Power Tools & General Tools Recommendations & Advice
- Thread starter Nightglow
- Start date
Chaps,
I'm considering two purchases over the next few months -
1. A decent cordless mower. My rotak was fine for the old garden but needs 3 empties on the new lawn. I can either go Honda petrol or battery. I don't want to spend more than 300 really which only leaves Ryobi or Einhell. Thoughts?
2. A nail gun. I'm blown away with how many types there are. Unfortunately the Milwaukee seems too expensive but I do have all the M18 batteries. I just need to nail up the log store and I'll be building some cabinets either side of the fireplace soon enough. I'm thinking Ryobi is about the most affordable and should be fine?
Joining 1 and 2 together, if the Ryobi cordless mower and nailers are good - may then make things like the cordless strimmer make sense etc.
Thoughts? Thanks!
Edit: ideally both purchases are 'buy it for life'
I'm considering two purchases over the next few months -
1. A decent cordless mower. My rotak was fine for the old garden but needs 3 empties on the new lawn. I can either go Honda petrol or battery. I don't want to spend more than 300 really which only leaves Ryobi or Einhell. Thoughts?
2. A nail gun. I'm blown away with how many types there are. Unfortunately the Milwaukee seems too expensive but I do have all the M18 batteries. I just need to nail up the log store and I'll be building some cabinets either side of the fireplace soon enough. I'm thinking Ryobi is about the most affordable and should be fine?
Joining 1 and 2 together, if the Ryobi cordless mower and nailers are good - may then make things like the cordless strimmer make sense etc.
Thoughts? Thanks!
Edit: ideally both purchases are 'buy it for life'
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Does anyone have experience with cordless ratchets and especially cheaper brands and have any recommendations? I've got some parkside tools and slowly transitioning to DeWalt as I replace tools I kill from use however DeWalts cordless ratchet is expensive
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Soldato
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I'm gonna throw my personal curveball which is, when we knew we were gonna own a house with a garden last year, I spotted someone giving a petrol mower away on Facebook (neighbourhood group for old area) and snapped it up. £25 service kit of oil, filter, spark plug, and a good thorough clean/sharpen. Got a serviceable petrol mower. My main point is, petrol mowers are simple and can be easily fixed up so long as they're not rusted through. One of those "There's always a used one you can grab" items.
Soldato
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I think for the log store you will probably want a framing nailer but for the cabinets maybe a second fix. Cant believe the price of those Milwaukee nailers even just for the bare unit, maybe keep an eye out on ebay? I managed to get a fairly new Dewalt framing nailer for £200.
I had looked at some Ryobi garden stuff but by the time you have the batteries and a charger it doesn't save much.
Soldato
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- 25 Sep 2012
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If you already have some Dewalt batteries id try and pick up some bare units.
Having a bit of a dilemma, i picked up the "free" Ryobi Angle grinder when buying with a heavily overpriced 4Ah battery and charger. So it was £110 for the lot which felt like a decent price. However i'm now wondering if i'd be happier just picking up a Brushless grinder (either Ryobi or Dewalt) and just using existing batteries. I certainly don't need the extra charger, but i've only 1 other Ryobi battery so the spare would be nice.
Also having sold my corded router as it wasn't great ahead of a move abroad, i'm now thinking of buying an 18V version. The Ryobi doesn't come with any edge guides so is purely a trim router with edge bits and manually fitting guide rails using clamps. The Dewalt version is a hell of a lot more expensive (£220), but seems a lot more useable with the addition of the plunge adaptor.
I just can't decide whether to go cordless or not. Ultimately you don't really want to use a router without a shop vac so you're always attached to something either way, but i do like the idea of the neater option rather than a cumbersome full sized router.
Now i'm not a heavy user so either would likely be fine for performance. I'm also wondering if better value is buying the Ryobi for £80 and then buying a 1/2" Router for the same price and having the best of both worlds.
Also having sold my corded router as it wasn't great ahead of a move abroad, i'm now thinking of buying an 18V version. The Ryobi doesn't come with any edge guides so is purely a trim router with edge bits and manually fitting guide rails using clamps. The Dewalt version is a hell of a lot more expensive (£220), but seems a lot more useable with the addition of the plunge adaptor.
I just can't decide whether to go cordless or not. Ultimately you don't really want to use a router without a shop vac so you're always attached to something either way, but i do like the idea of the neater option rather than a cumbersome full sized router.
Now i'm not a heavy user so either would likely be fine for performance. I'm also wondering if better value is buying the Ryobi for £80 and then buying a 1/2" Router for the same price and having the best of both worlds.
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For grinders, always go brushes as they have more power. Also go up a size. I.e. a 5 inch grinder & put 4 1/2 inch discs in it.
As for the router. The battery is really handy if you want to clean something up or put a bull nose on something but if you have a lot of work in thick material then it's a corded 1/2 cutter as the battery just doesn't have the power
As for the router. The battery is really handy if you want to clean something up or put a bull nose on something but if you have a lot of work in thick material then it's a corded 1/2 cutter as the battery just doesn't have the power
Cheers, i don't think you get much choice in size though with grinders, it's either 4.5" or 9" (Flexvolt only).
For the router, my uses are fairly minimal to be honest. Although i do have my eye on a DIY slate board which would require quite a lot of cuts, especially if using 25mm Birch Ply as i intend to. Although with that it's recommended to use loads of shallow passes regardless of power.
I've ended up ordering the Dewalt Brushless grinder and Dewalt Router. Figure you only live once and stops me coveting them in the future. I can always pick up a 1/2 router in the future if the requirement needs it. I am regretting giving away all my old router bits when i sold the old router though
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Doers it have to be dewalt? The makita router fits the bodies and guide for the katsu router which are significantly cheaper that the makita versions. I have the katsu router for my cnc and then use the bodies with my battery makita trimmer with no issue.
the ryobi trimmer was ok also as i used one on a robot for prototyping work in the past.
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I was ideally going one or the other to avoid further ecosystems.
I’ve got the dewalt with both the plunge and fixed base, it’s a good bit of kit. Whenever I use it, I tend to be outside to having a vac is less important and it’s nice not to be attached to anything.
I’ve also get the 1/2 as well so having the 1/4 may not stop you buying a full fat corded 1/2 router anyway. The 1/4 wouldn’t go through work tops for instance.
I’ve also get the 1/2 as well so having the 1/4 may not stop you buying a full fat corded 1/2 router anyway. The 1/4 wouldn’t go through work tops for instance.
Yeah i think that's my expectation eventually. In reality the most i'll ever use it for is rounding edge and occasionally cutting biscuits/mortice/tenons which is where having a cordless fixed base one will be a huge benefit.
At least this is easy to hide in the van for the emigration. I was eyeing up the 745 table saw, but i think my wife would kill me!
Actually, i've cancelled the Dewalt one. It said it didn't come with the Laminate trimmer and i didn't think that was an issue until i realised what it actually was! Annoyingly the 15% discount on ebay has now expired so will have to wait for the next one.
Might consider the Makita, the router is a fair bit cheaper than Dewalt and having Ryobi, Dewalt and Makita as options to pick up ad-hoc tools might be nice! I'm sure i'd be able to pick up a charger and 3rd party battery pretty cheap. I know the Adaptors exist, but not sure i'd want the extra bulk on a router.
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Ah shame, i've had loads of luck with my Dewalt ones from Amazon. Think they're Flagpower branded.
Is this a good deal for some used basic Ryobi kit? Now we've moved I'm in need of a mower however the garden isn't all that large plus it's elevated so a petrol mower would be a bit of effort. The leaf blower is a bonus though as we've a lot of patio and surrounding trees.
18V ONE+ 33cm Cordless Lawn Mower (OLM1833B)
Leaf blower (OBL1820S)
Strimmer (RY18LT23A-0)
2x 6AH Batteries (knock off unofficial batteries)
1x 4AH Battery + charger (Ryobi)
£260, used once.
I wouldn't mind an impact driver and wrench etc in the future (occasional use) so it could be a decent gateway. Was hoping to pick up a £50 plug in mower just to tide me over due to budget and time of year but this seems like a decent deal.
18V ONE+ 33cm Cordless Lawn Mower (OLM1833B)
Leaf blower (OBL1820S)
Strimmer (RY18LT23A-0)
2x 6AH Batteries (knock off unofficial batteries)
1x 4AH Battery + charger (Ryobi)
£260, used once.
I wouldn't mind an impact driver and wrench etc in the future (occasional use) so it could be a decent gateway. Was hoping to pick up a £50 plug in mower just to tide me over due to budget and time of year but this seems like a decent deal.