Power Tools & General Tools Recommendations & Advice

Yeah it’s a shame that. I bought an impact driver (mistakenly bought because the google translated to impact wrench). I’m still not sure whether it’s legit.


Think I’ve settled on the Metabo mitre saw. Had seen a Makita used but hard to know the life it’s had.
 
Just my two cents - I’ll never understand why people buy brand new powertools (or anything really) from a random person on eBay, I get it for 2nd hand stuff but why not just get it from a retailer? Theres plenty around screwfix, powertoolmate, toolstop etc even just incase something goes wrong with the tool you’ll be covered.
 
Reuben klang said:
Just my two cents - I’ll never understand why people buy brand new powertools (or anything really) from a random person on eBay, I get it for 2nd hand stuff but why not just get it from a retailer? Theres plenty around screwfix, powertoolmate, toolstop etc even just incase something goes wrong with the tool you’ll be covered.
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Good point - although most of those resellers are on eBay, so I find it's a useful price comparison site really. Then I weight up second hand vs new vs someone who's splitting packs up.
 
Ebay used to be great for power tools back when the £ was twice as strong as the $. My dad bought a ton of Milwaukee kit and I got all my Dewalt kit from there from US sellers. I miss those days :(.

I still buy tools from ebay, but from legit vendors. Its just easier as there are a bunch of vendors all competing, so the prices are generally pretty good. Plus the delivery is shown before you buy and is often free (included in the price) so no adding all your details at checkout on some random online store, only to find they charge a blanket £6.50 delivery fee unless you spend hundreds.
 
Continuing from my mitre saw comments. How useful is a proper mitre saw stand?

My expectation is that all future work will likely take place outside rather than a dedicated workshop. As such any work areas will need to be portable and likely centre around some moveable legs and then a large plywood top. I do have some folding metal and wooden trestle legs, but ideally something adjustable would be better.

I've been looking at the likes of these, where you use a 2x4 between each clamp which in theory provides a good solid surface. The ply could then be screwed into the 2x4's to give stability.
toughbuilt.com

Folding Saw Horses | Metal Saw Horses | ToughBuilt — TOUGHBUILT

ToughBuilt's C650 Folding Saw Horses are metal saw horses, when paired, transforms into one tough jobsite table with powder-coated and zinc-plated steel.
toughbuilt.com toughbuilt.com

Alternatively are the proper jawhorse things which seem to have a built in clamp

In theory i could just stick a mitre saw on top of that, but then i was wondering whether i could stick a sheet of plywood ontop of a mitre saw stand which might clamp it down better.

The long term is probably to have both options, so i have a mitre saw stand and also something for assembly, but unsure if i need both right now whilst storage space is low.
 
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b0rn2sk8 said:
Why not buy a proper mitre saw stand designed for the job?

A proper stand has extending arms to hold the work piece which would be several meters long and they are level with the bed of the saw.

E.g.
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Sorry, never expanded on my first sentence. That's initially what i was looking at. This was the one i was after, just so it matches the mitre saw and looks pretty :p They do a bigger version but the cost variance is massive.

However it felt only useful for the mitre saw so was then musing over the other options and had meant to ask how they'd compare to the proper mitre saw stand.

In the last sentence, "long term is to have both" was actually meaning some of the toughbuilt things and also a mitre saw stand.

Basically my post is worded absolutely terribly!
 
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The dedicated saw stand is almost essential. I suppose it could be that you are usually cutting very short pieces of timber, but the stuff I buy is usually 2.4m so the stand is used all the time.

You don't really want a complex solution that takes ages to setup and adjust so it's perfectly level with saw. You will never use it. Best to just buy the proper stand. That DeWalt one is very good. Once it's setup it's easy to pack away again (albeit heavy). At that price it's a bargain.
 
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Cheers, i've never used one before as used to have a workbench in the shed in the UK, but as you say, it's always a pain to balance bits of wood to bring it up to height.

I'm fairly surprised at how cheap the Dewalt tables are vs the competition given how they're usually priced. Even Evolution ones seem slightly more expensive.

Have pretty much convinced myself i need both the jobsite style table and the mitre saw stand. So have ordered these. Look comparable to the top end toughbuilt ones, but also have some built in clamps which will likely prove useful.
www.toolportal.eu

STRONGBOLD H800 Superhorse - 1 pair - Toolportal.eu

STRONGBOLD H800 Superhorse - 1 pair. The ultimate upgrade for your workshop. STRONGBOLD H800 is the next-generation telescopic sawhorse built to last. Made of durable powder-coated high-grade steel construction. Galvanized height-adjustable legs with pivoting anti-slip feet provide a reliable...
www.toolportal.eu www.toolportal.eu

Also got this which will be ideal as an outfeed table for my table saw
www.toolportal.eu

CRAFTMAKER Multihorse 4in1 Workbench - Toolportal.eu

CRAFTMAKER Multihorse 4in1 Workbench. CRAFTMAKER Multihorse 4in1 Workbench is a multipurpose height adjustable sawhorse and a roller support. 4 functions in one – can be converted into a classic sawhorse with a fixed base, a roller support, a support with ball bearings, and also a sawhorse with...
www.toolportal.eu www.toolportal.eu



Building a house and having loads of things to do once the main thing is done is a great excuse to spend a **** load on tools :D
 
I probably should have also said in my post, they are really two different tools for two different jobs and trying to bodge (and it is a bodge) something together to do both is likely just going to end up with something which works for neither task.

Those are some trick saw horses, mines a bit of wood with 2 folding legs on each side bolted to the bottom :p
 
Yeah, hoping that those saw horses do a decent job for now. I *might* be able to justify an indoor work area when we've got the house built but i'm always aware of the amount of dust that gets created and it stops the room being used for other things.

Luckily weather is generally dry so having an indoor workspace is less essential. Although light in winter is always an issue.
 
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I should have added, I have that dewalt stand. It is solid but as the above poster said, it’s also heavy and even heavier with a saw on it.

It takes my 305mm Dewalt saw without and issues (which is also very heavy) and is stable with it on despite being top heavy with the saw on it. There is little danger of it getting easily knocked over or anything like that.
 
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The Evolution Mitre saw stand (£75) isn't too bad, definitely more sturdy than I imagined, so I leave my Makita sliding compound mitre saw on it and haven't looked back, it's extremely stable and I can't imagine needing anything more.. Whilst it folds down, I don't bother..

I also have the very cheap Evolution saw horses (invaluable at £45) which also work far better than their flimsy appearance suggests..

If doing any serious DIY/Construction, just get both, I can't imagine going back to having one 'workbench' it was such a faff, I now have a small B&D workbench, the Evolution saw horses and Evolution Mitre saw stand and they come out all the time, making just about any job more pleasurable.. not constantly swearing and 'making do' holding things awkwardly.. it goes hand in hand with having a range of quick release clamps etc..
 
Demon said:
If doing any serious DIY/Construction, just get both, I can't imagine going back to having one 'workbench' it was such a faff, I now have a small B&D workbench, the Evolution saw horses and Evolution Mitre saw stand and they come out all the time, making just about any job more pleasurable.. not constantly swearing and 'making do' holding things awkwardly.. it goes hand in hand with having a range of quick release clamps etc..
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Yeah, this is the key. Too often i end up trying to balance things which never helps.

My wife wants a table with some X shaped legs which is going to require a reasonable amount of accuracy on the lap joints so it's important to have everything in place.
 
What I use most of all is a Festool workbench. About 1m x 65cm. They have holes in the top for clamps and so on. The Festool are crazy expansive, so I made my own. You can buy replacement CNC laser cut tops on ebay, made by third party companies, for about £50 or so. Then just make up the rest of a table using stud timber.
 
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Nice, my mate bought that.

I've been eyeing the similar Einhell multitool as need to remove a lot of tall reedy type grass. I'd probably prefer a petrol one, but i know i wouldn't maintain it properly and it'd likely never work when i needed it!
 
Yeah, currently on the look out for a trailer too for transporting loads of crap. Annoyingly i've agreed a sale now with 2 people only for them to sell to someone else. One time it was whilst i was on the way to their house about 30 minutes after they'd sent me a google pin!
 
Martynt74 said:
Nice, my mate bought that.

I've been eyeing the similar Einhell multitool as need to remove a lot of tall reedy type grass. I'd probably prefer a petrol one, but i know i wouldn't maintain it properly and it'd likely never work when i needed it!
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I think these days the power you can get from battery systems is equivalent to petrol, and battery powered are much easier to look after. Only problem is the cost of the batteries!
 
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