Power Tools & General Tools Recommendations & Advice

‘If the specs are true’ is doing a hell of a lot of heavy lifting there.

That’s the whole point, you can put whatever you want on a webpage, what is actually delivered could be completely different. They rely on no one actually opening it up because, who would?

There isn’t anything fundamentally wrong with a product which is manufactured in China. You can get anything made to any specification. Certain Chinese brands are also known to be high quality (e.g. UGREEN) but they make their own stuff rather than knock off other people’s things.

The issue is places like Amazon are also stuffed with low quality and frankly dangerous knock off products from fly by night sellers and describing them as ‘non-compliant’ is an understatement.

Here in lies the crux, do you trust a cheap knock off product to actually meet that specification?

All anyone is saying is buyer beware. It’s also a battery and the fault condition usually presents during charging or use. So don’t charge it unsupervised should be the minimum precaution however they can spontaneously combust.
 
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Phil2008 said:
These are the specs for the compatible battery+charger I bought for my makita tools... If and a big IF the specs are true, these shouldnt burst into flames...But saying that there's a lot of genuine stuff made in China, so the stuff can't be all that terrible?
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That assumes what you receive bears any resemblance to the specification! Which is the problem.
 
Phil2008 said:
These are the specs for the compatible battery+charger I bought for my makita tools... If and a big IF the specs are true, these shouldnt burst into flames...But saying that there's a lot of genuine stuff made in China, so the stuff can't be all that terrible?
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Theoretically there is no reason why an alternative manufacturer could not produce a battery that was as good as the original but in my experience that is extremely unlikely and the clone is inferior, so I stump up for the manufacturers product.
 
Ignoring the actual physical design of the clone batteries for a minute, the other aspect most probably don't consider is what would happen in the event of a explosion/fire etc.

Certainly DeWalt have asked for serial numbers of affected batteries, and replaced without question. In the event that "something really bad happened" (e.g. debilitating injury/death/house burnt down etc) then I'd imagine the main brands will investigate/offer compensation etc (even if only to avoid bad publicity) - good luck even getting in touch with FengWing or whoever, let alone getting anything from them.

A small part of the "inflated" cost of genuine batteries will no doubt be to fund a legal slush fund for any such issues.
 
In fairness the plus side of buying from Amazon is they have something called the ‘A to Z Guarantee’.

Part of this is if you buy something on their platform which causes damage, you can make a claim against Amazon (including if the product was bought from a 3rd party seller).

I’ve used this and credit to them, they paid and while they asked a lot of questions, it wasn’t unreasonable.

Incidentally it was to do with damaged caused by a faulty battery, although it wasn’t lithium.

Mrs Sk8 bought some cheap watch batteries which had some kind of internal short.

She swapped the batteries in 3 of her watches at the same time and they nuked the electronics. On removal there was scorch marks on the battery and contacts within the watch itself.

They were bought on my account so I made a claim against Amazon and they paid out retail for 3 new equivalents. They tried to pass us off to the 3rd party seller at first but unsurprisingly they didn’t want to know.

Fortunately they were ‘only’ fashion watches (not cheap mind) and not something very high end. While she has the cash, she is still livid about it because she can’t replace them because the brand doesn’t make watches anymore.

I’m not sure I’d want to test the A to Z guarantee if my house burnt down due to a dodgy tool battery mind or even something less catastrophic like it ruined my £400 cordless router.
 
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Which type of cement mixer is better for DIY use at home?

The tripod type:

Link

Or the trolley type:

Link


They seem to be measured in litres capacity - what does that translate to in terms of weight? Will they hold a full 4:1 mix if using 20kg bags of cement (i.e 20kg cement, 80kg sand so 100 kg total)?

How easy are they to tip up and extract the mix when loaded?
 
danlightbulb said:
Which type of cement mixer is better for DIY use at home?

The tripod type:

Link

Or the trolley type:

Link


They seem to be measured in litres capacity - what does that translate to in terms of weight? Will they hold a full 4:1 mix if using 20kg bags of cement (i.e 20kg cement, 80kg sand so 100 kg total)?

How easy are they to tip up and extract the mix when loaded?
Click to expand...

I've used the tripod type - very easy, but you will need something to cart, I even used it on the wheels and tipped too for paved area - it will push the concrete out. I found that the amount of concrete was just enough to get mixed and tamped out and the slabs (previously coated with waterproof gunk underside), then mix up the next and continue. I can dig out the mix ratio but I don't have it here at the moment.

You want an area where you can wash/scrub out the mixer at the end if you're not using it which will make a mess. Hardened concrete is a pain to remove.

I just hired one from HSS.
 
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Anyone got experience with milwaukee quik lok gardening tools? Particularly on power and battery run time.
I've just ordered the strimmer and hedge cutter attachments. I'm hoping the strimmer will be powerful enough to get through the jungle of weeds that grow around our boundary.
I've already got one each of 12 and 8 high output batteries , so also hoping that give me enough run time.
 
Lidel is doing a 32 screwdrivers set. Two stubies, 6 full size, precisions then a bit screw driver and various bits for like £5. I picked it up just for the bits and the other screw drivers will come handle out in the shed and poking stuff :cry:

Edit 37 set.

rangor gubbins said:
Anyone got experience with milwaukee quik lok gardening tools? Particularly on power and battery run time.
I've just ordered the strimmer and hedge cutter attachments. I'm hoping the strimmer will be powerful enough to get through the jungle of weeds that grow around our boundary.
I've already got one each of 12 and 8 high output batteries , so also hoping that give me enough run time.
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How big your boundary’s? I have the strimmer (not weed wacker) and polesaw.

The 8 should be suitable for most strimming.
 
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Have to say I'm impressed with the erbauer V2 impact driver so far and it's had good reviews and beat a 40v Makita driving a big decking screw into timber at half the cost. Nice to add to my small but growing erbauer 18v ext kit!
 
Reciprocating saws are very rough, the blade will wander all over the place. Fine for rough cuts though.

If you want a finished edge on the decking and sleepers, I’d highly recommend a circular saw - the biggest one you can afford as bigger blade means you can do a deeper cut on the sleepers.

A small one might not get though a sleeper with a cut on each side if they are thick.

E.g. https://www.screwfix.com/p/evolutio...al-circular-saw-220-240v/266fx?ref=SFAppShare
 
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My new milwaukee quik lok strimmer did a great job today cutting back some very overgrown grass and weeds. Definitely powerful enough. My only gripe is the guard seems too small, so I got lot grassy bits in my face, arms, etc. Dread to think what will happen if I hit a cat/dog poo with the strimmer
 
Has anyone ever tried sanding decking with one of those circular drywall sanders? I got one to review a while back and don't need to sand any drywall, but I can't see why it wouldn't work on decking. Just don't want to try it and it fails and then I have to sand the rest by hand to match the bald spot.
 
Mark A said:
Has anyone ever tried sanding decking with one of those circular drywall sanders? I got one to review a while back and don't need to sand any drywall, but I can't see why it wouldn't work on decking. Just don't want to try it and it fails and then I have to sand the rest by hand to match the bald spot.
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You must be reading my mind, I've been thinking the exact same thing. I've just finished replastering a room and used my drywall sander to great effect, I was so surprised at how quick and efficient it was, but the ceiling was a workout for the arms and shoulders.

So sanding decking - I'm going to be trying it soon when it's warmer and drier - but I think it's effectiveness at such a job will depend on a few factors. Obviously what sanding pads you use (grit, mesh pads or not), a vacuum cleaner attached to prevent clogging the pads, but more critical I would think is the flatness of the decking. You want to constantly swing and move the sander to prevent overheating and avoid over-sanding one particular part. If the decking is groove side up then foreseeably it won't even touch the low parts of the grooves. I'd be on lookout for nails and screws as these would wreck the sanding pad or consider using a sacrificial pad as well.

Give it a try and let us know how you got on!
 
Mysterae_ said:
You must be reading my mind, I've been thinking the exact same thing. I've just finished replastering a room and used my drywall sander to great effect, I was so surprised at how quick and efficient it was, but the ceiling was a workout for the arms and shoulders.

So sanding decking - I'm going to be trying it soon when it's warmer and drier - but I think it's effectiveness at such a job will depend on a few factors. Obviously what sanding pads you use (grit, mesh pads or not), a vacuum cleaner attached to prevent clogging the pads, but more critical I would think is the flatness of the decking. You want to constantly swing and move the sander to prevent overheating and avoid over-sanding one particular part. If the decking is groove side up then foreseeably it won't even touch the low parts of the grooves. I'd be on lookout for nails and screws as these would wreck the sanding pad or consider using a sacrificial pad as well.

Give it a try and let us know how you got on!
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If there is ever another few days of warm weather in a row I'll give it a go. I was going to get some oxalic acid and just give it a good wash, but there are lots of areas of uneven wear to the decking oil and I can see it looking a mess once a fresh coat goes on, so want to try and even it all out.

Its grooved, so the screws are all well below where the sander will touch. I'm not too worried about the bottoms of the grooves, its more the top sections that are seen. My only slight concern is sanding too much off and eating through the pressure treated layer, but the top of the decking is usually the last place to rot anyway, so I think it should be fine.
 
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