Power Tools & General Tools Recommendations & Advice

Tried side cutters - never come across plastic so hard.
Unded up with junior hacksaw and stanley knife.
You can instantly see what you pay for on these Milwaukee bit holders - I bought two Dewalt ones yesterday -not a patch.
If anyone is interested I am having a massive sort out of my Hex bits and pieces -most of them are Lidl or cheapo's from Ebay and a lot from my Bro when he died. So it's nice to have a box of sorted -decent bit's -Not a rusty one in sight. :)
 
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DXP55 said:
Tried side cutters - never come across plastic so hard.
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I purchased 4 long bit holders earlier in the year and getting that hard plastic off was not easy. I am sure a thief would have it off within seconds but I struggled for a good 5 minutes per holder
 
Anyone got decent experience of air compressors? It's one of those tools i've always thought would be quite cool but recently finding a few actual reasons to buy one.

1 - When doing work outside recently. It would be really handy to just have a bit of compressed air to blast away any saw dust from mortices/saw cuts in general.
2 - Nailing work. Battery nailers are pretty expensive so could use a compressor for that too. Again, nothing too extensive
3 - My Jeep is currently being repaired, and i've decided the house build needs to take priority over getting it resprayed. It's currently got a mismatched bonnet/wheel arch. Seems like i could get a better finish with less skill than using cans. Note this is likely a temporary fix to stop it looking a bit stupid until i can afford to get the whole thing sprayed in the future.


We've made friends with a widow over here who said her husband had a load of tools. I had a look and one was a budget air compressor (https://www.leroymerlin.es/producto...gPY_i70fGukHmrHe9-hoCFAEQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds). It's a 2hp and 24l unit. Everything i read about spray painting is that you ideally need >75l for it, but assume that might be for a full car and for a couple panels taken slowly something smaller might be enough.

I then started looking at the 36v Einhell models because of the ease of portability, but they're only 8L tanks which feel a bit small. Would it still work for some basic painting of say a single body panel? I saw a Youtube which suggested the Ryobi 18v with a 5L tank would do 9 75mm nails but that's about my only comparison
www.einhell.es

SILENZZO 36/210 | Cordless Air Compressor

SILENZZO 36/210
www.einhell.es www.einhell.es

Alternatively i could go for something like this 50L Stanley mains powered unit.
www.bricodepot.es

Compresor 50 l 2 hp stanley fatmax | Brico Depôt

www.bricodepot.es www.bricodepot.es



Just trying to get the right balance between budget and performance for my needs, and then wondering if it's even worthwhile and i should just buy spray paint and use a handheld blower for sawdust
 
I have a small compressor which I bought to seat mountain bike tubeless tyres as my hand pump wouldn't cut it.

It's been useful on occasion but I barely use it and don't have any pneumatic tools.
 
Good point. That was another reason I quite fancied one.

I have this one off that woman which is probably only worth €30 so unsure if it’s worth keeping to see if it’s useful.
Main issue is its oil based and I know I’m rubbish at maintenance so a newer oil free one would be better!
 
The bigger and more powerful the tool, the bigger air tank you need. A bigger tank can supply more air for those ‘bursty’ tools like impact wrenches.

The compressor is more about how quickly said tank can be filled/refilled.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
The bigger and more powerful the tool, the bigger air tank you need. A bigger tank can supply more air for those ‘bursty’ tools like impact wrenches.

The compressor is more about how quickly said tank can be filled/refilled.
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Do you know of any sites which give an idea of tools/tank size? Think i've read for cars suggest 75L but i don't know if that's for a full car or individual panels. Just seems really different to calculate and identify what you need without already being an expert
 
It’s more about the tool, not the application. Have a look at what reach tool you intend to use recommends.

Also factor in you are probably not a pro so you probably don’t need a massive one. Miles only 25L but I don’t use heavy tools with it - electric is better for that kind of stuff these days anyway.
 
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I used to have a compressor but eventually replaced it with a battery nail gun and a hoover that has a blow function!

The problem I found with compressors was the noise, the long thick hose is a pain, the constant requirement for oil and the damage that can do to workpieces. Although most compressors are oil free, the tools aren't. And oil free basically means it's not going to last before you need to replace the seals.

I find I use the nail gun far more than I used to, because it's so simple now. Getting a huge compressor out, unravelling the hose, finding the oil - it's all just faff.
 
Wet/Dry spot-type vacuum - any suggestions?

I we have two vacs already - a Dyson for normal carpet/hard floors we have, and I have a the metal version of a Henry hoover shop vac for the garage (and with it's blow - lighting the BBQ in super fast time). Both are dry. The only wet style cleaners we have are a steam mop (used on the hard floors) and a karcher steamer that gets used for deep cleaning things.

We looked at carpet vacs for hire at 20/day and we've used one before but having a smaller 'spot' wet/dry vac seems to fit the infrequent carpet cleaning use but at the same time would provide an option for wet-vac cleaning of the hard floors

Was thinking of something like the shark spot vac that takes a solution/water and has a wet container too.
 
Reuben klang said:
Just get one of the own brands from screwfix. They’re pretty good and aren’t that expensive they aren’t as powerful as say a karcher but for the money you can’t go wrong.
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Ended up going for a Vax Spot Duo XL vac with 500W motor and 2.2 litre capacity. A little more money than the little 370W 1.1L model but I figured it would be better in the long run to have more 'suck'. I looked at the some of the other but this was a little cheaper as the mrs could get a discount at curries through her work rewards system. Size was also on the list of the mrs's criteria and the 500W model is not that much larger than the little 370 model. Also has a large, medium and thin heads for getting into the smaller locations. First impressions are that it's well thought out.
 
Fancied a track saw for a while and in a moment of weakness I've just ordered a makita 40v one. Got a couple of jobs to do that probably don't require such an expensive tool but im a sucker for good gear :)
 
NickK said:
Ended up going for a Vax Spot Duo XL vac with 500W motor and 2.2 litre capacity. A little more money than the little 370W 1.1L model but I figured it would be better in the long run to have more 'suck'. I looked at the some of the other but this was a little cheaper as the mrs could get a discount at curries through her work rewards system. Size was also on the list of the mrs's criteria and the 500W model is not that much larger than the little 370 model. Also has a large, medium and thin heads for getting into the smaller locations. First impressions are that it's well thought out.
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We've got one of these (got an opened box one from Vax eBay store for a hefty discount) and it's great. It was invaluable when the poor dog had a little accident or three on the carpet. I would have had no idea how we'd have cleaned the mess otherwise!
 
NickK said:
Ended up going for a Vax Spot Duo XL vac with 500W motor and 2.2 litre capacity. A little more money than the little 370W 1.1L model but I figured it would be better in the long run to have more 'suck'. I looked at the some of the other but this was a little cheaper as the mrs could get a discount at curries through her work rewards system. Size was also on the list of the mrs's criteria and the 500W model is not that much larger than the little 370 model. Also has a large, medium and thin heads for getting into the smaller locations. First impressions are that it's well thought out.
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Oh I really like the look of that. I’m tempted. How long do the batteries last?
 
Reuben klang said:
Oh I really like the look of that. I’m tempted. How long do the batteries last?
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I deliberately didn’t take the battery version but the corded version. It's a "VAX SpotWash Max Duo Carpet Cleaner - White & Tiger Blue". So mine is without the spin wash (not the pet version), but is the larger capacity tanks (really you need this), and the large 500W motor (you want this), you get three heads including the thin crevice head which is good for cleaning the carpet boundary to the skirting board. Lastly that version has a little hole in the back for self cleaning (you take the head off and push the pipe into it and it flushes the pipe with solution).

There's a number of variants of the spot wash with similar naming - some corded, some with batteries, some with large motors and some with different attachments (like the pet attachment).

www.vax.co.uk

Spot Cleaners | VAX

Buy Cordless Vacuum Cleaners, Carpet Cleaners, Steam Cleaners and Handhelds all on the Official VAX Website. Visit our Support Centre to Buy Official VAX Spare Parts and Accessories.
www.vax.co.uk www.vax.co.uk

Supposedly the battery version charge gives 25 mins but the recharge time is slow and you can't swap out the battery. Hence I went corded and would again - I did two days of 5+ hours of cleaning. The great thing is the unit has a cable tidy and a pipe tidy built in.

Also I sort of settled on the VAX anti-bacterial solution, although there's a premium variant with carpet guard in it. I went through the 500ml and a 1.5L solution when doing the house! We now have 2 litres of solution ready for the next time. Fluffs up the carpet, removes the dirt/dust/grease from feet and has a nice smell too.

I also have some 'Cybergold Stain Remover" which a friend in the high price end of the carpet industry (2nd gen) recommends. If it's good for £100+/sqm then it's good enough for our poverty carpets! It also really really does work on the ingrained stains that the vax solution failed to move. Naturally you then use the vax over the top and clean up with it.
 
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Hedge said:
Fancied a track saw for a while and in a moment of weakness I've just ordered a makita 40v one. Got a couple of jobs to do that probably don't require such an expensive tool but im a sucker for good gear :)
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I'm looking to get a compound mitre saw at the moment and a bit stuck on how much to spend. The reviews of the cheap ones range from "brilliant" to "brilliant but you need to calibrate it before you use it" to "****, it has loads of play and you have to calibrate it after almost every cut".

Cheap ones are about £150 and decent second hand ones (makita, dewalt etc) might run to £350.

I'm also undecided on how large to go. Ideally a 10" or 12" blade but they are absolute units and it wouldn't get used that often.

Decisions decisions.
 
I just got a 12” Dewalt, because you know that extra 2“ makes all the difference.

It’s an absolute unit but costs a sweet fortune. It makes my evolution 210mm (which doesn’t cut straight) look like a toy by comparison.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
I just got a 12” Dewalt, because you know that extra 2“ makes all the difference.

It’s an absolute unit but costs a sweet fortune. It makes my evolution 210mm (which doesn’t cut straight) look like a toy by comparison.
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Feels like one of those things where a smaller one would be fine for 90% of stuff but then doing that last 10% would be a right faff without it. As you say though, the 12" ones are absolute tanks.
 
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