Power Tools & General Tools Recommendations & Advice

Soldato
Joined
20 Feb 2004
Posts
21,204
Location
Hondon de las Nieves, Spain
I'm having a bad year for tools. In April my drill died just out of warranty, and at the weekend my Evolution mitre saw died about 3 weeks out of warranty.

It was working perfectly and then, i was cutting about 4 feather edge boards stacked, and they must've twisted slightly as they jammed the blade and that was it, machine dead. What was odd is i'd have expected a burning smell if the motor had burnt out, but there's nothing.

Anyone think i might have any luck replacing the carbon brushes, or is there a way to check them? At £20 it seems a pricey stab in the dark.

Given they're only around £150 to buy, i'm not sure if it's worth trying to persue any other repairs.
 
Soldato
Joined
25 Feb 2004
Posts
18,141
Location
Hampshire
Picked up a Dewalt Multi Tool the other day (https://www.powertoolworld.co.uk/de...scillating-multi-tool-body-only-in-tstak-case) with the plan to use it to do a number of decorating items, been using it this week to great effect, sanding back my window sills in prep for fresh paint, cutting out some old ropey silicon sealant, and then coming to my rescue when fitting a new sink plughole, where the old plughole had been cut to fit the pipework which I didn't realise until it was in there, so out the multi tool came to cut off 4 threads on the underside of the plug.

This thing has been great and really useful. Got some more cutting jobs planned for the weekend to try out some more of the attachments. Highly recommended for the more casual DIYer, good jack of all trades power tool.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Aug 2013
Posts
6,597
Location
Shropshire
I'm having a bad year for tools. In April my drill died just out of warranty, and at the weekend my Evolution mitre saw died about 3 weeks out of warranty.

It was working perfectly and then, i was cutting about 4 feather edge boards stacked, and they must've twisted slightly as they jammed the blade and that was it, machine dead. What was odd is i'd have expected a burning smell if the motor had burnt out, but there's nothing.

Anyone think i might have any luck replacing the carbon brushes, or is there a way to check them? At £20 it seems a pricey stab in the dark.

Given they're only around £150 to buy, i'm not sure if it's worth trying to persue any other repairs.

I knackered my B&D Pro angle grinder a few years back - it hit something and stopped dead -no smoke or anything - Just went out and bought a DeWalt. Mind you I couldn't fault that B&D grinder
Didn't your Saw come with a spare set of brushes ? Have you done a google about your saw - might find a solution.

Try this https://www.mlive.com/homeandgarden/2012/06/stan_harrison_miter_saw_wont_w.html
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Feb 2004
Posts
21,204
Location
Hondon de las Nieves, Spain
I feel it might've come with some spare brushes but i had no idea what they were at the time and they most likely got thrown out.

Thanks will take a look at that. It's tricky to know what to do, given how cheap they are to buy, looks like the same model comes out around £110 on the outlet store when they're available, so maybe i'm better just grabbing one of those.
 

JRJ

JRJ

Associate
Joined
21 Oct 2010
Posts
1,333
I feel it might've come with some spare brushes but i had no idea what they were at the time and they most likely got thrown out.

Thanks will take a look at that. It's tricky to know what to do, given how cheap they are to buy, looks like the same model comes out around £110 on the outlet store when they're available, so maybe i'm better just grabbing one of those.

Try taking them out and measuring, new brushes are only a couple of quid online if you can measure and get the right size.
 

JRJ

JRJ

Associate
Joined
21 Oct 2010
Posts
1,333
Picked up a Dewalt Multi Tool the other day (https://www.powertoolworld.co.uk/de...scillating-multi-tool-body-only-in-tstak-case) with the plan to use it to do a number of decorating items, been using it this week to great effect, sanding back my window sills in prep for fresh paint, cutting out some old ropey silicon sealant, and then coming to my rescue when fitting a new sink plughole, where the old plughole had been cut to fit the pipework which I didn't realise until it was in there, so out the multi tool came to cut off 4 threads on the underside of the plug.

This thing has been great and really useful. Got some more cutting jobs planned for the weekend to try out some more of the attachments. Highly recommended for the more casual DIYer, good jack of all trades power tool.

Never realised how much I'd use one until I got it, probably my most useful tool.
 

NVP

NVP

Soldato
Joined
6 Sep 2007
Posts
12,649
Guys, my Karcher K5 Dirt Blaster lance appears to have died part way through cleaning the patio haha

It's the 145bar, old fitting one. I'm struggling to find a genuine replacement. Any ideas?
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Associate
Joined
2 Nov 2003
Posts
1,693
I need to get a (Makita) impact driver to help with boarding the loft and some outdoor projects. Do people generally find the extra settings on the more premium models (e.g. DTD171) very useful?

Bit torn between a single mode brushless (e.g. DTD153) and the higher end models. My other gear is Makita.
 
Associate
Joined
28 Sep 2003
Posts
1,093
Location
Loughborough
I have a DTD154 and that will drive 250mm bolts into sleepers but that's the purpose i bought it for. A friend of mine has one of the less powerful ones and for general purpose its fine, depends on the price difference and what you think you will use it for. The more powerful ones help if you are driving large screws (>100mm) into wood without a pilot hole otherwise i have seen little difference for many tasks.
 

JRJ

JRJ

Associate
Joined
21 Oct 2010
Posts
1,333
Talk to me about compressors please guys?

I was planning on getting a Dewalt 18v Brad nailer to do a whole house worth of skirting and architrave but the prices seem to be creeping higher and higher, now I was planning on purchasing a compressor for the garage in the future anyway but I'm now thinking of getting it sooner and looking into an air nailer and hose? Also a HVLP sprayer to do base coats on fresh plaster.

I know nothing about compressors any recommendations?
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Aug 2013
Posts
6,597
Location
Shropshire
When we moved into this bungalow I had a few walls to knock down and fences to fix so I used the Air chisel to take bricks out and air nailer to fix fences - I had a Machine mart compressor with 25lt tank and it wasn't enough -50 lt would have been much better - a few minutes work and compressor fired up again.
Mate over the road does spraying and he started with 25lt -then 50lt V twin and now has two very large gas bottles connected up as well - Not only is it output you need but enough air in reserve and bigger bore hoses for the tools.-- V twin and 50lt minimum
My tank rusted through after 30 yrs so now I have one of those small portable ones and it wont top a tyre up without starting up for each wheel.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Aug 2013
Posts
6,597
Location
Shropshire
I looked at that model but it was the same size as my old one and I needed more room so bought the portable one - I only need one for pumping tyres up these days.
One thing I have found is don't buy cheap fittings -pay the extra and get quality - Buy a large bore hose and fittings and bin the curly one or just use it to run the air duster or pump up tyres.

ps - if that had been that price when I was looking I would have gone for it.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Aug 2013
Posts
6,597
Location
Shropshire
The problem with black Friday deals is you wait till they come along - see the one you want at £20 off then scroll down and it's out of stock along with all the others you might have picked.:rolleyes:
 
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