Power Tools & General Tools Recommendations & Advice

[Wizzfizz]

This logic is like saying a lambo is like an Audi A1, after all they are made by the same parent company..

I thought they are... They look similar.

 

[Sin_Chase]

Well yes, of course they are aimed at different markets through branding and advertising. The majority of it all is made in PRC though; probably in the same factory, with the same materials.

Nonsense.

A Black and Decker is so far away from a DeWalt tool. The latter is aimed at contractors and serious users and that's why their price reflects it. The former is a DIY tool for infrequent use.

There isn't a single B&D power tool which when put side by side with a DeWalt would win in any test/metric except price.

Professionals / Builders / Contractors are not silly when it comes comes to spending money on tools. There's noway they'd be buying the big boy tools when something a fraction of the price offered the same


Find AvE on YouTube and watch some of his BOLTR (Bored of Lame Tool Reviews) You'll get an appreciation what actually differs between serious tools and cheap ones.

 

[Wizzfizz]

Not nonsense at all.

I'm pointing out that DeWalt is owned by Stanley Black and Decker. Fact.

Not once have I said that a Black and Decker is on the same level as DeWalt. I said they are likely made in the same factory in PRC, from the same materials, branding and marketing aside.

There isn't a single B&D power tool which when put side by side with a DeWalt would win in any test/metric except price.

Never said otherwise.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Not nonsense at all.

I said they are likely made in the same factory in PRC, from the same materials (branding and marketing aside).

Bit of an assumption much? Also made in China doesn't mean its ****, far from it these days.

 

[Wizzfizz]

Professionals / Builders / Contractors are not silly when it comes comes to spending money on tools. There's noway they'd be buying the big boy tools when something a fraction of the price offered the same


Find AvE on YouTube and watch some of his BOLTR (Bored of Lame Tool Reviews) You'll get an appreciation what actually differs between serious tools and cheap ones.

Other than yourself who mentioned any of this?

 

[Wizzfizz]

Bit of an assumption much? Also made in China doesn't mean its ****, far from it these days.

Not much of an assumption, just a realistic view that being made in China is usually at lower costs and often at the cost of quality. Sure, it's not always the case, but there is a reason why production goes there.

If you had a choice of buying a tool that was made in China or Germany (same tool and price), which would you go for?

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Not much of an assumption, just a realistic view that being made in China is usually at lower costs and often at the cost of quality. Sure, it's not always the case, but there is a reason why production goes there.

If you had a choice of buying a tool that was made in China or Germany (same tool and price), which would you go for?

Sorry but its 100% assumption as its fairly obvious you have no evidence to back up the claim.

It's not a realistic view that made in China usually means poor quality. You can have literally anything built in China at any specification which you define. If you want it cheap and rubbish, you'll get cheap and rubbish. If you want a high quality product they can also make that.

Think iPhone vs dodgy knock off iPhone. Both are phones but one is utter **** the other is the gold standard of quality that every other phone manufacturer for the last 10 years has tried to mimic.

 

[Wizzfizz]

It very much is a realistic view but you just don't want to know it, which is fine. Agree to disagree there.

I understand that they can and do make good tools, I'm not saying they don't. Often quality is affected in some way though. It's big names such as DeWalt and Milwaukee that are now moving some production back to the US slapping 'made in the USA with global materials' on some of their tool lines now.

I get what you mean about the iPhone, but that's a different ball game altogether and far more complex.

China can make good products yes, but they can also make over inflated crap and quality is effected.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

It's not really 'agree to disagree' when you are giving vague unsubstantiated opinions as if they are facts.

I get what you mean about the iPhone, but that's a different ball game altogether and far more complex.

So your saying China is perfectly capable of making a product several orders of magnitude more complex than a power tool to an excellent degree of quality, manufacturing several orders of magnitude more of them yet a made in China DeWalt have undefined quality issues? Good argument.

Like I said, offer some evidence and lets discuss the merits of it

It's big names such as DeWalt and Milwaukee that are now moving some production back to the US slapping 'made in the USA with global materials' on some of their tool lines now.

It has nothing to do with quality but the simple fact Americans prefer to buy American so if there is a big enough market and there is a business case (e.g. sales/profit/market share) to make it domestically they will.

Given a choice between a product made in the United States and an identical one made abroad, 78 percent of Americans would rather buy the American product, according to a 2013 survey by the Consumer Reports National Research Center.

Nick DeSimone, Vice President of Operations. [said] “We’re choosing to invest in domestic manufacturing because it’s important that we maintain our connection with core DEWALT customers."

https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/...-moves-professional-corded-tool-production-us

 

[Sin_Chase]

Not nonsense at all.

I'm pointing out that DeWalt is owned by Stanley Black and Decker. Fact.

Not once have I said that a Black and Decker is on the same level as DeWalt. I said they are likely made in the same factory in PRC, from the same materials, branding and marketing aside.



Never said otherwise.

Whats your point then?

It's blatantly obviously you were trying to draw parallels between B&D and DeWalt because they are owned by the same parent company and "made in the same place with the same materials".

If that's not the case what purpose does your post hold?

Materials are materials. Clearly some are more advanced, more expensive or more specialised but materials don't exclusively make a tool. How they are formed, designed, applied etc etc are largely more important than WHAT the material is. So yet again your presumptions are eroded further.

So what you have left is different child companies brand different products differently.... 'Ok'

 

[Martynt74]

Been looking at a cordless SDS and just spotted this. Gutted i missed it. That's a bargain!

https://www.diy.com/departments/ryo...drill-2-batteries-r18sds-ll40s/1020116_BQ.prd

Ooooh looks like my local B&Q might have some in stock. Fingers crossed they actually do!

 

[lewism]

It used to be the case with that people think Dewalt quality has dropped over the years but in general its just the manufacturing process. Like i've said there is not one name brand that i've owned or used that hasn't suffered from some breakdown of sorts. Even Hilti's still break but you're paying for the aftercare up front. Everyone has their own brand favourite, mines is Dewalt. But I know it's Dewalt because I've owned everything. The whole Black and Decker thing is just a false positive now. The big firms are still putting money in to R&D and making most of their profits from DIY sales. A corded mouse sander or SDS has changed precisely 0 over the last 20/30 years. The machines are tooled and produce these things by the bucket load and they sell.

To be honest i'll use any tool that will get the job done, most of the guys on site spend more money on their kit and still can't use it properly.

Best bit of advise I can give anyone looking at power tools is buy a big name brand, think Makita, Dewalt, Hilti from a reputable seller. You'll get a warranty and you can sell it on when it's sat in your shed crying to be used. If you're adamant you want battery powered and don't want to spend the cash for a full setup then buy Erbauer or possibly Ryobi. Erbauer because Screwfix are brilliant with their warranties and Ryobi because a DIYer will get more use out of their product range. The price for Ryobi's batteries are still shocking and that's where they will get you. Reasonably priced tools and shockingly priced batteries.

I used to be a big advocate of Aldi & Lidl tools. Not so much now, they work and are great for the money but you're locked in for accessories and availability is scarce. Do you want to buy an angle grinder this Thursday? might never use it but it's only available 3 times a year.

Also, on that note, whatever brand you buy in to. BUY A LASER LEVEL. Not the cheap £30 stanley cube, but a good crosshair level is worth the money spent 5 times over.

 

[jellybeard999]

My DeWalt combi drill went in for repair under warranty recently. The repair place / factory outlet is local, so I dropped it in. The guy behind the desk thought it needed a new trigger and booked it in. Picked it up a few days later and it had a new trigger, was serviced (lubricated I guess) and rebuilt. If urgent, they can do same day turnaround - ie if you're in the trade and time is money.

My concern with the cheap brands was battery/parts availability in the future and battery comparability with other tools. If I bought a cheaper brand, would replacement batteries be available in X years and would I be able to use the batteries in other tools?

I went DeWalt as the tools i needed at the time were cheaper than Makita, though Makita does seem to have cheaper tools generally.

I don't think a DIY user can go far wrong with a combi (and maybe impact twin pack) from one or the professional brands. If you're going to go cheaper, then Lidl/Aldi seem a good option - at least they're almost throwaway money. Erbauer etc seem in no man's land to me. Not much cheaper than DeWalt Makita or Bosch.

 

[NVP]

Anyone with the Makita cordless batteries in need of a garden strimmer?

Amazon got the old model body only going for half price.

Clicky

 

[lewism]

I don't think a DIY user can go far wrong with a combi (and maybe impact twin pack) from one or the professional brands. If you're going to go cheaper, then Lidl/Aldi seem a good option - at least they're almost throwaway money. Erbauer etc seem in no man's land to me. Not much cheaper than DeWalt Makita or Bosch.

On that note, a drill is only as good as the bit that's in it. Bosch Blue have been very good to me, Bosch in general do very good accessories at a decent price. Starrett are also fantastic.

 

[Martynt74]

My DeWalt combi drill went in for repair under warranty recently. The repair place / factory outlet is local, so I dropped it in. The guy behind the desk thought it needed a new trigger and booked it in. Picked it up a few days later and it had a new trigger, was serviced (lubricated I guess) and rebuilt. If urgent, they can do same day turnaround - ie if you're in the trade and time is money.

My concern with the cheap brands was battery/parts availability in the future and battery comparability with other tools. If I bought a cheaper brand, would replacement batteries be available in X years and would I be able to use the batteries in other tools?

I went DeWalt as the tools i needed at the time were cheaper than Makita, though Makita does seem to have cheaper tools generally.

I don't think a DIY user can go far wrong with a combi (and maybe impact twin pack) from one or the professional brands. If you're going to go cheaper, then Lidl/Aldi seem a good option - at least they're almost throwaway money. Erbauer etc seem in no man's land to me. Not much cheaper than DeWalt Makita or Bosch.

Yeah, plus Aldi/Lidl seem to have 3 year warranties and with not much product knowledge i've just had money back when i had an issue with one of them.

Seems the Ryobi SDS deal i saw is out of stock at B&Q, i had a play with it and it does feel quite toy like and not like a quality tool. The new Erbaurer SDS felt excellent in the hand and at £150 with a 4ah battery/charger it's fairly well priced. But as you say they're in no mans land.

I've found the Ryobi for £50 with a 4ah battery for sale as a used/battered model. I might pick that up and see how things go. If it gets used then winner and if not then i could probably resell it without losing anything.

 

[Mark A]

I ended up going with a set of Footprint chisels. I wanted some Marples blue chip chisels, or the Stanley black handled chisels which are basically the same thing, but these seem to always go for loads on ebay. Originally I was against plastic handles, but I can always make it a future project to make some nice wooden handles for them. They are made in Sheffield, so hopefully they're made from decent steel. They are also unused and were still in the box, which is nice.

These will be for heavy duty mallet work and i'll get a nice set of Ashley Isles mk2 chisels for pairing and dovetail work when they ever come back into stock.

Also bought a grade 00 granite flat plate for flattening the backs and also flattening all the plane soles I bought recently, plus I can use it to flatten my Japanese whetstones. I was debating getting it for ages as it's a lot of money for a lump of granite, but it should last me forever and it's good to have something you know is dead flat for restoring old tools.


On the lookout for a decent old combination square now. I did buy one for £15 a few days ago and just got an email from the seller telling me he's already sold it and it got relisted automatically .

 

[Fluke?]

There is a Parkside track saw on offer a Lidl at the moment for £65 inc the track that seems pretty alright for a budget saw.

https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/MiddleofLidl.htm?articleId=22842

I was looking for a track for my cheapo circular saw and those alone all seem to be £60+ so this seems like a good deal to me. Should be able to get ~£15 for my old saw so £50 all in seems like a good deal imo.

Plenty in stock at the Tewksbury Road store in Cheltenham on Saturday if anyone is interested!

 

[Martynt74]

Whilst obviously not going to be comparable to the likes of Dewalt etc i saw this pop up and it's an absolute bargain!

https://www.homebase.co.uk/ozito-power-x-change-18v-5-piece-kit_p388910

Drill
Impact Driver
Circular Saw
Angle Driver
Torch
2x 4ah batteries

for £150!

 

[Mark A]

It's amazing how they can manufacture all that and homebase still make a profit for that price. It'll be great for DIY tasks i'd imagine.

5 year replacement warranty on the tools and 1 year on the battery as well!