Power tool suggestions

[fortee9er]

Someone broke into my garage and stole all my hand held power tools, electric and air powered. The most expensive tool I had was a 6" Milwaukee grinder that I've had for nearly 30 years. The rest were mostly from HF. I want to replace my tools and will probably get a lot of them from HF but there are some that I would like to upgrade.
Today I was at Home Depot browsing through the power tools section and I noticed that Milwaukee is now made in China and Dewalt say it is made (assembled) in the US from "global parts". Also Dewalt is 20V while Milwaukee is 18V.
I am not a production shop so I don't need tools that need to sustain a lot of abuse. There are several battery powered tools that I want such as impact wrenches, sawsall, drills...etc. Obviously I want to get the same brand because of battery compatibility.
I'd appreciate any suggestions as to brand(s) and voltage.
Thank you

 

[Flyordie]

Avoid the DeWalt Brushed. Its motor is a $15 motor from China you can get on Ebay.

Brushless for the drills and drivers at least.

 

[reconstyle]

You'll probably get people recommending every brand here with anecdotal advice. I've been using ridgid for years and never had a problem with them. I recently switched over to Dewalt because they starting making some decent battery powered nailers. Brushless vs brushless between the 2 brands - I can't really tell the difference other than one is yellow and one is orange.

 

[MushCreek]

Pretty much all power tools are made in China now days. I started out with cordless Milwaukee M18 tools, and built my entire house with them. It's gonna cost some serious bucks to build a set of them, though. I do use some corded tools; router, angle grinder, jig saw to name a few.

 

[seber]

Don't pay attention to the Dewalt 20 volt designation. It's just hype. 20 volts is the charged maximum unloaded voltage. They are actually 18 volts just like everyone else. Brushless is more efficient IE more power and battery life and will not have the most common wear parts to replace. For me, the benefit is not worth the added cost. Research tools available for the platform you choose very carefully. Having to switch or add a different brand later will be very expensive. As far as quality, my personal opinion is that you get what you pay for in battery tools.

 

[Mr_B]

Yeh the 20V 1nd 12v rating is more marketing ******** .
brushless not a big deal unless run time a big factor for you .
Brushed motor way more durable and some things you can do with brushed drills that brushless load sensing won't make possible ...
range of tools in platform the big deal so look into that, good warranty a plus too and more so if buying fair bit of kit .

 

[SK-Mike]

Been a Dewalt guy for 20 years, recently switched to Makita and couldn't be happier.

I find the Makita 18v & even their 12v tools to be more refined than the other brands. Their battery technology is better also IMO & the Makita chargers are the best in the business.

I buy most of my Makita tools online at ACME Tools .com.

Do yourself a favor and research Makita before you buy. Best of luck.

 

[Woody1320]

My first power tool purchase was a set from Ryobi with a reciprocating saw, circular saw, drill, and flash light. They've served me very well over the last four years, and the batteries still work like new. Price wasn't bad, either. They've more than surpassed my expectations.

 

[kctyphoon]

Invest in a platform, not just your first tools. Milwaukee has many things DeWalt doesn't offer, and their 12v line is huge.
I'm sure there's a reason to buy DeWalt too, it just escapes me right now

 

[American Locomotive]

I personally prefer Makita tools - it's what I run. I find their ergonomics to be really good. A lot of Milwaukee tools feel really weird in the hand to me, and many of them are also very heavy compared to the competition.

But if you're just looking for some basic power tools, I'd really consider looking into Ryobi. The nice thing about Ryobi is that they've been using the same battery type forever. So you can invest in some new tools now, and if you're at a yard sale or whatever and see some old Ryobi tool you could use - no problem!

 

[Coach James]

My jig saw is a Bosch and is great.

Many of my power tools are older, but what I have bought in the last 3 years is:

angle grinders from Bosch and Makita and both are A+.

Ryobi cordless: recip. saw, drill, circular saw, brad nailer. All have been used often and I would buy them again.


Milwaukee Fuel 3/8" cordless impact gun. I wish I had bought it sooner. Great for getting in to spaces my 1/2" can't.

A Bosch ps32-02 with 2 batteries, case etc. A great tool for small spaces.

So a small sample size, but they have all worked well for me.

Coach

 

[mc4life27]

Someone broke into my garage and stole all my hand held power tools, electric and air powered. The most expensive tool I had was a 6" Milwaukee grinder that I've had for nearly 30 years. The rest were mostly from HF. I want to replace my tools and will probably get a lot of them from HF but there are some that I would like to upgrade.

Today I was at Home Depot browsing through the power tools section and I noticed that Milwaukee is now made in China and Dewalt say it is made (assembled) in the US from "global parts". Also Dewalt is 20V while Milwaukee is 18V.

I am not a production shop so I don't need tools that need to sustain a lot of abuse. There are several battery powered tools that I want such as impact wrenches, sawsall, drills...etc. Obviously I want to get the same brand because of battery compatibility.

I'd appreciate any suggestions as to brand(s) and voltage.

Thank you

Not to sound like a **** but why don't you take some of your time and search the forum. There are many posts about this very same questions. Instead of other people wasting their time and beating a dead horse why do you use your time then if you have some specific questions or thoughts then ask the group. Example the whole 18 volt vs 20 volt questions has been answered over and over. Try doing some research and figure out what your needs are then ask.
Thanks


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Prospecter]

Good suggestions. I've been happy with my Dewalt, Milwaukee, and Makita corded stuff. If I were starting over, though, I would favor Hitachi. Corded and Battery, I have been very pleased with what I have bought, and prices compare very favorably with some of the more traditional names. I believe they just merged with Metabo.

 

[jgromada]

If you only use it occasionally corded stuff will get you by. The only tool i think you HAVE to get cordless is a drill.

Obviously everyone has their favorites as far as brands. I would just try and avoid no-name brands. Best time to shop is when they are having big holiday sales.

 

[IndyGarage]

I disagree with the above poster - I think most cordless drills are not necessary - but the cordless impact drivers are priceless.

If you buy from Dewalt, Milwaukee, Makita or Bosch - they are all pretty much good, and competitively priced. Ryobi and Rigid Porter Cable and Craftsman are slightly lower priced and more consumer oriented. Personally I like Makita these days.

 

[finn]

I have Dewalt, Milwaukee, Bosch, Makita, Harbor Freight, Ryobi, Skill, Metabo, Black and Decker, Craftsman, and probably some more obscure and defunct brands of corded and cordless power tools.

All my latest purchases have been Dewalt and Bosch, although Milwaukee, Metabo and probably a few other brands would be acceptable to me. I don’t get too carried away trying to stick to one brand of cordless to standardize batteries, although it is a small consideration when adding to the inventory. That’s why Dewalt and Bosch dominate my more recent buys.

I won’t buy any more Harbor Freight tools. and stay away from bargain brands in general.

 

[Mr_John]

I'm a HF fan, but not so much of a fan of HF electric tools, whether plug-in or battery powered. In addition, HF warranties on non-lifetime tools, often **** balls. A lot of their stuff is only warrantied for 90 days. Other stuff is a bit deceptive, such as a lifetime warranty on an ICON ratchet, but the calibration is only warrantied for 90 days.

At any rate, price and batteries are such a big consideration when choosing battery powered tools. Since you had most of your tools stolen, this would be a good time to considered a unified group where you can own a couple batteries and power all of your tools off of those same batteries. Obviously, the batteries themselves can be very expensive, so that's a reason why I like the Ridgid system, as it comes with the Lifetime Service Agreement (LSA) on tools and batteries.

I purchased a Ridgid 5 tool brushless kit with 5 tools, including a grinder, 2 batteries and quick charger (one is a 4Ah), and the star of the show, a 450 fl lb half in impact wrench. That thing is a beast. I was able to get the entire kit for $259 from Home Depot... so, for me, it was an easier choice at that price point. The kit retails for about $400, though. So, for me, brushless, price, lifetime warranty, I already had Ridgid batteries for other tools, and an awesome impact wrench were what lead to me buying the Ridgid over a competing brand.

 

[Wamsutta]

Not to sound like a **** but why don't you take some of your time and search the forum. There are many posts about this very same questions. Instead of other people wasting their time and beating a dead horse why do you use your time then if you have some specific questions or thoughts then ask the group. Example the whole 18 volt vs 20 volt questions has been answered over and over. Try doing some research and figure out what your needs are then ask.
Thanks


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

I'd rather see a new thread. I get sick to death of old threads hanging around forever that people keep bumping up.

 

[Mr_John]

I'd rather see a new thread. I get sick to death of old threads hanging around forever that people keep bumping up.

It's always bad when somebody opens with "Not to sound like a ****..." because, ya usually do sound like a ****, and no exception here. I mean, this is actually a perfect topic to BS about - it's an effen forum, not Wikipedia. I guess you could have asked Scorsese why he needed to make another "mob movie," there were already so many good old mob movies out there.

 

[mikehaugen]

Quite happy with my dewalt 20v tools and Milwaukee m12. My work has switched to mostly to makita cordless, they are nice tools but local availability is scarce. Dewalt is the most locally available power tool brand... at least for me. I had some older ridgid tools and when the batteries died is when I started my dewalt collection, but I really wouldn't hesitate to buy ridgid again.

Sent from my SM-G930V using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[jives]

I personally prefer Makita tools - it's what I run. I find their ergonomics to be really good.

But if you're just looking for some basic power tools, I'd really consider looking into Ryobi. The nice thing about Ryobi is that they've been using the same battery type forever. So you can invest in some new tools now, and if you're at a yard sale or whatever and see some old Ryobi tool you could use - no problem!

This. I like Makita because they are Makita, not some multi-armed conglomerate. I just broke my cordless CC because I dropped it. Bought replacement parts (depth adjustment, etc), for a total of $8.00.

My son has Ryobi and they have not let him down. I just got done using the cordless pin/brad nailer, using 2 different size brads, and it worked flawlessly in oak. I believe Ryobi may be the best VALUE on the market.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

The big question which colour do you like best, yellow, red, green or blue ? Pick a colour and go with it.

There is a place for tools with tails, corded. There the industrial standard varies with the tool, like Bosch for jig saw and Makita for belt sander.

 

[tyyost]

I disagree with the above poster - I think most cordless drills are not necessary - but the cordless impact drivers are priceless.

I totally get the impact driver love, they are awesome and the hydraulic ones like the surge are game changers. That said, I think a drill and impact driver are the perfect complementary tools. I know you can get drill bits with 1/4 hex shanks but it’s a compromise at best. A good 18 volt drill will do the work of 3 different tools from back when I started, and paired with an impact it’s like the first time I saw Norm in the new yankee workshop with two or three drills set up.

 

[GeoBruin]

I'm up for a good power tool color debate as much as the next guy, but before everyone starts piling on, I just want to point out that this was a 2 and a half year old thread. I'm sure the OP has replaced all his tools by now.

 

[GeoBruin]

Lonnie, is it just me, or do you not quite pass the Turing test? In any case, this thread is several years abandoned (except the last time it was woken from the dead).

 

[Bubba Fett]

Nevermind. Just avoid HF if possible.

 

[nadogail]

i have regretted the purchase of some Royobi tools I bought from Home Depot, the Genuine Royobi replacement batteries were also a disaster.

I have never been unhappy with a Makita tool and recommend them to my friends.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Lonnie, is it just me, or do you not quite pass the Turing test? In any case, this thread is several years abandoned (except the last time it was woken from the dead).

Back from the dead thread by a now banned spammer.

Since the creation of this thread, power tools have significantly changed, I will be closing this thread.

Any current member can start a new thread on the same subject.

Spammers need not apply.