Power Tools & General Tools Recommendations & Advice

garnett said:
Oh really? That's not good. What tools were yours? I was given to believe hammer drills were somewhere where you could buy cheap and abuse. Think it comes with a 2 year warranty (so that'll cover me for about 2 or 3 projects :rolleyes:).
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Garden strimmer and jigsaw.

The strimmer broke a few months out of its 1 year warranty, bearing in mind that this is not a tool I use every day, nor even every week. And the jigsaw was downright dangerous due to its naff blade mechanism.

The buy cheap and abuse rule hasn't really worked for me. I've done that in the past and just ended up buying better later. Whereas my Makita stuff just lasts. And its brilliant, first time. Ok I'm not a professional, but I've renovated one house completely, and am just about to start on my second. Once our extension is built, I've got the full works to do, as we're only getting the shell built, and I'll be completely stripping back and renovating the existing house as well. The only thing I won't be doing is connecting the boiler to the gas as I can't (legally). Plus we need our gas meter moving so will just get that done in one go.
 
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garnett said:
Oh really? That's not good. What tools were yours? I was given to believe hammer drills were somewhere where you could buy cheap and abuse. Think it comes with a 2 year warranty (so that'll cover me for about 2 or 3 projects :rolleyes:).
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I bought a cheap SDS (Energer one for £45 from Screwfix) and used it to remove a tiled floor. The job took me about 20 hours (the tile cement was the real problem, rather than the tiles) and the drill kept going no problem, blunting a couple of chisels. They're pretty rugged.
 
platypus said:
Ok well I spoke to someone at Toolstop and they said the only problem they had encountered with chiselling is that it runs the batteries down. Fast. So make sure you have one on charge - I guess this may have been a problem before the current generation of batteries came along as constantly draining the older tech would shorten battery life. Shouldn't be a problem with the newer Li-on batteries.
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Should be ok then, i have a few 4ah batteries.
 
Heads up for anyone wanting cheap Cordless stuff from a big range, i've just been looking at the Cocraft stuff in Claas Ohlson. They have pretty much every cordless tool you'd want and a lot is on sale at around £25 for the bare unit. They also do some 4ah batteries which is better than a lot of cheap brands and come with a 5yr warranty.

I've not bought any of them but i have a few Cocraft/Cotech bits and it's not too bad, except the stud detector which is useless.
 
topgun06 said:
Nice one. I could do with an SDS. I need to install an external tap. Not sure if my Hitachi combi drill will be up to it though.

Any had any experience with drilling through walls with a combi? :p
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Not as bad as you think if you have a hammer action. I find it makes a huge difference when drilling into brick as long as your bits aren't knackered. Obviously a mains SDS would be better.
 
Marvt74 said:
Yeah the Titan SDS gets decent reviews at Screwfix, it's a big heavy bugger though.
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I love mine. Only fault is the air out comes out to left of where you're holding... So if doing any stuff generating debris it flies out into hands etc.

Not a biggie if you're wearing gloves and long sleeves.

It does weigh a ton, but makes it very good at destroying walls!
 
Steampunk said:
Not as bad as you think if you have a hammer action. I find it makes a huge difference when drilling into brick as long as your bits aren't knackered. Obviously a mains SDS would be better.
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platypus said:
Yes. I'd rather not have done it :).
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It does have hammer action and easily eats through brick when drilling a 6mm hole... but yes, this is a 16mm one.

So I guess it is possible. But may take some time.
 
As mentioned about i've used my Dewalt for a 16mm hole and it was fine. I did it in 3 stages though, 6mm as deep as the bit would go, then 10mm which went a bit deeper and then the 16mm x 300mm bit to finish it off.

It came out quite smooth too which would've been my worry with an SDS and blowing out the brick.
 
Does anyone have any experience hooking up tools to a vacuum for dust extraction purposes?

I've got an Ash vacuum for cleaning out the fireplace that i'm thinking of using for woodworking. Using an electric plane and router causes a huge amount of sawdust which is a ballache to clean and annoys the neighbours (i dont have an indoor space and we like in a terraced house so it's all adjoined backyards)

The hose on our vac is pretty stiff so wouldn't be very suitable for moving a router around freely. It connects using the screw on type connectors (screw it about 180degrees), is this a pretty standard fitting for buying hoses? Also most hoses are quite a wide bore, are there specialist adaptors/connectors i need to attach the hose to my tools? I assume some kind of spring clip type as found on the dust extraction bags supplied with these kind of tools (that fill up in 10 seconds and are useless)

Generally i use the following that i wouldnt mind cleaning up

Dewalt jigsaw
Titan electric plane
Evolution Rage mitre saw
Erbauer router
 
Marvt74 said:
As mentioned about i've used my Dewalt for a 16mm hole and it was fine. I did it in 3 stages though, 6mm as deep as the bit would go, then 10mm which went a bit deeper and then the 16mm x 300mm bit to finish it off.

It came out quite smooth too which would've been my worry with an SDS and blowing out the brick.
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Nice. I'll look at doing the same. I have standard length 6mm and 10mm bits. And then I've got a huge 16mm bit, I think it's 400mm in length!
 
#Chri5# said:
Not had to go go down that route myself with having a man cave for making mess in but Rutlands have assorted hoses and fittings:

http://www.rutlands.co.uk/pp+woodworking-workshop-equipment-dust-collection-fittings+d01000
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Cheers, just need to work out what i need before ordering. £5 off first order too :)

EDIT - In fact looks like this will do the job, would've liked a 5m hose but 3m should be ok

http://www.rutlands.co.uk/sp+woodwo...universal-power-tool-hose-kit-rutlands+dk7163
 
Anyone seen this? It looks like a new model specifically for Screwfix

http://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dc...on-xr-cordless-brushless-sds-plus-drill/1734t

Going purely off the details on Screwfix it's better than the DCH253 and is brushless, despite being a whole lot cheaper at £200 with a 4ah battery compared to £220 for the bare DCH253 unit.

It seems a bit lightweight and fragile compared to the other versions.
 
Marvt74 said:
Anyone seen this? It looks like a new model specifically for Screwfix

http://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-dc...on-xr-cordless-brushless-sds-plus-drill/1734t

Going purely off the details on Screwfix it's better than the DCH253 and is brushless, despite being a whole lot cheaper at £200 with a 4ah battery compared to £220 for the bare DCH253 unit.

It seems a bit lightweight and fragile compared to the other versions.
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2.0J impact. Just to give reference - Bosch 850W 2Kg class, corded, comes in at 3.2J which is enough to blow the backs out of house bricks if you're not careful but at the same time works well for concrete unless you're using a wide flat blade (then you'd be looking at a breaker to provide enough impact).

Looks a decent drill, just without the body cladding etc. Only worry is how hot will it get?
 
Thats a great price actually, Showing as £295 now but still decent. Especially as could probably sell the drill for around £50.

As an update to one of my previous posts. My Fluereon battery has died already and won't charge. It just shows on the charger as being fully charged. Will return and get another but then go with money back if that also is rubbish.
 
Can anyone advise what the difference is between all the different Dewalt chargers? I have a DCB113 and a DCB115 but have also seen a DCB107 when looking online.

Is there any material differences between them all?

Also what i've found amusing is that when i've been buying tools i've always wanted cases for them, even when buying bare i'd get one with a TSTAK case as a package. Now i've got quite a few tools i wish i'd never bothered and just had a big tool chest! My next purchase is going to be the circular saw, so think i'll get it with the deep fill TSTAK case and then i'l use 2 of those to hold everything.
 
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