I’ve also heard that Makita is one of the top toolmakers. In my experience, you do get what you pay for in tools - I don’t need top of the line for my home projects, but I do need it to not fall apart in my hands.
One thing regarding cordless drills that we didn’t realize when we bought ours - ours can only be charged with the battery actually ON the drill. This is not good, for the obvious reasons.
I have a DeWalt palm sander that rocks. Also a Ryobi belt sander that can remove nearly anything, including unwanted relatives from your spare bedroom.
My brother the plumber is terribly hard on his tools. We are totally different on our approach to tools - I have some that I’ve had for 30 years, he abuses his.
His DeWalt 36 volt tool set has survived his abuse for a very long time.
A friend of mine spends part of his time in Prague, and has a set of tools that I lust after from Festool. Brilliantly designed stuff that makes you wonder why everything is not this quality.
Agree with the Makita love. I still have the first cordless drill I bought from them in 1985, though the battery got sluggish and I got a replacement battery a few years ago. Had their circular saw which I used for many years; it was nice and light, but eventually replaced with the much heavier but bombproof Skil worm-drive saw when I was a framer. For years, Makita’s 10" portable table saw was a staple on many jobsites, again for the lightness. Still use their 1/2" corded drill that’s 20 years old.
Lately I have been on a Bosch binge. Got a 12" chop saw and 10" table saw a few years ago, and I like them a lot. The Makita cordless drill is just a backup now to my new and heavier Bosch, also very durable (I have dropped it several times from ladders or staging). Every newer generation of cordless drills just has better torque and features.
My Porter-Cable tools have been quite good. The old jigsaw lasted a long time (and recently got replaced by a Bosch). Still use their palm sander, biscuit joiner and nailguns/compressor.
Milwaukee has more competition with its reciprocating saws nowadays, but I love my 20+ years old Sawzall, and fully expect it to last another 20 years. We did used to joke that only plumbers bought the Milwaukee circular saws. They also have great heavy-duty corded drills.
The only Craftsman power tools I still have are ones I consider throwaways, leftovers from my father. Their glory days are long gone, and their power tools are bulky, underpowered and imprecise compared to so much of the competition. When power tool companies underwent their great period of innovation and design starting at the end of the 70’s, they seemed to leave Sears far behind. I was stuck with a series of Craftsman belt sanders for a long time, and always tried instead to borrow a coworker’s Porter-cable. The Craftsman was durable, but very sloppy. Now I have a lovely Bosch.
And I will admit to one unjustifiable splurge: a Festool 6" orbital sander with vacuum. I don’t know what came over me. It’s a very nice piece of hardware, but too expensive. Doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to use.
Buy the best you can, but it really doesn’t need to be a Festool.
I don’t have many power tools. I have a 18V Craftsman cordless drill/driver that has so far done all that I’ve asked of it and is holding up great after 10 years. I also have a Craftsman circular saw that uses the same batteries, also holding up just fine. For light household use, Craftsman is perfectly acceptable in my book. When the time comes to replace them, I’ll probably go DeWalt.
Black & Decker’s plastic housings always seem lightweight and cheap, to me. I can’t bring myself to trust them, so I won’t buy them.
As for outdoor tools: Stihl trimmer/edger (KombiMotor), Snapper mower. Both are awesome. In my experience, a new Stihl tool can be tetchy until you get it broken in. Once you get past that, though, it’ll last forever. You’ll probably have to will it to your grandchildren.
One note about voltages: think about what you’ll really be using your tools for. An 18V drill is nice and powerful, but if you’re using it for prolonged periods, the extra weight of that big battery is going to wear you out faster, and the tool can’t do the work without you. So if you’re planning on building a deck or something, try out a 14.4V, see how it feels.
It depends on what your using them for.
If these are for trade tools for work, then get the better quality. If you are working on a major construction project at home, then you also might consider the upscale brands as well.
But if it’s just odd jobs around the house, minor projects or maintenance around the house, save your money and get B&D. It’s should last long enough for that kind of stuff, and by the time it wears out, there will be something new and improved about the particular tools and you can afford to upgrade.
I’ve used the same Makita cordless drill for right at 15 years now, including some pretty heavy duty projects. It’s performed flawlessly and still works fine.
I am buying a new drill now, but it’s because of the battery technology that I’m switching, opting to go with Ryobi in a combination package. They’ve got the lithiums that are interchangeable in the hedge trimmers and chain saw that I need, so I’ll probably get the drill too.
Cords, not batteries. Batteries always fail when you need them. Cords and one long extension cord.
If you want to go top of the line, kicks ass on any drilling/hammer drilling application, look at Hilti. Cordless or not, these are some tough, industrial strength tools, but of course they have a hefty pricetag.
This is the way we’ve gone. If a cordless B&D drill lasts me for 10 years (and they have), then I’m pretty sure that there will be a new “latest and greatest” by the time I need a new drill. We’ve also liked the fact that they have a line of cordless tools that all use the same battery. I think we are up to 4 batteries now (one came with each tool), which comes in handy when we are using the cordless leaf blower to clean out the gutters, because we don’t want to lug the big corded on up there.
Absolutely! My brother loves his cordless tools, but I figure anyplace I’m likely to work, there is an outlet nearby. If there isn’t, I can damn well install one!
I have purchased cheap tools and always regret it later on. Buy the best you can with the least amount of features. It is a pleasure to pull out my drill or spanner set when I need to do a job.
BUT if it is something you think you will use only once or twice I would hire it. I have hired a nail gun, post hole digger etc for this reason but spent a lot of money on a good power drill, spanner/socket set, power saw etc etc.
I remember when I was a kid back in the last century, my Dad was using my late grandfather’s (his FIL) ancient corded power drill. It still works. Whenever I finally use one of these damn things with batteries, the batteries are empty and/or nonchargeable. Same with garden tools. No gas powered, just long cords. Damn kids get offa my lawn!!!
I buy good stuff and figure my heirs will be able to pawn it for more if they don’t use it.
I used a Makita reciprocating saw yesterday, and it was pretty bad. The blade lock was Allen head set screw which would vibrate loose every few minutes. And you’d risk losing the Allen wrench on a dusty job site. There was also a button right where the thumb would fall to lock the saw on. For the life of me, I cannot imagine ever wanting to lock a reciprocating saw on. I’d be cutting wood, only to discover that my thumb had accidentally hit this stupid button and, even though I had lifted my finger from the trigger, the saw had not stopped!
This is stupid, unnecessary and dangerous. No thought went into the design of this at all.
I am a woodworking hobbyist. I have a lot of tools, some of which I inherited from my grandfather which are mostly Craftsman from the 1960’s (table saw, drill press, band saw, 1/2" shaper).
My circular saw, router and reciprocating saw are Skil because I bought them when I was young and that is what my grandfather used. I still use them all the time 15 years later.
I have a Dewalt sawsall.
I’ve never used a Makita, Bosch, or Milwaukee tool. I had a B&D band saw that I couldn’t get to cut a straight line to save my life. Though I had a B&D random orbital sander that worked pretty well. I don’t know what happened to it, but I have another cheepo ROS right now.
I have a Craftsman variable speed drill that I’ve had for about 10 years now. That one gets a lot of work. The walls of the first floor of my house are poured concrete. If I want to hang anything on the wall, this is the drill I reach for.
I have one cordless drill for light work and every time I want to use it, the battery is dead. The battery holds its charge for quite a while but it will go a couple months between uses and it doesn’t last that long.
Other than that one cordless drill, all my tools are corded. Since I do most of my work in my shop or in my house, I have plenty of outlets and only need a 25ft extension cord to reach anything. Corded tools are cheaper since you don’t have to buy a battery and you don’t have to replace the battery when it doesn’t hold a charge anymore. And you don’t have to worry about a battery dieing with a screw still sticking out.
Pro construction crews use more cordless tools because where they work either doesn’t have electricity installed yet, or they have to turn it off due to the extent of their work.
Sorry for the back to back posts, but I just wanted to say that I love this feature on reciprocating saws. I have it on my Skil. If you have to a lot of contours, such as a filler strip between the top of a cabinet and a wavy ceiling all the way around the kitchen, it is nice to have this feature. I can’t imagine how cramped my hand would be holding that trigger for that long.
This. As the batteries on my nice cordless units fail, I am slowly replacing all tools with cords. They always work, the power is plain, and I don’t wonder what is going on with battery power. They are also a lot cheaper and lighter - those batteries are heavy. The Dewalt 7 amp drill is $55. Their 18 volt battery unit is $200.
I’d say B&D because one of their subsidiaries is a major supplier of mine and I always get discounts (which are publicly available if you go to their tool fair and aren’t a perq simply because of tooling decisions).
Given that, if I don’t go to a tool fair, and I need something from Home Depot, I do the C/B analysis and get the cheapest thing that will do the job, and maybe do a future, undetermined job.
Yesterday, I purchased a DeWalt 5" grinder. I mounted a cutting wheel on it, and cut cut cut. I was happy.
Today, I mounted a grinding wheel on it, and ground ground ground. I was happy.
Not wanting my Makita drill feel left out, I mounted a stripper wheel on it, and stripped stripped stripped. I was happy.
The only downside is that for tomorrow I have nothing to cut cut cut grind grind grind strip strip strip. Happiness is fleeting.
I see what you are saying, but the button for ‘always’ on is too easy to engage IMHO. I do love my Makita drill, but that is one thing I don’tl like about the recipricating saw.
The saw is generaly only used for rough framing, just before I get the chain saw out. Having a saw with a 10" blade hard to turn off has bent a few blades on me.