Power Tools & General Tools Recommendations & Advice

Could someone recommend me a good soldering iron kit please? It'll be used primarily on an upcoming DIY mech keyboard project. And if that goes well, I'll undertake a few more little jobs, just as a hobby type thing.
 
Mark A said:
There should be small notches on the 25mm bits that are used for locking the bit into bit holder. My dewalt impact driver seems to hold the 25mm bits with these notches, but its not the same model as your dads.
Click to expand...

Just to follow this up, the 25mm bits don't lock in as well as 50mm bits with the notch as I posted. Maybe it's different in the higher spec drivers? I'd recommend 50mm bits personally, but the 25mm bits do work, just don't feel as solid IMO.
 
I've just bought my first house and I've got a shedload of DIY to tackle over the coming months - can some knowledgeable types point me in the general direction of some suitable tools to pick up?

I guess I'm after a drill, assorted bits (masonry as well as tile, amongst others) and stuff like screwdrivers, etc. And would an impact driver be a suitable thing to have?
 
That Dewalt drill/impact drive kit posted above would be a great buy. Depending on your budget really.

http://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dc...ion-combi-drill-impact-driver-twin-pack/9801t

What kind of DIY are you planning? Do you need a Jigsaw? What kind of walls as my 18v dewalt struggles in the accrington brick in our house.

Generally it's better to buy individual drill bits than a kit. You'll find you use certain bits a lot (5mm/6mm masonry bits mainly). So i'd buy those seperately as they'll be much better at £2 each that what you'd get in a kit.
 
Marvt74 said:
Generally it's better to buy individual drill bits than a kit. You'll find you use certain bits a lot (5mm/6mm masonry bits mainly). So i'd buy those seperately as they'll be much better at £2 each that what you'd get in a kit.
Click to expand...

I'd buy a set, as you may need a certain size and it'd be a chew having to go to the shops because you didn't have an xmm bit. I agree the 1,000,000 piece sets are a waste of time, but the normal sets of masonry, hss and possibly a brad point set for wood. Make sure you have (or buy seperately) a 7mm masonry bit for brown plugs, as most sets don't include one for some reason :s

Maybe -

http://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-5-piece-masonry-drill-bit-set/96162 - DEWALT 5 PIECE MASONRY DRILL BIT SET (96162) - 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10mm
http://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-7-x-100mm-extreme-2-masonry-drill-bit/91892 - DEWALT 7 X 100MM EXTREME 2 MASONRY DRILL BIT (91892) 7mm
http://www.screwfix.com/p/hss-metal-boxed-drill-bit-set-metric-19-pc/15046 - Drill type - metric, drill range 1.0 - 10.0, number of drill pieces in set - 19. Sizes increase in 0.5mm increments.

The last set I have no experience of, but comes with a range of sizes for drilling into wood etc and you can never have too many obscure/small drill bits. You can always replace each with a better quality bit if/as they break. Small bits are easily snapped no matter what the brand.

Screwdrivers are on sale in Halfords at the moment. Really good quality with a lifetime guarantee.

http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/tools/hand-tools/halfords-advanced-8-piece-screwdriver-set
 
Marvt74 said:
What kind of DIY are you planning? Do you need a Jigsaw? What kind of walls as my 18v dewalt struggles in the accrington brick in our house.
Click to expand...
That DeWalt looks like it would do nicely - is that goof VFM or can you get a little more bang for a little more buck?

In terms of the jobs at hand, I've got a kitchen to strip out and the usual assortment of jobs to do - building furniture, attaching shelves to walls, mounting TVs, affixing bathroom furniture to walls, etc.

I think a solid selection of bits is probably my first priority... not sure what type of bricks I have throughout, but they definitely aren't Accrington! I do have a fair bit of drilling bathroom tiles to sort though - the previous owners didn't go much for mounting things to walls, for some odd reason.
 
glitch said:
Thank you for all your pointers, but special mention for those - grabbed a set earlier and they are rather nice, aren't they?
Click to expand...

Yup. Great set IMO. It should cover the basics and with a no quibble lifetime guarantee, you can just pop down to halfords and get a replacement if one breaks. Keep the receipt handy :)

The dewalt set for £150 is good VFM; my dad picked one up the other day and it looks ideal for DIY. I'm looking at the 18v makita combi with 2x 3ah batteries, as I want a cordless SDS and makita offer a smaller SDS for half the price of the dewalt which is better suited to my needs.

Whichever brand you go with, make sure you stick with it, so you can share batteries etc :)
 
jellybeard999 said:
Just to follow this up, the 25mm bits don't lock in as well as 50mm bits with the notch as I posted. Maybe it's different in the higher spec drivers? I'd recommend 50mm bits personally, but the 25mm bits do work, just don't feel as solid IMO.
Click to expand...

I've just noticed the 25mm Wera bits seem to have the same sized end as the 50mm bits. They are pretty expensive though.

ctbroc5.jpg
 
Hi there,
I wanted a simple but solid drill for occasional use and some simple furniture making. I just picked up a Dewalt DCD776S2T with two 1.5ah batteries from screwfix, £99.
http://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dcd776s2t-gb-18v-1-5ah-li-ion-cordless-combi-drill/2710p

However I just realized that for the same money I can get the Bosch GSB 18-2-Li Plus with one 4ah battery which has 63Nm of torque as opposed to the 42Nm of the Dewalt
http://www.screwfix.com/p/bosch-gsb-18-2-li-plus-18v-4-0ah-li-ion-cordless-combi-drill/7434k

I'm not sure if the extra Torque is worth returning the Dewalt. I don't care much about the extra battery and didn't want to spend more than £100... Also, the dewalt seems a bit long. 228mm, whereas the Bosch is 202mm. The guy at Screwfix recommended me the Dewalt over the Bosch, though.

What do you think?
 
I'd never ask someone working at screwfix for advice, they rarely know much about what they are selling in my experience. That dewalt he recommended is more of a high end DIY tool, whereas the blue Bosch is trade rated. But saying that, that particular Bosch drill has had a few issues iirc. Pretty sure a few bought them on here and had issues with the gearbox. Blue Bosch are usually decent tools though and do come with a 3 year warranty, same as the Dewalt XR tools.

The Dewalt from Wickes you linked is the best out of those. It's brushless so it should be more compact and lighter than the other Dewalt. Decent drive and drill speeds, just slightly more than the Bosch. Only a 1.5ah battery, so you might want to add another in the future, but if you are just using it around the house for small jobs its probably fine.
 
Not a massive DIYer, and in need of a new drill. Saw the Dewalt set mentioned above and will probably go for that, but the few times I use a drill it's invariably to drill masonry, and I've seen a few comments along the lines of "That set is just about OK for the home DIY jobs" and then in the product description for a tougher, corded Matika (MAKITA HR2470WX/2 3KG SDS PLUS HAMMER DRILL 240V - £119.95) it states "The drill, hammer drill, and chisel functions mean that it can be used for a variety of jobs, from light demolition to drilling brickwork".

Not sure what to go for as a result.
 
Go to Lidl or Aldi for 240v drill - they were around 40 quid and you will find they are heavy for other jobs- Mine is fine and does all that work and has 3 yr warranty . -- With savings get the Dewalt 18v jobbie
 
Davidzomec said:
Hi there,
I wanted a simple but solid drill for occasional use and some simple furniture making. I just picked up a Dewalt DCD776S2T with two 1.5ah batteries from screwfix, £99.
http://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dcd776s2t-gb-18v-1-5ah-li-ion-cordless-combi-drill/2710p

However I just realized that for the same money I can get the Bosch GSB 18-2-Li Plus with one 4ah battery which has 63Nm of torque as opposed to the 42Nm of the Dewalt
http://www.screwfix.com/p/bosch-gsb-18-2-li-plus-18v-4-0ah-li-ion-cordless-combi-drill/7434k

I'm not sure if the extra Torque is worth returning the Dewalt. I don't care much about the extra battery and didn't want to spend more than £100... Also, the dewalt seems a bit long. 228mm, whereas the Bosch is 202mm. The guy at Screwfix recommended me the Dewalt over the Bosch, though.

What do you think?
Click to expand...

In a drill I don't think the torque is that important, I think you will be very satisfied with the Dewalt. I would go two smaller batteries over one big one as it means the drill is always ready to go as one can be charged/charging while you are using the other one meaning no down time. Plus it's lighter.

Dave
 
Got myself a Makita Impact driver (DTD154 - £120 inc vat) - very impressive. 175Nm of goodness. Already have 5Ah batteries, but bought a slimline 2Ah one too (think they're discontinued now) as it's tiny, and light. Perfect for the driver. Just built a large bathroom cabinet, loads of screws. Didn't bat an eyelid and built the entire thing from the small battery on one charge.
 
Managed to pick up a reasonably good deal on the Dewalt DCD785 which has received good praise here. Came with 2 x 1.5Ah batteries and a case for 150 euro from Woodies (Ireland's take on B&Q - although we also have B&Q here).

Same item has been €200 at B&Q for at least a year with no price drops at all. DCD776 has been priced better but I thought the 785 was worth holding out for.
 
Could you someone give a recommendation for a saw? I need to cut down a number of kitchen plinths, length wise, with the longest being 2.7m. What would be the best tool for the job? nothing too high end!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom