Power Tools & General Tools Recommendations & Advice

Yeah I see the 210mm on there frequently, I waited for the 255 to appear :D

I was half tempted to get the 110v (as it was a bit cheaper again and I already have a transformer for garage equipment) but got the 240v for ease of being able to use it everywhere.
 
Ok people i'd like some advice. As mentioned above i need (want) a cordless jigsaw. Most of my tools are Dewalt and i have 3 batteries (1.5ah, 2.0ah and 4.0ah). I was considering the Erbauer set of Jigsaw and Circular saw for £195 including 2x 2.0ah batteries and bag,but decided i didn't need the circular saw. I then thought about just buying the jigsaw but because you can only buy it as a "bare" item the cost of then buying a seperate battery and charger is pretty prohibitive.

I've seen that the jigsaw on ebay is only £35 for the body (brand new) and i've seen a refurbished drill set with 2 x 2.0ah batteries for £47. So for £82 i can get a jigsaw, 2 batteries and a spare drill. This would also give me access to other Erbauer tools. This strikes me as good as some tools i won't use enough to justify the Dewalt equivalent. Angle grinder and Recipricating saw come to mind. Both can be bought from Erbauer for half the price.

The alternative is to buy the Dewalt jigsaw. This comes in at £110 for the body. I imagine it's a much better jigsaw than the Erbauer, and comes with a better warranty/future support. Just trying to decide if that alone is enough to justify the extra cost.

EDIT - Looks like the Erbauer jigsaw on ebay isn't the latest model which Screwfix sell, guess that explains the price difference and the volume of them on ebay. Must be old stock. Wish they were better documented so i could see differences.
 
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Feel like it's just me in here :p

I posted a while back about the Floureon range of Dewalt batteries. I bought the 4ah version for £30 and it's been great so far, i've not used a genuine 4ah battery for comparison but it holds a charge probably double the length of my 2ah genuine battery. I know time will tell if it really is any good, but for half the price i'm happy :)
 
I picked up one of these http://products.dewalt.co.uk/powertools/productdetails/catno/DWE315KT/ about six weeks ago, I cannot recommend it enough and don't know why it's taken me so long to get a multitool like this.

I've used it for all sorts, sanding, chasing cables in walls/ceilings, and trimming woodwork for flooring install to name a few. It does eat through the attachments quite quickly but makes the jobs you use it for so much easier.

It's also one of those tools which comes with a sensible long cable meaning I normally don't have to break out the extension lead.
 
Ooh, where can i buy parkside batteries?

I wouldnt mind the angle driver and reciprocating saw. Both are sold bare and are bargains at £30 each. They do a circular saw too, wonder how much that is.

EDIT - Just seen it's only £16 for battery and charger. No word on the AH rating but i'd assume only 1ah.
 
Thought i'd pop into lidl on the way to work. I'd wanted the saw and the angle grinder but they were pretty much sold out. I got the last angle grinder and there were just a few multi tools and impact drivers left. I forgot the levels some people go to for cheap stuff, apparently people were queuing 30 mins before it opened.

I'm now debating if i want to keep it, without having other tools in the range. Might aswell just spend the extra and get the dewalt like the rest of my stuff if it's only 1 tool.

From googling it seems Parkside are made by Einhell. Wonder if the batteries are interchangeable.
 
Any recommendations for a pillar drill? I've got some 100mm square cedar posts i need to drill accurate and true holes in for base fixings? Dont really want to spend more than say 150-200?
 
Drill stand could maybe do it I guess? Are they as accurate as pillar drills, and I'd need to get the 100mm posts under it? I've got a 600 or 750W corded Skil drill and Makita portable drills, so im guessing one of them should fit in the stands? Seen this - http://www.screwfix.com/p/record-power-ds19-compact-drill-stand/4092f Looks ok and seems would do the job.

Edit - actually that wouldnt do the job. Just reading about it and although it can be 125mm underneath it with it's 125mm throat depth, it's stroke depth is only 67mm so I'd need to flip the post over and try again from the other side which I dont want to do as it runs the risk of the holes no perfectly aligning. Search continues...
 
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Bugger, was hoping that would work. Only other (cheap) option would be to get someone with a pillar drill to drill through a piece of wood with the right bit into a block of wood and then use that as a guide with a cordless drill for your posts.

I guess it depends if you'll continue getting use from a proper pillar drill for future jobs.
 
Actually the stand drill could work. I can drill 67mm through the post, then use my cordless to finsh going through the post using the 67mm hole as the guide.
 
Well i went to a different store and got the reciprocating saw. Feel better for having 2 units. My man maths makes it a better buy. Annoyingly the second store didn't have any of the batteries in stock or i'd have picked up a second.

Either way for an angle grinder and reciprocating saw with battery for £75 you can't be too bothered, and if they're made by Einhell and rebranded i'd be tempted to add other items.
 
I recently picked up a clarke pillar drill off ebay for £20. Just a DIY model and looks similar to the energer above, but for what i'll use it for, i'm happy with it. Might be worth a look?

It seems that heavy duty / old well made models sell for a lot of money, but no-one wants a 90s DIY model lol.

Eg http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wickes-be...306359?hash=item1ec9c76337:g:UgkAAOSwT5xZSjsb

No idea if that's near you, but I used a central bristol postcode as an example and that's 50 miles away.

I just kept looking until one came up locally.
 
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