, well, guess that depends on the model.

The dewalt hand tools aren't anything to brag about either, many are just standard run of the mill style cheap pliers with yellow handles.. at least Milwaukee tries to make the tools a little more useful within certain trades. The vice grips are very good actually. Even the needle nose. I've had some serious pressure at the very tips of mine and have nothing bad to say about them. I'd have to say those are one of the better hand tools they offer.

 

[kctyphoon]

It's almost a religious debate with how some people love their red tools, some love their yellow, some love the teal blue of Makita. Heck even Porter-Cable, Ryobi and Ridgid are decent -- especially for a non-pro tradesmen.

Nothing wrong with DeWalt at all, plus it is owned by a USA based co. with at least some of their manufacturing done here. Milwaukee is a brand belonging to a Hong Kong co., and their tools are made in China.

That made me buy DeWalt, as I like to put my money where my mouth is. I loved my 20V DeWalt tools and they never let me down. I sold them to a contractor friend of mine, as I felt guilty about not using them in a pro environment. He added a new tool-less guy to his crew and needed some more tools. I am just a DIYer who occasionally does odd jobs for a few older relatives. I use a Makita impact driver now. I got it on sale for $59 at HD.

Milwaukee is a USA based company too.. just because another company bought them a while back, they are still a separate company. Being owned by TTI is actually what helped propel them to where they are today. Weather it's seen as a positive or a negative, Milwaukee was bought by the company that once worked FOR Milwaukee. Being controlled by the manufacturer that is actually making the tools has some distinct benefits.. they don't have to compromise, they can make exactly what they want to make, how they want it made. This is the main reason why the other companies have been chasing Milwaukee's products down trying to keep up.

 

[dnschmidt]

I'm a Milwaukee guy due to the breath of the M18 line but I also have a love for Makita. DeWalt isn't bad I just don't like calling an 18V tool a 20V tool. At the end of the day each has a tool that's the industry standard. With Milwaukee it's the Sawzall and their drills. With Makita it's their polisher and circular saws. With Bosch it's their jigsaws and routers. When I buy grinders it's METABO and forget the rest. Don't get too hyped up about it. Buy the top of the line and you're golden.

 

[sk farmer]

Haha I'm already laughing at how much this will ruffle people's feathers on GJ, almost as bad as a snap on/craftsman/HF post.

Trust me I'm not trolling. I'm on the fence with dewalt. I have their 20v stuff and have no complaints at all. My only thing is they dont offer a ratchet (electric).

I own 3 Milwaukee tools. An angle grinder, needle nose vice grips, and wire crimpers. I'm not impressed with any of them. They're just okay. Granted, 2 of the tools are hand tools, and we can't expect a power tool company to really excel at that, but I do own DeWalt needle nose pliers and they're great.

The 5 year warranty is nice and the selection of tools is great as well. I don't know if I should switch over.

Anyone else just "eh" with Milwaukee? Or is that just me

i am with ya. milwaukee gets a big yawn from me. i like my dewalt stuff but i don't get on a soapbox about it. all of the big names put out decent stuff.

i find it fat far more important to pick a brand that feels right in your hand, is commonly available to you and has the tools you need while supporting the tools you already have.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

I really doubt Milwaukee or Dewalt manufacture any hand tools.

 

[Ign]

You REALLY believe this thread is going to help you decide?

If so, I’ve got some ocean-front property in Arizona I’ll sell you at a great price.

 

[Yarpo]

You can replace Milwaukee with any tool brand/company and people will find reasons to be "eh" with it. Much of tool choice is personal preference.

I use DeWalt, Milwaukee and Snap on battery powered tools at work, and Milwaukee for my personal tools at home. I've never had an issue with any of them. I sometimes wonder If I don't work hard or people are just perfectionists

Everyone loves to use car examples, so if you look at ****** low budget tools and call them a Honda civic, they work, they'll drill through some ****. When you look at Milwaukee/Dewalt/Makita, look at it like a Porsche, a Mercedes and an Audi. All are luxury cars and all will get you to work with even more features and comfort. Which one you choose is up to you. There is no "eh" about them, they are all better than a Honda Civic in my opinion. Of course the die hard Mercedes guy dislikes Audi and so fourth, but it doesn't mean they dont make good vehicles.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

And to continue that analogy, if you go with some mix of the 4, you spare parts requirements will add up quick.

 

[Fender1325]

We're very lucky today with the li-on platforms available. Great power, life, and short recharge times are SO convenient compared to what they used to be in the early days of cordless. And, the top 3 are very close in performance. It just seems like there's a disproportionate amount of milwaukee fans on this forum compared to dewalt and Makita. Price, warranty and the breadth of the platform are what it ultimately comes down to I suppose. Coming from craftsman my DeWalt feels like a fine tuned Ferrari. Only thing I miss is the metal Chuck you used to have on the higher end dewalt drills. I remember grabbing a Milwaukee drill once and it had this pistol like grip that was extremely comfortable.

If I had to make one complaint - my DeWalt 1/4 impact stinks when it runs. The motor stinks. But I've heard others complain of that. No performance drawback. No heat or smoke.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

Years ago (before cordless tools were common) I bought some B&D and Craftsman power tools. Some lasted a few years but one demanding job would ruin them.
I still use the Milwaukee drill and Circular saw that I bought after those and they still work fine. When it came time to go cordless I stuck with the brand.

 

[Shark Pilot]

Just watched this one FWIW.

Ultimate 18V Drill Tool Fight - Death and Destruction:

The Milwaukee ratchet isn't really a deciding factor whether to switch brands or not. Even if you had their 18v stuff you can't just buy the bare tool - you would have to buy a 12v battery as well which would probably cost about the same as the ratchet kit price with a charger. Based on what guys seem to be saying on GJ these ratchets are just nut spinners anyway.

 

[Fender1325]

It's a total convenience thing really. A guy I work with has one and it's just convenient for taking stuff apart.

 

[GTO]

I own some Milwaukee as well,but I'm not buying a tool just because it's Milwaukee,hand tools or power...
For the record,I don't own any Milwaukee hand tools.
I don't drink the red kool aid......sorry

 

[plinker]

I have a number of Milwaukee M12 tools & some M18 tools and they are nice but kind of feel cheap compared to older stuff I've used. The advantage Milwaukee has is the amount of products available Compared to the other brands (Bosch, Makita, ete...).

IMO, for about the last 10 years pretty much all power tools are all about the same more or less. The "homeowner/diy" trend seems to be some of it from what I see. Porter cable used to make some really good tools, not sure if they still do or not. I have not really kept up with the power tool market that much. I guess what I dont like is it seems harder to tell the pro level tools from the average stuff anymore.

I will say this though Li-on batteries are a game changing improvement. They are quite impressive with what they offer compared to NI-MH & NI-CAD's.

 

[johnnyradiant]

I own some red hand tools. Most don't even say Milwaukee. Several years ago Milwaukee took their sawsall arbor and through it on a screwdriver handle. It happened at a time when I was in need of a new 'keyhole' saw. I still use a standard keyhole but have appreciated the ability to throw on a blade of length and pitch that best suited my need.

One of my earlier cordless drills was a Fein. I found the balance and grip size to my liking and it's performance was right up their with all the competition. It took a long time after it grew legs one night before I was prepared to move on.

A lot of my tools have slowly switched to red. Mainly because I needed a couple plumbing tools and had to replace some leg growing Porter Cable stuff from another location. It just makes more sense to me to keep several tools of one kind. I don't need to get bogged down with too many chargers and batteries. The interchangeability between tools is great. If yellow had the plumbing tools I likely would now have predominantly yellow tools, or teal tools, or zebra stripes. Thankfully it wasn't Festool that had the plumbing tools otherwise I'd probably be bankrupt.

I think Porter Cable took a market shift to the DIY arena when they got taken over in the DeWalt umbrella.