I get by fine with a 2Ah battery on the Fatmax combi drill. What I've read however is that certain tools like a circular saw are virtually unusable without a large battery. I guess my initial thinking of getting a 240v circular saw would serve my immediate needs best, and I can have more of a think about cordless tools in the meantime.
Hi, A vote for Dewalt cordless here have the SDS drill, 2 x normal drills, 1/2" impact driver, small impact driver, angle grinder, circular saw and a USB adaptor with 4 x 5Ah batteries. All of the kit is used around the house and on the farm and the only failure we have had was when I used the previous SDS drill to use a holesaw on a large steel I-beam. As the gear is all used on a farm it gets a lot of abuse and regularly gets rained on with no issues so far..... I have corded versions of all the tools and very rarely use them even when in the workshop. The only kit we have bought that is battery operated that isn't Dewalt is a Stihl chainsaw for my partner as it is lighter and smaller than the dewalt unit.
I had that issue with the Ryobi chainsaw where smaller capacity batteries or knock-offs were not up to the task. Stuck a official big boy in there and it cuts away for ages.
Both the angle grinder and circular saw eat batteries however with the 5Ah batteries I find that one is sufficient for most jobs (I've done at least 20 cuts on 15mm 8x4 plywood sheet without emptying the battery).
I'm quite heavily invested in the DeWalt 18v range, I started with them as I liked the ergonomics of their drills best, and that has to be the main tool in almost anyone's kit. Back then only Makita could match their product range for the sheer quantity of different items, but now Ryobi has done a great job of matching them for "homeowner" needs (their garden kit for example). If you need a rebar cutter or concrete nailer, don't expect to get it in green, but I don't think that's of concern to anyone here. Regarding your own situation, an impact driver won't much expand your abilities, but will speed up larger projects as you can keep two bits on the go at once. A circular saw will also be quite a boost, I have a cordless and I love it as it's just an entirely convenient tool, grab it and make quick cuts, or use it as your main work tool. Even stick it in the boot and go to B&Q and cut down sheet wood to go in the car. If you're doing a lot of work, you need a few batteries or a corded unit. This really comes down to how you see yourself using it? The new FlexVolt circular saw is a monster, but with a price tag that has "nope" written all over it for me Parkside has been mentioned already, I don't own any of their kit but I have used it and it's excellent for the price. So, that appears to be two drills, two impact drivers and an SDS, this is of course, entirely necessary Most often I reach for the little impact, it's light and handy, and just delivers. I battered 1400 screws into the living room subfloor with it in one sitting on one battery and it just didn't miss a beat.
I bought a parkside cordless mower after buying and using my mum n dads Gtech mower. I already had the batteries and I could see that the two mowers aren't much difference, the parksides plastic is less refined but it does just as good a job, not bad for £200 less, my batteries are only 2AH and I could really do with the 4AH ones but it does the job and there's enough power to run the strimmer I also bought. My favourite tool is corded though and it's a JCB sliding mitre saw, was a bit dubious when buying it but it's been utterly brilliant.
I worked with Makita tools for a few summers building and liked them, and when I got my first cordless drill in maybe 2007 I picked Makita for my DIY purposes just because it was what I knew. When the NiCd battery no longer cut the mustard and I was doing more serious jobs, I got an impact driver and combi-drill kit on the LXT platform because it was wha tI had. Now I'm way down into the rabbit hole of Makita LXT... so make sure you pick the right platform for you on day one because power tools seem to breed like rabbits. With what I know now, I would still go for LXT out of them all for both the huge selection of tool types, tool "grades" within each category, and flexibility of the 18+18 tools (even now XGT is a thing), but it's just luck that I didn't end up elsewhere. Maybe when I get the garage all organised this week I'll do a group shot. Out of the non-cordless, a few Makita tools as well - the LS1040 mitre saw as it seemed the most robust and accurate in the price range - I love this saw and use it all the time. Sometimes I think I should have had a slider, but appreciate the excellent accuracy of this and it's only on the rare occasion that I have to flip the piece to finish the cut. The RT0700 router as I liked the flexibility of all the attachments - I don't use it a whole lot but when you need a router, you need a router. I also have a mains circular saw because it was on offer, that has been superseded by my 36v DHS710 and turned into a makeshift table-saw/death-trap for very occasional (and cautious) use. Some ofther non-makita stuff... I have a SIP pillar drill that's way too big for my needs. It was a local gumtree find. I'd replace it with something smaller and more practical but I don't use it that much any more. I needed it for one job and honestly I should have just picked up something semi-disposable on amazon/ebay because now I have a ~100kg lump in my garage that I barely touch. A bosch (green) jigsaw that's been replaced by a cordless one and turned into a makeshift jigswaw bench. Aside from a drill and driver, a jigsaw is my other "must have" for cordless. A stanley corded oscillating tool. I should have spent more on the Makita cordless one, but I didn't realise just how much I'd end up needing it. An oscillating tool would be on my essentials list because whilst I don't think I've started many jobs where I thought I would need it, it still comes out an awful lot because it can do things no other tool can. A Fein corded angle grinder that's a bit pants and has a sticky switch, and will be replaced by a cordless one next time I have a job that needs more than a one-off use of an angle grinder. I should have got the makita cordless one to start with, but most of my angle-grinder-ing is a one-off chop and then it goes back in the box so not the end of the world. A Fein planer. It was dirt cheap, so in spite of being used only a few times, it's paid its way. A parkside bench grinder that's still in the box. I'm pretty sure I have just about everything I'll ever need, the only things that come to mind on the "I'll pick that up when I need it"... - Makita split shaft extension and hedge trimmer attachment... expensive but using it just a couple times will more than pay for itself, and I already have the 36v split shaft motor. - Angle drill/driver... another one of those tools that if it's what you need, nothing else will do. And on several occasions I've had to do some werird and wacky improvisation because of not having one. My best advice would be don't buy a tool because you think you should have that tool, or because there's a bunch of youtubers that say how great it is etc. I would say that now every tool that I have has paid for itself, but there were some that I bought because "hey that seems like something I might need" that were untouched for a long time. Ask yourself if it's going to save you time or money, or make you enjoy the job more (or hate it less), and then whether that's worth it. Hand tools still exist and are a perfectly acceptable way to do a job, especially if you're only going to do it once.
@Mister_Tad sound advice. There is enormous temptation to buy things just because "they're super nice" and I had to deal with that at the outset, which is why I set myself a sensible budget. I've managed to stick to my original plan of buying things that will be required immediately after moving into the new house, and I made a couple of decisions along the way: Most of my tools will be cordless, because it's a very large garden and I see cabling being a major inconvenience. Buying what makes sense based on price, not what's the coolest new gizmo out there (more on that later) Buying only what I will definitely use rather than what I might need So with that in mind, and after much consideration, I decided to start things off with a Milwaukee combi kit which I just picked up from Screwfix in my lunch break. The main reasons I went with this are as follows: 1) at £270 it was considerably cheaper than competing brushless kits with 5Ah batteries; 2) not necessarily a deal-maker, but the 3 year guarantee is good; and 3) I've looked at the other tools in the Milwaukee 18v range and will be picking up the 165mm circular saw to complete my initial "set". I could have bought a 4-piece combo kit that also includes a circular saw and jigsaw, but at £500 it's extra money for an additional tool that I don't need, and the circular saw by itself with be around the £120 mark. I could cough up the extra and buy the saw with a battery, but I'll decide that nearer the time. Whilst the Ryobi One+ system looks really appealing for DIYers like myself, the small step up in price for "big brand" quality and the convenience of buying a kit that ships with two 5Ah batteries ruled them out. I'll update when I've actually used the tools somewhat, but first impressions are very good. They are solidly built, and the combi drill weighs only 200g more than my Fatmax, despite having a much larger battery.
I didn’t realise that Savage was such a Milwaukee fan. They do seem to be popular in the States though, something I’ve gleaned having watched countless video reviews from across the pond. I’ve just ordered the 165mm circular saw, but not the brushless one... I decided instead to put the £50 I saved into a third 5Ah battery. Total outlay for three tools and three batteries is £445. I’ll be using all three tools soon for an attic job so will keep this thread updated.
He's, as far as I can tell via the ol' youtube, heavily invested in the Dewalt line of 18v tools personally (Which is why almost all his tools are yellow, I believe he uses the 18v batteries to power some of his cosplays too, definitely the 3PO pack for his Chewie costume), although he does have some Makita drills floating around, but every time he gets something Milwaukee out he always raves about it - It seems he got some of the leftovers from when they sponsored a show he worked on (I forget if it was Savage Builds or Mythbusters Jr.), but they haven't supplanted his Dewalt stuff 'cause I guess there's no nice way to replace that much kit without closing your eyes and hanging up on your bank manager.
I think brushless makes sense for some tools more than others, so drill driver, yes certainly, I put up an entire 12m fence on one 2.5ah battery, thats over 500 45mm screws on one charge which is pretty bonkers
For home use, I would have said brushless for a drill/driver is much of a muchness - mine generally go weeks between battery swaps with regular household use and will do an all-day job on one charge of a 3ah in my brushed ones. It might help when using slim batteries though... I use a tiny battery (1.5 IIRC) on my (brushless) jigsaw just because I value the reduced bulk. With a spare battery or two though, if you can charge them faster than you can use them anyway (which would be the case for drill/driver in any case, by a long way), the extended runtime of brushless is just a "nice to have" I think it's only really "needed" on high power tools - I wished I would have gone BL on my reciprocating saw for instance - it will easily munch through two or more 6ah batteries with a short job, way faster than I can charge them back up. EDIT: I'm looking at this from the POV though of "Do I swap brushed tools I have for brushless"... If I was buying fresh, my drill & driver would 100% be brushless.
For most people the investment into a fast charger removes the requirement for a 3rd battery. I'm heavily invested into DeWalt but only have 3 batteries. 2x 54v 6A and 1x 18V 5A - the 18v never leaves the radio. Recharge time is 60min on the 6A batteries and I very, very rarely wait for the charger. It's only the recip saw used continuously where it drains quicker than I can charge. https://www.reddit.com/r/Dewalt/comments/awb1r5/battery_charging_times_for_the_various_chargers
A fast charger is a great addition. I have one of these (I think it was about £65 open box from amazon) and will charge a 5Ah battery in under 2 hours. It charges them sequentially so I can just plug all my batteries in at night and I have 6 fully charged batteries in the morning. My theory was that the batteries should live in that and stay charged, but that would require me remember to put them back. My battery inventory: 2 x 1.5Ah that came in starter kits, these are great as others have discussed for smaller tools (drills, drivers) where the reduced weight is nice and are normally left in the tool 2 x 6Ah knock-off batteries used for big dirty jobs in secondary tools (drill for pilot holes, strimmer, hedge cutter) - £25 each 2 x 5Ah official batteries used for the chainsaw or in a primary tool (driver or circular saw) for the POWWWWAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR- £55 each
At least one spare is a must... even 20 minutes is a long time to wait if you're right in the middle of something. And when you're doing something that necessitates multiple tools, swapping batteries between them is a real drag IMO. And with things like lights or radios, swapping isn't going to help there.
Agree completely. For a task like laying a raised floor in the loft. Circular saw to trim the floorboards Countersinking pilot drill bit in the drill Impact driver That's 3 batteries for an uninterrupted, quick workflow. In a pinch you can operate with a single battery but its a ball ache right.....
Oh dear. I feel I must confess. But I can't remember model names. All Makita LXT. Mower - 2x 18v Strimmer - 2x 18v Hedge Trimmer - 2x 18v SDS - 18v Impact driver, brushless - 18v Hammer drill, brushless - 18v Angle grinder, brushless - 18v Jigsaw - brushless - 18v Circular saw - brushless - 18v (There's more too, but I forget what) I also have a mains compound mitre saw. 2x 5Ah batteries, 4x 4Ah batteries, 2x 3Ah batteries. I've been thinking about an LXT impact wrench and a polisher.
