Hey folks, I figured I would start a power tools thread because I know a lot of people on this forum are very keen DIY-ers and I've seen a lot of conversations about power tools over the years. So perhaps this can be a combination of "show me what you've got" as well as some advice, tips etc. As some of you already know, I'm going to be moving house at the end of May and I'm going to need to get myself some power tools. It might sound like a simple case of "buy what you need" or "buy what suits," but I want to invest in quality tools that will last me for a very long time. My current tools: A 20-year-old Black & Decker 240v hammer drill. Absolute beast, has done a lot of masonry work. Stanley Fatmax 18v cordless hammer drill - has been an amazing performer, battery lasts forever and it's only 2Ah My immediate needs: Circular saw Impact driver (only if it's worth it I guess) I guess my main question is whether I should start to invest in a cordless system or just buy mains powered tools, which I'm more than happy to use. I often find that when I'm doing jobs that need raw power (particularly masonry drilling) I always go for the Black & Decker and never think twice, but I know that a good cordless hammer drill will work too. I'm unsure about the need for an impact driver as my Fatmax drill was absolutely perfect for the garden fence I did last autumn. I suppose it can be frustrating if you're using a drill both for pilot holes and also driving screws, as repeatedly changing out bits gets really annoying after a while. One last question... is Ryobi a swear word?
I have a lot of Ryobi tools. There is a lot of snobbery around tools but in my book if it does the job and doesn't cost the earth then i'm good with it. I think Ryobi meets all my needs. My current Ryobi tool list is: Drill, impact, SDS, chainsaw, strimmer, hedge trimmer, pole saw, circular saw, reciprocating saw, palm sander, torch, leaf blower, vac and probably some others I have forgotten. 2 x 2Ah batteries, 2 x 5Ah and couple of knock off 5Ah batteries and a 6 port charger means I always have juice. Only dud was the vac, everything else has dealt with anything a house renovation has required.
Been buying lidl stuff for years, only failure i have had is my cheapo hand sander but i did abuse it. Depends what you are going to do, if you are the occasional diy'er then store bought stuff with a 3 year warranty will do, you don't need the expensive stuff.
I'm slowly (very slowly) going down the Dewalt route, between my dad and I, we have a cordless jigsaw, 2 drills, circular saw and a torch. My bro went down the Makita route as he got a deal on a bag with X number of tools in. I think the bonus but also the huge drawback of sticking to a brand are the batteries. On the plus side you have a few batteries, so one can always be charging and it will fit any tool when needed. You can also potentially buy "body only" and not get a battery which will save you money and use bateries you already have. The drawback is you are then stuck with a brand as moving to another means more batteries, another charger and it just makes it a bit more of a faff. I've not however looked at tools in a while so batteries may be interchangable (but I doubt it). Calling @legoman, he will have an opinion on this, I think he has Ryobi stuff. For me, this is a fantastic reason to get an impact driver, having them both setup can save a lot of time bessing with bits.
I agree with the bonus / drawback of buying into a cordless system. I've been watching a lot of testimonials, and it seems that Ryobi offers exactly what I'm after as a weekender hobbyist - I'm not going to need to use the tools for hours every day, but I do want them to be reliable and of decent quality. Spending several hundred quid on Makita / DeWalt / Hitachi etc. seems a little unnecessary. My current thinking is to buy individual tools without batteries and grab either a 4Ah or 5Ah battery. Maybe I'll get a combo kit if I find one at a good price, but it would feel a waste buying a kit that comes with two small batteries that will likely not see much use. I can get a 4Ah battery for £60, or 5Ah for £75, and alternatively it's possible to buy some kits that have tool + charger + 5Ah battery, but they are pricey.
Keep in mind that some body only tools will come without a case too, leaving it open to being knocked about the garage unless you have some kind of generic box you can store stuff in.
Another vote for Ryobi One+ here - they've never let me down. However, Ryobi's launched a new 40V system, up from the 18V One+, and they're not interchangeable. While it hasn't abandoned One+ yet, there's a possible future where new tools are only available in 40V and all your old batteries won't fit...
I'm a Makita guy. I'm given to understand a lot of tools are essentially the same, but with different coloured plastics when comparing certain brands - Not naming names because I've not done the legwork and don't fancy doing it either. Although tbh, I'd pick an eco system that has the tools you want on the same platform, with some others that you might want later down the road. Batteries and chargers are the expensive part in cordles, so.. Best fitting eco system is the best choice IMO.
^ Yep this is what attracts me to Ryobi One+. I already have a good (well, good enough for me) 18v cordless drill, and should it ever pack in I know I can just buy a Ryobi equivalent for not very much wonga and slap a 5Ah battery in it. I'm still tempted to get a corded circular saw as it's one of these things that you just want power for. But for other tools I'm likely to jump on the One+ wagon.
At work we've built up a small Makita cordless kit over the last couple of years to update some really old gear. We went brushless wherever possible, and they have all been great. Big combo drill - non SDS Lightweight combo drill Impact driver Plane Jigsaw Palm sander Angle grinder The newest addition is a third lighter still drill (black/white -not brushless) for my Dad who's near 80 than 75. We bought one boxed kit and the rest as bodies only with one more charger and extra batteries. We also have picked up some cheap cases on ebay to house it all. The angle grinder has to be the most useful thing to have gone cordless with, and has been invaluable. Another vote for Lidl's kit too... I bought a tiny 12V circular saw last year; it's been great for cutting plywood sheets and latterly feather board fencing strips. We're both very wary of full on circular saws and have given that a miss so far... Lidl also did a brilliant air pump combo the other year which I haven't seen anywhere else A drill sized (albeit slow) high pressure pump for bicycle and car tyres, which is very handy, twinned with a slightly bigger high volume low pressure pump for blowing up inflatable dinghies, airbeds etc. Cordless is great for site work and on the move, but battery management and charging needs to be considered. If you're not needing the complete flexibility, there will be more bang for your buck if you can live with corded tools.
Well, I've got a SIEG mill and lathe... In terms of powertools I have a Black & Decker RD1440K (nice aluminium body, but not greatest balance and the old Ni-Cd battery takes ages to charge and doesn't last): And a Metabo P'7199 hammer drill. That one is an odd duck of metal and carbon fibre which I picked up cheap from eBay once: It is very powerful and its upside-down design actually makes a lot of sense. I do have to start building up a good set of DIY powertools, but must admit I don't know much about different brands. DeWalt seems good but possibly overrated; Hitachi, Makita and Bosch seem to have a good price/performance balance, but there may be better and cheaper brands out there? Let me know! EDIT: I'm currently leaning towards the Bosch Professional (blue) range, as they offer solid engineering and battery tech, and the company is 90% owned by a charity organisation Robert Bosch Stiftung which conducts and finances social, cultural and scientific projects across the world.
The pro place we bought our Makita kit from was almost all Makita / DeWalt, with a selection of super expensive Festool stuff at one end of the warehouse. My old drill is Hitachi, and that seems good too.
Stuff like Makita/DeWalt is definitely very good, but imho it's a bit closer to "prosumer" level than most people will need. As ever, you can spend as much as you like on these things but for me the likes of Ryobi are probably perfectly adequate for most DIYers.
Another vote for Ryobi 1+ Plus a couple others not in shot I don't have an issue honest guv Drill Driver (replaced with a new brushless one which is well worth the upgrade) Impact driver SDS Drill 16g Nailer Jigsaw Circular Saw Palm Router Corner palm sander Orbital palm sander Reciprocating saw Handi Vac (decent for sawdust etc) Strimmer Lawn mower Hedge trimmer Rotary tool (corded) small drill driver (12v) Had no real issues, drill replaced at the clutch kept slipping and would also flick its self between drill and hammer drill. Three 5ah battery's and a load of smaller ones, also god some of their bit sets which come in handy modular boxes. Overall perfect for what I need constantly amused at the new drill, smart driving so it stops when the screws flush to the wall (witchcraft me thinks) an the percussion setting on it munches walls.
What I've noticed is that if you go for larger capacity batteries, price becomes something of a moot point. I can get DeWalt, Mikita, Hitachi, Milwaukee combo kits that include two 5Ah batteries all in the £200-300 price range. With Ryobi One+ I'd have to buy two 5Ah batteries separately, which is £135 for a pair. As I'm not likely to be adding a huge number of tools to a particular cordless ecosystem (definitely not Stanley Fatmax...), I'm thinking it would be better at this stage to start over with a good drill / impact combi with two large capacity batteries, and see how I get on. Like I said, all the big name brands offer very powerful tools at the £300 price point so it's hard to make a choice. The cheaper you go, the power of the tools diminishes. Here are some examples: DeWalt combo kit with drill / impact driver and two 4Ah batteries for £199. Makita with a similar offering, but two 5Ah batteries for £229. Makita again, but more powerful tools for £299
This is true, but at the same time you don't need a battery for each tool if you stay within one ecosystem. Buying body only tools will be cheaper for Ryobi than it will for Makita.
Unless you're going for very long/intensive use I wouldn't worry too much about having lots of big batteries. I started with a Ryobi Combo drill kit which was Drill+2x2.5Ah: I still use those batteries almost exclusively for the now fairly decent selection of hand tools I have, even though I now have 2x4Ah that came with the 36V Ryobi lawnmower (really good btw, albeit I did get it at a very good price). The smaller capacity batteries are physically smaller and lighter, which makes handling better, and fast charging means that if you have at least two you can charge one while you use the other. For me, for most tools, that amounts to more or less continuous use. Like I said, I mostly have Ryobi One+ and can second the largely positive comments about it. I also have a couple of Bosch Professional 12V tools just because the smaller battery form factor is better for smaller tools for delicate jobs (a rotary tool and a compact combi drill kit). Again the drill was bought as a cheap starter set and the rotary was bare tool. Actually that would be my overarching suggestion: Find/wait for a decent starter bundle with a useful tool and a couple of batteries+fast charger included, then build from there with decent value bare tools (maybe adding another kit with more batteries and another charger down the line). I've never bought a single separate battery and I think I've saved a lot of money not doing so. I feel like that is probably where the biggest markups are.
Yeah, I'd wait for a bundle on charger and batteries - in Makita speak I have two 4ah batteries and can comfortably use one in the time it takes to charge it's replacement - but I would like to add a third as some tools are more hungry than others, and a dual charger. I dare say most manufacturers are about the same. Tbh with drills I wager a 3 would do and reduce the weight in the hand a bit. Most of the body only stuff I buy is around the 100 notes or less mark. Stand out being the impact, and I mean the 1/2" variety not the little one for putting screws into stuff.
New to Ryobi here too, just the combi and jigsaw. Got them both on offer. I don't do massive jobs but have been impressed with the Ryobi over Bosch. The 2.5Ah battery is still going after doing the garden fencing.
