Power Tools & General Tools Recommendations & Advice

So Ive bought this sds drill bit set to go with the small 12v sds drill I bought a few weeks ago. Ive bought a few other drill bits that Ive put into this set so to have all sizes from 3mm to 12mm... Hopefully these shouldn't wear as the drill only spins at a max of 850rpm, so shouldn’t heat the bits up too much and last many years. Or thats the idea anyway.

So Ive spent £15 on the set and about £50 in total with the other drill bits I've bought to make the set much better........Im waiting for a 6mm bit to be delivered

https://i.~ibb.co~/RLg3tYT/DSCF6680.jpg
 
Last edited:
Phil2008 said:
So Ive bought this sds drill bit set to go with the small 12v sds drill I bought a few weeks ago. Ive bought a few other drill bits that Ive put into this set so to have all sizes from 3mm to 12mm... Hopefully these shouldn't wear as the drill only spins at a max of 850rpm, so shouldn’t heat the bits up too much and last many years. Or thats the idea anyway.

So Ive spent £15 on the set and about £50 in total with the other drill bits I've bought to make the set much better........Im waiting for a 6mm bit to be delivered

https://i.~ibb.co~/RLg3tYT/DSCF6680.jpg
Click to expand...

SDS is really for construction drilling - I think my Bosch only does about 900rpm. It's more about the hammer energy in joules. My little 2.9kg Bosch is about 3.2J which is more than enough to blast out weak modern brickwork. It's handy to have a set of chisel bits and a point bit too (Dewalt set is both cheap and works). Great for cleaning off concrete etc and is light enough for using up ladders etc.

The 18V little hand drill does ok for around the house but the SDS did the 150mm coring through the wall for the extractor fan (it's 790W), has drilled concrete flooring etc but met it's match breaking so I ended up with a second hand 15Kg breaker (1600W, and teeth shaking 46J hammer energy) which is great for removing concrete.
 
NickK said:
SDS is really for construction drilling - I think my Bosch only does about 900rpm. It's more about the hammer energy in joules. My little 2.9kg Bosch is about 3.2J which is more than enough to blast out weak modern brickwork. It's handy to have a set of chisel bits and a point bit too (Dewalt set is both cheap and works). Great for cleaning off concrete etc and is light enough for using up ladders etc.

The 18V little hand drill does ok for around the house but the SDS did the 150mm coring through the wall for the extractor fan (it's 790W), has drilled concrete flooring etc but met it's match breaking so I ended up with a second hand 15Kg breaker (1600W, and teeth shaking 46J hammer energy) which is great for removing concrete.
Click to expand...
Thats the 1 thing that drill doesnt have is a "hammer only" setting, but its only 1 joules so thats probably why.. This guy uses this drill as he needs a lightweight small sds drill as he climbs up rocks putting safety bolts into the rocks and it drills through granite and rock no problem.
 
Last edited:
My hand-me down 280W detail/delta sander's head is starting to disintegrate. I may be able to get a replacement head but there's a hard foam/plastic behind the pad velcro that is starting to disintegrate. The tip has already departed yesterday and I'd be loathed to get rid of the thing (it's a late father-in-law hand me down). I had a look and the design for that style (like the Bosch GDA280E with a vacuum port can variable speed) is difficult to find.
A multi-tool sander isn't the same as they're a compromise on the dust extraction from the face of the sanding and finding a replacement head for a French random no-name sander which retains the head vacuum holes is a pot luck.
I hate the mouse style ones - I've had one and getting a vacuum attachment is a pain. Due to the duty cycle when used, batteries aren't the best idea..

Hmm... any recommendations for a triangle pad detail sander, mains powered, with vacuum port?
 
Last edited:
NickK said:
SDS is really for construction drilling - I think my Bosch only does about 900rpm. It's more about the hammer energy in joules. My little 2.9kg Bosch is about 3.2J which is more than enough to blast out weak modern brickwork. It's handy to have a set of chisel bits and a point bit too (Dewalt set is both cheap and works). Great for cleaning off concrete etc and is light enough for using up ladders etc.

The 18V little hand drill does ok for around the house but the SDS did the 150mm coring through the wall for the extractor fan (it's 790W), has drilled concrete flooring etc but met it's match breaking so I ended up with a second hand 15Kg breaker (1600W, and teeth shaking 46J hammer energy) which is great for removing concrete.
Click to expand...
A normal hammer drill is fine for brick but anything harder it struggles with.. Like I have a concrete slab patio and my normal hammer drill wont touch the concrete at all even if you sit on the drill with all your weight ... I bought a big heavy electric sds drill a few years ago(was only about £40) and that goes through our concrete slabs like butter, but I wanted something light, easy to use and doesnt take a week to setup, so thats the reason why I bought this small, light battery sds drill that I can grab and use.
 
Last edited:
NickK said:
My hand-me down 280W detail/delta sander's head is starting to disintegrate. I may be able to get a replacement head but there's a hard foam/plastic behind the pad velcro that is starting to disintegrate. The tip has already departed yesterday and I'd be loathed to get rid of the thing (it's a late father-in-law hand me down). I had a look and the design for that style (like the Bosch GDA280E with a vacuum port can variable speed) is difficult to find.
A multi-tool sander isn't the same as they're a compromise on the dust extraction from the face of the sanding and finding a replacement head for a French random no-name sander which retains the head vacuum holes is a pot luck.
I hate the mouse style ones - I've had one and getting a vacuum attachment is a pain. Due to the duty cycle when used, batteries aren't the best idea..

Hmm... any recommendations for a triangle pad detail sander, mains powered, with vacuum port?
Click to expand...

If you can't find a replacement head you could have one 3D printed and glue on a foam and velcro pad, depends on if it's worth to you.

The thing about vintage (lol) delta sanders is that their vibration isolation has nothing on today's standards. I have an old Bosch 240V delta sander that I struggled with for years, I couldn't use it for more than 10 minutes without taking a break from it, my fingers tingled for ages and I loathed using it. I finally got a Fein delta sander attachment for my Makita multitool and it's magnitudes better at sanding and no vibration induced fatigue, at all.

The lack of a vacuum port on a multitool is a big compromise though, I'll agree with that.
 
So Ive just bought the 12v combi drill(with hammer) to go with my other 12v Makita tools. The combi drill was only £28 and has better specs than the bosch 12v combi drill(with hammer) priced £70+....

So Im sorted now.. I have a SDS drill for concrete and hard materials, a normal drill for wood,metal+brick and a powered screwdriver, which all are very powerful tools for 12volts... And are very lightweight and small because they are 12volts....

I love 12volt tools, started with them about 20yrs ago... I had the first 10.8v lithium battery screwdriver ever made, by Bosch and it was a game changer for me...... Before then you could only buy rubbish 4.8v screwdrivers that didnt have pressure sensitive triggers, they would always be flat when you come to use them as they didnt hold their charge at all and the batteries wern't changeable, so was having to buy a new screwdriver every blumming year or so...

https://i.~ibb.co~/W4s8pXrF/DSCF6802.jpg
 
Last edited:
I had these 2 bosch tools before the makita's, both 10.8(but the 12v batteries also works in them) and both brushed. These are still working after about 15yrs of heavy use, but my sister has now pinched them for her outside jobs.


https://i.~ibb.co~/wr3hmwhJ/Screenshot-2026-03-25-at-00-23-52-Bosch-Professional-12-V-System-GSR-12-V-35-HX-Cordless-Drill-Driver.png

https://i.~ibb.co~/fYKbqd9H/Screenshot-2026-03-25-at-00-33-32-Bosch-Professional-12-V-System-GSB-12-V-15-Cordless-Combi-Drill-Wit.png
 
tangey said:
But...But...But...shes a girl ?
Click to expand...
Yeah but she thrashes the hell out of them especially the screwdriver as she fixes, put up fences and makes all sorts of stuff. And she never drills holes first into wood, she just screws the screws straight in and most of the screws are like 3-5 inches long... So she never uses the torque settings, its always set to drill mode and gear 1.. I very rarly use the torque settings either, only when doing work on my pc's or 3d printers that the torque settings gets used.
 
Last edited:
Im giving non genuine batteries ago for my Makita tools. Bought 1 12v 4amp batteries and charger for £30(battery on its own £21) and they seem tobe quite good, charger is very slow though, but battery seems tobo really good, holding its charge and lasts for ages on a full charge.. I even bought another battery the same time when getting both the drills, so I could have a battery permanently in the screwdriver and swap the other battery between the 2 drills.
 
Last edited:
I think depending on the tool your mileage may vary. I had an aftermarket battery, was fine in the impact driver, put in in the circular saw when I was ripping down some oak and the thing overheated and smoke started pouring out of it after one cut.
 
fish said:
I think depending on the tool your mileage may vary. I had an aftermarket battery, was fine in the impact driver, put in in the circular saw when I was ripping down some oak and the thing overheated and smoke started pouring out of it after one cut.
Click to expand...
I haven't thrashed my tools yet, so the batteries might be rubbish when I make them work hard and thanks for the heads up... The battery didnt damage your saw did it?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom