Power Tools & General Tools Recommendations & Advice

Hedge said:
My cheap evolution mitre saw is utter trash mind.

You get what you pay for. I'd say £200 minimum if you want something quality to last and cut accurately.
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you could hire one for the day? Assuming it’s a professional grade, faster & more accurate for the job?
 
Enjoyed making my desks the other day and decided it's time to invest in some power tools. I bought the corded Makita sander for the desks. Decided to strip, sand and treat the rabbit hutch that has gotten a bit green, and after removing the first few 4-5cm wood screws with a hand screwdriver I snapped and went to screwfix. Got the LXT combi-drill + two 3ah + charger set. Seemed like a pretty decent entry point to the LXT setup apart from anything else.

Plus I'm moving house soon, and doing so without a moving company for a change so it'll get plenty of use.
 
Hedge said:
My cheap evolution mitre saw is utter trash mind.

You get what you pay for. I'd say £200 minimum if you want something quality to last and cut accurately.
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Trash in what way? I and many others have them and i've not had any issues with decent accurate cuts. So be interesting to know what issues you had.
 
Marvt74 said:
Trash in what way? I and many others have them and i've not had any issues with decent accurate cuts. So be interesting to know what issues you had.
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Mine cost about 50 quid years ago. It doesn't have a rail or anything. It's just a straight up down chop saw.

My issue is that that blade / handle wobbles side to side. So sometimes I'll cut wood and the vertical face of the cut is sloped.

I've tightened things up and it still a wobbly mess. It's OK for quick cuts cut if you want to cut a couple of 45s then marry them up there is usually a gap on one side.

Its motor etc seems fine. Its just poo.
 
What are you actually trying to do? Are you a tradesman who needs it day in day out or a DIY who needs it for the odd job here any there?

If it’s the latter a £140 evolution or £250 dewalt will be fine. If it’s the former then by all means spend the cash.

Loads of people have Evolution saws on here and they make straight accurate cuts. The included blade is ‘okay’ but if you are cutting laminated boards then I’d swap it but blades are £10-15.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
What are you actually trying to do? Are you a tradesman who needs it day in day out or a DIY who needs it for the odd job here any there?

If it’s the latter a £140 evolution or £250 dewalt will be fine. If it’s the former then by all means spend the cash.

Loads of people have Evolution saws on here and they make straight accurate cuts. The included blade is ‘okay’ but if you are cutting laminated boards then I’d swap it but blades are £10-15.
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DIY odd job here and there.

I am planning on doing the following

Wooden panelling.
Log cabin 75mm thick logs and floorboards.
Garage conversion. I'll do the batons and the insulation and the plasterboard and the floorboards.
Floorboards in main bathroom.
Engineered wood flooring in office.

It's 5 jobs so the cost spread out per job is £120 or so.

Maybe more in future.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
DIY odd job here and there.

I am planning on doing the following

Wooden panelling.
Log cabin 75mm thick logs and floorboards.
Garage conversion. I'll do the batons and the insulation and the plasterboard and the floorboards.
Floorboards in main bathroom.
Engineered wood flooring in office.

It's 5 jobs so the cost spread out per job is £120 or so.

Maybe more in future.
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I hope you plan to do a build log? It would be very interesting to see :)
 
Personally I’d get the larger 255mm version will be fine for all that, costs £200. Screwfix don’t stock the 40 tooth wood blade but Amazon do.

It’s up to you though at the end of the day, the Bosch’s will clearly be a better quality tool overall and understand the preference for better quality stuff. The evolution will feel cheap in comparison but it should cut straight and true, if it doesn’t it’s broken.

Those are proper jobs, have you got everything else you need? The list never ends once you start doing big jobs, e.g. Work bench, mitre saw stand(so your not working off the floor and supports the ends of the workpiece), impact driver, sanders, oscillating multi tool, plunge/track saw, nail gun, router etc.

My dewalt oscillating multi tool has got me out of jail so many times now, one of the best tools I have ever bought.
 
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I already have a makita orbital sander and a makita circular saw. So no need for a track saw can I not just buy a guide and use that with the circular saw and clamps?

I have a Bosch drill but it's a cheap one at £60 I'll need a impact driver. I'll need a nail gun as well. I don't think I'll need a router but probably best to get one for batons maybe for extra secure fittings.

I have a dremel will I really need a oscillating tool as well?

I also have an old architects table in the garage I take outside for BBQ's and stuff I was planning on using that instead of a workbench.

Do you have a link to the 255mm you are recommending? If I can save money I will.

I'm thinking of a cement mixer or possibly a paddle too for the log cabin base. I've already got a shovel and mattock to dig it all out.

Thanks
 
Talking of Mitre saws, need to grab a finer 60/80t blade to do some oak door linings, the DeWalt extreme 40t that came with the saw is great but a bit too rough for the oak, I was going to grab the 60t version of the extreme blade but noticed a few other brands that get decent reviews anyone tried these?
 
@Psycho Sonny

https://www.screwfix.com/p/evolutio...ric-double-bevel-sliding-mitre-saw-230v/128hf

They also do stand too:
https://www.screwfix.com/p/evolution-800b-mitre-saw-stand-with-extension-arms/48911

You may not need everything I said but I was just listing things you might need but hadn’t considered before you spent your whole budget on one saw. I certainly wouldn’t buy any until you know you need any. Particularly things like routers as they are expensive. I would have a jigsaw on my list though.

Plunge saws are similar to a circular saw but the blade fully retracts into the housing. A plunge saw can do everything that a circular saw can do but a circular saw can’t do everything a plunge saw can do if that makes sense. For example you will get a much more accurate cut and can cut into the middle of a work piece on a plunge saw where as circular saw should only really be used to cut from the edge of a board. You can get tracks for circular saws but their base has to be designed to run on one, most aren’t. Again you may not need one.

Dremils and Oscillating multi tools are very different tools for different jobs, you can’t really compare them. I found the later to be incredibly useful to have on hand, especially for flooring but again I would t buy it unless you know you want or need one.

I would invest in a decent combi drill and impact driver for those jobs though.
 
Nice one. I have to paint 2 walls this weekend. I'll get the saw and stand next weekend for the main bedroom panelling.

I then have 8 months to dig out 2 raised 2 foot high beds of grass, dig several feet below ground level and pour a concrete base. Need to incorporate French drains, steps going down into the ground and pour supporting walls to keep the ground from caving in if I decide to have a metre or so of the log cabin below ground level. I also have a tree to chop down and get rid of the roots and I've already cut down 6 trees and need to get rid of the roots for them too.

Once the log cabin is up I'll get rid of the shed and replace with a much better one twice the size. That can store the tools and everything in the garage so I can then start on the garage conversion. Most Likley be next summer and hopefully finished by around this time next year.

Ill then need to look at the finances before tackling 2 bathrooms and flooring one of the spare bedrooms. I'm in no real rush want to take my time and get everything right.

I might do a build log. To keep a track of everything. That way I can keep a log of my total expenditure too and then I can get the home valued to see what effect it has had in comparison to the cost. No plans to move soon but may have in 5-10 years once I have paid off the majority of the mortgage.
 
I’ve got the Evolution 210mm sliding mitre saw and it’s great. If you want to cut larger material definitely go bigger, I haven’t actually come unstuck with the smaller one as it goes to 65mm I think, but it wouldn’t hurt.

I agree with b0rn2sk8, the £400+ you can save on the mitre saw could pay for multiple very useful tools. Also agree that once you start getting stuck in you end up buying new tools every five minutes.

just a side note, your log cabin, if it’s 75mm logs I presume it’s quite big? I wouldn’t even entertain the idea of mixing that up myself, it’s not worth it IMO. Just get it poured. My garage base was 30sqm 150mm deep and it cost about £1k including the pump because the garage is way back from the street.
 
Hi, looking at getting a multi tool and trying to decide between the Dewalt DCS355D2 Or the Bosch GOP 18V28.

Main reason for getting the Bosch is I already have one of the cordless drills so would only need to purchase the body. But the Bosch doesn’t come with any of the blades, whereas it would seem the Dewalt has all the accessories so cost wise would ultimately be about the same.

any advice ?
 
i can't comment on the Bosch as haven't got it but i do have the dewalt one. For me it's been really good and i've got quite a bit of use out of it. The accessory kit is ok but the number of accessories is bulked up by sanding pads rather than loads of blades or whatever. If you do go with DeWalt i would recommend a decent battery and a fast charger. I have 2 2ah batteries and a 5ah battery and the 2ah ones do not last to long in the multi-tool. You will want a fast charger too as the normal dewalt one is painfully slow.
 
Dewalt here, great tool, comes in handy for so many bits. As above it's bulked out by sanding pads. Batteries are the big cost so if you have bosch might be worth sticking there.
 
SoliD said:
Dewalt here, great tool, comes in handy for so many bits. As above it's bulked out by sanding pads. Batteries are the big cost so if you have bosch might be worth sticking there.
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I didn't think the batteries were too bad if the intention would be to get other bits, i have the circular saw (i used a 2ah in that the other day , barely made the full cut haha just laziness of not taking the 5ah out of the other tool), also have the drill and impact driver. I was tempted by the flexvolt batteries but the fast charger has made it so i can charge really quick and negate the need for the flextvolt battery.

My partners dad has just bought a Milwaukee drill and i'm so jealous it has interchangeable chucks so has like a right angled bit and another one in the box with it. think it cost him £300. Also came with 2 6ah batteries and they're tiny in comparison to my dewalt ones. I had a look to see if dewalt did a similar drill but was a little disappointed that i couldn't find one.
 
I'm a bit of a tool snob but as far as a multi tool goes I very much doubt there is any difference between an expensive one and a more cheap one. They all fundamentally do the same thing.

I can understand things like circular saws need much more capable motors depending on the task but a multi tool does trivial cuts that can be done by a 50 quid green bosch as well as they can by a 180 quid dewalt.

I guess it comes down to corded vs cordless too mind.
 
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